Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Batman's Christmas and New Year

Being the time in between Christmas and New Year's....here's a little story that dealt with Christmas, New Year's....and Batman!

Under a cover by Dick Giordano, where Batman doesn't look like he's going to be enjoying the ball drop on New Year's Eve....

...is the two stories of Batman #247 (February, 1973).

In "Merry Christmas", Batman takes care of a gun-wielding criminal on Christmas Eve, with a little help from a distraction by the Christmas star (and writer Denny O'Neil, penciller Irv Novick and inker Dick Giordano!).

...then, in the second story, "And A Deadly New Year" (by Denny O'Neill and Dick Giordano), Batman and Robin take out a deadly stash of nerve gas to save Gotham, and save the new year on New Year's Eve!

Holy Holidays, Batman, and Happy New Year!






Saturday, December 26, 2015

Superman Vs. Luthor...Boxing

Over the decades, Superman and Lex Luthor have had quite a few battles, but none more exciting than the story from Superman #164 (October, 1963) with "The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman" by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein!

This little tale had Superman and Luthor facing off under a red sun (thus superman didn't have his powers), so it was a bare-knuckle brawl....that ended with the two becoming separated, and Lex saving the planet's inhabitants (while convincing them Superman was evil).

Luthor was unsuccessful in finding water for the people, and goes back to fighting Superman, but throws the battle, and on their way back to Earth, convinces Superman to redirect water to save the planet's inhabitants, so that while headed back to prison, Luthor feels like a hero.

Soon, Luthor teams with Brainiac for the first time (in Superman #167 of February, 1964 by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein in "The Team of Luthor and Brainiac)...


...where readers and Luthor learn that Brainiac is really a robot, uses his own genius to increase the threat of Brainiac by increasing his intelligence, and then Luthor returns to the planet where he's thought of as a hero, battling with Superman all the while!


This leads into Luthor's next appearance, in Superman #168 (April, 1964) by Edmond Hamilton, Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Klein, with "Luthor - Super-Hero".


Luthor is on the red sun planet, now named Lexor in his honor, where he spends time as their hero, the Defender (having gotten temporary super-powers), and has to stop Superman who was stealing rare crystals (which, unknown to the Lexorians, were emitting dangerous radiation). 


Luthor leaves the planet with Superman to save the Lexorians, including his girlfriend, Ardora. 


Wishing to read these classic tales?

The story from Superman #164 was reprinted in...

...Superman #239 (June-July, 1971), the Superman in the Sixties tradepaperback of 1999, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Volume 1 tradepaperback of 2004, and in the Superman vs. Lex Luthor tradepaperback of 2006.

 



Superman's battle against Luthor and Brainiac from Superman #167 was reprinted in....

...Superman #245 (also known as DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-7 from December-January, 1971/1972), Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Volume 2 tradepaperback of 2007, and in the Superman vs. Brainiac tradepaperback of 2008.

Sadly, the story from Superman #168 hasn't been collected anywhere in America....as of yet.  After all, who'd believe Luthor could be the hero?

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Merry Christmas from Liberty Meadows

Merry Christmas!  May your holiday be fun,  just like Brandy is having like these covers by Frank Cho, for his Liberty Meadows series (#24 from January, 2002 by Insight Studios, and #29 from December, 2002 by Image).

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Merry Hex-mas, Cowboy!

Well, you better have a merry Christmas...

...or Jonah Hex might come after you, like this cover from Jonah Hex #34 (March, 1980) by Luis Dominguez!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Best of DC Christmas with the Super Juniors

A long time ago, super heroes were a little less serious.

Premiering alongside their adult counterparts in DC's style guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez in 1982, were the "Super Juniors"....and they were kid versions of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Supergirl.....

...and while they made it into quite a lot of merchandise....

....they only made it into one comic book.

