Our Fighting Forces #123

Our Fighting Forces #123 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a Losers cover by Joe Kubert.

This is the first appearance of The Losers as a cover feature and even they are prominently featured on the cover, it is kind of strange that we begin with a different story, "Cold Deadly as a Bullet" by Howard Liss and Russ Heath. His company pinned down on the back of a frozen river by a Nazi machine gun nest, Joe Martin is ordered to cross the river on the flank and toss some grenades into the nest, but he falls through a soft spot in the ice and has to swim away under the water to avoid the Nazi guns. He breaks through the ice near the shore and out of the gunman's sights and is able to destroy the next with a grenade.

Because of the nearby enemy they are unable to make a fire and Joe begins to freeze in the cold night air. The Nazis attack and Joe uses an enemy soldier's body to shield himself from a Nazi grenade, the blast throwing Joe into a soft snowbank, where he plays possum as the snow covers he freezing body. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, Joe lets the snow cover him completely. At dawn Joe hears the sounds of fighting and realizes his company has reached the river bank and is attacking. Coming up from his hiding place behind the enemy nest Joe is able to catch them in the crossfire.

Promised a hot shower, a warm meal and a toasty bed if they can just force the Nazis to leave a nearby town, Joe and a Lieutenant ride a machine-gun mounted jeep with towards a farmhouse containing a Nazi sniper. The Lieutenant is shot, the jeep crashes and Joe is shot. He tosses his last grenade, taking out the sniper, then dies. A fellow soldier remarks that at least now, Joe is no longer cold. Not much of a story, but great Russ Heath artwork.

Next is a one-page "Warrior: Histories Mightiest Men of Combat" featuring Napoleon and drawn by Ken Barr.

The back-up is just nuts. The first page identifies it as Lt. Hunter's Hellcats in "Exit Laughing." The Hellcats blow up a man-made volcano and proclaim this to be their last mission, if they can find someone to take their place (this is, in fact, their last appearance). The very next page is introducing The Born Losers in "No Medals No Graves" by Robert Kanigher and Ken Barr.  Now I know the cover says the book stars The Losers, but DC seems to not be sure that is the name they want to use, as the group is once again called The Born Losers.  Ken Barr's artwork is wonderful, though editor Kubert has his fingers in the mix on a few panels from page to page.

Capt. Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner and Sarge are all lamenting their lack of assignments and secretly thinking that they are not given one because they are "Born Losers" or simply "Losers." The word appears on nearly every page of the story and multiple times. Lt. Hunter shows up and lets them know that they are going on R&R and that Capt. Storm and the group must take the Hellcats' place, to which they all respond, "What have we got to LOSE?" As luck, or really bad writing would have it, their mission is for Capt. Storm to take the place of a man named Howard, who is known to the Nazis and looks exactly like Storm, right down to the wooden leg (one has to wonder how the Hellcats were supposed to pull this mission off!).

Storm is supposed to parachute into a Nazi stronghold, get captured, hold out in interrogation for 48 hours, then give the Nazis bogus information as he "cracks" while the rest of the Losers or Born Losers or whatever, launch a diversionary attack. Does any of this make sense? Not really, but it is Kanigher, so what do you expect? After a lot of fighting, the team is successful in their mission but still refer to themselves as "born losers" as they fly to safety. Read it for the wonderful Ken Barr artwork and try not to think too much about the story.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

House of Mystery #184

House of Mystery #184 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Turner's Treasure" by Jack Oleck and Alex Toth. This features ten pages of wonderful Toth artwork and begins with an 11th page by Toth that acts as an introduction. Philosophy professor Paul Turner resigns from his position on State U's faculty to head to Egypt in search of treasure. Paul and his wife, Anne, eventually find the treasure, which Paul decides to sneak out of Egypt so he can keep it all for himself. What Paul does not know is that the treasure is cursed and all who have touched it, in Egypt and America, are quickly killed.

Paul sets up a sale for the rest of his treasure with a fence who informs the police and the Egyptian authorities of Paul's theft. When Paul comes back later to complete the deal, he is met by police, whom he runs from. He hides under a pier, hanging from a beam, but after the police leave the beam snaps under the weight of the treasure, which Paul refuses to let go of even as it pulls him to his death.

