Detective Comics #388

Detective Comics #388 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has a so-so Batman cover by Irv Novick. The big news on this cover though is not the art, it is the price! DC comics used their flagship title to usher in the era of 15 cent comics.

I wish I could say the lead-off Batman story was worth the extra three cents, but it isn't. "Public Luna-Tic Number One" by John Broome, Bob Brown and Joe Giella is laughably bad. I think Broome had been watching too many episodes of the Batman TV show; every line of dialog Robin has rings of Burt Ward's over-the-top delivery and it may have seemed cool in 1969, I don't remember, but in retrospect it's just grating.

There is a crime spree going on in Gotham being perpetrated by someone the press has dubbed Public Luna-tic Number One because the crimes were all committed under a full moon. The Dynamic Duo are tooling around Gotham discussing how they think he must be the Joker when they see a light on at the planetarium. Rushing in they find the Joker and his henchmen. A fight ensues and the Joker and his men get away.

Sometime later Bruce Wayne attends a demonstration of believed crack-pot scientist Dr. Doomer, who has invented an anti-gravity device. He tests if for some military fellows and it fails to do anything. The Army brass storm out vowing to never attend another one of Dr. Doomer's demonstrations, but Bruce hangs back and he and the doctor discover that a fake device has been substituted for Dr. Doomer's anti-gravity device. When they pull a string they find in the fake device a recording of the Joker's laugh plays.

The next full moon finds the Joker's gang at Gotham Central Station where they use the anti-gravity device to disable the police while they steal funds from the cash drawers. The Joker himself pushes the alarm button and they await the arrival of Batman and Robin. Joker's men have been practicing with the anti-gravity device for weeks and are therefore able to subdue Batman and Robin, knocking them out cold.

When they awake they are in space suits on the moon, where Joker explains through a radio in their suits that since America is going to the moon he wants to be the greatest criminal on the moon and has decided that his first lunar crime will be to kill Batman and Robin. Figuring out that they are not really on the Moon (duh!), the Dynamic Duo bound through the underground cave they are in until they find the Joker and his men, subduing them and destroying the anti-gravity device in the ruckus.

They take the broken device back to Dr. Doomer who laments that it will take him years to build another one.

The back-up Batgirl story, "Surprise! This'll Kill You" is by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson and the artwork is just beautiful. Gil Kane's Barbara Gordon/Batgirl is beautiful and sexy and Anderson's smooth inks add just the right touch. Barbara Gordon answers a personals ad offering to share a free apartment with a 5ft. 4in. medium build redhead. She shows up to a hallway of other applicants, all of which DC has given the wrong color of hair. Each woman knocks on the door and is told through the peephole to leave. When Barbara knocks, the door opens and a woman in a Batgirl costume invites her in.

Darlene Dawson explains that she is a flight attendant who is being awarded "Air-Hostess With the Mostest" at the annual airlines costume ball tonight, but that it is also her granddad's 85th birthday and she plans on being in two places at the same time, with Barbara's help of course. Barbara gets into Darlene's Batgirl costume and Darlene heads off to her grandfather's telling Barbara that her escort will be arriving soon. Through the peephole Barbara sees that Darlene's escort is dressed as Batman, but when she opens the door he points a gun at her and threatens to kill her for being a double-crosser.

A fight seemingly between Batman and Batgirl ensues and Barbara falls out the window, supposedly to her death. In reality she maneuvered there in order to fake being killed so she could trail "Batman" back to his leader. She follows him back to the airline costume party where he meets with Superman, Green Lantern and Flash, all members of a diamond smuggling gang of which Darlene was a part. She had apparently been using her position as a flight attendant to smuggle gems into the country, but had been keeping more than her fair share.

The gems that "Batman" had recovered from Barbara are found to be fakes and Barbara confronts the gang only to be outnumbered and without her own bag of weapons. This story was reprinted in Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Captain Action #5

Captain Action #5 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has another wonderful Gil Kane cover.

The full-length Captain Action story "A Mind Divided" is written and drawn by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. After a steel mill is sabotaged, Captain Action aids the relief efforts  He blames charismatic leader Matthew Blackwell for the sabotage because Blackwell has openly incited his followers to violence. Captain Action's son Carl, AKA Action Boy, attends a peaceful demonstration against Blackwell with Johnny the son of magazine publisher Eugene Johnson. No one knows that Eugene Johnson actually is Matthew Blackwell.

When Blackwell next speaks, his followers attack the protestors. Action Boy stops the attack on the protesters. Meanwhile, Captain Action arrives at a factory being targeted by Blackwell.  CA saves a young girl caught in an explosion at the factory.

The riot over, Johnny Johnson heads to his dad's place to talk. He can't find him at first, but accidently discovers a secret door in his father's office. The door leads to the laboratory of Blackwell. Johnny realizes that his father is Matthew Blackwell. Enraged he set out to destroy his dad's lab, but in doing so causes an explosion, which kills him. Blackwell returns to his laboratory, discovering his dead son's body.

Maddened by his own part in his son's death, he goes completely insane. After Captain Action stops Blackwell's followers, he sees the broken man committed to a mental institution. This tale of charismatic leaders and rebellion in the streets was the swan song for Captain Action and Action Boy. I don't know if the issue was sales or the end of the toy line or what, but I enjoyed every issue of this book and was saddened to see it go. Of course I owned the toys so this book was just made for me.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #381

Adventure Comics #381 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has a Neal Adams Supergirl cover as she takes over Adventure Comics from the Legion of Super-Heroes.

The full-length Supergirl story "The Supergirl Gang" is by Cary Bates, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Supergirl stops a robbery in Metropolis committed by several young women, one of whom she recognizes as fellow Stanhope College classmate Judy. Judy and the rest of the girls are arrested, but none of them have any memory of committing the robbery.

A clue leads Supergirl to a sleuth school run by Jonathan Maxom. As Linda Danvers, Supergirl goes undercover at the school as a new recruit. When another robbery is committed by the girl gang, Supergirl allows them to escape in order to gather more evidence against Maxom.

Though holding back, Linda crushes the school's training course. She has to then fight against Barbour, the gang's champion fighter. Linda defeats Barbour and becomes a member of Maxom's girl gang. Later, Maxon hypnotizes Linda and the rest of the gang and orders them to commit a crime. Being that she is Supergirl, Linda does not fall under the spell of hypnosis and is able to free the other girls from their hexation.

Supergirl attempts to arrest Jonathan Maxom, but he uses Kryptonite to attack her. Linda is rescued by Barbour, who is actually Batgirl. Batgirl had also infiltrated the gang. Supergirl and Batgirl are able to capture Maxom and shut down his "school" for good. This tale was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #377

Action Comics #377 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has another Curt Swan and Neal Adams Superman cover.

Superman stars in "The Cage of Doom" by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Jack Abel. Except for a mystery story in next month's House of Mystery and another mystery story to appear in nine years, this is Otto Binder's last story at DC as he retired this month after working in comics since 1939.

In 1930 Otto Oscar Binder began writing science fiction in tandem with his brother Earl; they worked under the pen-name Eando Binder ("E" and "O" Binder). Though Earl stopped the writing partnership at some point, Otto kept the nom de plume. In 1935 Otto began writing for Mort Weisinger who was editor at Thrilling Wonder Stories at the time and Ray Palmer (can anyone say "Atom?") who was editor of Amazing. It was for Palmer that Binder created the Adam Link series, including the famous "I, Robot" short story which later inspired Isaac Asimov's book of the same name.

In 1939 Otto Binder took a job working with his artist brother Jack Binder at the Harry "A" Chesler shop and in 1940 began writing for Fawcett Comics on such features as Captain Venture, Golden Arrow and Bulletman. But Otto Binder's best known work at Fawcett was Captain Marvel. In 12 years Otto Binder wrote 986 of the 1,743 Marvel Family stories and co-created such characters as Mary Marvel, Uncle Dudley, Black Adam and Mr. Mind.

Binder didn't limit himself to Fawcett. For Timely Comics he wrote Captain America, The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Destroyer, Whizzer and the All-Winners Squad. He also co-created Captain Wonder, The Young Allies, Tommy Tyme and Miss America. For Quality Comics he wrote Blackhawk, Doll Man, Uncle Sam and the Black Condor as well as co-creating Kid Eternity. At MLJ Comics he wrote Steel Sterling, The Shield, The Hangman and The Black Hood.

He started writing for DC in 1948 where he wrote Merry, Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks for Star-Spangled Comics. Over the years he wrote Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, Robotman, Aquaman, the Start-Spangled Kid, Tommy Tomorrow, Shining Knight, Captain Compass, Congo Bill, Space Cabbie and the Metal Men. But most of the time he wrote for the Superman Family. Superman would never be the same. Otto Binder created or co-created The Legion of Super-Heroes, Jimmy Olsen's signal watch, Elastic Lad, Lucy Lane, Beppo, Titano, Brainiac, The Phantom Zone, Krypto and Supergirl.

After leaving DC, Binder would return to writing science fiction until he died at the age of 63 in 1974. In all Otto Binder wrote almost 50,000 pages of comics in more than 198 different titles. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.

The back-up story is a reprinted Legion of Super-Heroes tale, "The Face Behind the Lead Mask," from Adventure Comics #300, produced by Jerry Siegel, John Forte and Al Plastino. During a routine meeting, the Legionnaires suddenly begin losing control over their powers. Even Superboy, whom they have summoned to the future, cannot discover the cause of their problem. After the World-Wide Police threaten to banish them from Earth, a lead-masked villain calling himself "Urthlo" appears and takes credit for their predicament.

Because Urthlo possesses a device that controls their powers, the heroes find themselves unable to stop him, until Saturn Girl and Superboy release Mon-El from the Phantom Zone, where he has been for 1000 years. After she provides him with Serum XY-4, a temporary lead-poisoning antidote, Mon-El defeats Urthlo, who turns out to be a robot sent into the future from Superboy’s time by a vengeful Lex Luthor.

After the battle, Mon-El must be returned to the Zone, but only after being voted into the Legion.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

World's Finest Comics #185

World's Finest Comics #185 (On Sale: April 24, 1969) has what the GCD calls a Neal Adams' cover, but you would have to be on drugs not to see that this was drawn by Curt Swan and only inked by Neal Adams.

Superman and Batman team up in "The Galactic Gamblers" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. The back-up story features Tommy Tomorrow in "The Amazing Future Toys" and is reprinted from Action Comics #223 and is the creation of Otto Binder and Jim Mooney.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Showcase #83

Showcase #83 (On Sale: April 24, 1969) has another killer Joe Kubert Nightmaster cover.

The full-length Nightmaster strip "Sing a Song of Sorcery" is by Denny O'Neil and Berni Wrightson. Lending Bernie a hand on his first full-length story is Michael Kaluta and Jeff Jones. This is the first work at DC for both Kaluta and Jones.

