Thank You Very Much Says Elvis To Captain Marvel Jr

Elvis Presley was a big fan of comics, specifically, those of artist Mac Raboy, and the hero he drew in the 1940s, Captain Marvel, Jr., though it was likely the issues of the later 1940s, drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger, Joe Certa and Bud Thompson that were read by the King.


Elvis even based his hair style on that of his hero, and Elvis' outfits may even look a little like those of old superheroes as well!

In the 1990s, artist Alex Ross drew upon this fact when he did a series called Kingdom Come, dealing with grown up super-heroes, and turned a grown up Captain Marvel Jr into "King Marvel"...


...with Mary Marvel looking a little like Priscilla Presley, the King's wife, as "Lady Marvel"!

Elvis even had the members of his entourage, the Memphis Mafia, take this oath, and gave them jewelry with the TCB logo (TCB for Taking Care of Business, which also had a lightning bolt with it, and referred not only to Elvis' fondness for Cap. Jr., but to his own devotion to karate, being an 8th level black belt, and a bit of a sense of humor):

More self-respect, more respect for fellow man.
Respect for fellow students and instructors.
Respect for all styles and techniques.
Body conditioning, mental conditioning, meditation for calming and stilling of the mind and body.
Sharpen your skills, increase mental awareness, for all those that might choose a new outlook and personal philosophy.
Freedom from constipation.
TCB technique
All techniques into one.
Elvis Presley 8th
Applying all techniques into one.

The logo being invented by Elvis and Priscilla in the early 1970s, when Captain Marvel was enjoying a revival at DC Comics (bringing along Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. and the whole Marvel Family as well, all under the title of Shazam!).


Holy Moley and thank you very much!

Batman Annual 1 of 1961

DC's second Annual of reprints, Batman Annual #1 from the summer of 1961 was a collection of important Batman stories detailing how to be the Batman (in fact that was the title of one of the stories), with features reprinted mostly from Detective Comics (though one from Batman did make it in)...



...giving readers of the early 1960s an incredible look back at the 1950s adventures of Batman and Robin all under a cover by Curt Swan, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris.



Let's take a look at the tales contained here.....

Detective Comics #190

The Batman and Robin story of Detective Comics #190 (December, 1952) reprinted here teaches readers "How To Be The Batman", in a story by Bill Finger, Lew Schwartz and Stan Kaye (and an original cover by Win Mortimer, not included in the reprint....).



Batman and Robin face a foe that gave Batman amnesia, so Robin had to train Batman in being a crime-fighter (and recaps both his and Batman's origins in the process) as they work to capture the evil Dr. Sampson, and to restore the memories Batman and the other victims of the doctor!

Detective Comics #165

Next up, is the story of "The Strange Costumes Of Batman" from Detective Comics #165 (November, 1950) by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris (also under a Win Mortimer cover not fully included in the reprint).
 
This time around, Batman shows off how ready he is for any eventuality, with costumes designed for specific cases and crimes, such as an all-white costume for snow camouflage, a gold costume to face a man with the Midas touch, a glowing costume to prey on a criminal's superstition, a space suit so Batman could go into space, a compressible costume to allow Batman to hide it and go into action in prison, a scuba equipped costume to allow Batman to handle villains underwater, and a special, secret costume that they unveil in this issue to handle Dr. Robert Darcy!

Detective Comics #164

In DC's efforts to cover the Bat-Legend, Detective Comics #164 (October, 1950) by Lew Schwartz and Charles Paris (with no identified writer, all originally under a illuminating cover by Win Mortimer), readers are treated to the "Untold Tales Of The Bat-Signal".

 
City Editor Melton sends reporter Dave Purdy to see if there was a case where the Bat-Signal itself saved a life, and while talking to Commissioner Gordon, learns a little about the Bat-Signal, and becomes involved in a case with the Dynamic Duo, leading to the reporter getting the story he wanted, as well as being a part of his own story along with the Batman!

Detective Comics #205

"The Origin Of The Bat-Cave" was covered in Detective Comics #205 (March, 1954) by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris, under this cover by Win Mortimer (with the story being reprinted in the Annual).


