Young Romance #170

Young Romance #170 (On Sale: December 8, 1970), has a cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with our cover story, "Love Is a Swinger" by Robert Kanigher, Werner Roth, and Vince Colletta. Michelle is engaged to a wonderful guy but feels his ring is an anchor dragging her down as she envisions their future. She takes off his ring and plans to give it back to him when he takes her to a discotheque one evening. Before she can tell him how she feels, she is stunned to see him get up and dance with the attractive singer playing there. She later catches him kissing Lily Martin and realizes that she does love him, now that she has lost him. But Dick had just been using Lily to try to forget Michelle when he had noticed she had taken his ring off. Apparently, Lily is to be a reoccurring character, known as The Swinger.

Next is "The Test of Time" drawn by Tony Abruzzo and Bill Draut and reprinted from Falling in Love #67 (1964). Sue gets engaged and invites her brother to come for the weekend to reveal her big surprise. When Jim arrives, he has his own surprise as he is also engaged and arrives with his fiancee. They plan to have a two-week celebration before their wedding, but before the two weeks are up Sue and Jim catch their partners kissing each other.

Next is a Beauty on a Budget one-pager by Liz Berube.

That is followed by "Will I See Him?" by Joe Gill, John Celardo, and Vince Colletta. After breaking up with Lew, Anne goes to Joan's party wondering if she will see him there.

Next, we have "Appointment with Heartbreak" drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Secret Hearts #39 (1957). Clay has asked Anne to meet him in the park. She assumes he is going to tell her he doesn't love her anymore because she has learned that he has been seeing another girl almost every evening while she has been out of town on an extended business trip. As she approaches Clay's bench, she decides she is not ready to face him. She finds an outdoor restaurant where she tells her story to a sympathetic stranger.

Next is another one-pager, "If You're Capricorn" by Raymond Marais and Liz Berube.

This is followed by "My Life for Yours" drawn by Gene Colan and reprinted from Falling in Love #68 (1964). Tad meets Ellen in her greenhouse after being in South America for two years. They had been in love once, but his jealousy had driven them apart and ultimately resulted in her being seriously injured when she ran away from him one evening and into an approaching car. Now she walks with a slight limp and the scar on her face is practically invisible. Tad learns that she is happy with her plant business and, most of all, loves her little girl and husband.

Next is "Love Me a Little –" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Falling in Love #64 (1964). Marge easily makes conquests of men, but then loses interest in them. Instead of going to Miami again on vacation, she thinks about staying home this year but her friend convinces her to go, thinking that one of the men who swarm Marge will settle for her instead. At the Beachcomber Hotel, Marge is attracted to a man who seems impervious to her charms.

We end with The Swinger in her second story, "Rise, Love, Rise" by Robert Kanigher, Werner Roth, and Vince Colletta. Hitchhiking after the events in "Love Is a Swinger!", Lily panics when she sees a broken bridge and forces the driver to stop. The bridge brings back memories of how Tommy died. They had dated for a long time, but Lily had changed while Tommy had not. After telling Tommy her feelings, he had raced off in his car and smashed through a detour barrier where was drowned in the river. Feeling guilty for Tommy's death, Lily had set off to find herself. She helps a singer overcome his fears to perform at a rock festival, then moves on.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #149

Secret Hearts #149 (On Sale: November 19, 1970), has a cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with our cover story, "David" by Gerry Conway, Alex Toth, and Dick Giordano. Nurse Irene Vickers is shocked when her ex-fiance David is brought into the hospital after a car accident, but she still mistakenly believes that David cheated on her with her sister Lois.

Next, we have "The Sagittarian Woman" an illustrated text article by Raymond Marais and John Celardo.

That is followed by "The Only Girl for Him!" by Len Wein, Win Mortimer, and John Rosenberger. When Adrienne and Peggy compare notes about their new boyfriends they believe that they are dating the same guy, but it turns out they are twins.

Next is a one-page gag strip featuring The Mis-Adventures of Penelope Potter entitled "The Hint!" drawn by John Celardo and Vince Colletta. Guy thinks that Penelope wants to be kissed, but she slaps him and says she wasn't hinting at that at all.

The next story is "A Shared Love!" by Joe Gill, John Celardo, and John Celardo. Pamela buys Ian's old roadster when he's low on cash, but when his fortunes change he wants the car back. He starts to date her and Pamela realizes that he can get the car back if they get married.

We end with "Don't Bet on Love" drawn by Jay Scott Pike and reprinted from Falling in Love #64 (1964). Vicki and her friend Inez wager to see which will be the first to date the new gas station attendant, who doesn't seem to notice either of them.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #145

Secret Hearts #145 (On Sale: May 21, 1970) has a cover said to be by Bill Draut, but I see other hands at work on this.

