It’s surprising — and definitely a miss — that only a few “Christmas” superhero stories have had made much impact in the comic book format.
But of the ones that do exist, Batman’s “Silent Night, Deadly Night” (Denny O’Neil) is one of the key holiday classics for Silver Age/ Bronze Age fans.
I’m not sure I had ever seen an original page from this story prior to acquiring this one, a few short weeks ago. None have ever been offered by Heritage Auctions for sale, and their database is a reasonable bellwether for historical availability, at least in this century.
Did I wildly overpay? Probably. Did I pay the right price? Possibly. Do I want to get into a bidding war with someone else who wants this page and find out?
Nope.
And that, my friends, is how you have unexpectedly large bill come due during holiday season.
Great page, legendary story, and the sweet spot of my superhero comic book reading era.
There was nothing I could do.
Welcome to Day 11 of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.
Oddly, you can only find this classic story in two reprints beyond the original — this 1974 DC treasury, and the sixth and final volume of DC’s Batman Showcase black and white reprint series.
Action Comics #422, March 1973(Human Target back-up feature)
Here’s a terrific Dick Giordano action page from the origin story of the Human Target, published shortly after the character’s introduction in a back-up feature in Action Comics 50 years ago.
And although uncredited, I’m pretty sure I see some light ghosting from Dick’s pal, Neal Adams, in a few places along the way.
Regardless, it is yet another example of a DC Bronze-age series that remained uncollected for decades. After three (!) TV iterations of the character, you would think our friend Christopher Chance deserved a TPB. But, finally in 2019, the complete early stories appeared in a best of Len Wein collection. (Len wrote all the original stories.)
Welcome to Day Six of the 12 DC Days of DeCember.
In case you were curious about copies printed and copies sold back in the day…The early Human Target stories are finally assembledin this 2019 collection, although you wouldn’t know from the (great ) Jim Starlin cover.
Late April is the time of year when we are typically revved up and ready for the upcoming summer movie blockbuster season.
Definitely not this year. June perhaps? (Fingers crossed, and all that.)
So here at the blog this week, we present the big blockbusters you will never see on the big screen anyway — crossovers featuring the Incredible Hulk with characters from other universes, starting with…
…Hulk vs. Batman.
This was the second character crossover between Marvel and DC, following the successful pairings of Spider-man and Superman a few years prior. At the time Superman was DC”s most important and recognizable character worldwide, so despite the power inequity, that original pairing made commercial sense. Of course, Batman vs. Spider-man is a fairer fight.
And Hulk vs. Superman? That seems fairer — More on that later.
Meanwhile, despite the improbability of the match-up, Jose Garcia Lopez presents a master class in comic book storytelling in 48 pages.
It’s an astonishing piece of work, by an artist’s artist. Both visual imagination and draftsmanship are superb here. Many of the pages are top of class, and very few are anything less than terrific.
I prefer Lopez inking himself, but Giordano does a terrific job, and despite the mismatch of powers, it’s a fun ride.
But seriously, Batman “vs.” Hulk? (Eventually, of course, as illustrated here, they team up.) It may have been a fun ride, but realistically, it should have been a very short one.
Mattel’s introduction of Hot Wheels in 1968 brought the 60s Cultural Revolution into miniature toy cars.
I had casually collected matchbox cars previously, and enjoyed them, but Hot Wheels’ souped up designs and colors were game changers. I couldn’t get enough.
And those crazy bright orange track sets and accessories? Near the top of my list for Hanukah 1969 and 1970, if I recall correctly.
DC jumped into the Hot Wheels business with a short-lived (six issues) licensed comic book series based on the animated TV series. Alex Toth, who knew both comics and cars well, and had developed the look and feel of the TV series, drew many of the stories.
I’ve tried for years to collect those six issues into a deluxe hardcover. In fact, I’ve had multiple meetings with senior execs at Mattel who all agree that it absolutely should be collected. Then, when push comes to shove, a contract never appears. My theory, and it’s based on similar situations, is that no one wants to take responsibility for the legal time and money spent on a project that ultimately doesn’t have much revenue potential in the scheme of things.
Sigh. Alex Toth’s art should never, ever remain in limbo.
Hot Wheels advertising dominated nearly all comic book publishing in the late 60s and early 70s.
Here’s a splashy Neal Adams page from his fourth overall Batman story.
As always, Neal’s facial emotions are spot on. I love Bork’s smug face, Commissioner Gordon’s shocked expression, and Batman’s frustration with the entire situation. The body language on all the characters on the page also adds drama to the storytelling.
Vince Colletta was the first inker on the story, and Neal wasn’t happy with the results so he and Dick Giordano re-inked some of it. You can see some corrections on this page, and others in the story, when viewing scans of the original art.
Neal Adams Batman from the Silver Age — Definitely pleased to own this one.
Sometimes the stars and planets line up harmoniously.
