Super DC Giant S-15

Super DC Giant S-15  (On Sale: July 21, 1970) has a nice cover by Joe Kubert and features "Western Comics."  One of the things I always liked about this period at DC was that they were not about to give up on the western. They were reprinting a lot of stuff at the time in these giants, Kubert had done Firehair in Showcase, they were still publishing new Tomahawk books, and soon we would see the rebirth of All-Star Western and some of the best western comics ever.

And I liked that DCs westerns were westerns, not super-hero books in the old west like some of Marvel's books seemed to be. At DC the genre was kept in tact, even when it was merged with another genre such as in the El Diablo series in All-Star Western.

We start this giant with Pow-Wow Smith in "Attack of the Silent Avenger," by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino and reprinted from Western Comics #76.

Next is "Stand Proud the Warrior Breed," a 12-page new story written and drawn by Gil Kane. I'm not sure why this was buried inside rather than leading off the book. It just seems like an odd choice.

The new work is followed by Foley of the Fighting Fifth in  "Terror on the Telegraph Trail." This reprint from All-American Western #124 is by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.

Next we have Buffalo Bill in "The Robbery of the Iron Horse" by Dave Wood and Joe Kubert. This story is a reprint from Frontier Fighters #7.

That is followed by the Vigilante in "The Capture of the Four Aces." This reprint from Action Comics #160 is by Dick Wood and Bob Brown. Not a lot is known about Dick Wood. He started working for Hillman in 1942 where he began with the "Origin of Airboy" in Air Fighters Comics #2 and stayed there less than a year. Around this time he also appeared to write for Crime Does Not Pay, Daredevil and Boy Comics. There is also some indication that in the 1941-42 period Dick tried his hand at both penciling and inking in Daredevil and Boy Comics.

The next time his credit reappears is in 1948 at DC where he wrote one Superman story and a half dozen Vigilante yarns. The story reprinted here is his first. In 1952 he started working regularly on Blackhawk for Quality. Around this time he also wrote the final issue of Dollman and a few issue of Plastic Man, GI Combat, Web of Evil and T-Man, all for Quality. His last Blackhawk was #106 in 1956 and he did not reappear till 1965 when he started a run on Gold Key's Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, which he wrote till 1969. He also scripted the first three Gold Key issues of Star Trek. There are also indications that he worked on a few issue of Gold Key's The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Grimm's Ghost Stories and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery.

We round out the issue with Pow-Wow Smith in "The Law's Outlaw" by France Herron and Carmine Infantino and reprinted from Western Comics #44.

The book was edited by Dick Giordano.