DC Special #5

DC Special #5 (On Sale: August 14, 1969) has a cover by and about Joe Kubert. This is the second of the DC Special issues honoring a specific artist and it is too bad they did not continue with these. In a way it is sort of a cross between a reprint book and a fanzine, though it is mainly a reprint book.

We begin with "The Cartoonist -- at Home" a four-page introduction by Joe Kubert of Joe Kubert and which I thought was very well done. It has lots of humor, introduced us to his family (including later to be artists Adam and Andy Kubert). the script is funny and has a wonderful cameo by Russ Heath, who calls to say he won't be able to finish his story on time, but he is working hard and hasn't slept for days. Russ is pictured at the Playboy Club with a blond on his arm.

I loved the style Kubert utilized for this one, great stuff indeed.

We begin the reprints with Sgt. Rock in "Eyes of a Blind Gunner" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Our Army At War #113. Easy Company is attacked while crossing a river. Wild Man takes out a plane with his bazooka, then gets dumped in the river with Sgt. Rock and Jackie. Together the trio take out a tank. Jackie and Wild Man then form a team.

When Easy awaits a supply drop, they are ambushed. The only weapon they have to rely on is a machine gun. Jackie and Wild Man are set on guard duty with the gun, when another attack occurs. Jackie is blinded by an explosion, and Wild Man's hand are injured. Wild Man uses his eyes to guide Jackie in firing the machine gun. Together the two soldier successfully hold off their attackers.

Next is "Rider of the Winds" also by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Showcase #2. This short tale is of an Indian boy, Eagle feather, who was given his name when Rider of the Winds, a giant eagle caught a feather during the boy's naming ceremony. As the boy turns 14 he is told to guard over the tribes flock of sheep. One day one of the lambs gets stuck in quicksand and Eagle Feather wades in and tosses the lamb to safety, but is himself stuck. Rider of the Winds appears and Eagle Feather grabs one of his wings and is pulled to safety himself.

But while this was happening Black Lightning, a mountain lion, slaughters five of the sheep. Eagle Feather is disgraced and the whole village holds him in shame. He seeks the council of a wise man who tells him that he must defeat the bearer-of-that-disgrace, Black Lightning in order to remove his shame. Eagle Feather tracks Black Lightning down ans with the help once again of Rider of the Winds is able to kill the big black cat and regain his standing in the tribe.

That is followed by Hawkman in "Menace of the Matter Master" by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Brave and the Bold #35. While attempting to turn base metals to gold, chemist Mark Mandrill discovers the secret of Mentachem, a chemical which gives him control of any material in its natural state. He creates a directing wand, and uses the material to steal a half-million dollars from an armored car, then creates an army of meteor men to loot the Midway City Art Center. Tipped off by Commissioner Emmett, Hawkman and Hawkgirl battle the rockmen, but Matter Master intercedes, and escapes with the treasures by directing helicopter blades at them.

The criminal trips up, however, when directing flowers to steal a parchment from the museum, as Hawkman’s acute sense of smell comes to the force in time to track these flowers to Matter Master’s underground lair, where he and Hawkgirl capture him.

Next is a two-page spread by Joe Kubert of a number of characters he has drawn over the years, each done in the style he used "back in the day." This spread features Doctor Fate, Johnny Quick, Hawkman, The Flash, Wildcat, The Vigilante, Sargon the Sorcerer, Zatara and Firehair.

We end with Viking Prince in "Threat of the Ice King" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Brave and the Bold #18. Kubert's work on this strip is just beautiful. Jon, the Viking Prince, continues his quest to complete the twelve tasks of Thor in order to regain his throne. His travels bring him to the domain of the Ice King on a mission to awaken a rose. Jon fights his way past the Ice King's two-headed bear and other dangers until he reaches the castle. Inside he finds a sleeping maiden which he awakens with a kiss.

The woman is the rose princess who was placed in a trance by the Ice King. Jon's kiss broke the spell. He then faces the Ice King himself who has the power to freeze men. Jon prevails in the duel, then escapes the castle with the rose princess. With the rescue, he completes the fourth task of Thor.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Atom & Hawkman #45

Atom & Hawkman #45 (On Sale: August 5, 1969) has a very nice cover by Joe Kubert, for this, the last issue of the book. I never thought this book was a good idea in the first place as these two characters had little in common. Kubert's Hawkman, is, once again, killer.

The book ends with a feature-length Atom/Hawkman story, "Queen Jean, Why Must We Die?" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. It was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB. Jean Loring sees the face of a killer she had unsuccessfully defended on everyone she meets, and goes berserk. Ray Palmer tries to help her, and discovers that his Alpha Energy machine is radiating unusually. He locks Jean in a room, while he investigates the source as the Atom (DC knew how to treat its female characters). He finds a tiny armored warrior, and has his arm coated in silver, as well as being irradiated by another Alpha-Ray machine. The Atom become large again only to discover that Jean is gone.

