UTHEORY OF : Justice League of America # 104

Ah, the Justice League of the 1970s. Source of so much lasting fandom but also its fair share of goofiness and contradictions. Case in point : JLA 104, cover-date February 1973. Great Nick Cardy cover, although it makes the Shaggy Man appear to be 50 feet tall.

Which brings us to the Shaggy Man, an impossibly powerful creature made of "living plastic" that tangled with the league only 3x in 15 years. Was he supposed to be Bigfoot? No idea. He debuted in 1966, a year before that famous film was recorded. So if the film was a fake, was the creature based on a Shaggy Man comic from the previous year?

And this issue came out a year before CBS ran a bigfoot/Loch Ness Monster special and three years before the classic bigfoot story on the Six Million Dollar Man TV show.

Anyway, in this issue Green Lantern foe Hector Hammond in psychic form releases Shaggy Man and teleports him to the JLA satellite where the league is gathered because they're...cleaning the satellite. Writer Len Wein must have been running out of ways to get the whole gang together.

Excellent art in many fight scenes by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano. Shaggy Man defeats most of the league and is fighting Superman to a standstill until GL appears to save the days and prevent the satellite from crashing.

Black Canary was a relatively new member here and Elongated Man and Red Tornado wld join in the next 2 issues to complete the league's classic 70s lineup. Shaggy Man wldnt reappear til '81. A super-strong character who was almost indestructible and even when destroyed cld re-grow a new body must have presented too much of a writing challenge. And as an unthinking brute, there was no scheming or dialogue. It was all "Find JLA, punch JLA."

As a gathering place for DC's best and brightest, JLA had some high points in the 70s - as long as you didn't think about it too much...

UTHEORY OF : Marvel Treasury Edition # 15 (Conan)

More Bronze Age greatness...Marvel Treasury Edition 15 from 1977...reprints a classic Conan/Red Sonja tale from 1973 in the barbarian's own title drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, as well as a John Buscema/Alfredo Alcala epic from a 1974 issue of Savage Sword...middle story from a 1974 ish of Savage Tales - pencilled by Gil Kane with the odd trio of Neal Adams, Pablo Marcos and Vince Colletta on inks - falls a little flat by comparison, but the other two are fabulous...all stories by Roy Thomas...

UTHEORY OF : Superman The War Years 1938-1945

Received this as a gift last year. Superman : The War Years 1938-1945. Published in 2015 by Chartwell Books. Kinda surprising outside companies still are doing their own DC reprint books. Contains 20 stories written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster and other artists. Historical notes by longtime comics writer/historian Roy Thomas...

Shows the evolution of how the war was written about, first using stand-ins for Hitler, etc. and then after 1941 writing abt the war directly. Also explains how Clark Kent tried to enlist but failed the eyesight test when he accidentally used his x-ray vision to read the eye chart in the next room. Classic!

My favorite here has to be "The Conquest of a City" from Superman 18, cover-date Oct. 1942. Story by Jerry Siegel, art by John Sikela. Clark becomes convinced the people of Metropolis aren't serious enough about the war so he writes about it in the Daily Planet. A businessman approaches and suggests staging a fake invasion to prepare the city. Of course, the businessman is a spy who plans a real invasion that Superman has to stop. It's a bizarre story made even more bizarre by the fact that citizens are aware it's supposed to be a fake invasion and are kind of joking about it.

These stories in hindsight seem really innocent, but clearly show how strong a symbol of good Superman had become.

UTHEORY OF : Green Lantern # 100

Tracked this one down after seeing it for many years. Green Lantern 100, cover-date Jan. 1978. Great cover by Mike Grell. Four superheroes standing on a rock with an anniversary logo in front of a cosmic swirl! Take my 60 cents! Always thought it was going to be one big story with all four heroes on the cover, but turns out to be two separate stories.

First is Green Lantern meeting the new Air Wave by Denny O'Neil with art by Alex Saviuk and Vince Colletta. Well-done superheroics. Colletta's inks don't overpower Saviuk's well-done pencil work. The original Air Wave ran in Detective from 1942-48. That character's secret identity was Larry Jordan, so O'Neil spins it to make the new AW his son - conveniently named Hal, just like GL Hal Jordan. A goofy Bronze Age twist. Also great that new villain Master-Tek looks like a blonde Tom Selleck. Ah, the 70s...