For some reason, there is a Page 13 by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones embedded in the middle of the Toth story, which is immediately followed by a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

We end with the ten-page "The Eyes of the Basilisk" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. The kingdom of Karenek is threatened by a giant serpent all the Basilisk, who kills anything that looks into its eyes.  An old man in the kingdom relates a tale of his youth how the Basilisk ravaged the land but was killed with a spear by Prince Henvist, who was poisoned by the beast even as he killed it. In fear the people leave the Basilisk alone in his valley and it soon becomes a place of death. King Ludro is talked into telling the people that anyone who slays the beast will marry his daughter and succeed him on the throne.

Many from the surrounding lands try, but all are killed by the eyes of the Basilisk. Ulfar, the son of a nobleman is able to use a highly polished shield to reflect the Basilisk's eyes back on itself, killing it. He is hailed as the next king and when asked how it was to look into the creature's eyes, he replies he does not know, as he is blind. A fairly silly story but some nice artwork by Gil Kane and Wally Wood make it more than worth it.

The entire book is reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Falling In Love #112

Falling In Love #112 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a nice cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with "Never Trust Your Heart" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Next is "Match-Maker, Match-Breaker" by Winslow Mortimer and Vince Colletta and reprinted in Young Love #109. Lastly we have "Second Choice" by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Binky's Buddies #7

Binky's Buddies #7 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

We begin with Binky's Buddies in "Genius for a Day" and "Ski Weekend." Next is Peggy in "Honk! Honk" and "New Boy in Town." Lastly we have Binky in "The Football Flop" by John Albano, Winslow Mortimer and Henry Scarpelli which was reprinted in Best of DC #45.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Aquaman #49

Aquaman #49 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has just an absolutely beautiful cover by Nick Cardy. What a great design and a powerful drawing. One of Nick's best for sure.

The feature-length "As the Seas Die" is by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo and is some of their best work together to date. Jim Aparo is really changing before our very eyes; each issue is like looking at a different artist. His layouts get more dynamic, his people get more real, his story-telling gets more and this issue features some wonderful work. Aquaman and Aqualad are off the coast of Alaska investigating reports of schools of attacking fish, when they themselves are attacked. The fish don't respond to Aquaman's telepathic commands, so they must fight the fish. However, they get some assistance in that effort from Phil Darson, whom Aquaman (and we readers) met in Aquaman #43.

Phil is there investigating the fish as well, which he says are not only being driven insane, but are also dying. Aquaman and Aqualad go see Professor Davidson, who is the one who summoned Aquaman. The professor believes that the fish are being poisoned by pollution, but that none of the factories in the area will talk to him since a saboteur has been attacking the plants in the last few days. Even as they talk the saboteur is striking again, blowing up part of a nearby plant. Aquaman sees the saboteur jump into the water and gives chase, but is taken out when an explosive is thrown his way.

The next day reports want to discuss the saboteur with the president of the Leland Factory hit the night before, but he won't talk, saying that there was no saboteur, just a boiler malfunction. When they leave he explains to an underling that he doesn't want anyone snooping around and finding out that they are dumping chemicals into the ocean. Back at Atlantis Ocean Master arrives and demands a meeting with Aquaman, but Mera tells him that Aquaman is too busy to see him right now.

Meanwhile Aquaman and Aqualad have found evidence of pollution at both factories that have been hit by the saboteur. that is when Aquaman reads in the paper that Leland says that the explosion at his plant was an accident, which Aquaman knows to be false since he chased after the guy who planted the explosives. They begin to wonder if the Professor might not be involved. Aquaman decides to check out the Leland factory that night, while Aqualad keeps an eye on the Professor. Aquaman sees the saboteur returning to the Leland factory and follows him. The Professor leaves his lab and Aqualad follows him.

The saboteur breaks into Leland's factory only to find Leland waiting for him with a gun. The saboteur disarms Leland and explains that he had asked Leland earlier to stop polluting the ocean and Leland had refused; taking out Leland's plant had seemed the only way to stop him from killing the sea. Aquaman arrives before the saboteur can harm Leland, but he overpowers Aquaman and set the plant on fire. As Aquaman goes after him he is knocked unconscious by Leland who heads out after the saboteur. Meanwhile the Professor has been trying to reach Leland at his home with no success.