Rock star Jim Rook remembers how he and his fiancée, Janet, were separated after being snatched though a dimensional portal to the nightmare world of Myrra by old King Zolto, and how he learned that Warlocks had captured Janet. He also learned that he is the only person who can wield The Sword of Night. Like his ancestors before him, Rook must take up the mantle of the Nightmaster if he wishes to save Janet.

On the road to the Warlock Castle, Nightmaster and Boz encounter a barbarian. Rook bests the barbarian, Tark, and sparing his life, Tark joins the boys on their quest. Joining Tark are Doe and Rae, two sirens who have lost their voices to a warlock spell.

They reach the citadel of the Warlocks and learn that Duck Spearo has brought in a foreigner in to be his Duchess. Jim realizes that must be Janet. Attacked by Warlock Troopers, they learn that Spearo is leaving at moonrise with his new Duchess.

They head for the palace and after subduing a few guards reach a moonship docked on the roof. Inside the castle they find the crystal casket that contains the voices of Rae and Doe and take it with them to the roof, just as the ship sets sail.

They grab a mooring line and pull their way onboard. They learn that the Warlocks have captured Janet as they need an Earth-woman to open the portal for an invading army. They attempt to rescue Janet, but are attacked by metal warriors filled with the souls of dead warlocks.  Forced over the edge of the moonship they ware saved when the sirens begin to sing and their songs become pathways in the sky.

Nightmaster defeats the remaining metal warriors, but watched helplessly as the moonship, and Janet, sail off into the night without them.

The book ends with a two-page map of Myrra and a text piece called "The Men Who Make Nightmaster" giving an overview of Denny O'Neil and Berni Wrightson.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Justice League of America #72

Justice League of America #72 (On Sale: April 24, 1969) has a wonderful Joe Kubert cover.

The full-length Justice League of America strip "13 Days to Doom," is by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. It was reprinted in Justice League of America Archives Vol. 9 HC and Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Hawk & the Dove #6

Hawk & the Dove #6 (On Sale: April 24, 1969) has a nice cover by Gil Kane.

The full-length Hawk & the Dove strip, "Judgment in a Small, Dark Place." is written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by John Celardo. One night Hank and Don get to their father's office just in time to scare off a would-be kidnapper. Hank chases the bad guy as Hawk, but loses him when momentarily blinded by a passing car. The judge is unharmed, but none of them got a good look at the attacker and the judge warns the boys not to worry their mother over the incident. The next day the boys return home from school to find their house in shambles and their mother unconscious on the floor.

She had only fainted and when she comes to she says she interrupted a man kidnapping their father. Hank once again takes off alone and scours the city as Hawk looking for information on his father. He does it by busting a few heads till he learns of a hood named Max Leland who was bragging that he was going pay the judge back. Hawk breaks into Leland's apartment and more head-busting ensues.

Meanwhile Don has been scouring his father's files looking for clues and finds a chart with a familiar face, a man named Karl MacArthur who died in prison. Don realizes that they had a part-time gardener named Arthur who looked a lot like MacArthur. Don leaves and as Dove tracks down Arthur's home in the country. Snooping around he finds Arthur is holding his father in a small cage in his basement.

Hawk has gotten from Leland a description of a man he says jumped Judge Hall before Leland himself got a chance. From the description Hank realizes it is their old gardener Arthur and heads out after him. By eavesdropping Dove learns that since his father died in a cell that Judge Hall put him into, Arthur plans on seeing that the Judge is given the same fate. Dove sees that all of the windows in the house are fitted with alarms so he shimmies up the nearby power poll to cut the electricity to the house.

From that perch Dove sees Hawk running toward the house and smashing through the door. Dove cuts the lights and a fight ensues in the dark. When the lights are switched back on Hawk makes quick work of Arthur. On the final page the Judge rails against the Hawk and the Dove for endangering his life, thinking for certain that he could have talked Arthur out of it eventually without any dangerous gun play.

Hank and Don leave for school and Hank laments that maybe their father is right, maybe they should give up being the Hawk and the Dove. Maybe the whole idea of being super-heroes was a mistake. The final caption reads, "Is this the end of the Hawk and the Dove??"

It was for this book anyway. Over the next year they would appear as guests in the Teen Titans and then disappear for six years only to show up in the Teen Titans again for a three-issue run. They would make eight appearances in the 1980s before disappearing once again. Was this a concept book that was too much concept and not enough book? Maybe, though I do recall a wonderful Hawk and Dove story in Brave and the Bold years later by Alan Brennert that seemed to bring merit to the idea of the two polar-opposite brothers. I always liked the book myself, always liked the characters.

This was John Celardo's second inking job for DC, but his first in 20 years! Celardo last worked for DC in 1949 inking a Johnny Peril story in All-Star Comics #48. He started his professional career contributing sports cartoons to Street and Smith publications in 1937. He soon turned to comics, and went to the Eisner-Iger studios.

There, he did Dollman, Wonder Boy, Uncle Sam, Paul Bunyan, Espionage, Hercules, Old Witch and Zero Comics, sometimes working under the pseudonym John C. Lardo. From 1940 he also worked for Fiction House, where he drew Hawk, Red Comet, Powerman, Captain West and Kaanga. After the War, he continued his work at Fiction House, illustrating Tiger Man, Suicide Smith and others.