Best of DC #58

Best of DC #58 of March, 1985 was that comic.  Pencilled and inked by Vince Squeglia, this tale featured Super-Kid, Bat-Guy, Kid-Robin, Wonder Tot, Flash-Kid and young versions of Aquaman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Supergirl as kids from Miss Piffle's Nursery School, transformed into super-heroes by the spirit of Christmas to stop Wallace van Weathly III, the Weather Wizard, a school bully and save Santa Claus! 

Not bad for a one shot...

...and better still, the digest included reprints of classic Christmas themed Sugar & Spike stories by Sheldon Meyer!

Those stories were "Spike's Big Problem" from Sugar & Spike #95 (April-May, 1971), "The Cowboy Santa Claus" from Sugar & Spike #68 (December-January, 1966/1967)...


...and "A New Adventure With The Genius" from Sugar & Spike #51 (February-March, 1964).



All of which was a sneaky way to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!








Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Forgotten Heroes Strange Adventures

If all these columns have done nothing else, it proves that nothing gets totally forgotten...and even old heroes can come back and continue to have adventures....


....no matter how strange they might be.


Concluding our look back at DC Comics' Forgotten Heroes, we end with some of the more recognizable of the lot...

...and those that have stood the test of time.



Congorilla

Congo Bill was a hero from another time....but he got there the old fashioned way.  He lived it.  Congo Bill started as an explorer and hunter in Africa all the way back in More Fun Comics #56 (June, 1940), and stayed there until More Fun Comics #67 (May, 1941), then moved over to Action Comics #37 (June, 1941), that he called home until Action Comics #261 (February, 1960), with his own title, Congo Bill, that had 7 issues from August-September, 1954 to August-September, 1955.  But it was in Action Comics #248 (January, 1959) that we (and Bill) met "The Amazing Congorilla" (story by Robert Bernstein and Howard Sherman).

In Action Comics #248, Congo Bill tried to save the life of his friend, Chief Kawolo, but failed, serving only to prolong his life long enough for the chief to give Bill a magic ring, which would allow Bill to change his mind with the legendary golden gorilla, Congorilla, and use his animal strength to help people.  Bill didn't believe the chief, but took the ring.

Then a cave-in trapped Congo Bill with no way out, so he tried the ring, and it worked...

....with Congorilla wandering through a movie set and being pursued by a movie director while heading to the cave to save the body of Congo Bill with Congorilla's mind (though he really needed a publicity agent, as Congorilla didn't make any of his covers other than the first...even in the gorilla crazed Silver Age!).

 
Congo Bill had plenty of body-swapping, gorilla swinging adventures up until Action Comics #261 (February, 1960), after which Supergirl expanded her presence in Action Comics to half the magazine, and Congorilla swung over to Adventure Comics, running from Adventure Comics #270 (March, 1960) to Adventure Comics #283 (April, 1961), even teaming up with Superman and Jimmy Olsen in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #49 (December, 1960, with Jimmy temporarily getting Congo Bill's ring and doing the mind-switch with Congorilla briefly!).

Congo Bill and Congorilla came back to work with Superman to stop Brainiac in Action Comics #280 (September, 1961), and put Jimmy Olsen in the mix again with Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #86 (July, 1965), before a brief feature in the "Whatever Happen To...?" series in DC Comics Presents #27 (November, 1980).  (Congorilla and Congo Bill also showed up in a flashback tale, to right before the Justice League formed, where they worked with Lois Lane, the Challengers of the Unknown, the original Robotman and Vigilante, and almost met Adam Strange, while Rip Hunter fended off the Blackhawks, Plastic Man and Jimmy Olsen in Justice League of America #144 of July, 1977, with a flashback story set around early 1959).

Congorilla found the golden pyramids in Africa, and ended up with the Forgotten Heroes in Action Comics #552 (February, 1984).