Aquaman awakes in the flaming building and staggers out as he hears gunshots in the distance. He sees two figures struggling on a cliff. When he gets there he finds they have fallen over, but the saboteur is still alive. He tells Aquaman he meant him no harm and considered him a friend. He pulls off his mask and it is Phil Darson, who explains that there was no legal way to stop Leland and his kind, so he resorted to the only method he knew would work. Darson then dies from his wounds.

Later they meet with the Professor who says he found evidence that chemicals from the Leland factory were killing the ocean and when to confront him. Aquaman says that he has already talked to the new owners and that they will stop dumping the chemicals into the ocean. They then head off, back to Atlantis. This story was reprinted in Adventure Comics #501.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Wonder Woman #186

Wonder Woman #186 (On Sale: November 4, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

The full-length "Morgana the Witch" is written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Diana Prince rebuilds her shop with the help of Cathy Perkins. Cathy then introduces Diana to her friends Abbie and Millie. Abbie's boyfriend Henry was experimenting with magic and summoned Morgana, the daughter of Morgan Le Fay. The witch then turned Henry into a frog.

Diana and I-Ching begin looking for Morgana. She is easy to find as she has caused chaos all around town. Diana tries to fight her, but Morgana's magic is too powerful. I-Ching uses magic of his own to defeat the witch, who disappears.

Back at Diana's store, Abbie kisses the frog to restore her boyfriend to human form. This was reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Tomahawk #126

Tomahawk #126 (On Sale: November 4, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with Tomahawk in "The Baron of Gallows Hill" by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne. The back-up is "Raids of the Invisible Braves," a Tomahawk reprint from Tomahawk #62 drawn by Bob Brown.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Swing With Scooter #24

Swing With Scooter #24 (On Sale: November 4, 1969) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

We begin with Scooter in "Halloween -- It's a Scream." That is followed by Scooter in "Weird, Wild Wheels" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Henry Scarpelli and reprinted in Best of DC #39. Next is Malibu in "Tanks for the Present." "The Ghost with the Most," "Ghost-Toasties," an untitled story and "The Vanishing Ghost." We end with "She Takes the Cake."

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Our Army at War #214

Our Army at War #214 (On Sale: November 4, 1969) has a Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert, another of the "we are safe" covers, of which, Kubert was the master.

We begin with Sgt. Rock in "Easy Co... Where Are You?" drawn by Russ Heath. As usual, the artwork by Russ is a thing of beauty. Working their way up the boot of Italy new replacement PFC Hogan joins easy just as they enter the town of Bonventura. Easy searches the town in two-man teams, but Hogan elects to go it alone. As he makes his way through the town we learn that Hogan is from the slums of New York's Lower East Side and has been in trouble all his life. Caught stealing from a shopkeeper, Hogan entered the juvenile systems and learned to never rely on anyone but himself.

Hogan enters a demolished church only to be captured by Nazi's hiding there. He is bound and gagged and watches helplessly as Easy slowly makes their way to the church and the trap laid inside. With all eyes on Easy, Hogan realizes the only way he can warn them is to run out the front door and let the Nazi's shots warn Easy.

He falls in a hail of bullets but Easy is now warned of the ambush. The Nazi's aim for the helpless Hogan lying on the ground  and that incites Easy to storm the church. After a heated battle (nice Heath graphics abound), the Nazi's are killed and Easy returns to find Hogan still alive. Later, as they patch him up, Hogan says that he is learning that maybe he does not have to go it alone any more.

That is followed by a Great Battles of History story, "The Bastille" written and drawn by Ric Estrada. It is the 14th of July, 1789 and the Monsieur Le Marquis will not surrender the Bastille to the people of France, saying that in the name of the King, he cannot surrender his post. He promises Monsieur Thuriot that they will not to fire on the people as long as they do not attack the Bastille. but soon after he leaves, Le Marquis orders the streets around the Bastille cleared of "the people" and the soldiers in the Bastille open fire on the crowds. When the people raise a white flag of surrender, Le Marquis has them gunned down where they stand.