Ray calls Carter Hall for help, and they find the armor is the same as that found in Death Valley, apparently left by aliens, so they travel there and find identical alpha emissions. Atom figures that Jean is being held in a sub-atomic world there, and, using his lens-sizer (seen in Hawkman #9), shrinks Hawkman to sub-atomic size. They land on the radiation's source planet, where they are immediately attacked by robot birds piloted by a crazed Jean, and both are knocked out.

They discover they are captives of the Jimberen, an ancient alien race which fled to this sub-atomic size to escape a plague on Earth. Recently woken from suspended animation, they now seek a new queen descended from their original Earth-born queen, Jean Loring, and drove her mad to remove woe and care from her mind.

Atom and Hawkman are strapped in explosive harnesses and made slaves, until they fake a fall in the mountains, and escape. Freeing themselves, they find Jean, and Ray restores them to normal size. However, Jean is still insane.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Atom & Hawkman #44

Atom & Hawkman #45 (On Sale: June 3, 1969) has a wonderful Hawkman cover by Joe Kubert. Kubert, Hawkman, Gentleman Ghost, sarcophagus; what else is there to say?

Hawkman stars in "The Ghost Laughs Last" a thirteen-page story by Robert Kanigher and Murphy Anderson, continuing Hawkman's battle with the Gentleman Ghost from last issue. Hawkman is convinced that Craddock isn't a real ghost, but rather a charlatan using clever tricks. Meanwhile, the Ghost begins seeing Zita, a blind psychic, who falls in love with him. Zita tells Craddock that exposure to a rare jewel, her sight can be restored. The Ghost promises to steal  the Empress Ra-Na's necklace from the Louvre. 

Although his men are captured by Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the Ghost eludes the Winged Wonders and returns to Zita with the necklace. The jewel however, does not restore Zita's sight, so the Ghost steals the Fire Ruby from a Paris fashion show, once again eluding the Winged Warriors. As the Gentleman Ghost escapes into the Paris sewer system, all evidence points to Craddock actually being a ghost.

The Fire Ruby works in restoring Zita's sight, but the Ghost leaves, telling her that he will not return until his physical body can be restored and they can be together. This one was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

The Atom stars in "Hate is Where You Find It," an eleven-pager by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. The Atom breaks up an altercation between two college boys and Professor Heinrich Von Rilk. The boys are angry because Professor Von Rilk destroyed the school's electron-microscope and accuse him of being a Nazi. (Ha ha, funny story, we used to not like Nazis in this country.) Anyway, Von Rilk explains that he discovered a microscopic lifeform about to invade the Earth, and he destroyed the microscope to stop the invasion.

The boys think Von Rilk is lying, so the Atom shrinks to microscopic size to see if he can confirm or deny the Professor's story. The Atom finds Ag, the vanguard of an invasion force, readying to invade Earth. The Atom stops Ag and destroys the creature's ability to invade Earth in the future.

Later, the Atom testifies in court and Professor Von Rilk is set free.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

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.

Atom & Hawkman #42

Atom & Hawkman #42 (On Sale: February 4, 1969) has a great cover by Joe Kubert.

"When Gods Make Madness" is by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. In this joint Atom and Hawkman story, Carter Hall and Ray Palmer are leaving a scientists' convention in Midway City, when they are attacked by a man with a tear gas grenade, which knocks out Carter. The Atom attacks him, but is startled to find the enemy is Carter's double. This man disappears in the symbol of Shiva, Hindu god of destruction.

Hawkman and the Atom jet to India, but their flight is attacked en route by locusts, and the pilot, another Carter Hall double, must crashland in India. Hawkgirl joins them there, and they are attacked by Brahma, god of light. The trio is overwhelmed by the faceless Nether-Man, and they are brought before Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu, god of restoration.

Shiva explains that eons ago the three gods ruled, until a cosmic upheaval sent them to another astral plane. Later, they found a warp to a limbo in which dwelt souls between life and death. The Nether-Men came back to Earth with them, seeking their former worshipers. When they could not find them, Shiva vowed to create chaos to prove his power and punish mankind, just at the time the Halls were in the country. The god used Carter's face as a model for the Nether-Men for use in infiltration and spying, and also hypnotized Vishnu while he stole Brahma's sight and sanity.

The captive Atom disappears, apparently destroyed; Hawkman and Hawkgirl attack. She blinds Shiva, but is in turn restrained by Vishnu, and the Nether-Men knock out Hawkman. Atom reappears and removes Brahma's blindfold; the god then returns the Nether-Men and his fellow gods to the nether- dimension. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Atom & Hawkman #41

Atom & Hawkman #41 (On Sale: December 3, 1968) has another great cover by Joe Kubert. The book also has a new tweaked logo that will last till the book ends.

We begin with the Atom in "Return of the Seven-Year Dead Man" by Gardner Fox, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. This book is Gardner Fox's last work on Atom and Hawkman as DC is about to squeeze him out of the business. Fox's career at DC began in 1937 with "The Mystery of San Jose Island," a Speed Saunders story in Detective #3.

Jason Madden, a former crook that has had amnesia, has been officially declared dead after being missing for seven years. When Madden sees the story in a newspaper, he recovers his memory. He expects his former partners to be attending his funeral, but neither man shows up. Madden learns that the Atom arrested Grabs Gannon, but Chuck Wheeler did not show up either.

Madden tracks down Wheeler, who has gone straight and is now a successful businessman. Madden tries to kill Wheeler, but the Atom intervenes. Atom then stops Madden from pulling the same robbery that Grabs Gannon had attempted. Wheeler turns himself over to the police for his old crimes. He is given a suspended sentence because of his charitable work and honest life.

We round out the book with Hawkman in "Yo-Yo Hangup in the Sky" by Gardner Fox, Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson. Continuing from last issue, taking Harris back to his spaceship, Hawkman and his passenger encounter a gravity-defying car, which he rescues, despite being similarly affected. The car's passengers turn out to be bank robbers trying to make a getaway, and they try to shoot him, unsuccessfully.

Hawkman finally questions Harris, determining that his moonstone ring, bought that morning, is the teleportation device, and that the anti-gravity effect came from his own spaceship's grappler and repelling beams, accidentally activated by Harris when he was aboard. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Atom & Hawkman #40

Atom & Hawkman #40 (On Sale: October 3, 1968) has a dramatic, but oddly foreshortened cover featuring both heroes by Joe Kubert. this is the last issue with the elongated "A" and "H" logo.

The Atom starts in "The Explosive Exploit of the Split-Atom" by Gardner Fox, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. The Atom works with the FBI work on an undercover operation to trap a group of spies that are kidnapping scientists. An FBI agent disguised as Ray Palmer is kidnapped. Atom rescues him, but to their surprise the kidnappers are not the spies they wanted, just ordinary criminals who wanted revenge against Palmer.

The real spies have followed the crooks and are able to capture Palmer and the Atom. They take them back to their hideout where a Lobotikon extracts their secrets. Major Mynah comes to the rescue and frees the Atom who then defeats the spies.

The Hawkman story is "The Man with an Inbuilt Panic Button" by Gardner Fox, Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson. When a carnival ride's cable snaps, Andrew Harris mysteriously teleports himself from danger. He appears inside Hawkman's spaceship, interfering with its orbit. As Katar rescues the ship, Harris again teleports away.

Hawkman had noticed Harris's moonstone ring, and uses the Lustrometer to track him to the home of Harvey Ellison, millionaire collector, which is being burgled. As he and the crooks battle, Harris vanishes again, this time taking along the crook holding him. Hawkman tracks them to a waterfall, and rescues both. Harris's teleportation power mysteriously vanishes. this story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Atom & Hawkman #39

Atom & Hawkman #39 (On Sale: August 6, 1968). Say good-bye to the Atom, say good-bye to Hawkman, and say hello to the Atom and Hawkman book taking over the numbering from the Atom and sporting the first of seven wonderful covers by Joe Kubert.

They began this new merged book with a merged Atom/Hawkman story, "Vengeance of the Silver Vulture," by Robert Kanigher, Murphy Anderson and Joe Giella. The Halls and Ray Palmer, on vacation in Mexico City, are told a prophecy that wings will come between them. Shayera goes shopping alone, while Carter and Ray take a helicopter to see Mayan ruins where they rescue a boy from a trained puma. The animal was set upon him by the descendent of an ancient high priest because he had dared to stop an animal sacrifice. This priest, Tekla, has sent his followers into a dangerous mine to seek the Silver Vulture, an artifact which is a supposed harbinger of evil for the tribe. Katar stops them, and the Atom enters the mine instead.

He finds the statue, but it releases gases that cause him to hate all winged creatures. When he leaves the mine, he knocks out Hawkman, and the priest gets the Vulture. Shayera is summoned to help, but is captured by Tekla, anaesthetized, and dressed as a reincarnation of his high priestess. When her husband sees her, he fails to recognize her.

Hawkman sends a vulture to bring Ray back, but the Atom kills the bird. The Atom returns to the village with Miguel, the boy he had helped rescue earlier, and once there, a lightning bolt restores his senses. He frees Hawkman, Hawkgirl frees herself, and they overcome the Mayans. The Silver Vulture melts on the sacrificial pyre. Reprinted in Showcase Presents:Hawkman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.