In the 1950s Celardo succeeded Bob Lubbers on the daily Tarzan newspaper strip. In the 1960s he also took on the writing of the Tarzan strip and introduced many new characters from outside and inside the jungle, such as Red Chinese spies. In the late 1960s, he took over The Green Berets from Joe Kubert and Davy Jones from Sam Leff and Alden McWilliams.

John Celardo would ink this one story, pencil three others and then again disappear from DC. He returned to free-lancing and did such titles as Believe It or Not for Western. In 1973 he became comics editor at King Features and stopped drawing altogether. In 1977 he would return to DC and ink over 50 stories during a seven-year span. He returned to penciling in the 1980s taking over the Buz Sawyer newspaper strip

His inking on this Hawk and Dove story was very nice and silky smooth, an interesting contrast to Gil Kane's angular faces. I would have liked to see more of this combination.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Swing With Scooter #19

Swing With Scooter #19 (On Sale: April 22, 1969) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

We begin with Scooter in "Osculation Frustration," which is followed by a one-page Malibu story both by person unknown. Penny and Cookie star in "We Make with Paint, But Rembrandt We Ain't" by Murray Boltinoff, Doug Crane and Henry Scarpelli. We round out the issue with Scooter in "Too Many Crooks" by Barbara Friedlander, Doug Crane and Henry Scarpelli.

This is the first story Editor Murray Boltinoff wrote for DC since a House of Secrets story in 1963 and that story was the first one he had written since an Air Wave story in Detective Comics #72, in 1943. Boltinoff created the Air Wave character in Detective Comics #60 in 1942 and wrote all of the Air Wave stories for the next 13 issues.

This issue of Swing With Scooter marked Boltinoff's return to the pen. He would write over 90 stories for DC in the next 12 years, mainly horror stories, but also a good number of wars tales and a single Jimmy Olsen story for Superman Family #182.

Barbara Friedlander had been an Editor at DC a few years earlier, on some of the romance books and was also one of the early writers of Scooter, writing 11 Scooter tales in the first six issues of Swing With Scooter. This story was also her return to DC where she would write 11 more stories for Scooter and the romance books in the next few years.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Heart Throbs #120

Heart Throbs #120 (On Sale: April 22, 1969) has an interesting cover art combination: Jay Scott Pike and Neal Adams.

We begin with the 15-page serial, "Three Girls -- Their Lives...Their Loves, Episode 19," drawn by Jay Scott Pike. That is followed by "For Love Alone" a reprint from Secret Hearts #36 drawn by Arthur Peddy and  Bernard Sachs.

Next is "Give Me Something to Remember You By" by persons unknown. We round out the issue with "Memory of Heartbreak" drawn by Jay Scott Pike.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Brave and the Bold #84

Brave and the Bold #84 (On Sale: April 22, 1969) has a nice Batman and Sgt. Rock cover by Neal Adams. I love the way that the figures' shadows form a Bat-signal on the ground. This is also the only cover I think Adams signed in this manner; not his normal signature at all. Lastly, this is the second version of this cover that Neal drew. Below you can find the original which was rejected by DC.

"The Angel, the Rock and the Cowl" featuring Batman and Sgt. Rock is by Bob Haney and Neal Adams. Joe Kubert inked page 19 of this story. When Bruce Wayne is called to the Gotham Museum to see the statue of the Archangel Gabriel smuggled out of Nazi-occupied France during World War II, because a man with a German accent called about it called to claim it. Bruce informs him that the real statue is still in France and the one in Gotham is a fake. They are then attacked by a man Bruce recognizes as Von Stauffen.

Bruce then recalls back to a day during World War II, when he was in London, and his friend, a British spy named Digby is killed in a bombing and so Bruce covered his mission for the British forces. Traveling into Nazi occupied France, Bruce meets up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company along the way.

Investigating a strange amount of wine coming out of Chateaurouge, Bruce learns that it's occupied by Nazi's led by Von Stauffen. As a spy, Bruce is unable to learn what the secret is behind the wine, so he tries as Batman and comes to blows with Rock and Easy Company again who happen to be in the area. However, during their scuffle over a bottle of the Chateaurouge wine, they find that the Nazi's are smuggling weapon parts in the bottles to be used during the D-Day invasion. Batman and Easy Company then work together to stop Van Stauffer.

Flashing back to the present, Bruce is saved by the sudden arrival of Rock who knocks out Von Stauffen, who had been tracking Van Stauffer since after the war. This classic story was reprinted in Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 1 HC and Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Bat Lash #5

Bat Lash #5 (On Sale: April 22, 1969) has a nice cover by Nick Cardy.

The full-length Bat Lash strip is untitled and produced by the normal crew of plotter Sergio Aragones, scripter Denny O'Neil and artist Nick Cardy. This untitle story is sometimes referred to as "Wanted - Sergio Aragones" as the character after Bat Lash in this issue is named Sergio and looks a whole lot like you know who.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Witching Hour #3

Witching Hour #3 (On Sale: April 17, 1969) has an interesting cover art combination: Mike Sekowsky and Nick Cardy and it creates a really nice, moody piece.

There is a surrounding story featuring the three witches and Egor, drawn by Alex Toth and Dick Giordano. The first real story is "The Turn of the Wheel" drawn by Alex Toth and Vinnie Colletta and this is a perfect example of what was wrong with Vinny Colletta as an inker. The first three pages are very nicely inked, Colletta taking his time and showing that he did have some abilities. However the remainder of the story is horrible, sloppy work.

That is followed by "The Death Watch" drawn by Jack Sparling. We round out the issue with "...and in a Far-Off Land" drawn by Bernie Wrightson.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Flash #189

Flash #189 (On Sale: April 17, 1969) has the first and the best of three Joe Kubert Flash covers. You couldn't see this on the stand and not run out and buy it.

The full-length Flash tale "The Death-Touch of the Blue Ghost" is by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Barry and Iris go on vacation with Wally West near the town of Blue Valley. Wally discovers that Blue Valley is a landing site for alien lizards. As Kid Flash, he encounters one of the aliens. Before he and the Flash can investigate, Iris calls them to dinner and falls victim to an alien aging disease.

Flash and Kid Flash find the aliens, but are captured. The aliens, the Azurans, explain that their migration ships frequently refuel on Earth and they refuse to stop their migration. Kid Flash is artificially aged to make him stronger and he and the Flash are able to force the aliens to stop and return to Earth. Flash uses a cure to restore Iris's youth. Kid Flash is also returned to his normal age before the aliens leave Earth forever.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Batman #212

Batman #212 (On Sale: April 17, 1969) has a nice Irv Novick cover.

The full-length Batman tale "Baffling Deaths of the Crime-Czar"Secret" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Joe Giella. Batman and Robin seek to protect a Gotham City crime kingpin Li'l Studs who has recently been released from the hospital.

Quirk, a lieutenant of Studs, hires three assassins to kill his boss. However, a power outage at the hospital causes an experimental pacemaker in Studs to fail, causing his death. Since Studs died of natural causes, Quirk refuses to pay the assassins. They decide to go after Batman to earn their pay. Batman outwits the killers and discovers that Quirk was the instigator of the attacks. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batman Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Sugar and Spike #83

Sugar and Spike #83 (On Sale: April 15, 1969) has its typical Sheldon Mayer cover. I failed to note that starting two issues previous the "With Bernie the Brain" tag-line was added to the cover logo.

The full-length Sugar and Spike tale "The Squirt-Bandits' Secret" is by Sheldon Mayer.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Star Spangled War Stories #145

Star Spangled War Stories #145 (On Sale: April 15, 1969) has another Joe Kubert Enemy Ace cover.

"Return of the Hangman" featuring Enemy Ace is by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. After a successful battle with a squadron of  British planes, von Hammer turns over the reigns of  his squadron to three veteran pilots. However, one of them is soon killed by the Hangman, who von Hammer had thought he had killed

The Hangman survived his crash and was nursed back to health by his sister. Von Hammer is unable to stop the vengeful French pilot from killing the other two of his squadron leaders.

Finally the Enemy Ace meets the Hangman in the killer skies. The battle is fierce, but von Hammer leads the Frenchman into some powerlines, resulting in the Hangman crashing once again. Von Hammer's plane is battered, forcing an emergency landing in the woods.

He crawls from the wreckage to find a pack of wolves closing in on him. At the last moment, his hunting companion, the black wolf, shows up and protects the injured von Hammer from the pack. This story was reprinted in Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Metal Men #38

Metal Men #38 (On Sale: April 15, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.

"Witch Hunt – 1969" is written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos. It looks like Sekowsky was trying to get on the horror/mystery bandwagon that was picking up steam at DC, even if only for an issue. The Coven of Seven, a group of male witches, use incantations to summon demons and to darken the world. As the skies and streets darken, demons begin attacking people on the street and at a folk music performance by Ledby Hand and Tinker, then band of the new human-looking  Metal Men, Lead and Tin. When Tin turns up the house lights the demons disappear.

When the demons attack a subway car., Jon Mann, Iron of the Metal Men, removes the synthetic flesh from his arm and enters the fray. He is able to chase the demons away. After safely dealing with the subway car, Iron contacts Mister Conan, the billionaire who gave them their human personas. He meets Conan and talks to the other Metal Men thru closed-circuit TV. Conan introduces the team to Doctor Honorius, who explains the threat posed by the Coven of Seven. They learn that the darkness that has come to the skies seems to be concentrated in Chelsea.

Fighting demons along the way, while still maintaining their disguises as humans, the Metal Men locate the Coven of Seven in an old building in Chelsea. The Coven cuts the lights and plunging the room into darkness, make their escape. The Metal Men decide to split up and cover all possible exits.

Mercury chases two coven members exiting through a side door, into the garage, where he meets up with Lead and Tin who are dealing with two more members of the Coven of Seven. The members try to run over Lead and Tin, but the two members Mercury is chasing run out in front of the car. The car crashes into some fuel barrels and explodes killing for of the Coven of Seven.

Two more coven members are chased in an elevator room by Gold and Platinum. The coven members attempt to flee bay shape-shifting, but are trapped every time they do. When they shape-shift into spiders, Platinum stamps them to death in a fit of arachnophobia.

When Iron corners the last coven member, he is attacked by more demons. Exposing his iron hand he is able to fight them off and they all attempt to flee. The last member leaps out a window to his death. As he dies the skies begin to lighten.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Debbi's Dates #2

Debbi's Dates #2 (On Sale: April 15, 1969) has an unidentified cover. Anyone know who this is?

We begin with Debbi's Dates in "The Grass is Greener." That is followed by another Debbi's Dates story, "Watch My Line," drawn by Henry Scarpelli. Next is Debbi in "Big Ski Week-End" and "Hair Today...." As with most of this work, we have very few credits.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #120

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #120 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a strange cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams. What is strange is that from the waist up the Superman character has been inked or redrawn and inked by Kurt Schaffenberger. What could Adams have done that they needed to wipe out half of the Superman figure?