The people find a canon and storm the Bastille till they surrender. A simple slice of history for sure, but, man, could Ric Estrada do some fine artwork.

We end with "My Coffin, the Tank" drawn by Sid Greene. Behind enemy lines in the African desert in 1942, the gunner of a lone tank thinks his tank is a coffin and knows he will die in it. When a Stuka attacks he manages to jump from the tank as it is hit by a bomb. Though the tank survives, all of his fellow soldiers are killed. He buries them in the sand and continues on till confronted by a Nazi Tiger Tank. The Nazi tank gives chase as he tried to run from it. He passes an Egyptian tomb in the side of a hill and as he does he realizes the tomb is hidden by a large overhand. Spinning his turret and aiming high, he blasts the overhand and it collapses on top of the Nazi Tiger, which he suddenly realizes looks a whole lot like a coffin.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Detective Comics #394

Detective Comics #394 (On Sale: October 30, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with Batman in "A Victim's Victim" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. Oh, does this issue continue harming the Batman legend. This is the second of the inane Victim's Incorporated Program (V.I.P.) stories. Picking up from the end of this month's Batman story, Bruce Wayne is confronted in his V.I.P. office by a Native American sporting a gun and an eye-patch, one Dakota Jones, race-car driver. It seems Dakota thinks Bruce Wayne hired someone to shoot him in the eye during the last Gotham Classic Cup Race, so that the car owned by Bruce could win.

I take note here that this month DC put out two comics staring Batman and featuring racing, The big difference is that in The Brave and the Bold both Batman and Bruce Wayne take an active part in the racing, while here Bruce owns the car. Anyway, Bruce and Dakota spar and Bruce wins and figures that someone must be feeding Dakota the idea that Bruce was involved.

Later that night as Batman, Bruce heads for the scene of the crime in one of the stupidest looking Batmobiles of all time. This is some Italian race-car looking thing, with one-way mirrors for windows, diplomatic license plates and an ugly spoiler on top. He thinks this will be less obtrusive than the old Batmobile. World's greatest detective my ass! I digress. At the track Batman determines that the shot must have come from the inside of the track, and since there is no place for a sniper to hide, the shot must have come from Wayne's car.

For some reason, Wayne's car is still at the track and on inspection, Batman finds a shell casing under the floor mat (a race car with a floor mat?). Just then he hears some low lifes, "Chance" Collins and some of his goons, coming, talking about how they convinced Dakota that Bruce had ordered the "hit" on Dakota, not them, who bet heavily on the Wayne car to win. They are back to retrieve the gun from behind the glove compartment of Wayne's car. Batman does see the gun there and hides in the car.

When Collins' men open the car batman attacks them but is overpowered. They tie him up and are going to use the same remote-controlled gun rig that they used to shoot Dakota to kill Batman. Before they can do that though, Dakota arrives and takes out a couple of thugs while Collins slips away in Wayne's race car. Dakota takes after him and Collins crashes the car on the same turn where Dakota was shot. An eye for an eye, as they say.

I can't go forward without mentioning the lack-luster Bob Brown and Joe Giella artwork. Brown didn't seem to be trying very hard (one Batman face is repeated three times) and Giella never was one for thrilling inks.

The back-up story features Robin in "Strike... While the Campus is Hot" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. The artwork on this one is a night and day reversal of the main story. Gil Kane's pencils are exciting and vibrant, and Murphy Anderson's inks are lush and inviting, smoothing off some of the rough edges of Kane's pencils. The story begins with Batman and Alfred reading a letter from Dick, telling of his first college "bust."

Dick relates how he has found a room in a boarding house with a conveniently-placed drain pipe for Robin to exit and enter and how on his first day on campus he ran into a protest by a group called CTT (Citizens Tomorrow--Today). They seem to be provoking the campus administrators when the dean shows up to say that they will talk with the protesters and tat they will be no police action or interference. This seems to take the wind out of the protesters who appeared gunning for violence. Suddenly police cars appear and the leaders are taken into custody.