Case in point: Jerry Ordway on Shazam, who managed to keep the spirit of the original Captain Marvel intact, while making the character more relatable to contemporary late 20th century audiences. Not an easy feat.
Ordway launched the Captain Marvel “reboot” with a brilliant Graphic Novel in 1994 that he wrote drew and colored entirely himself. Shortly thereafter, Ordway wrote a new ongoing series, the Power of Shazam, and then drew a few stories at the end of its run five years later.
This brilliant splash page is from the first issue that he penciled, and is inked lovingly by the late, great Dick Giordano. It’s a textbook example of storytelling and composition, and it’s contrasting use of light and dark brings the entire scene together in an extraordinary way.
I love the use of the art deco design on the movie theater as well. The “7 Arts” name is likely an easter egg. Seven Arts acquired Warner Brothers in 1967, setting up the initial steps that led to the Warner / DC conglomerate that exists today.
Every once in a while we have to remind ourselves that nearly all art is essentially an illusion — three dimensional narrative on a two dimensional plane. This illusion? Pretty great.
Fun fact: With few exceptions, Jerry keeps his published art, so pretty much the only way to acquire something he’s created is from his collaborator — if there is one. That makes acquiring such a cool page even more challenging.
The original graphic novel, that captured the spirit of Captain Marvel for a contemporary audience.
As a marketing gimmick for Blackest Night in 2009, DC brought back Ordway’s Shazam (and a handful of others) for one “final” issue. Above, Ordway’s original black and white in washtones, color and final with trade dress.
Today is the 100th birthday of the late, great Curt Swan, one of DC’s all-time storytellers. And while the internet is blowing up with great Swan Superman images, (and there are literally thousands of those) let’s instead pull this splash out of left field. (Ouch, wrong sport.)
It’s a Hall of Fame page from this fun 70s series, with story by Frank Robbins, inks by Dick Giordano and the whole shebang edited by Julie Schwartz.
Merlin? King Arthur? Knights playing football against contemporary players? Somehow the whole thing made perfect sense — to me, at least.
Thanks for all the magic Curt — here and everywhere else.
Captain Atom # 89 (1967), Re-creation By Frank McLaughlin, 2012
Concluding our series on the roots of the Watchmen characters.
Charlton’s haphazard and often erratic publishing strategy certainly didn’t help sustain its line of superheroes. (Or “Action Heroes,” since technically, superhero is a joint trademark of Marvel and DC. But I digress.) Captain Atom #89 is the final issue of that series, and within a year all of the (mostly short-lived) action heroes were toast.
They wouldn’t return until about seven years later, when Charlton deciphered the burgeoning fan market. The company endorsed the superhero-themed Charlton Bulletin in 1975, a fanzine that included among other things, Steve Ditko’s unpublished penciled story for the cancelled Captain Atom #90. They asked a young Charlton freelancer by the name of John Byrne to ink it.
Byrne is among many talents with early careers at Charlton. Others include Dick Giordano, Jose Garcia Lopez, Jim Aparo, Bob Layton, Denny O’Neill, and Mike Zeck, Also on that list: Inker (and Charlton Art Director) Frank McLaughlin, who inked Ditko’s original #89 cover and re-created this version above.
As for Captain Atom? DC purchased him and the rest of the Charlton superheroes from the financially struggling Charlton in 1983, and they made their first DC appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). Since then, he (and the rest of the gang) ultimately lived on in the pages of DC, of course, which was the point of Editor Dick Giordano not letting Alan Moore use those exact characters for Watchmen.
Alan, as we have discussed, was not deterred, and created his own versions of the characters.
Ironic, since those original Charlton characters could barely raise an eyebrow, and yet we are still talking about Moore’s Watchmen today.
The original and published art for Captain Atom #89. Frank’s red-do is faithful, but makes a few changes.
The first and last pages of Steve Ditko’s Blue Beetle re-do, from a backup story in captain Atom Atom #83.
The introduction of Nightshade. 1966 or not, the handling of the character earns an “ouch.”
Thunderbolt makes an entrance, and exits a short time later. He precedes the re-dos of Captain Atom and Blue Beetle in 1965. (And he takes over the Son of Vulcan title, who is never truly considered part of the Charlton main superhero universe.)Meanwhile, the rights reverted back to creator Peter Morisi, and Thunderbolt now has a home at Dynamite Publishing, where he feels a lot like… Ozymandias.
The Peacemaker steps up and Captain Atom celebrates his new uniform and power abilities. And The Question makes his final appearance in Blue Beetle #5 (1968), which inexplicably appears on the newsstand nearly a year after issue # 4.
Final tally Watchman —
Nite Owl 2 – Blue Beetle 2 Silk Spectre 2 – Phantom Lady/Black Canary/Nightshade Comedian – Peacemaker/Shield Dr. Manhattan – Captain Atom Rorschach – The Question Ozymandias – Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt
