Strange Adventures In The Cold

As it gets colder, it is hard to image it getting worse, but it could.

In Strange Adventures #149 (February, 1963), scientist Bill Travis had to fend off an invasion from another dimension that was going to extinguish our sun in the story of "Raid Of The Rogue Star" by Gardner Fox and Sid Greene, under a Murphy Anderson cover. 

This tale was so warm, DC reprinted it in From Beyond The Unknown #21 (February-March, 1973), this time with Nick Cardy providing the cover of Earth's chilly doom.

Doesn't that make you feel warmer?

Secret Origins 1 of 1973

To be fair, the title was Secret Origins, and boy did it deliver.

With issue #1 from February-March, 1973, you got the origins of Superman, Batman and the Flash, as well as the first story of Gentleman Ghost (but, to be fair, no origin at the time for the supernatural foe of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl).

All this under a beautiful cover by Nick Cardy, and edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Where did these tales come from, and how did they fit them all in one normal sized issue?

Well....

Superman

The origin of Superman was first up, and it was all of one page from Action Comics #1 (June, 1938) by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, detailing how a boy rocketed from a dying alien planet to land on Earth, where he possessed powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, and would use them to fight the forces of evil...

....pretty straight forward and simple, and the first time this story had been seen in its original form in over 30 years!

So much more would later be added to this story, but everything you needed to know was on that page, even an explanation of how this man from another planet had super powers!

 

Batman

A little longer was the origin of Batman, detailing how young Bruce Wayne's parents were killed by a mugger, and that changed the boy's life, filling full of resolve, giving the rich young man an obsession to track down criminals, striking fear in their hearts by being dressed as...

...a bat!

This was two pages, the first two from Detective Comics #33 (November, 1939) by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.

Another origin that had so much added to it over the decades, but a strongly written and drawn beginning, sure to capture the imaginations of readers for years to come, as later telling of Batman's origins proved!

Gentleman Ghost

Now, the Ghost (later called Gentleman Ghost) didn't really get in origin in this tale from Flash Comics #88 (October, 1947) by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, but instead started a mystery of whether or not this thief really was a ghost, as he faced off against the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl (though this cover was not the one they usually alternated with the Golden Age Flash), so likely this tale's reprint was included more at the behest of this book's editor, E. Nelson Bridwell (who was also working on a book called Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains at the time, which reprinted classic confrontations of heroes and their greatest foes.....).

Still, it took quite some time, and a bit of travel over multiple Earths, but readers did get an answer to whether Jim Craddock was really a ghost (and, along the way, he even got to act the hero for a time!).

Flash

It was the origin of the Silver Age Flash which ended this book, though Barry Allen did read the adventures of Flash (Jay Garrick) from the Golden Age, with Barry's first appearance as the Scarlet Speedster from Showcase #4 (September-October, 1956) by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert.  This details how police scientist Barry Allen was struck by lightning in front of a batch of chemicals, which gave the man super speed, which he used to keep his fiance, reporter Iris West safe, and, in this story, defeat the Turtle Man.

Best of all, editor E. Nelson Bridwell summed up a little of the additions to Superman and Batman's origins, as well as giving a little detail on Gentleman Ghost and the Flash, starting what would be a seven issue run of issues giving the origins of DC's greatest heroes (along with covers by Nick Cardy, where he would sometimes summarize the origin in one iconic image), all to get you excited about reading reprints (as had been done when DC collected many origins in 1961 in that Secret Origins book).

As a reader, who could ask for more?  Like Supergirl, Spectre or Robin maybe?

Happy New Year From Wonder Woman And Cheetah

Happy New Year, though Wonder Woman and Cheetah are bringing in 1977 instead, with this shot from January in the 1977 Super DC Calendar by Jose Delbo and Vince Colletta...

....with Wonder Woman putting the drop on Cheetah!

Happy New Years Eve Batman

You are suppose to countdown to the ball drop with your loved one, but instead...

...Batman faces the Joker on New Year's Eve in Batman: The Long Halloween #4 (March, 1997), of a 13 issue mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, while also trying to stop the Holiday Killer.

Happy Birthday to Stan Lee

Stan Lee's contributions to Marvel Comics are many, but one of the biggest of the them all was the "No Prize" idea.


Stan started by just getting readers to write in, promising no prizes for his contests, thus insuring there would be no losers. 

But, as letters to Stan increased, including in those letters were fans asking where their prizes were! 

Then, it changed into getting a "No Prize" for writing in to spot errors in the books (and offering explanations), which you would be credited for in the letters' pages....but again, NO PRIZE.

This still got the Marvel Bullpen letters, asking where their prize was...which resulted in the "No Prize" envelopes, sent to the readers who had sent in what they had noticed (and this caused more problems, as fans would write back, saying their prize fell out of the envelope....).

This even resulted in the Official Marvel No-Prize Book, which they published in January 1983, with a framing sequence by Jim Owsley, Roger Stern and Steven Grant, with art by Bob Camp and Vince Colletta (and a cover by Michael Golden), and various Marvel Comics mistakes and explanations inside in "Lest We Should Goof...!", back in a time when readers could take comics a little less seriously, and wish Stan Lee a happy birthday today!

A Celebration Of The JSA, Green Lantern, Catwoman And Luthor

With this, the last week of the year, yet another chance to look back at collections of stories of your favorite DC heroes....

...with a focus on long lasting teams, heroes, and even a couple of villains, with the four DC Celebration anthologies of Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years, Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years, Catwoman: A Celebration of 75 Years and Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years....

...gathering heroes, expanding into space, and featuring a pair of fearsome foes that have bedeviled the heroes for decades!

Justice Society Of America

The first gathering of DC heroes happened in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter, 1941) by writer Gardner Fox and artists Everett Hibbard, Sheldon Moldoff, Bernard Bailey, Sheldon Mayer, Chad Grothkopf, Howard Sherman, Ben Finton and Mart Nodell, with a meeting of the members of the Justice Society Of America, though, that story did not find its way into this collection of the JSA that came out in July, 2015.

Issues reprinted:
All-Star Comics #4 (March-April, 1941) "For America And Democracy!"
All-Star Comics #37 (October-November, 1947) "The Injustice Society Of The World!"
All-Star Comics #55 (October-November, 1950) "The Man Who Conquered The Solar System"
Justice League of America #21 (August, 1963) "Crisis On Earth-One!"
Justice League of America #22 (September, 1963) "Crisis On Earth-Two"
Justice League of America #30 (September, 1964) "The Most Dangerous Earth Of All" 
Justice League of America #47 (September, 1966) "The Bridge Between Earths!"
Justice League of America #82 (August, 1970) "Peril Of The Paired Planets" 
Justice League of America #83 (September, 1970) "Where Valor Fails...Will Magic Triumph?"
Adventure Comics #466 (November-December, 1979) "The Defeat Of The Justice Society!"
Justice League of America #193 (August, 1981) "All-Star Squadron" 
All-Star Squadron #67 (March, 1987) "The First Case Of The Justice Society Of America"

Justice Society Of America #10 (May, 1993) "JSA No More?"
JSA Returns: All-Star Comics #2 (Late May, 1999) "The JSA Returns, Conclusion: Time's Arrow"
JSA #25 (August, 2001) "The Return Of Hawkman: Seven Devils"
Justice Society of America #10 (December, 2007) "What A Wonderful World"
Earth-2 #6 (January, 2013) "End Times"

A truly epic collection, gathering a few important tales of the Golden Age (though not the first, though that was just a meeting and retelling of individual tales, not the JSA's first case), as well as the first Injustice Society of the World's appearance, and the first Crisis (JLA/JSA team-ups, sadly with a couple and only their second half), a lot of retroactive continuity (detailing the JSA's first ending, and the World War II super-group, the All-Star Squadron, as well as a meeting of the JSA and a few extras), as well as tales taking the JSA into the modern day.

Green Lantern

Green Lantern made his first Golden Age appearance in All-American Comics #16 by Bill Finger and Mart Nodell, but the focus of this collection that came out in October, 2015 was on the second Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, as well as those who followed him into the emerald ranks, with Hal making his first appearance in Showcase #22 by John Broome, Gil Kane and Joe Giella.

Issues reprinted: 
All-American Comics #16 (July, 1940) [Introducing Green Lantern]
Comic Cavalcade #6 (Spring, 1944) "They Are Invincible"
Green Lantern #30 (February-March, 1948) "The Saga Of Streak"
Showcase #22 (September-October, 1959) "S.O.S. Green Lantern"
Green Lantern #7 (July-August, 1961) "The Day 100,000 People Vanished"
Green Lantern #11 (March, 1962) "The Strange Trial Of Green Lantern"
Green Lantern #16 (October, 1962) "The Secret Life Of Star Sapphire"
Green Lantern #40 (October, 1965) "The Secret Origin Of The Guardians"
Green Lantern #59 (March, 1968) "Earth's Other Green Lantern"
Green Lantern #76 (April, 1970) "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight"
Green Lantern #87 (December-January, 1971/1972) "Beware My Power"
Flash #237 (November, 1975) "Let There Be Darkness"
Flash #238 (December, 1975) "The Day Of The Falling Sky"
Flash #240 (March, 1976) "The Floods Will Come"
Green Lantern #188 (May, 1985) "Decent Exposure"

Justice League #1 (May, 1987) "Born Again"
Green Lantern #50 (March, 1994) "Emerald Twilight Part Three: The Future"
Green Lantern #51 (May, 1994) "Changing Of The Guard"
Green Lantern/Green Lantern #1 (October, 2000) "Against The Dying Of The Light"
Green Lantern: Rebirth #1 (December, 2004) "Blackest Night"
Green Lantern Secret Files And Origins 2005 #1 (June, 2005) "Flight"
Green Lantern #0 (November, 2012) "The New Normal"

A galaxy of tales shrunk to fit in one volume, with the first appearances of Green Lanterns Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and John Stewart, as well as villains Sinestro, Star Sapphire and Krona, as well as appearances by the Green Lantern Corps and Kyle Rayner, and even New 52's Simon Baz, and the origins of the DC Universe and the Guardians of the Universe as well.  Epic!

Catwoman

Catwoman has been bedeviling Batman since Batman #1 (by Bill Finger and Bob Kane), but Selina Kyle was so much more than a femme fatale with a feline fetish, she developed into a foe for many, as well as befriending other heroes and villains, and becoming the love of Batman's life, as detailed here in this collection of stories from November, 2015.

Issues reprinted: 
Batman #1 (Spring, 1940) [The Cat]
Batman #3 (Fall, 1940) "The Batman vs. The Cat-Woman"
Batman #65 (June-July, 1951) "Catwoman -- Empress Of The Underworld"
Batman #69 (February-March, 1952) "The King Of Cats"
Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #70 (November, 1966) "The Catwoman's Black Magic!"
Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #71 (January, 1967) "Bad Luck For A Black Super-Cat!"
Wonder Woman #201 (July-August, 1972) "The Fist Of Flame"
Wonder Woman #202 (September-October, 1972) "Fangs Of Fire"
DC Super-Stars #17 (November-December, 1977) "From Each Ending...A Beginning!"
Batman #323 (May, 1980) "Shadow Of The Cat!"
Batman #324 (June, 1980) "The Cat Who Would Be King!"
Brave And The Bold #197 (April, 1983) "The Autobiography Of Bruce Wayne!"

Catwoman #1 (February, 1989) "Metamorphosis"
Catwoman #28 (January, 1996) "Larceny Loves Company"
Solo #1 (December, 2004) "Date Knight"
Catwoman #20 (August, 2003) "Other Cats"
Catwoman #52 (April, 2006) "Backward Masking"
Gotham City Sirens #1 (August, 2009) "Union"
Catwoman #35 (December, 2014) "Comfort To The Hunt Of The King"
Batman '66 #5 (January, 2014) "Tail Of The Tiger Topaz"
Batman: Gotham Adventures #4 (September, 1998) "Claws"

Catwoman has an odd collection, being a villain, then supporting character for Batman (though popping up in issues of Lois Lane and Wonder Woman), having an alternate Earth marriage to Batman (with a daughter, no less), while slowly developing as a character herself, getting her own mini-series, then multiple titles of her own, or some shared with fellow Bat-villains like Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, Catwoman is truly a diamond taken from its owner to shine well on its own.

Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor had been a thorn in the side of Superman for longer than both of them would like, starting with their original first meeting as shown in Action Comics #23 by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and Paul Cassidy, and from then on, it was brains versus brawn, as shown in this collection of tales from December, 2015.

Issues reprinted:
Action Comics #23 (April, 1940) [Europe At War, Part 2]
Superman #4 (Spring, 1940) [The Challenge Of Luthor]
Superman #17 (July-August, 1942) "When Titans Clash"
World's Finest Comics #59 (July-August, 1952) "Superman's Super Hold-Up"
World's Finest Comics #88 (May-June, 1957) "Superman And Batman's Greatest Foes"
Adventure Comics #271 (April, 1960) "How Luthor Met Superboy!"
Action Comics #277 (June, 1961) "The Conquest Of Superman"
Superman #164 (October, 1963) "The Showdown Between Luthor And Superman"
Superman #248 (February, 1972) "The Man Who Murdered Earth"
Action Comics #544 (June, 1983) "Luthor Unleashed"
Superman #416 (February, 1986) "The Einstein Connection"

Superman #2 (February, 1987) "The Secret Revealed"
Superman #9 (September, 1987) "Metropolis - 900 Miles"
Action Comics #678 (June, 1992) "Talking Heads"
JLA #11 (October, 1997) "Hostile Takeover"
President Luthor: Secret Files And Origins #1 (March, 2001) "The Why"
Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel #3 (July, 2005) "Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel Part 3"
All-Star Superman #5 (September, 2006) "The Gospel According To Lex Luthor"
Action Comics #894 (December, 2010) "The Black Ring Part 5"
Justice League #31 (August, 2014) "Injustice League Part 2: Power Players"

Whether he was a dictator, scientist, Smallville student, Metropolis businessman or even United States President, Luthor saw himself as a hero, fighting off Superman...and that's a good portion of what this collection presents Luthor as, as some of his best stories over the years was with Lex trying to do good (though usually for himself), but either being foiled by Superman, or something more powerful, his own ego.  As much as the collection of Superman stories didn't hit home, this one of his arch-nemesis did.

There's still a few left, collections of Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Batgirl and Harley Quinn, as well as the Spirit and Wildstorm which DC Comics collected when they had the rights to do so....but, those might wait until well into next year.

Merry Christmas From Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman

A Merry Christmas to all, with this classic Golden Age cover from Comic Cavalcade #5 (Winter, 1943), by Frank Harry....


...with Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman celebrating the holiday with Santa Claus.


May yours be merry as well.