We begin with "Jimmy Olsen's Super-Punch" by Leo Dorfman and Pete Costanza. Jimmy Olsen agrees to test Hyperon, a new strength serum, for Knuckles Claney. yeah, what could possibly go w4rong? The Hyperon seems to give Jimmy super strength, but he is actually being set up by con men after revenge for being sent to prison.

Believing he is now super-strong, Jimmy tries his hand at being a matador, fighting a bull. He is nearly killed, but Superman rescues him. Jimmy is dejected that he was tricked, but later discovers that the Hyperon actually did work, it just took some time for the serum to work. He petitions the boxing commission to let him fight. Perry White tries to talk Jimmy out of it and is apparently killed when Jimmy knocks him down. Jimmy is arrested and sent to jail.

When he is attacked by the other prisoners, he learns that the Hyperon has worn off. Jimmy is then brought to the warden's office where Superman is masquerading as Perry White. The Man of Steel explains that he faked Perry's death to teach Jimmy a lesson. Since Perry is not dead, Jimmy is released from jail. Sigh. yeah, OK.

Next is "The Climate King" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Pete Constanza. Jimmy Olsen receives a tip regarding the location of a weather-controlling criminal called the Climate King. He calls Superman and together they discover a time machine at the Climate King's lair. Superman thinks Climate King has fled into the past and begins searching different time periods for the crook, based on a list found at the lair. While Jimmy is waiting for Superman to return, it is the Climate King who comes back first. He takes Jimmy hostage and carries him into the past. Jimmy escapes and destroys the Climate King's weather control machine, but in doing so he causes a dam to burst. As a result he causes the Johnstown flood of 1889. Time machines were apparently a dime a dozen at DC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Superman #217

Superman #217 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and the dreadful Vinny Colletta. featuring Famous Firsts!

We begin with "The Outlaws from Krypton" by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye and reprinted from Action Comics #194.

Next is "The Girl in Superman's Past" also by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye and reprinted from Superman #129. This is the first appearance of Lori Lemaris. Superman recalls an old romance from his college days. When he met Lori Lemaris, she was a college girl confined to a wheelchair. He began to date her as Clark after saving her from an accident. He found her mysterious because she always had to leave at a certain time of night.

Eventually, Lori told Clark that she must return to her homeland. Clark did not want to lose her, so he decided to give up being Superman and propose. Lori told him that she already knew his secret and could not marry him.

Clark investigated further and found a huge salt water tank instead of a bed in her bedroom, and he was able to guess her secret. Lori was a mermaid from Atlantis. She tells Clark the truth about herself, but she still must return to Atlantis forever.

"The Super-Duel in Space" is by Otto Binder and Al Plastino and is reprinted from Action Comics #242 and features the first appearance of the bottled city of Kandor. Clark Kent and Lois Lane are aboard an experimental rocket ship to cover the story for the media. The ship is attacked by a flying saucer. Clark exits the ship and arrives as Superman. Inside the saucer, an alien called Brainiac uses a shrink ray to steal Earth cities and place them in bottles. Superman is prevented from reaching Brainiac by a force field that surrounded the ship.

Superman returns to Metropolis where the rocket has landed. As expected, Brainiac shrinks Metropolis next and takes the tiny city aboard his ship. A tiny Superman escapes the bottle and tries to restore the captured cities to normal. He is forced to hide momentarily as Brainiac’s monkey attacks him.

Superman hides inside another bottle. The bottle contains a Kryptonian city called Kandor, taken from before Krypton’s destruction. Superman is powerless inside Kandor, so he seeks out a scientist, Kimda. Kimda has studied Brainiac’s machines and knows how to free everyone. Superman uses a rocket to escape the bottle.

Outside the bottle, Superman’s powers return. He reverses the controls to restore the Earth cities. There is only enough energy for one more use of the machine. He decides to restore Kandor rather than himself, but Kimda flies a rocket out of Kandor and presses the control which restores Superman. Kandor is stuck in it’s tiny form. Superman takes the city back to his Fortress of Solitude for safekeeping. Brainiac, who is now in suspended animation is sent into space.

Next we have "The First Supergirl" by Otto Binder, Dick Sprang and Stan Kaye and reprinted from Superman #123. Jimmy receives a magical totem which grants three wishes to him. The first wish brings into existence a Super-Girl, who Jimmy wishes to be the perfect mate for Superman. Unfortunately, the female heroine gets in Superman’s way and becomes a nuisance. She realizes her existence is becoming a problem, so she sacrifices her life to make the Man of Steel happy.

Crooks steal the totem and use the second wish to remove Superman’s powers. Jimmy and Superman then spend the day faking his powers to convince the crooks that the spell failed. After being tricked, the crooks allow the spell to be removed, restoring Superman’s powers.

For the final wish, Jimmy wishes for Superman to meet his parents. However, he has decided to type the wish and a typo causes Superman to "Mate" his parents. As a result, Superman travels back to Krypton and meets young Jor-El and Lara. They are working as undercover agents with Kryptonian Intelligence. With Superman’s aid, they stop a criminal, Kil-Lor, and the Man of Steel plays cupid, setting up his own parents, before returning to Earth.