Animal Man

Buddy Baker was just a quiet guy, trying to marry the love of his life, Ellen Frazier (but having some problems proposing) in Strange Adventures #180 (September, 1965, by Dave Wood and Carmine Infantino), that is until he went hunting with his friend, Roger Denning, and was able to proclaim "I Was The Man With Animal Powers", which he got from exposure to radiation from a crashed alien ship...

...and Buddy faced off against the alien who escaped from that ship, saved his friends, even after his powers wore off....and proposed to Ellen...all in 16 short pages, where he never even got a costume or super-hero identity.

Buddy returned in Strange Adventures #184 (January, 1966 by Dave Wood and Gil Kane), with "The Return Of The Man With Animal Powers", this time with Buddy and Roger finding another alien ship, and two aliens (Trano and Zaarn), working their way through town, firing a hate ray at everyone, which works on everyone except Buddy (who seems to have his animal powers restored, which he uses to defeat the aliens).  Buddy finally takes a costume and super-hero identity (that of "A-Man") in Strange Adventures #190 (July, 1966), facing off against gang boss, Grabo in the Dave Wood/Carmine Infantino tale of "A-Man -- The Hero With Animal Powers".

Buddy returns, finally taking the Animal Man name in Strange Adventures #195 (December, 1966 by Dave Wood and Jack Sparling), in "Animal Man - Hero Or Freak?", with Buddy and Roger facing off against Grabo again (as well as mapping where animals are nearby, so Buddy can easily draw on their power at all times).  In his last original solo tale, in Strange Adventures #201 (June, 1967, with no established writer, and art by Jack Sparling), Buddy faces off against "The Mod Gorilla Boss" (beating him when he changes back to human!).

Buddy then was mostly forgotten until he met up with Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman #267 and #268 (May and June, 1980) by Gerry Conway and Jose Delbo, where Wonder Woman and Animal Man face off against the Cartel of the Prime Planner, as well as his assassins....Red Fang, the Changling and Lumber Jack, with Wonder Woman finally learning who the Prime Planner was ending a trial in her own life (though soon starting another....).

Buddy then faded away again, but not for long, because he found a golden pyramid while scouting for sites, which led to his joining the Forgotten Heroes in Action Comics #552 (February, 1984).  

Immortal Man

This is the man who helped to bring the Forgotten Heroes together, and he had plenty of time to do it, as he had been around since the days of the cavemen!  The Immortal Man's first recorded adventure happened in Strange Adventures #177 (June, 1965, with no credited writer, but art by Jack Sparling)...

...wherein a man named Mark learned of his earlier lives when he got a jeweled amulet at the orphanage where he was raised, as well as learning of his various super-powers, which he uses to save the town he was in...dying in the process, but knowing in his heart that "I Lived A Hundred Lives"...

...so that he would return.

Return he did, "The Man Who Died 100 Times" in Strange Adventures #185 (February, 1966 by Dave Wood and Jack Sparling), first as Jungle Man, who died fighting the villain, Karat (a jewel thief) in Africa to protect a crown claimed by archaeologists Rodney and Helen Phelps, then as Englishman Mark King, facing Karat again to keep the jewels and the Phelps safe (again at the cost of his own life).  The "Immortal Man" returned again in Strange Adventures #190 (July, 1966, with art by Jack Sparling), helping people as Kirk Jason, using a power to find lost objects during an earthquake caused by a giant creature.  Kirk defeats the creature, saving Helen Phelps as well, but at the cost of his own life.

In his last solo story, in Strange Adventures #198 (March, 1967, with art by Jack Sparling), the Immortal Man returns as Anton Carver, a paleontologist for Pembroke College, where he faces "The Apes With Bizarre Powers", as well as Helen Phelps, who had tracked him down.  Sadly, the Immortal Man dies again, leaving Helen behind....but the Immortal Man returned again, with Action Comics #552 (February, 1984), and detailed his own encounter with a golden pyramid in Action Comics #553 (March, 1985), wherein he also gathered the heroes Rip Hunter, Dane Dorrance, Dolphin, Cave Carson, Rick Flag, Congorilla and Animal Man, who would become the Forgotten Heroes, in a battle with Vandal Savage (an immortal enemy, whom the Immortal Man had been sparring with over the ages, since the days they both got their powers from a meteor crash....Vandal himself usually facing the Justice Society and Barry Allen Flash, but recently had been vexing Superman)...and this team exists, proving that even heroes who have been forgotten still can contribute to the safety of us all!


Thursday, December 10, 2015

Flash Facts Flash vs. the Rogues

One of the things the Flash was most known for in the Silver Age was his Rogue's Gallery.


You can search far and wide looking for their first appearances....


...or just get the Flash vs. The Rogues tradepaperback from 2009, under this cover by Ethan Van Scriver, with a collection of the first appearances of Flash's most important non-speedster foes.


Collected here are the first appearances of....


Captain Cold

Leonard Snart was a cheap crook who stumbled onto a gold gun in the Flash's second appearance, in Showcase #8 (May-June, 1957, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino), with "The Coldest Man On Earth". 

Captain Cold would be a driving force in Flash's life...and appeared next in Flash #114 (August, 1960, NOT in the trade, but mentioned so a cover with Captain Cold could be shown!).

Mirror Master

Sam Scudder used his knowledge of mirrors first to rob a bank, and then to become the Mirror Master, starting with Flash #105 (February-March, 1959) with "The Master of Mirrors" by John Broome and Carmine Infantino

Mirror Master was the first villain readers saw in the newly revived Flash comic....and he quickly returned in Flash #109 (October-November, 1959), also not in the trade, but a cool cover, nonetheless! 

Gorilla Grodd

Grodd was never really a rogue, but his first appearance from Flash #106 (April-May, 1959) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in the "Menace of the Super-Gorilla" made it into this collection (though not the next two parts of the Grodd trilogy, where Flash continued to face the gorilla, meet Solovar and find Gorilla City).

Heck, Grodd didn't even make it on a cover of Flash until Flash #127 (March, 1962)....story not included here, but the cover is to get a look at the furry foe of the Flash!

Pied Piper

Hartley Rathaway hadn't been happy in live, so he took his knowledge of sound and made himself into the Pied Piper to take on the Flash in "The Pied Piper of Peril" from Flash #106 (April-May, 1959, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino), even making the cover of his first appearance!

Pied Piper even branched out in his second story (not in the trade), being recruited by Mr. Memory as the Flash foe in Justice League of America #14 (September, 1962) along with Green Lantern foe Hector Hammond, Aquaman villain Sea-Thief, Wonder Woman rogue Angle Man, Green Arrow evil-doer Dr. Davis and (behind the scenes) the Joker (to capture Batman), all while dealing with the Atom joining the JLA; though all these villains didn't make the cover!

Weather Wizard

Mark Mardon was an escaped criminal who got his weather wand when he found his brother, Clyde, (noted scientist working on weather control) dead in his lab, and used that technology to create his weather wand to give himself control of the weather...and menace the Flash starting with "The Challenge Of The Weather Wizard" in Flash #110 (December-January, 1959/1960) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

Weather Wizard didn't make the cover of his second appearance (Flash #130 of August, 1962, facing Kid Flash and the Elongated Man), but did finally in Flash #145 (June, 1964) in a tale not in the trade.

Trickster

Jesse James was a messed up kid, being part of a circus aerialists (but was also afraid of heights).  Jesse came up with some shoes that allowed him to walk on the air, becoming a "Danger In The Air" in Flash #113 (June-July, 1960, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino).

Trickster quickly strikes back after his heist of a plane in mid-air, quickly coming back to play new pranks on the Flash in Flash #121 (June, 1961) in a story not in the collection.

Captain Boomerang

George "Digger" Harkness came into the Flash's life with "Here Comes Captain Boomerang" in Flash #117 (December, 1960 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino), when W.W. Higgins recruited him to become his toy company's spokesman of Captain Boomerang to sell boomerang toys.  Captain Boomerang turned the tables and used the identity to rob the area.

This boomerang quickly returned, facing the Flash and the Elongated Man in Flash #124 (November, 1961), in his second appearance (which isn't in the trade).

The Top

Roscoe Dillon was a small time crook getting nowhere, until he came up with a spinning motif based on his love of tops as a child.  This led him into a spin-up with the Flash in Flash #122 (August, 1961 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino) with "Beware The Atomic Grenade" (a much larger threat than a spinning top, indeed!).

The Top spun onto his first cover on his own with Flash #141 (December, 1963), where we also met Peter Gambi, a tailor to super-villains in a stylish story (not in the collection)!



Heat Wave

Mick Rory was a kid who liked fire.  So much so, that he ended up as the super-villain, Heat Wave, and ended up making "The Heat Is On For Captain Cold" in Flash #140 (November, 1963 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino), which started a competition between the two temperature opposite villains (starting a rivalry between them...and leading to a gathering of more Flash foes as well....).

Heat Wave's second appearance with with all the Rogues, but his appearance after that was in Flash #166 (December, 1966), still facing off against Captain Cold (but not seen in this trade), and Mick continued to be a thread to the Flash, eventually taking him on on his own!

....and the team-up of the Flash's Rogue's Gallery!  Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, the Top and Heat Wave made live hard for the Flash in Flash #155 (September, 1965, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino), making Barry run "The Gauntlet of Super-Villains"...and there was a surprise villain the Rogues faced as well (who tried to make a monkey out of the villains).

The Rogues returned en masse for the second time in Flash #174 (November, 1967), making life hard for the Flash yet again in a story not in the Flash Vs. The Rogues trade, but, like all these stories, proving that sometimes things are better the second time around!


Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Forgotten Heroes Short Runs

Even more Forgotten Heroes!  This group of neglected 1960s heroes were mostly forgotten, until dusted off by Marv Wolfman as he got ready for the Crisis On Infinite Earths....


....and, like Dolphin, they didn't have too many appearances back in the day, but were gems in the making (well, some more than others...).

So, let's dig into more Silver Age characters of yesteryear....


Cave Carson

If you talk about digging, Cave Carson is your man.

Calvin "Cave" Carson started his spelunking in Brave and the Bold #31 (August-September, 1960 by France Herron and Bruno Premiani), being contacted to investigate the disappearances of a radio tower and some freight trains and find "The Secret Beneath The Earth".  Cave goes to investigate, while his friends, Bulldozer Smith and Christine Madison, finish work on Cave's Mighty Mole (a machine which would allow the team to tunnel underground).  Getting a message to his team via balloon, Christine and Bulldozer take the Mighty Mole underground to rescue Cave from the magnetic monster responsible for the chaos, starting a series of adventures inside Earth.

Cave and the crew of the Mighty Mole next find "The City 100 Miles Down" in Brave and the Bold #32 (October-November, 1960, by France Herron and Bernard Baily), finding a whole city and civilization beneath the Earth, planning to invade the surface world.  Cave uses the Mighty Mole to overheat their artificial sun, with Cave, Bulldozer and Christine being the only survivors.  The group next face "The Alien Robots From Inner Space" in Brave and the Bold #33 (December-January, 1960/1961 by France Herron and Bernard Baily), with Cave Carson, Bulldozer Smith and Christine Madison facing robots under the Earth, planning to conquer the Earth, whose plans are thwarted by the crew of the Mighty Mole....

...the group return, with Brave and the Bold #40 (February-March, 1962 by France Herron and Joe Kubert) to face the "Three Caverns of Doom", facing off against Zenod, an evil collector, bent on finding three magical crystals.  In Brave and the Bold #41 (April-May, 1962 by Jack Miller and Mort Meskin), Cave and crew stop alien thieves (with the help of authorities from their world, after being taken to their world, then returned) in "The Raiders From The Secret World".

Still digging for a permanent home, Cave and his Mighty Mole crew show up in Showcase #48 (January-February, 1964 by Bob Haney and Lee Elias), facing off against "Killers Of The Dead-End Maze" (a fellow named Emile Basto, a old foe of Cave's).  Cave and crew get new red uniforms in this issue, as well as getting a bit of the team's past (learning of Christine's past boyfriend, Johnny Blake, presumed lost while investigating a French cavern), and that Bulldozer has a pet lemur, named Lena, and that he had a history as an ex-con.  This story continues in part in Showcase #49 (March-April, 1964, by Bob Haney and Lee Elias), with the Mighty Mole team going to face a fire giant in South America, with Christine being kidnapped by it, and Cave and Bulldozer finding the missing Johnny Blake, Bulldozer finding an ancient sceptre which releases a fire bird, then rescuing Christine and Johnny while destroying the fire bird!

The team have one final adventure, in Showcase #52 (September-October, 1964 by Bob Haney and Lee Elias), as they nearly become "Prisoners Of The Lost World", while testing a saucer-shaped aircraft, they are taken to an underground city, where a scientist named Dr. Damion wants Cave to take over protection of the city from an energy creature, all while Johnny is turned to stone and the rest of the team faces the energy creature, with Cave defeating it, Bulldozer deciding to stay, and Johnny being restored as Cave and Christine leave the city (Bulldozer decides to leave with them as well).

The team had been fracturing, and when we next see Cave Carson, in Action Comics #536 (October, 1982, by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton), Cave has become a recluse, grown a beard, and doesn't want to use the Mighty Mole to help people (but Lois Lane and the Omega Men convince him to help Superman against the Mole).

Cave then shows up in Action Comics #545 (July, 1983), meeting with Rip Hunter and Dane Dorrance, and then in Action Comics #552 (February, 1984), wherein he explains a little of the break up of the Mighty Mole team, and prepares to help Superman and other heroes in a battle against Superman.      



Suicide Squad

The next recruit for the Forgotten Heroes comes from the government, specifically Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad.  The team of troubleshooters first recorded mission happened in "The Three Waves of Doom" in Brave and the Bold #25 (August-September, 1959, by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru), with Air Force Colonel Rick Flag leading space medicine specialist Karin Grace, and civilian scientists Jess Bright and Dr. Hugh Evans against a red wave of fire sweeping across the sea.  While the team stopped the red wave, they then unleashed a mutant creature, which they then lured to a space rocket, and left the mutant in space.  The team would have more menaces to fight (both inside and outside the team, as these heroes who had survived life threatening menaces alone came together again to defeat the odd....all before the Justice League of America had formed!).

Next up for the government team, was "The Sun Curse" in Brave and the Bold #26 (October-November, 1959 by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru), where the team returns to Earth and is shrunk to small size, and fights enemy agents to prevent an atomic attack (and to get home and returned to normal size!).  Then, when they get home, the team also faces the "Serpent in the Subway" as they take a quick vacation in Paris (also a story by Kanigher and Andru).  The team then faces "The Creature Of Ghost Lake" in Brave and the Bold #27 (December-January, 1959/1960, by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru), which came from experiments of a Professor Duane and his Formula X.

The team took a little hiatus, until Brave and the Bold #37 (August-September, 1961), with two adventures, first facing the "Raid of the Dinosaurs" (by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru), with Karin drawing pictures of dinosaurs destroying the Earth and the rest of the team working to stop it from really happening, and then Task Force X facing the "Threat Of The Giant Eye" (also by Kanigher and Andru), with the team fighting the giant cyclops, Polyphemus.  The team also faced two menaces in their next issue, Brave and the Bold #38 (October-November, 1961, both by Kanigher and Andru), first with the Suicide Squad facing a pterodactyl (and chasing it to find a hidden alien spaceship in a cloud above New York City) and defeating the aliens in the "Master Of The Dinosaurs", then facing the invading alien Mirage Master, and repelling his attack.