This story doesn't quite match later accounts of Batman's origin, as it has an adult Bruce Wayne buying Wayne Manor, and finding the cave below (Bruce and his family usually had lived in the manor their whole lives in other origins), but this origin did have Batman and Robin travel back in time (using hypnosis from their friend, Prof. Carter Nichols) to the 1600s, where they meet Jeremy Coe, discovering his role in creating the Bat-Cave, as he saves settlers from attacking hordes of American Indians (and, Batman later has to substitute himself for the wounded Jeremy....).

Detective Comics #229

Originally titled "The 10,000 Secrets Of Batman" in Detective Comics #229 (March, 1956) by Dick Sprang and Charles Paris (with no identified writer, and a cover by Win Mortimer), this story was reprinted as "Batman's Electronic Crime-File".


Batman allowed a television crew into his Bat-Cave (something that would almost never happen later in Batman's career), and showed them his crime files (which, a criminal disguised as a crew member was able to steal).  Using the files, he was able to capture these criminals, (and one would hope be better at maintaining his own secrets, and the secrets of his extensive files in the future).

Detective Comics #221

When originally presented in Detective Comics #221 (July, 1955), this story was called "The Thousand-and-One Escapes Of Batman and Robin" (by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Stan Kaye, under a Win Mortimer cover), but the Annual saw it reprinted as the "Thrilling Escapes Of Batman and Robin" (likely some truth in advertising took affect here).



Batman and Robin get trapped by the King of Crime (Paul King), and relate stories of how they escaped from various traps other criminals put the Dynamic Duo in....all the while, getting ready to escape the most dynamic trap of all, one that the King himself had devised!

Batman #109

The only reprint from his own title in the first Annual was from Batman #109 (August, 1957), with Batman and Robin using "The 1,001 Inventions Of Batman", but the story by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris was re-titled "The Amazing Inventions Of Batman" for the Annual, as they didn't have quite 1001 in the story.

Batman and Robin use personal flying jets, a radar tracking Sleuth Machine, and a Flying Eye in the sky to catch criminals in Gotham (with the later two feeling very much like modern day drones.....).

Best of all, the first Batman Annual has been reprinted twice, in the Giant Batman Annual #1 Replica Edition of 1999, and in the DC Comics Library: The Batman Annuals #1 of 2009, including some special features not covered above....Batman's first seven Annuals (which actually came out from 1961 to 1964), collected old Batman stories from the 1950s (along with the Superman Annuals,         and Flash Annual)....paving the way for DC's 80 Page Giants!

More Secret Origins of 1965

It took a little while, and time for DC to publish a few annuals for characters like Superman, Batman and Flash, but DC established a line of 80 Page Giants starting in August, 1964, with the specific series lasting 15 issues on it's own, reprinting key stories from their heroes past...



...but half way through that, with 80 Page Giant #8 (March, 1965), under a cover by Murphy Anderson, readers were treated (by popular demand, yet again!) to More Secret Origins (following up from the 1961 Secret Origins reprint book), with stories on the Justice League of America, the Atom, Aquaman, Robin, Flash and Superman!

Justice League of America

"The Origin of the Justice League" first appeared in Justice League of America #9 (February, 1962) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, and featured the tale of how the original JLA formed, with Flash, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman each fighting a menace spawned from a meteor from Appellax), uniting at the site of a sixth meteor....and the team watching the team of Superman and Batman beat the seventh meteor!  Flash suggested they become a League, and later, the team added honorary member, Snapper Carr (in the JLA's first appearance in Brave and the Bold #28), as well as Green Arrow (joined in Justice League of America #4).....who had this tale told to them!  Of course, the Justice League would add more members...