We begin with "I Have Him Now" by Joe Gill and Bill Draut. Lenora schemes to take Calvin away from her cousin Sally, but when she wins and marries Cal, she finds that he's a compulsive gambler who only married her because he though she was richer than her cousin and he needed more money for gambling.

Following that is a one-pager entitled "Gemini Woman" by Raymond Marais and John Celardo.

Next is "Beware of a Frenchman's Kisses" by Joe Gill, John Celardo and people claim Nick Cardy, but I don't think so. Sure a few panels here and there (mainly page 4) have a Cardy look, but that is also a Celardo look, when he got a brushy and loose. Eleanor's Aunt Mary gives her a trip to Paris as a graduation gift and accompanies her as chaperone. While visiting a museum, her aunt bows out from dinner, telling her niece to no go to Chez Angelique, as the clientele is "unspeakable." So, of course, that is where she goes and when she gets there she finds a table waiting for her with artist Paul Rowan, from the museum, already seated. He said as soon as he heard her aunt tell her not to go there that she would of course show up.  After dinner they go to a café together and he walks her home. It is there that she learns that her aunt set up the whole thing.

We end with "I Didn't Want to Do It" by Jack Miller, Jay Scott Pike and John Rosenberger. When Darrell breaks up with Ginny, she hatches a scheme to get revenge on him by enlisting her friend, Felice, to date Darrell and break up with him after he falls in love with her. The plan goes well until  Felice actually falls in love with Darrell herself. Got to say that the artwork on this story is very good.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Hot Wheels #3

Hot Wheels #3  (On Sale: May 19, 1970) has an adequate cover by Neal Adams, but it gives the book a tone that does not in any way match the interior. It puts the emphasis on the bad guys and relegates the heroes to very small heads in the police car and, of course, the obligatory headshots running down the left panel.

Now this may seem like a minor criticism, but this book was really Alex Toth's baby, and he had a particular product that he wanted to sell, and it was about the characters and their interaction with their cars. Alex had done a number of car books by this time and he knew how to deliver one of those, but I think he was aiming for something more accessible to kids than what DC had in mind.

Nothing points that out clearer than the cover by Alex that was rejected by DC. It puts forth the same idea, that the kids are working with the police and are being shot at. However, it changes the emphasis, moving it away from the bad guys and putting it clearly onto Jack Wheeler.

Alex even employs the unusual design choice of having Jack's head in the left margin do the talking. This moves those obligatory headshots from static window dressing to active participant in the cover. It is a brilliant idea on Toth's part. I just have to wonder what Dick Giordano's problem was with Toth's ideas here.

The book begins with "Stakeout," a 13-pager by Joe Gill, Alex Toth and the horrific Vinnie Colletta.  Colletta could destroy just about anyone's pencils and he certainly sucked the mood right out of Toth's work here. Toth demands a broad, assured stroke and Colletta was never in possession of one. The only bright side to the artwork on this issue is that it is the last time that someone else will ink Toth's Hot Wheels pencils and that is a very good thing.  When some bank robbers are making their getaway in what appears to be an old clunker, but is actually a "funnycar," Jack and Janet come upon them and take off in hot pursuit. Jack ends up flipping their dune buggy, but luckily land in a junkyard's pile of old tires. When the police arrive and ask the two to describe the car, Jack informs them that was a '55 Chevy, but since it was actually a funnycar, they can swap out the bolt-on body and might be any other car the next time the see it.

 Sure enough, across town the gang is picking up their girlfriends and the '55 Chevy is no more. Back at Wheeler Motors the kids talk it over with Jack's dad and decide to stake out the four largest banks in town to see if they can catch the gang in the act. They need to be in police cars to do it, so they go to the Commissioner with a plan to soup up four police cars so they can keep yup with that funnycar. The Commissioner agrees. Besides making the cars faster, they paint them and remove the roof lights. Jack, Tank, Kip and Mickey are joined by plain-clothes officers and the stakeout begins.

Days go by but finally an old pickup pulls up to one of the banks, and, yes, it is the robbers. Jack and his companion, Detective Ross, take off in hot pursuit, but have to drop back as one of the robbers is in the back of the pickup shooting at them. The gunman is tossed out of the truck on a tight turn and Jack notes that they are heading out of town on Monument Road. Tank blocks the road in his car, but Jack warns him that they are coming too fast to stop and a change of tactic is needed. Tanks zig zags his car in front of the truck slowing them down and the other cars converge, capturing the thieves.  Wheeler Motors offers to soup up all the police cars if the Commissioner approves.

This is followed by a two-page Racing Album by Jack Keller highlighting the 1956 Daytona race a one-page text story featuring the Hot Wheels gang entitled "Not Too Bright!" and one page of gags, "Car Toons" by Henry Boltinoff.

The back-up story is  "The Raid of the Red Baron," an 8-page tale drawn by Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano. While dune bugging across the desert to Sweet Springs for a picnic, Janet and Jack are bombed with  a flour sack by resident asshole Dexter in a WWI Fokker. Dexter then chases them down, causing them to flatten in the dust before finding Mickey and Ardeth in their buggy and strafing them. Dexter then has engine trouble and crashes the plane on the edge of a cliff. Dex is fine, but copilot Ferdie has been thrown from the plane and needs a doctor. Jack and Dexter head for the nearest town and retrieve a doctor, who examines Ferdie and the gang help get him back to town.

Ardeth then douses Dexter with her now sandy potato salad. The art in this one is a little strange. The first few pages are dramatic and then as the story wears on the art becomes much more cartoony.  I think Ric was having an issue with what type of tale he was illustrating.

The book was edited by Dick Giordano.

Hot Wheels #2

Hot Wheels #2 (On Sale: March 17, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams.
This issue begins with "Dragstrip Disaster!!!" by Joe Gill, Alex Toth and Dick Giordano. an exceedingly well done piece of work from all involved. It is the dragstrip finals and Jack Wheeler is on the line for the Top Eliminator, but watching is Dexter Carter and his Demons and they let on that they have spiked Jack's fuel with nitro. As Jack barrels down the track his throttle is stuck wide open and he jumps into the lead when suddenly his engine erupts in flames. Jack jumps from the smoking railer as it explodes! Guessing that Dexter spiked his fuel, Jack has to hold Tank back from taking it out of Dexter's hide and Dexter challenges Jack to a no-rules race in one month at the same track.

How minimally can you draw an effective
dragster explosion? How about a sound
effect only?

During the next month Jack and the gang build a sweet railster, but Dexter and his goons, seeing the threat it poses, steal it and leave in it's place, an old clunker railer. With the threat of police intervention Dexter lets them check out his mansion, but Jack rod is not to be found. On the way back to their shop Jack thinks he has a way of beating Dexter at his own game.

The next day is the big race and Jack talks Dexter into betting their railers on the outcome of the race. During the prelims, Mickey Barnes and Ardeth both smoke their competition (Ardeth's being the nasty-looking woody from the cover). Before the big race a gloating Dexter reminds Jack that there are no rules in this race, only a winner.

The race begins and Dexter's railer jumps into the lead of Jack beater till Jack pushes a newly installed dashboard button and ignites the J.A.T.O. (Jet-Assisted-Take-Off) rocket packs he installed on the car the night before. With the rocket boost Jack easily beats Dexter, A dejected Dexter offers Jack his railer but Jack declines saying all he wants back is his railer that Dexter stole.

In the middle of this story was a two-page "Racing Album" on the 1953 Grand Prix of France by Jack Keller who did his only work for DC in this book.

Next is "The Mint 400, A Membership Drive!!" by I am guessing Joe Gill and drawn by Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano. Gill isn't credited, but he seems to be the only writer of record for the first three issues. The Mint 400 is a 400-mile race that takes place every year in the desert outside of Las Vegas. During a trail run, Mikey Barnes and Tank Mallory barely escape an avalanche of boulders during part of their run and when they find find Dexter and his goons in the pits they throw down. Mickey busts his knuckles on the jaw of one of the demons and the rest dog-pile on Tank. In to the fray jumps Kip Clarke, an African student who happens to be an expert on karate, and just about everything else it appears.

Kip takes the place of the injured Mickey in the race and they note that Dexter's Demons took off a bit before them so are out ahead of them on the course. Up ahead Dexter and his thugs put up some fake signs to send Kip and tank off course. It works and Kip and Tank are soon careening down a steep cliff, rumbling boulders at their back. But, Kip's skilled driving handles the problem completely and they finish the race anyway as the 4WD winner. Afterward Kip is introduced to Jack and he finds out that Kip will be staying in California, Jack offers Kip membership in the Hot Wheels, which he gladly accepts.

This is followed by a text piece (something Dick Giordano included often in the DC books) and another "Racing Album" by Jack Keller, this one on the Novi race car.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Hot Wheels #1

Hot Wheels #1 (On Sale: January 22, 1970) is based on the Saturday-morning TV show based on the die-cast toy cars from Mattel and features a cover by Alex Toth and Dick Giordano. I loved that Giordano put the kids' faces in a line-up down the left side of the cover like the Justice League of America was doing a this time.