Second story isn't quite as good as the first, but OK. Green Arrow and Black Canary battle corporate corruption - surprise! - aided by an injured Roy Harper, who never dons his Speedy togs. We do however get to see Roy playing drums for a rock band called Great Frog. The 70s! This also is the issue where Oliver Queen decides to run for mayor of Star City.

Air Wave would go on to make several appearances as a backup in Action Comics. I always thought DC could have done more with the character and his electronic/radio powers. The GL/GA format would last for about 20 more issues. All in all, this is a solid comic with a lot to remind readers of what they liked about Bronze Age DC...

UTHEORY OF : JSA Savage Times TPB

Another great JSA TPB I found at Ollie's...JSA : Savage Times TPB from 2004...Collects JSA issues 39-45 from 2002-03...Great to find so many of these but the fact that they're at Ollie's means that DC printed way too many of em...More great superheroics involving many elements of DC's storied past from writers Geoff Johns and David Goyer and artists Leonard Kirk and Keith Champagne...Starts off with an eye-poppingly cheesecake Power Girl story drawn by Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy...Another TPB that shows why JSA was one of DC's best titles for several years...

(And for a DC fan it's hard to resist any book with a cover that shows Captain Marvel fighting Metamorpho...like some lost issue of Brave & Bold or Super-Team Family...Shazam!)

UTHEORY OF : Wonder Woman Spectacular 1978 (DC Special Series # 9)

Here's another one worth checking out. Wonder Woman Spectacular (DC Special Series 9) from 1978. Actually on sale in late 1977. Glorious cover by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Dick Giordano. A giant WW image! An armored Hitler on a horse! Wow!

Story is a massive WW2 epic written by Jack C Harris and art by Jose Delbo, Steve Ditko and Russ Heath inked by Dick Ayers and Vince Colletta. That's quite an art combo! The legendary Ditko draws the sequences involving the gods and the Amazons and unfortunately only portrays WW herself in one panel. Did he ever draw her anywhere else?

Art is strong elsewhere as the 80-page format lends itself to larger panels and layouts. One-shot hero the Bombardier looks like a cross between Spy Smasher and Dr. Mid-Nite. Only thing is Colletta does his usual art-trampling (and maybe Ayers does too) to the point where I can't tell which non-Ditko pages are by Delbo and which by Heath. And I never thought I'd say I couldn't recognize Russ Heath's wonderful style...

Recall having this as a kid and glad I found it once again...

UTHEORY OF : Gunfighters # 61

Gunfighters was another Western title that Charlton brought back for reasons unknown in the late 70s, but it managed to last for 33 reprint-filled issues...Here's Gunfighters 61, cover-date July 1980...Excellent cover by Rocke Mastroserio had bn used in this title in 1967 and wld be used again in 1984...Charlton got its money's worth...Stories are all reprints from 1956-61...Great Kid Montana story with Pete Morisi art, but they recolored his distinctive gray hair as brown...The Kid's planning to retire until fate intervenes...Also a nice 2-page Wyatt Earp story from Morisi...Wild Bill & Jingles (Jingles! Because a hero needs a chubby sidekick) story with Maurice Whitman art, Lash Larue with Charles Nicholas art and Masked Raider with Mastroserio art all are just OK...This one's worth picking up on the cheap for that swell cover and those two Morisi stories...

UTHEORY OF : Tarzan (Limited Collectors' Edition 1974)

Another great recent pickup...Limited Collectors Edition C-29 from 1974...Two of the first eight issues of this oversized series were devoted to Tarzan, so the character must have been doing well for DC.
Reprints the 5-part Return of Tarzan story that had run in Tarzan # s 219-223 the previous year. One of the many things I love abt these DC and Marvel tabloids is the impact of seeing comic art magnified to this size. Doing so here really increases yr appreciation for Joe Kubert. Obviously an amazing war comics artist for decades, but his work on the first few years of Tarzan for DC was terrific.

UTHEORY OF : Ghosts (Limited Collectors' Edition)

Here's DC's second and final horror tabloid - Limited Collectors' Edition C-32 - Ghosts - from late 1974 (cover-dated Jan. 1975)...10 stories, all written by workhorse Leo Dorfman, who sadly passed away a few months before this issue came out.

7 of the 10 had appeared in the ongoing Ghosts title, which DC had launched in 1971 as part of its horror boom. Weird War Tales debuted the same month, giving DC six - six! - ongoing horror titles.

Dorfman wrote every story in the first several issues of Ghosts and had been writing Superman and Superman-related stories for DC since the late 1950s. Comics writer and historian Mark Evanier has said that Dorfman may have been the most prolific Superman writer of the 1960s. In addition to Ghosts, Dorfman wrote similar stories for Gold Key's horror anthologies such as Twilight Zone.

Most of the stories here are solid, with the "haunted castle" types being more entertaining than some of the international ones. Ghost lions in Africa?

Art-wise, it's a mixed bag. We get two great-looking stories by Tony Dezuniga and well-crafted ones by Jim Aparo and ER Cruz. The rest are professional but not exceptional efforts by Art Saaf, Jerry Grandenetti, Ernie Chan, John Calnan, George Tuska (inked by Nick Cardy), Jack Sparling, Frank Redondo and Gerry Talaoc.

That's a swell cover by Cardy, who drew covers for 34 of the first 35 issues of the Ghosts title.

Ghosts was kind of an odd title to feature here, since it was one of DC's newest horror titles. House of Secrets, Unexpected and Witching Hour all had been around longer. This one and the previous House of Mystery tabloid must not have sold well, since DC didn't do any others...

UTHEORY OF : Aquaman # 41

Comics like this one are why people still love the Silver Age. Aquaman 41, cover-date October 1968. Excellent cover by Nick Cardy with story by Stephen Skeates and art by Jim Aparo. This was only Aparo's second story for DC, but he already was firing on all cylinders. Many beautiful panels. He really had a knack for this character.

Story has Aquaman running into a bizarre undersea civilization while searching for Mera. More depth than the usual superhero punch-up. And I've always thought the Aquaman logo is one of the most perfect in all of comics. This issue is worth picking up if you spot it in a back issue bin...

UTHEORY OF : House of Mystery # 243

Here's another high-quality issue of House of Mystery, # 243, cover-date July 1976. Suspenseful cover art by Ricardo Villagran. First story is a twist tale with a bit of an ecological edge from the productive mind of Bob Haney, well-supported by eye-catching art from Franc Reyes. Reyes only did 18 stories for DC, mostly in the 70s, including 5 Tarzan tales. Wish he would have done more. His work creates a positive impression.

Second story is a creepy number about one of those fortune-telling machine dummies. Brrr... Written by Sheldon Mayer with unsettling art by Jess Jodloman.

Having sampled a few different titles now, it's looking like HOM may have been DC's best-written horror book of the mid-70s.

UTHEORY OF : Kobra # 3

Kobra was one of the more bizarre titles of the 70s. Here's Kobra 3, cover-date July 1976. A gonzo Ernie Chua cover. Look at that robot! Totally looks like Bender from Futurama. And a purple background! Outstanding!

Story by Marty Pasko with interior pencils by Keith Giffen and inks by Terry Austin and Dick Giordano. This was the title's third art team in as many issues. Wld go on to have six in first six before finally getting same art team in 7th and final issue. That kind of volatility plus a bimonthly publishing schedule cldnt have helped...

But it's kind of amazing that DC gave a brand new villain his own comic in the first place. Jack Kirby was listed as plotter in issue 1, so maybe he was to be involved somehow. But never happened. The main plot was Kobra battling his own twin brother, and Pasko threw in all sorts of spies, doubles, world domination, etc. Great 70s stuff. Giffen also was doing the great page designs he was doing in All-Star and later wld do in Defenders. Pretty much imitating Kirby and Steranko and doing a decent job of it.

Villain Solaris is "a crazed astrophysicist" who goes bad after not being recognized for his work. At one point in this story, he's even crying about it. Ah, the 70s...

Kobra later wld battle Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman & the Outsiders, but it's really kinda surprising that DC didnt use him even more. Criminal mastermind...global network...just add superhero!

UTHEORY OF : Superboy # 214

My Cigar Band collection rolls on. Here's Superboy 214, cover-date January 1976. So basically for the first few years of his career, Mike Grell could draw fight scenes and beautiful women but not much else, but his skill with fight scenes and beautiful women made him a fan favorite? Do I have that about right?

That's a Grell cover. First story here written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Grell. Second story written by Cary Bates and drawn by Grell and Bill Draut. First one involves a bratty kid stranded on a machine planet and seems about 10 years out of date for the mid-70s. Maybe Shooter wrote it in the mid-60s then forgot about it. Second one has a nice focus on Shrinking Violet.

As a younger fan, I never noticed the peaks and valleys of early Grell, but man, it really shows in some of these issues. Maybe the workload of this title plus Green Lantern and random other features was proving to be too much, but lots of panels just look unfinished.

Except for the fight scenes and beautiful women, of course...