The Atom

Such as physicist Ray Palmer, who in Showcase #34 (September-October, 1961) by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson was there for the "Birth Of The Atom".  Well, more accurately, became the Atom, as Ray had been experimenting with white dwarf star fragments, and found a way to minaturize objects with that material made into a reducing lens....except the items would explode soon after reaching small size.  Ray's fiancee, lawyer Jean Loring, took Ray out for a field trip with a group of kids to study a cave, but the group got trapped with a cave in, and only a small opening that no regular sized person could get out of.  Ray used the reducing lens to shrink himself down, enlarging the hole, and, thanks to some cave water that dripped on the lens, enlarged back to normal size when stepping under its beam.  The group was able to escape, and Ray later designed a suit that allowed him to shrink, being a small hero who was larger than life!

Aquaman

Charter member of the JLA, Aquaman, was born as Arthur Curry, with "How Aquaman Got His Powers" being revealed in Adventure Comics #260 (May, 1959) by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon (though Aquaman wasn't a cover feature of Adventure at the time).  Arthur was the son of a lighthouse keeper, Tom Curry, and an Atlantean queen, Atlanna, who met when she washed up near Tom's lighthouse.  The two married, and produced a son, Arthur, who could breathe underwater, and mentally speak to fish.  Aquaman relayed this story to a Navy sub commander who was about to perform atomic tests at the site of Atlantis.

Robin

We deal with the past of Robin in Batman #129 (February, 1960), and "The Man From Robin's Past" by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris.  Dick Grayson was the son of the Flying Graysons, an aerialist act at a circus targeted by racketeers, who sabotaged Dick's parents wires, so they would plummet to their deaths (as the Flying Graysons performed without a net).  This led to the acrobatic Dick to becoming a ward of Batman, and his partner, Robin.  Dick encountered Sando, the circus strongman at the time, and Batman and Robin helped him to get out of a jam as well (all as one of three stories in the original issue, including the cover featured tale of Batman, Robin and Batwoman facing off against the Spinner!).

Flash

The second story of Flash #128 (May, 1962) featured "The Origin of Flash's Masked Identity" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.  Barry Allen pondered the idea of if he could be the Flash without a mask (like his comic book hero, Jay Garrick).  But, in thinking it through, decided it would be better if the Flash kept his identity concealed, for the safety of those around him (but readers were subject to a little slight of hand, seeing Barry's daydream presented as a real story that happened between the pages of his full origin in Showcase #4....appropriate for an issue that also saw the debut of Flash's 64th Century magician foe, Abra Kadabra, where only Flash's costume appears on the cover!).

Superman

Young Kal-El was sent to Earth from dying Krypton by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, where he was found by the Kents in Smallville, raised as their own, finding his super powers as Superbaby, then using those powers to protect Smallville as Superboy, until his parents died, and Superboy grew up to be Superman, moving to Metropolis as mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent, working for the Daily Planet with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, while fighting for truth, justice and the American Way as Superman!  "The Story of Superman's Life" was told in Superman #146 (July, 1961) by Otto Bender and Al Plastino, adding details added later, such as his time as Superbaby (starting in Superboy #8), Superboy (starting with More Fun Comics #101), Krypto the Super-Dog (who first appeared in Adventure Comics #210), Lana Lang (who first appeared in Superboy #10) and Kryptonite.  This story with a cover by Curt Swan and Sheldon Moldoff also showed (unknowingly) the biggest difference between the Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermen, that on Earth-1, Clark had been Superboy before becoming Superman (making More Fun Comics #101 the first appearance of Earth-1, retroactively....but worry about that later, and just enjoy the origin!).

Superman was the feature of 80 Page Giant's #1, #6 and #11, Jimmy Olsen the feature of #2 and #13, Lois Lane headlined #3 and #14, Flash ran with #4 and #9, Batman swung in with #5 and #12, Sgt. Rock led with his prize battle tales in #7, Superboy flew into issue #10, and it was the world's finest team of Superman and Batman in #15...

...before the 80 Page Giants moved to take over issues of character's regular titles, lasting through 1969 (and 56 total issues at the end, eventually leading back to Annuals), all starting with the joy of the first Secret Origins stand alone reprint book, which this 80 Page Giant was reprinted along with, in DC Universe: Secret Origins in 2012, as well as having its own reprint with the More Secret Origins Replica Edition of 1999.

