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As the 70's ground relentlessly on, and sunny post-60's idealism gave way -- in the wake of Vietnam, Watergate and disco -- to a growing sense of fatalistic resignation, DC likewise took a creative "turn" at the behest of their readership.
Whereas, before, Relevance and "involvement" had been the storytelling order of the day... now the readers were demanding escapism on a grand scale.
Horror; fantasy; science fiction -- anything, really... just so long as it was approximately a million miles away from here.
Comics storytelling legend Jack "King" Kirby -- recently emigrated from the now-stifling creative confines of Marvel -- led the way (as usual) with a troika of newly-minted titles (and one "revamped" one), all operating under the umbrella cognomen of: "Jack Kirby's Fourth World." Chief among these was the groundbreaking NEW GODS [see accompanying cover].
Along with "sister" titles THE FOREVER PEOPLE; MISTER MIRACLE; and (believe it or not) JIMMY OLSEN, Kirby's NEW GODS explicated the continuing cosmic saga of an entire race of otherworldly beings, so far above humanity of the evolutionary ladder as to seem like virtual "gods" to the uncomprehending and/or the uninitiated. Said "race" was divided, roughly speaking, into two perpetually warring "camps": the gentle, peace-loving residents of "New Genesis," and the nightmarish, power-enslaved denizens of "Apokolips." (Nomenclature, it must be admitted, was never the good Mr. Kirby's strongest trump.)
That one minor cavil aside, however: the "Fourth World" series entire was nothing short of breathtaking, both in scope and execution. The NEW GODS issues have only just now (as of this writing) been reprinted in a handsome trade paperback volume, and are -- quite simply -- Required Reading for anyone seriously interested in the artform.
On a more fantastic (read: supernatural) level,
Mr. Kirby also offered the readers a glimpse into the world of the mystic
with the equally brilliant series THE DEMON. [see cover, below.]
The DEMON series (an especial favorite of mine, I must confess; hence, the extra-large cover reproduction.) (Hey... it's my site; you want pics of Gambit and Rogue... you're loitering at the wrong bus stop, buttercup.) chronicled the grisly adventures of one "Jason Blood" -- an immortal man whose sole and specified function (as per the ancient wizard Merlin) was to serve as the flesh-and-blood "cage" for one of Hell's vilest scourges: the cunning and remorseless demon known as "Etrigan."
Blood's ongoing attempts to find some way -- be it
sorcerous, scientific or what-have-you -- to rid himself of this most unwelcome
interior "house guest" were the batteries powering this particularly clever
and engaging little conceit of a series; the Demon's attempts to thwart
Blood's plottings (since being "divorced" from Blood would result in Etrigan's
being forced to return, summarily, to Hell; and -- hence -- away from
the continual amusements afforded by making Blood's life an ongoing misery)
were the extra "kick" which lifted the title from the ranks of the ordinary
and into the stratospheric climes of the truly exceptional.
(Yup; another big DEMON pic. Fond memories of the wholly self-absorbed Etrigan have inspired me, I tell you -- !!)
However: THE DEMON was not the best supernatural series DC put out during the 70's. Those honors, instead, went to one of the most gorgeous and baroque books of the day: a nifty little series entitled SWAMP THING.
The title
character was (at least, in the initial telling of the tale) a former research
bio-chemist by the name of "Alec Holland," who -- while Mucking About In Those
Affairs Best Left To God (Or Whomever) -- managed to get himself transformed
into a king-sized and ambulatory pile of peat moss.
(His fetching and winsome young wife -- in the very same
story -- was murdered by a brutish trio of industrial espionage types, as
well. So -- all things being equal -- it really was a Bad Day
At Black Rock for our hero, wasn't it...?)
In any event: roaming the world in search of the shadowy, mysterious figure who'd ordered his mate's death and (inadvertently) turned him into a chia pet with an attitude, the Swamp Thing shambled his way through a series of moody and evocative tales, all lovingly rendered in a damp, dank style that promptly catapaulted a young Berni Wrightson to the frontmost ranks of comics artist superstardom.
A word about the stories, themselves: writer Len Wein -- wisely, I think -- chose (whether consciously or otherwise; it makes little difference in the long run) to have his moss-encrusted protagonist encounter and confront nemeses reflecting various and sundry of the classic Jungian horror "archetypes": the Vampire (the parasitic "Anton Arcane," in issue #2, who wishes to drain the Swamp Thing of his very identity); the Frankenstein's Monster (the "Patchwork Man," in issue #3); the Werewolf; the Witch; and so on, and so forth. This lent a dreamy, "timeless" aspect to the stories, which effected much in their favor.
As I stated: whether the choice was a canny or a lucky one... so long as
the end results work -- Who Cares? 
Finally: I can't let this discussion of classic DC titles of the 70's end without at least a brief mention of one of the all-time quirkiest "heroes" of them all: the (reluctant) Western adventurer known as "Bat Lash."
Barton A. Lash was a calculated refutation of everylast "western hero" cliche relentlessly popularized in both the comics and the films, up to that point: delicately (almost effeminately, really) "pretty"; an obsessive fixation with maintaining a dandy-ish "fop" appearance, re: his clothing; a flower always tucked carefully within the band of his hat; and a thoroughgoing aversion towards violence or gunplay of any stripe. (His constant refrain -- repeated at least once per issue -- was a pained: "I'm a gentle, peaceable sort of man.")
He was -- in short -- the Anti-Eastwood.
Obviously, this sort of thing really shouldn't "work" at all, except (perhaps) on the lowbrow level of a MAD magazine satire... and yet...
... and yet -- as caricatured (with uncommon intelligence and subtlety, I might add) by penciler Nick Cardy, and snickeringly dialogued by Dennis O'Neil -- the series did work; at least, on a purely creative, storytelling level. Said stories -- typically revolving around a reticent "Bat" (grumbling incessantly throughout, I might add) being forced to act in a decidedly un-"peaceable"manner in order to help out some needy innocent saloon girl or orphaned waif he'd met along the way, in the course of his travels -- managed to navigate the sidewalk ledge between "straight" adventure and Outright Buffoonery quite nicely, throughout the length of the series' abbreviated run. If the tastes of the (then-) readership had been as correspondingly sophisticated as this book's presentation... it would doubtless be with us still, to this day.
DC COMICS in the 1970's
PAGE ONE: "Relevance" (GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW; John
Stewart; Black
Lightning; the Teen Titans)
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