The last of the original Suicide Squad's death-defying adventures happen when the team finds themselves "Prisoners of The Dinosaur Zoo" in Brave and the Bold #39 (December-January, 1961/1962, both by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru), thinking they were transported back to the time of the dinosaurs (but really were on a spaceship that had been on Earth collecting specimens millions of years ago)...

...and then facing a "Rain of Fire", with a sculptor who uses a golden metal to turn people into statues.

 

Then the team wasn't seen again until their final mission, facing off against yetis to find a golden pyramid (a mission that did not go well for Karin, Jess or Hugh), as related in Action Comics #552 (February, 1984), which led to Rick joining the Forgotten Heroes for a time, and later in Secret Origins #14 (May, 1987)  and in Suicide Squad #50 (February, 1991)  (with the more familiar idea of Task Force X using super-villains as their forces, thanks to Amanda Waller; but more on that later....). 

Enchantress

June Moone started as a heroine back in Strange Adventures #187 (April, 1966) as "The Enchantress of Terror Castle" (by Bob Haney and Howard Purcell), changing after her boyfriend, importer Alan Dale, brought her to a costume party at Terror Castle...


...and June encountered the Dzamor, who told her to state the name, "Enchantress", which allowed June to become the supernatural super-heroine and defeat the evil of the castle (and then change back to June, to leave the party with Alan, who had no idea of the Enchantress' true identity...).



June returned in Strange Adventures #191 (August, 1966 by Bob Haney and Howard Purcell) pulling her switcheroo-witcheroo by becoming Enchantress and saving Alan Dale and the Earth from an underground monster that emerges from the Earth by tricking it to board a space probe into space, then while at a museum with Alan, June becomes the Enchantress to stop thieves from stealing "The Guardian Eye" in Strange Adventures #200 (May, 1967, by Bob Haney and Howard Purcell).  Sadly, even with all this attention, the Enchantress couldn't even get a full cover in her three original solo appearances!

Maybe it was the lack of attention that turned Enchantress evil, because she was evil when next she showed up, in Superman Family #204 (November-December, 1980 by Jack C. Harris and Win Mortimer), making "The Earthquake Enchantment" as she faced off against Supergirl.  The Enchantress still held a grudge against Supergirl, facing her again in Superman Family #205 (also by Harris and Mortimer), unleashing her "Magic Over Miami", where the Enchantress made Supergirl forget her dual nature as the Enchantress and June Moone.

After facing Supergirl, the Enchantress returned again, but this time with help.  The Enchantress wasn't a hero at the time the Forgotten Heroes were formed, so she instead changed her look a little, and formed her own "Triad Of Terror", with magic users Kraklow and Yggardis in DC Comics Presents #77 and #78 (January and February, 1985 by Marv Wolfman and Curt Swan), and along with Rip Hunter's foe, worked with Sea Devils' villain, Mr. Poseidon (formerly known as Mr. Neptune), Challengers of the Unknown foe ULTIVAC, the Faceless Hunter From Saturn and obscure Superman/Batman foe, the Atom-Master (and don't worry more info on the Forgotten Villains will not be forgotten to come soon...).

The Enchantress returned to her usual outfit, and worked with DC magic users like the Wizard in Crisis On Infinite Earths #12 (March, 1986, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, and also featured many of the Forgotten Heroes, like Rip Hunter and Dolphin, along with Animal Man and more in space fighting Brainiac), and was soon after recruited by Amanda Waller to work for her Task Force X along side Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and Bronze Tiger during the Legends six issue mini-series of 1986 and 1987 (making her and Rick Flag teammates, after being on opposite sides before....).

Still have a few more Forgotten Heroes to cover, so don't forget to come back!