We end with "The Menace of Metallo" by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino and reprinted from Action Comics #252. Reporter John Corben is involved in a near fatal car accident. He is found by Professor Vale who rushes Corben to his lab. In order to save the injured man’s life, Vale gives Corben a metal body powered by uranium. After completing the operation the professor suffers a stroke.

Corben begins a criminal career as Metallo. He begins stealing uranium from secure places with his super strength that the robot body provides him. He also joins the staff at the Daily Planet.

When the professor recovers from his stroke, Corben learns that Kryptonite can also power his body. Corben is given a piece of Kryptonite by the professor, but he uses it on Superman who has been trying to capture him. He replaces his own Kryptonite with a sample from a display. The display Kryptonite was fake, so without power, Corben dies from heart failure..

Edited by Mort Weisinger and E. Nelson Bridwell.

Leave It To Binky #67

Leave It To Binky #67 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a cover by Bob Oksner. this is the last issue with this Archie-influenced logo.

We begin with Binky in "It's Snow Use". Next is "The Picnic" and "Real Life Yogi". We end with "The Big Hero." There are no credits for any of these stories.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Green Lantern #69

Green Lantern #69 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a cover by Gil Kane.

"If Earth Fails the Test -- It Means War" is by John Broome, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Green Lantern returns from a space mission to find that the police in Evergreen City have invented three new devices to fight crime: a city-wide burglar alarms system, a radar-television to remotely view the crime scenes and a device that remotely traps criminals at the scene. While viewing the new system GL gets to see it in action when an alarm is tripped at the Central Jewelery Exchange. Blue bars are used to trap the criminals inside the vault, but utilizing a strange hand-held device they are able to bend the bars out of the way and escape.

Green Lantern heads out to round up the gang, which is led by the beautiful Kyra, who uses another device to deflect Lantern's energy beams. As he attempts to capture them, most of the gang, including Kyra, disappear, fading away before GL's eyes.

After taking the three captured members of the gang to police headquarters, Lantern receives a phone call from Carol Ferris, who tells him that she is getting married tomorrow and wants to know if there is anything he would like to say to her. Realizing that Carol is in love with Green Lantern but not Hal Jordan, he wishes her the best. He also realizes that he is both repulsed and attracted to Kyra and can't figure out why.

We back-track a week to see Kyra in her real, fairly hideous, alien form on her home-world of Hegor, where she is the leader of a student movement to "uproot the ancient ways of doing thing-- and breathe fresh life into our tradition-encrusted civilization." They have implanted the ideas for three new devices in the minds of certain officials on Earth, devices much like those used by the authorities on Hegor. They plan to go to Earth and commit thefts where they can train against the devices which will be used on their world against them during their revolution, without the knowledge of Hegoran authorities. Earth will become the testing ground for their revolution.

Back to real time and Kyra speaks to Hal through his ring, telling him she is in trouble, but when he follows the energy impulse back to Kyra it is a trap and Green lantern is stunned and captured. With the Lantern neutralized, Kyra and the gang continue with their training. GL is held in place by an alien machine which he attempts to destroy with an energy beam, but the more he uses his ring the more paralyzing radiation bombards his body and he is wracked by intense pain. Figuring he can withstand the pain for a short burst he wills his ring to make a concentrated pain-killer, which he swallows and then waits to take effect.

With the pain-killer in his system, Green Lantern is able to smash the alien device holding him captive and after a quick stop by police headquarters to find the location of the group's current cir me, GL tracks them down and battles them into submission. Once he has them captured Kyra explains their mission, which has been successful and tells him that their time on Earth is over. GL is unable to stop the entire gang from teleporting back to Hegor.

But Hal can't get Kyra out of his mind and realizes that he may be in love with her so he flies to Hegor and locates Kyra, seeing her as she really looks for the first time. Kyra tells him that thanks to the training they did on Earth the revolution was successful and that a coup was possible without a devastating war. Kyra also introduces Hal to Tarkro, the man she is to marry tomorrow. Hal returns to earth, spurned by Kyra, spurned by Carol, he cannot face his job as an insurance salesman and decides a change of careers is in order.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Girls' Romances #141

Girls' Romances #141 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a cover by Jay Scott Pike and Dick Giordano.

We begin with the nine-page "No Time for Love" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Vince Colletta. This story would be reprinted in Young Love #114.

Next is "Romantic Escapade," a seven-page reprint from Secret Hearts #37 and drawn by Bernard Sachs.

We end with our cover-story, the 12-pager "Don't Steal My Love Away" drawn by Jack Sparling and Vince Colletta and later reprinted in Young Romance #204.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

G.I. Combat #136

G.I. Combat #136 (On Sale: April 8, 1969) has a nice Haunted Tank cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with the Haunted Tank in "Kill Now – Pay Later" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2 TPB.

Next is "No-Name Hill" by Robert Kanigher and Ed Robbins. This is the last of the three war stories Robbins would do for DC during his short return to the company. We end with "The 13th Bullet" by Howard Liss and Fred Ray.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Unexpected #113

Unexpected #113 (On Sale: April 3, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams. Its another of Neal's image within an image pictures. It was a cool idea with really interesting color, but I don't think it works.

We begin with Johnny Peril in "The Shriek of Vengeance" by George Kashdan, Jack Sparling and Vinny Colletta. Next is "The Eyes of Death" by Dave Wood and Pat Boyette. We end with our cover-story, "The Tunnel of Fear" by Dave Wood, Curt Swan and Mike Esposito.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Superboy #157

Superboy #157 (On Sale: April 3, 1969) has acover by Neal Adams. Looks like an Infantino layout.

In "Get Lost, Superboy -- Who Needs You?", by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood, some bananas taken from a red-sun world and irradiated under Earth's yellow sun, are used by Superboy, to heal an sick albino gorilla. Superboy believes the bananas will impart enough super-power to the ape to ensure his survival. Smallville jock, Bash Bashford, accidentally ingests some of the bananas, and gains super-strength. Bash's already enlarged ego is stroked even more when Smallville dubs him “Superbash” and begin calling him instead of Superboy when trouble arises.

However, when a giant meteor nears Earth, Bash admits that he is in over his head, and allows Superboy to deflect the meteor's path. Superboy helps save Bash's face by telling the everyone that Bash had been his “secret deputy” the whole time.

Although I love any work by Wally Wood, I do think his inks were pretty much wasted on Bob Brown's pencils. His return to DC Comics had started six months earlier with his wonderful pencils and inks on Captain Action #1. Since then he had been relegated to inking things like Captain Action, Angel and the Ape, Superboy and an issue of Teen Titans. For the next few years at DC, all of his penciling would be done in the hardly-seen romance books. Right before he lost his sight in one eye, Wood did full art for a couple issue of All-Star Comics featuring the Justice Society of America.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Secret Hearts #136

Secret Hearts #136 (On Sale: April 3, 1969) has an unidentified cover, though this style sure looks familiar to me. Any ideas folks? Jay Scott Pike and Dick Giordano?

We begin with the seven-pager "Let's Pretend Kisses," drawn by Ric Estrada and Vinnie Colletta. Next is "Stars in My Eyes" a six-page reprint from Secret Hearts #37 drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

That is followed by a Cindy the Salesgirl two-pager by Barbara Friedlander, Winslow Mortimer and Dick Giordano. We round out the issue with "Reach for Happiness Episode 27" a fifteen-page episode, by Jack Miller, Jay Scott Pike and George Roussos.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Our Army at War #207

Our Army at War #207 (On Sale: April 1, 1969) has a Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with Sgt. Rock in "A Sparrow's Prayer" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. The back-ups are "Top of the World" drawn by Sid Greene and "SOS Send Our Food" by Mike Friedrich and Ed Robbins. This is the second of Ed Robbins' 1969 DC stories.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Challengers of the Unknown #68

Challengers of the Unknown #68 (On Sale: April 1, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

"One of Us is a Madman" is by Denny O'Neil, Jack Sparling and Vince Colletta. The Challengers head to a secret government lab to investigate the recent killing of some scientists there. At the lab, the Challs are attacked by a "computer-wraith" made up of bundled wires, charged with electricity. The evil spirit of the wraith is able to possess Prof (both of which look pretty cool on the cover). Trying, but unable to resist, Prof and the monster contrive to kill the rest of the Challengers, 

The remaining Challs wrap themselves with copper wire, to ground the wraith's electrical charge, and throw dynamite at the monster. Prof guesses that it was one of the scientists, Dr. Fillmore, who drove the computers mad. Just as Fillmore attacks, the dynamite goes off, leaving no sign of Fillmore or the monster. Though the Challs think the crisis is over, Prof knows that the evil spirit is still inside of him.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Atom & Hawkman #43

Atom & Hawkman #43 (On Sale: April 1, 1969) has a cover by Joe Kubert.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl star in "Come to My Hanging" by Robert Kanigher and Murphy Anderson. The winged wonders fly across the ocean to London, England to investigate reports that the Gentleman Ghost has been staging a series of robberies at Trafalgar Square in London. They locate the Ghost and his henchmen near Nelson's Monument in the square. A scuffle ensues and although Hawkman is able to subdue the Ghost's men using his mace, the Gentleman Ghost manages to grab Hawkgirl. Hawkman tries to rescue her, but the Ghost and Hawkgirl disappear.

Hawkman tracks them to the Tower of London where he again battles the Ghost's men and Hawkgirl manages to free herself. The Gentleman Ghost takes the fight to the face of Big Ben and then escapes, but not before Hawkman discovers where he's been hiding his loot. Inside Big Ben, Hawkgirl finds a movie projector, which convinces Hawkman that the Gentleman Ghost is not an actual, but rather a con man who utilizes projectors and tape recorders to create his illusion. It was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

The Atom stars in "Buzzin', Buzzin' -- Who's Got the Buzzin'?" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. While performing an experiment in front of some peers, Ray Palmer is distracted by the buzzing of a small insect, to the point that Ray forgets what he was trying to do. Horace McByrd, the head of the Physics department, publicly criticizes Ray at length.

Upset, Ray turns into the Atom and goes subatomic to find a mindless monster to beat the hell out of.  Later he returns to his office to find a student, Hap Coogan, going through his files. When confronted, Coogan accuses Ray of being a spy. All of a sudden, the strange buzzing of the earlier insect is heard again. When it buzzes towards Hap Coogan, Coogan loses his memory. Ray decides to follow the insect as the Atom.

Ray discovers that the insect is actually a man-made micro-device designed to rob people of their memories. The Atom follows the "insect" back to the office of Horace McByrd. Confronted by the Atom, McByrd confesses that he had used Ray Palmer's theories to create the insect device. Seeing how brilliant Ray's theories were, McByrd feared he would soon be passed over for the younger, more visionary man. I don't think it has ever been reprinted.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.