Have a Super New Year

Happy New Year...

...with this cover from Action Comics #81 (February, 1945), depicting Superman casting off the old year and welcoming the new on a cover by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye!

Secret Origins of 1961

Technically, the secret origins reprinted in the Secret Origins collection of Summer, 1961 happened before that date.


It was a super collection of the most soft after stories ever published.....the issue even tells you that, as you can see on this incredible cover with figures of the heroes taken from the interior stories.


It was also right!



Take a look at what was reprinted here.....

Superman-Batman Team

Superman and Batman had been working together regularly since World's Finest Comics #71, but the start of their regular team-ups came with World's Finest Comics #94 (May-June, 1958), and "The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team" by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Stan Kaye (with Robin being there as well...).  Superman brings in Powerman to replace Batman and Robin in a hunt for Lex Luthor...causing the dynamic duo to reflect on their first meeting, when Batman and Robin had to work to save Superman from Kryptonite wielding gangsters (and Superman was concerned for the safety of the all too human Batman and Robin).  Of course....why wasn't Superman worried about the safety of his new partner, Powerman?

Adam Strange

Adam Strange was an archeologist, escaping some angry Incas in the Peruvian Plateau, when he was hit by a Zeta Beam from the planet Rann, teleported 25 trillion miles to that planet, where he met the lovely Alanna, and her father, Sardath (who invented the Zeta Beam).  Along the way, Adam and Alanna had to solve the "Secret Of The Eternal City" in the first story of Showcase #17 (November-December, 1958) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Frank Giacoia.  Alanna taught Adam the Rannian language with a Menticizer, and the duo was able to outfit their foes with some human common sense.  Adam went back to Earth as his Zeta Beam charge faded, but he kept looking for more Zeta Beams to get back to his beloved Alanna (getting a red spacesuit, jet pack and raygun soon to help in his adventures on other worlds!).

Green Lantern

Though Hal Jordan first appeared in Showcase #22 as Green Lantern, his origin (with alien Abin Sur passing on his Power Ring and Battery) was recapped in Green Lantern #1 (July-August, 1960) in "The Planet Of The Doomed Men" by John Broome, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.  This issue also introduced the Guardians of the Universe, the little blue men in charge of the Green Lantern Corps (a group of interstellar police that maintained order in 3600 sectors of the galaxy, using their green Power Rings and the force of their will to prevent evil from becoming a dominating force....).  This story also featured Hal's battle against the Dryg, a giant, ape-like alien, and how he had to use his will and a little science to defeat the creature.

Challengers Of The Unknown

Four men (pilot Ace Morgan, boxer Rocky Davis, scuba diver Prof. Haley and acrobat Red Ryan) were on plane flight to a TV Show called "Heroes" that mysteriously crashed, with the four men surviving, deciding to use their borrowed time (and combined skills) to become the Challengers of the Unknown in a flashback in Showcase #6 (January-February, 1957) by Dave Wood and Jack Kirby.  Sadly, only the first 6 pages of this story are reprinted here, but at least it gives readers the idea of the start of the Challs; you see only the beginnings of their meeting with the mysterious Mr. Morelian, but don't feel lost....they did deal with his magic and open the hatch to his box!

Green Arrow and Speedy

Green Arrow and Speedy got even less than the Challs, getting a text page to summarize their origins, with Oliver Queen's time on the island from Adventure Comics #256 (January, 1959) by France Herron, Jack Kirby and Roz Kirby, and Roy Harper becoming Green Arrow's ward as his guardian, Brave Bow, prepared for his end in Adventure Comics #262 (July, 1959) by Robert Bernstein and Lee Elias.  Green Arrow's full origin of "The Green Arrow's First Case" has been reprinted a few times (in the Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes of 1976 and in the Green Arrow by Jack Kirby collection of 2002), but poor Roy has only seen his origin ("The World's Worst Archer") reprinted once in color and in full size, in World's Finest Comics #188 (October-November, 1969).

Wonder Woman

The "Secret Origin Of Wonder Woman" came from Wonder Woman #105 (April, 1959) by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, dealing the days of Diana's youth, how she got the powers of the gods (beauty from Aphrodite, wisdom from Athena, speed from Mercury, and strength from Hercules) , growing up from being Wonder Girl and the foundation of Paradise Island.  This was the origin of the Earth-1 Wonder Woman (the Wonder Woman who joined the Justice League of America, along with many of the other heroes whose origins are featured here...though it took a while for the concept of Earth-1 to be introduced; Wonder Woman got her origin retold often, with small details regularly added into the basic story; the adventures of Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman as a girl, is one of the things that spun out of this story).

Martian Manhunter

"The Strange Experiment Of Dr. Erdel", a robot brain that accidentally worked as a teleportation machine, bringing a Manhunter from Mars, J'onn J'onzz, to Earth in Detective Comics #225 (November, 1955) by Joe Samachson and Joe Certa.  Sadly, the scientist said it would take years to reprogram the machine to teleport him back, and died of an apparent heart attack at meeting the large, green man with the ability to change his looks (among other powers like invisibility, telepathy, flight, strength....and a terrible weakness to fire).  J'onn kept his Martian abilities a secret for a long time, working to solve crimes disguised as a human detective, John Jones, before events conspired to put his Martian side in full view of humans (and the lonely alien to help found the Justice League of America).

Flash

With a shock from the sky, readers were drawn in to the "Mystery Of The Human Thunderbolt" in Showcase #4 (September-October, 1956 by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert), watching police scientist, Barry Allen, getting hit by a bolt of lightning in his lab, being doused in the electrified chemicals, and gaining super-speed, which he used to become a living version of his comic book hero, the Flash!  Barry used his speed to save the life of his friend, reporter Iris West, and defeat the Turtle...showing that the Fastest Man Alive can beat the Slowest Man Alive.  Barry's appearance helped to kick off the Silver Age, which eventually led to the formation of the Justice League of America (and the concepts of Earth-1 and Earth-2, where the Flash, Jay Garrick, that Barry read about in comics was a real hero, working with the Justice Society of America).

Best of all, there is a reprint of this entire special issue that was issued in a replica edition in 1998, then collected with other DC Universe Secret Origins (which we'll delve into later, including Superman, Aquaman, Atom, Hawkman, Kid Flash, Enchantress, Spectre and more) into a hardcover in 2012, and a softcover in 2013, with the classic cover using images from the stories above touched up by Jerry Ordway...

.....giving you plenty of opportunities to read these beginnings of your favorite heroes!

Happy Birthday Stan Lee

Stan Lee, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man and Thor (with Jack Kirby) and Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (with Steve Ditko) is celebrating a birthday today!

Celebrate Stan with this classic...the Marvel Fumetti Book from April, 1984.

Along with Stan on the cover is the Marvel Bullpen of the day, including Chris Claremont, Walter Simonson, John Byrne, Jim Shooter, Denny O'Neill, Paul Smith, Dave Cockrum, Bill Mantlo, Al Milgrom, Mark Gruenwald, Terry Austin...along with Spider-Man and the Hulk, with letters by Tom Orzechowski!

Elliot R. Brown provided photos for some of the stories, as did Vince Colletta, with writers Mike Carlin and Joe Albelo (and an uncredited Peter David as ?), and art (and "special effects" on the photos by Art Adams and Bill Sienkiewicz, and art in places by Terry Austin.

It's a light-hearted look at how comics were made in the mid-1980s.  Check it out if you can!

Excelsior....and thanks to Stan for that as well! 

A Crazy Christmas

From October, 1973 to April, 1983, Marvel was Crazy!


That is, they made a humor magazine, similar to Mad and Cracked, that featured light humor and spoofs....


...such as these Christmas covers!

Crazy #16 (March, 1976)...

...features the Nebbish, tying up Santa Claus with his Christmas list, in this cover layout by Marie Severin and art by Nick Cardy.

Crazy #59 (February, 1980)....

...has an angry Santa, and well he should be angry, as no artist name has been able to be found on the internet!


Have a ho-ho-ho holiday, and Merry Christmas!