"Wipe-Out at Le Mans" is by Joe Gill, Alex Toth and Dick Giordano. With so much work at Hana-Barbera in recent years, Toth was the perfect guy to draw Hot Wheels and man did he shine on this series, a forgotten gem from DC. We begin in 1959 at Le Mans where driver Mike Wheeler is spinning out of control and about to center-punch another disabled car. He instead throws his car into the wall in an horrific explosion .

Mike's young son Jackie rushes to his burning car and is pulled way. Mike is extracted from the wreckage and taken to the hospital where after agonizing hours of surgery they find that he will live, but his leg is so badly damaged that he will never race again. Weeks later a hobbled Mike Wheeler tells his son that he always planned on opening a garage when he retired, it's just happening sooner than he expected. Wow. six beautiful pages from Toth and Giordano of textbook-perfect efficient and evocative story-telling.

So on to California and Wheeler Motors and Jack growing into a teenager at Metro High and hanging out with Janet Martin and being harassed by rich punk Dexter Carter, the plague of Metro City. Dexter and his gang make it so bad on the street of Metro City that a special town hall meeting is called to revoking all drivers licenses held by those under the age of 21 (which would have been highly illegal in California I would think).



The pencils to a rejected Alex Toth cover
for Hot Wheels #1.

Anyway Mike talks Jack into going to the meeting and defending the teenagers, which he does by pointing out that most teenagers are responsible drivers. like he and his friends, who have formed a club called Hot Wheels to sponsor closed-course races so kids can have there fun, but responsibly.

The club goes on a PR offensive but Dexter and his goons are not to pleased. While out testing a new car at the track, Hot Wheeler Mickey Barnes is run off the track and crashes due to Dexter and his friends. Dexter challenges Jack to a grudge race and Jack accepts, only Mike will only let him use parts from junkers for a grudge race. They build a car as best they can. On race day they find that Dexter has bought two new v-12 Ferrari's to race against Jack and that he and one of his goons will both be racing against Jack.

Same rejected cover inked by Dick Giordano.

Once the race begins Dexter and his goon tray to double-team jack, boxing him in and roughing up his car, but Jack avoids the worst of it. However dexter inadvertently gets caught in the oil slick laid down by his goon and is about to center-punch a pole when Jack floors it and knocks Dexter out of harms way, but knocks himself right into the pole destroying his car. Dexter wins the race but Mike liked what he saw his son do, both in building a competitive car and in saving Dexter's neck and promises that next time he will have his father's full support in building a car.

Next issue promises to be a rematch. Not a bad start for the book. For copyright reasons, this fine series has never been reprinted.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Hearts #139

Secret Hearts #139 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Dick Giordano and another great example of a through-the-legs shot, which I gotta say, I find sexy.

We began with "Not That Kind of Girl" by Joe Gill, Winslow Mortimer and Vince Colletta. Following her mother's advice, Rosalie is not very popular; she does not want to be known as that kind of girl. However, it is her aunt who helps her to loosen up a little and have some fun.

This is Joe Gill's first full writing credit at DC; he would have 15 more in a DC career that for the most part, paralleled the editorship of Dick Giordano. Joe came to DC with Giordano and had so far been relegated to writing the scripts based on E. Nelson Bridwell's plots for The Secret Six and a Marv Wolfman's plot for the Showcase #78 issue, featuring Johnny Double.

Joseph P. Gill was born July 13, 1919.  He came to do comics work through the prodding of his brother, Ray Gill, an editor at Funnies, Inc., which supplied comics publishers with stories and artwork. His work in the early days for Timely (now Marvel), was mainly uncredited, and is said to have started in the early forties, where he was one of the writers to work on Captain America after the departure of Simon and Kirby. In the late forties, Timely switched from super-heroes to teen comics and westerns, and Joe became one of their busiest writers. The work at Timely began to dry up when he fell out of favor with Stan Lee and by the early fifties, was working for Charlton, writing just about everything they published.

Besides writing 100 to 120 pages a week, Joe worked as a colorist as well. In fact, his final recorded credit is as one of the colorists on the small-press superhero comic Ebony Warrior #2 (June–July 1993), published by Ania. At Charlton Joe Gill co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster. In 1975, Gill and artist John Byrne co-created the post-apocalyptic series Doomsday + 1, the first series-creator credit for Byrne.

Gill retired from comics for the most part in 1986 when Charlton finally collapsed for the final time. He passed away on December 17, 2006.