However, Dick notices that the cops are phonies and is knocked out and taken as well. At the campus the remaining CTT leaders accuses the school of lying and along with the press head down to police headquarters. Finding no CTT leader there, CTT accuses the police of being in on a massive cover-up. Meanwhile Dick awakens in an old silo and changes into Robin (something about a reversible shirt and hidden pockets that makes little sense, but hey, it's the comics, right?). He finds the "cops" bandaging up the CTT leader. Robin leaps down and starts fighting the leader only to find the "cops" standing on the sidelines watching and smiling.

This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #387

Adventure Comics #387 (On Sale: October 30, 1969) has a Supergirl cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Supergirl in "The Wolf-Girl of Stanhope" by Cary Bates and Kurt Schaffenberger. Dr. Sanford creates a serum that she thinks will make Supergirl immune to Kryptonite. After drinking the serum, Dr. Sanford exposes Supergirl to Kryptonite and it no longer harms her as it did in the past. However the side-effect is that it turns her into a wolf-girl. She heads for the Fortress of Solitude to ask for Superman's help in reversing her condition, only to find Superman laying near death next to the fortress key, which is a phony made out of Kryptonite and just painted yellow. Being immune to the green rock, she tosses it away and revives her cousin.

While Superman goes in search of a cure, Supergirl takes over his duties in, but her wolf-girl appearance frightens people who think she may be an alien posing as Supergirl (sure, right). Back at Stanhope College, Linda Danvers watches the news. It seems she managed to make a mask that covers her face and hands (and legs). Meanwhile, Dr. Sanford has failed to find a cure and Superman is having no better luck in his search through the cosmos.

A failing rocket launch in Florida sends Supergirl to the rescue, this time using her new masks, but traveling at super-speed melts the mask and people are once again fearful of her. Superman returns to earth to tell his cousin of his failure, when he sees her flying towards him and is happy to see she has returned to normal, but that is because she is actually a Supergirl from another dimension where, you got it, everyone is a wolf-person. She too drank serum from a Dr. Sanford and the side-effect made her look human. She crossed dimensions looking for a cure and she and Superman both now have the same idea. Each Supergirl drinks the serum from the other's dimension and they are both reverted to their normal looks. They are also both now susceptible to Kryptonite's deadly radiation once again.

The back-up story is our cover story, "Lex Luthor's Outlaw Nephew" by Leo Dorfman, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Able. Val, the son of Luthor's sister, Lena, has developed psycho-kinetic powers. Lena, developed ESP when she was young after exposure to some sort of space-brain that Lex discovered and now Lex thinks that a space jewel he sent Val as an anonymous birthday present must have given him his powers. Sure, why not. After Val drops a car on Luthor's foot (I kid you not), Supergirl rescues him and take him back to prison.

Back in prison, Luthor attempts to escape, but is thwarted. Though he does not make it out of prison, he does make it to the evening news where young Val recognizes him as the nice man he met the other day, so he flies to the prison and breaks Luthor out. Supergirl tries to recapture Luthor, but he claims that since Val has flown him over international waters, she can't arrest him (hmmm, sounds very fishy to me). Luthor directs Val to fly him to a remote island where he has a secret base. Unfortunately, this story is continued next issue. Gah!

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #383

Action Comics #383 (On Sale: October 30, 1969) has a Superman cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Superman in "The Killer Costume" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and George Roussos. The back-up story features the Legion of Super-Heroes in "Chameleon Boy's Secret Identity" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Able. Jim Shooter would be back as Legion writer next issue, but would then leave DC for five years. It was reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

World's Finest Comics #190

World's Finest Comics #190 (On Sale: October 28, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Superman and Batman in "The Final Revenge of Luthor" by Cary Bates, Ross Andu and Mike Esposito. The back-up story features Robin in "Murder on the Chessboard" drawn by Jim Mooney and reprinted from Star Spangled Comics #135.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Showcase #87

Showcase #87 (On Sale: October 28, 1969) has a Firehair cover by Joe Kubert.

"The Shaman" by Joe Kubert is the last of the three Firehair issues of Showcase. It is also the weakest of the three as you will see, yet it still has the wonderful art of Joe Kubert at his peak.

