DC Comics in the 70s

Comics in the 1970's

As a kid growing up in the wild, wacky 70s, I loved my comic books. I remember reading them before I could even actually read! Gold Keys "Bugs Bunny" was one my mother always brought home for me, but, being a little boy, I clamoured for action...Superman, Batman...and when I was ready to make my own choices at around 5, I did. I chose DC Comics over Marvel. Why? Maybe because I felt more familiar with DC heroes. After all, only

Spider Man was recognizable to me then from the Marvel Universe. Now, DC had all the uber-iconic characters...and those great covers, which probably drew my young eye as much as anything. I've held a life long fascination with graphic design, and even at a young age, those 'garish' to some DC covers were a magnet. The cool "Line of DC Superstars' logo, for instance; not to mention the magazine logos themselves. The 70s "Batman" logo, for instance, is stunningly simple and cool. I don't know who designed them, (and I've tried to get Roy Thomas over at Alter Ego magazine to address this, to no avail) but they were great.

The artists were also, for the most part, high caliber. Sure, you had your Ernie Chuas, but Curt Swan with Bob Oksner inks on Superman? Awesome! (No disparaging the Swanderson team, but Oksners inks made Superman appear even more powerful, a look not seen again until Perez inked Swan). And plenty of covers, with occasional stories, by the great Neal Adams. Even as a kid, I loved this guys work. Upon revisiting

his stuff as an adult, I was a little less glossy eyed, but no less awed. Adams is also apparently a pretty cool guy personally. It was Nick Cardys covers I could never get used to, and still don't get. Too sketchy. But at that time, you still had some of the signature artists working on their best books; Gil Kane on Green Lantern, Infantino on The Flash. Some of these guys I did not fully appreciate until I got older, but I suspect thats true with a lot of you.
70s small town life was not a lot different than it must have been in the 60s or 50s. I bought the bulk of my comics at the local drug store, or Git-N-Go. Comics racks are non-existant these days, sadly. But the discovery they engendered was fun back then. Getting the new "Justice League of America" and having a real fountain cherry Dr. Pepper was a true pleasure at seven years old!

One good thing about comics in the 70s was their price! When I started reading them, they were 'still only 25 cents'!. That went up quickly to 30 cents, then 35, 40, etc. But still, compared to todays $2.50 a pop, it's no wonder kids go elsewhere. We could have a soda, a Hershey bar and Batman for under a buck in 1976! And it wasnt just the stories, it was the whole package you got. DC always had great ads, for stuff like Batman utility belts, Hot

Wheels, etc. , as well as 'Direct Currents' and DCs letters pages, another thing long gone in todays books. Sure, you only got something like 17 pages of comics, but, as my grandfather used to say, minor details. Upon re-reading these books today, the stories are less than interesting sometimes. The art, at times a tad indifferent. But theres an innocence and wonder in that old newsprint one does not find in todays books. Not that nothing today is any good! I currently read "Superman/Batman", "Halo and Sprocket" and the very cool "JSA". Which reminds me... me...

I've always held a fascination for alternate versions of things. While this has served me well in my Beatles-fandom, I've always wondered where it came from initially. Could it stem from my discovery of the Justice Society of America? It began with the purchase of the book you see here, "JLA" # 124, from 1975. Now, every kid likes Batman and Robin. But whos this Robin? He was the Earth-2 version (and if I have to explain the twin earths

concept to you, then your'e in the wrong place..) with his second costume, which some find horribly dorky, but I like. It makes its point well, that Robin has taken over the Batmans mantle, at least on Earth-2. Not only do we have Robin, but Wildcat and Dr. Midnite, two of my favorites I went nuts for! Maybe it was the ultra-colorful costuming of the JSA heroes, such as Midnite, or the original Green Lantern. I mean, would you find a hero today with the guts to wear red, yellow, green and purple? No wonder I loved this bunch as a kid, thats probably how I woulda dressed myself! I gobbled up every book I saw with a Golden age hero on the cover, and when I saw the Neal Adams cover

to DC Special # 29, I almost wet myself! Matter of fact, I still clearly remember finding this one on the stands, and begging my father for the 60 cents to buy it. I'd never seen Adams do the JSA, matter of fact, I'm not sure he has since... But it wasn't just the cover. The story inside dealt with the origins of the team during the early days of World War II. This also touched a nerve inside me, since I was raised

to appreciate the past, and the 40s and 50s loomed large in my fathers and uncles conversations. These heroes became even more important to me, as they really stood for something, beyond fighting crime and such. They stood for what was right. There was a true camaraderie between these old timers, an easiness of friendship, and an accountability to each other you would not have found in Marvels "Avengers". And you still won't find, even in todays JLA, sadly.
These days, comic book nostalgia is sold via trade paperbacks in book stores. In 1976, it was DC reprints in drug store spinner racks. Guess which one I'd pick?
Maybe it was the Bicentennial had something to do with it, but mid-70s America was awash in nostalgia and her past. This was just as true with comics. Sure, there had been the legendary "80 Page Giants" of the 60s, but what was it, really, about the 70s that made publishers hit us kids with so many reprints? One main reason, one word: economics. The publishing industry was facing a paper shortage in the 70s, and it was up to those publishers to find a way to remain profitable, but cut corners without raising costs.And it was National Periodical Publications editor and publisher Carmine Infantino who came up with the idea that would influence comics to this day: 100 Page Super Spectaculars.

Initially 50 cents a copy, these books were a way to introduce a new generation to DCs illustrious past, and to keep visible on the newsstands WITHOUT printing new books every month. That's because when the format was utilized on DCs regular monthly titles like Superman and Justice League, they shifted the books from monthly to quarterly, thus extending shelf life, thus meaning those titles would only

have to be published 4 times a year. What it came down to, however, was not really money, but history. Those hundred pages would often feature classics not seen in years, and when I say classics, I mean not only stories and characters, but artists and writers. In one book, you may get Jack Burnleys gorgeously illustrated "Starman", Bernard Baileys fearsome "Spectre", Jerry Robinsons humorous Adventures of Alfred series....all for 60 cents (or 50, of course, as the 100 pagers were originally priced). The hundred pagers new stories were usually just as good as the old stuff, for instance, "JLA" # 113 gave us the return of The Sandmans sidekick Sandy in "Creature in the Velvet Cage". This was also the ONLY one part JLA/JSA team-up. (This story played a major part in Sandys eventual return as Sand in the current "JSA" book). "Detective Comics" # 423 also managed to snag master artist Alex Toth for a new Batman story even, although one suspects Toths working on Batman was contingent upon writer Denny O'Neil somehow adding bi-planes into the story.. and there were! And the success of the 100 pagers didn't slip by Marvel Comics, so Stan Lee decided to give it a try. They already had 'giants', so "King Size Giants" were prepared, the first one a Spider Man special, pitting the webhead against Dracula! However, the idea was dropped for some reason, and Marvel simply added a few more pages onto their regular 'giants'. The Spidey/Dracula story did find it way into print a while after.

But economics forced the hundred pagers to go the way of the dinosaur by 1975,
even though Infantino claims they were successful. Spotty distribution (I never saw a single 100 pager till I was in my 20s) along with demand for monthly titles, as well as the friendly competition, forced DCs hand. Which only forced them to come up with something slightly different...and more radical.

DC and Marvel were fighting it out for newsstand space. It was thought the more a publisher had, title-wise, the more visible they were, and viola, success. This proved to be slightly wrong, to say the least. Between 1975 and 1980, DC added nearly 90 new titles to its roster. By the end of the decade, the 'DC Implosion' had claimed most of them, even the great ones like Kuberts "RagMan". But what a wild ride it was for a few years! The 70s marked a time when DC would try damn near anything, from the bizzare humour of "Plop!", to a revisiting of the pulps in Kalutas masterful "The Shadow", to more traditional fare with the superheroes. There was something for everyone, and maybe this is part of what made 70s comics so magical. The reprints continued, and although DC could not beat Marvel for sheer volume of new reprint titles, it wasn't for lack of trying. Taking the format used by the 100 pagers, DCs new reprint books were not ALL old stuff...you'd usually get a new story up front, with the classics to follow. Sure, the new stories might not have been anything to write about, but who could turn down a feast from the Golden and Silver ages? The titles, with "GIANT" appended to them, proliferated: "Superman Family","Batman Family", "Four Star Spectacular" and more. I bought 'em all, afraid I might miss out on some cool old Dick Sprang Batman story, or one of those wacky Superman tales from the 50s? And if those 'giants' weren't enough...the tabloids were coming.

Not those trashy supermarket ones, but true giant DC Comics, under the banner "Limited Collectors Edition". For just a buck, one could have huge reproductions of some of comics greatest stories, be it the Superman/Flash races, Batmans oddest cases, or even Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! And the hits just kept on coming in tabloid form: someone at DC got the idea to reprint pivitol books in DCs history in this new

format. So we then got "Famous First Editions". Finally, you could see what "All-Star Comics"#3 really looked like, what happened in "Superman" #1...but my favorite of all to this day had to be the repro of "Flash Comics" #1. Even as a kid, I knew the hallowed names: Mayer, Fox, Moldoff.. and they were here. Some people today defame the artwork as sloppy and unsophisticated. But give me Moldoffs Cliff Cornwall, Harry Lamperts Flash, or especially, Dennis Nevilles Alex Raymond-influenced first take on Hawkman, over super-attenuated figure studies any day! Its no wonder the "LCE"s and hundred pagers influence is mentioned often by todays industry giants like Alex (Kingdom Come)Ross and James (Starman) Robinson. And had the reprint well run dry yet? Not quite. Infantino admits he was stumped that the tabloid comics were a huge seller via mail order, but didnt do as well on newsstands. It was partially because those behemoths were difficult to display, and over time, some dealers simply didn't want the trouble. So how does DC do the classics, but at a size everyone can agree on? Enter Archie Andrews...
Archie Comics had been publishing comics digests for several years by 1977, and the whole thing should have been obvious to other publishers:

Digests could sit nestled comfortably in the impulse lane of grocery stores...and they sold well. So DC launched "The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digests". Taking the same cue as the tabloids and the 100 pagers, the pint sized publications might have been a bit difficult to read sometimes, but they were fun, giving us even more classics for a bargain (75 cents to begin

with). It was a grand time... one might read the latest adventures of the Justice Society in the revamped "All-Star Comics", then read their WWII-era exploits in a digest! Then the rug was pulled out from under the oldies...
Carmine Infantino 'retired' from DC, only to be replaced by a kids magazine publisher named Jeanette Kahn. She had ideas for DCs future, and most didn't include its past. Gone was the old DC logo, replaced by the "Star-Bullet" logo, still in use today....and I still don't like it. And new was the theme at DC. Kahn decreed all stories should be new in the monthly publications, as with rising prices, what kid wanted to buy old stuff? And if prices are going to go up, it was figured, lets give 'em the most bang for their buck. With 1977s "Superman Spectacular", a new format was introduced, the DC 'Dollar Comic'. No ads, 80 pages, all new, for only a dollar! This seemed too good to last, and it was. After a decent start, the books began featuring sub-par art with increasing frequency. Page numbers were cut, and cut again, ads were introduced...DC seemed so sure of the new format that several books, like "Worlds Finest", "Detective" and "Superman Family" were now published, monthly, as Dollar books. But what mother was going to give her kid a whole dollar for just one comic?

Granted, regular titles had gone up to 50 cents by this point, but that was easier to swallow for those remembering 'all in color for a dime'. So the dollar format was finally laid to rest by 1980, along with many other failed DC titles. The last bastion of the past, the Blue Ribbon Digest, limped along for a few more years, buoyed by the faithful. Another age of

seriousness and relevance in comics had dawned along with the 80s. This pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of the fun and goofiness we all shared in the 70s. After all, who could imagine "SuperHeroes Battle Super Gorillas" in the dark dank 80s?
By 1981, it seemed comics had dried up, and I left them behind, save for a few interesting things here and there.

Sure, I noticed Roy Thomas reviving my JSA in "All Star Squadron". And a huge buzz was going around that Perez guy and "The New Teen Titans".Heck, I even bought some Marvel stuff, like "Star Wars" (which was where Infantino went) and "Micronauts", with occasional Steve Ditko pencils. But the bloom was off the rose as far as comics went, at least until the late 90s, when I decided to see what old friends were up to these days...
The DC comics of the 70s were just fun. Everything about them, from the gaudy colors and art, to the ads inside. What other medium mixed ads for candy bars, Batman utility belts, and Hot Wheels? Try an issue of "Batman Family" for instance sometime. If a smile crosses your face (as it will) then you'll know a little of the joy these books have brought me over the years. And as a wise man once said, the golden age of comics wasn't the 40s...its when you were 7 years old. Amen to that brother.

NOTES:
So, you'd like to try some of those Super Spectaculars? Good luck finding them. The books have been super hot among collectors the past few years, and excellent condition copies are scarce on the market. You'll have better luck tracking down good condition, or even reading copies. The 100 pagers are in high demand, and cost a pretty penny, in mint due to their

packaging: the square bound volumes were well read by their owners, and over time, covers tend to split from square bound magazines. Supply and demand also plays a role in price here. While "Superman" comics of the mid 70s enjoyed a average monthly circulation of 400,00 copies, "Batman" averaged less than half that, with war and romance books even less. This means you'll pay much more, say $50, for a mint Batman hundred pager, but only 25 for Superman. And for lesser condition copies, $12-$15 is common for good copies. When it comes to scarce Romance comics, the prices go even higher. For a complete (?) check list of DC 100 Pagers, click here. And just a note, prices for DCs Dollar Comics should begin to rise as collectors have begun hunting them down, especially "Worlds Finest" with Adams covers. I would keep an eye out for copies of the short lived sci-fi dollar comic "Time Warp" as well. When collectors discover the tendency for Dollar Comics to be found with chipped topped covers (due to their, for some reason, slightly larger size), the value of mint copies could go thru the roof much like they did with 100 pagers.

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