That is followed by "How Can I Tell Him the Truth?" by Jack Miller, Winslow Mortimer and Mike Esposito. Childhood sweethearts, Wendy and Richy, have always assumed that they will be married, but when Richy has to go away for a few months, Wendy falls in love with Peter.

We end with the 13-pager, "Hide from Love" penciled by John Rosenberger. Tom is pressured by his girlfriend, Gwen,  to give her roommate, Freya, a job. Things go badly when Freya falls in love with Tom herself.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #7

Secret Six #7 (On Sale: February 4, 1969) and final issue has a cover by Jack Sparling.

"Eye for an Eye" is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, Scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling. I liked the Mission: Impossible action/adventure slant of the Secret Six, it was different from anything else DC was putting out at the time, though you could argue that Wonder Woman was becoming an action/adventure book with the loss of her super-powers.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #6

Secret Six #6 (On Sale: December 3, 1968) has a cover by Jack Sparling.

"The Victim is a Killer" is the only story in this, the last issue of the magazine. It is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #5

Secret Six #5 (On Sale: October 8, 1968) has a cover by Jack Sparling.

Inside "The Queen Without a Crown" is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Showcase #78

Showcase #78 (On Sale: September 12, 1968) has very nice Johnny Double cover by Dick Giordano.

"Meet Jonny Double..." is plotted by Marv Wolfman, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling. Down-on-his-luck private investigator Jonny Double gets a case to help Wilson Twain, a financier who has received death threats from the synicate. Jonny begins questioning underworld informants and draws the attention of the criminals. After taking a beating, Jonny traces the crooks to businessmen Piker and Glass. He is spotted snooping in their office, and the crooks try to kill him. Jonny stays alive and defeats the crooks, leaving them for Lt. Branigan his former boss on the police force.

The last five single issue debuts in Showcase resulted in five six-issue series, but Johnny Double would not be so lucky. The story I have read, and I don't remember where, is that Johnny Double was supposed to be a "Disguise Expert/Bodyguard," who would through the use of disguise become the body double of someone targeted for murder. For some reason the "Double" name was kept, but the concept was jettisoned. Four years later Len Wein would revisit that concept in The Human Target in the pages of Action Comics.

As for Johnny Double, he was a character that, for a time, would not die. He was revived in 1970 in Challengers of the Unknown #79 (an issue also featuring Deadman and a few pages drawn by Neal Adams) and then more famously went on for a stint in Wonder Woman beginning in 1972.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #4

Secret Six #4 (On Sale: August 6, 1968) has only a so-so cover by Jack Sparling.

"Escape for an Enemy" is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling. This issue focuses on King Savage. The Hollywood stunt man had been a fighter pilot during the Korean War. After having been shot down and captured by the North Koreans, he escaped imprisonment and made it back to his own lines in time to warn U.N. forces of an imminent Chinese ambush. But while imprisoned, under torture, King revealed valuable information about American forces. As he reveals here, it was Mockingbird who provided King the tools and weapons which enabled him to escape prison in time to warn the U. N. troops of the North Korean ambush.

The Six's mission is to rescue a North Korean general from the Red Chinese before he can be executed as a traitor and to turn him over to the U.S. authorities for interrogation. This general just happens to have been the commandant of the prison camp where King was held during the war and the one who forced King to betray his country.

This issue has another example of Dick Giordano's "hands off" style of editing, giving his writers and artists pretty much free reign to create as they saw fit, causing mistakes to be made.

In this issue Joe Gill wrote a thought balloon for Carlo that says, "If Doc is Mockingbird…I had to make this look good!" Now since the underlying gimmick to this entire series is that one of the members of the Secret Six is actually Mockingbird, and nobody knows who he is, this little faux pas just eliminated Carlo from suspicion and therefore weakened the basic premise of the entire series.

I wish I was home and could get hold of my Secret Six issues as some people on the net say this "mistake" actually took place in issue #2, not issue #4. Argh! Who to trust, who to trust?

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #3

Secret Six #3 (On Sale: June 4, 1968) has a cover by Jack Sparling.

"To Kill a Mockingbird!" is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling. After five of the Six have unsuccessful attempts on their lives, they pair off to keep an eye on each other. While working with King, Mike is kidnapped by the Syndicate -- who were responsible for the other murder attempts.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Secret Six #2

Secret Six #2 (On Sale: April 2, 1968) has a cover by Nick Cardy that is not very impressively colored.

"Plunder the Pentagon" is plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, scripted by DC newcomer Joe Gill (brought over by new editor Dick Giordano and doing his first DC work here) and drawn by Frank Springer and was reprinted in The Brave and the Bold #120.

Edited by Dick Giordano.