In his travels, Firehair comes to the edge of the Grand Canyon, where he is attacked by a mountain lion. The lion's sharp claws cut deeply into Firehair, but he uncoils his rope and wraps it around the lion's neck. However, before it can do much good the lion's aggressive action throws them both over the edge. Firehair manages to grasp onto a scrub plant as he falls and climbs back onto a ledge where he quickly passes out. When he awakens it is night and he sees the fire of a tribe on the canyon floor. He somehow makes it down the canyon wall and into the camp, where the tribe's shaman says they have been expecting "Firehair."

The shaman calls Firehair "the evil one" and dunks a totem of Firehair into a pot of water, causing Firehair's lungs to fill with water. The shaman removes the doll and Firehair is placed on a mound surrounded by a pit of rattle snakes, where he falls fast asleep. When he awakens he is taken into a cavern to the edge of a bottomless pit when a spirit of the nether-world is called to pass judgment on Firehair. The giant man with the head of a coyote says Firehair must face the judgment at the black pool of "he that holds the world."

Firehair is taken deeper into the cavern to a black pool where he is tied up and left to face "he that holds the world," a giant mutated turtle. Somehow Firehair escapes his ropes as the cave begins to crumble. Firehair must dodge large pillars of rock. Suddenly his world goes black and when vision returns he is in a Navajo camp, where they have tended to him as he has lain delirious from the poison of the lion's claws. Quite a let down from the two previous stories, almost a filler issue and not what you would expect only three issues into the series.

Also in this issue is a one-page Warrior piece on Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho drawn by Ken Barr.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Justice League of America #77

Justice League of America #77 (On Sale: October 28, 1969) has a cover by Murphy Anderson and the first appearance of the JLA headshot line up along the left edge. This would of course become a familiar addition to the JLA covers for some time to come.

"Snapper Carr -- Super-Traitor" is by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Joe Giella. While walking down the street one evening, Snapper Carr is assaulted by a group of men, who seem upset that he is friends with the JLA. Snapper is rescued by John Dough, the most normal man in America. Meanwhile, back in JLA headquarters, Green Arrow is trying to help Black Canary tame her Canary Cry, but the destructive waves seem to go in the opposite direction Canary is trying to send them.

When Batman and the Atom go to investigate an alarm set off by one of the JLA, they find Snapper, who along with John Dough attacks them using laughing gas. As they subdue both heroes, John Dough reminds Snapper that he is working for the greater good of average Americans. Does this line of idiotic thought remind anyone of a certain Presidential campaign from last year?

When Batman awakens he finds himself with John Dough, tied up and wearing an oxygen mask. Dough explains that Batman will watch on a monitor the destruction of the JLA and that as soon as Dough leaves, the chamber he is in will be filled with poisonous gas, which is the reason for the mask. Meanwhile, the Atom is back at JLA headquarters and explains what happened and that he woke up alone. Superman points to a newspaper which discusses John Dough's popularity as "Mr. Average" and how he is gaining followers all over the country. Though the JLA are not average people, Flash says that they use their extraordinary powers toward the cause of justice for all, while Atom says that he doesn't blame average people for distrusting super-heroes. Green Arrow says that's "Baloney" and that the human race has progressed enough to accept people who are different. Batman shows up to say that Arrow will have chance to prove that as they have all been invited to a John Dough rally that night.

Batman goes on to explain that he had a talk with Dough and that Snapper just got "carried away" with things. Batman has passes fro all of the JLA except Black Canary who he doesn't seem to know. Of course the real Batman is watching this all happen from his gas-filled chamber. That night as the crowd fills the stadium for a debate between the JLA and John Dough we see Dough aims a large machine which he says will stimulate the crowd's parasympathetic nervous systems, making them jumpy and ready to believe anything.

Snapper speaks first for Dough, saying how super-heroes are harmful and that we have become too dependent on them and that we have forgotten how to fight our own battles. In the crows a group of men attack Black Canary because she is much better looking than most and therefore, not normal. As the JLA jump to her rescue they are one by one beset by problems: The Flash is woozy and can't control his speed, Green Lantern can't concentrate and control his will, