Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Spectre #3

Spectre #3 (On Sale: January 16, 1968) features a "Wow!," just gorgeous cover by Neal Adams. Great figures, great costumes, great color!

"Menace of the Mystic Mastermind" is by Mike Friedrich and Neal Adams; this is Friedrich's first story for DC. When two entities from another dimension expend their energies in a war with each other, their bolts cross dimensions. The transdimensional energy arrives on Earth and empowers small-time crook Jack Dold. When Dold discovers his powers he uses them to defeat the aging hero Wildcat.

The Spectre witnesses Wildcat's defeat and comes to the age of his Justice Society comrade. Spectre consoles his friend, then goes after Dold. When the crook uses his new powers, the Spectre is able to track him. The Ghostly Guardian is then able to remove Dold's powers completely, placing the energy in a location where it can never be used again.

Following a suggestion made by the Spectre, Wildcat opens Grant's Gym and begins teaching kids the art of boxing. The gym has given Ted Grant a new purpose and brings the old hero pride. This classic story was reprinted in Adventure Comics #496 and Crisis on Multiple Earths:Team-Ups Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

3 comments:

Sea-of-Green said...

Ah, if only Neal Adams illustrated as many complete books as he did covers. :-(

-Keller said...

He drew pretty fast, but not THAT fast.

rob! said...

teaming up The Spectre with Wildcat is like dropping a nucler bomb on a target and then flinging a rubber band at it.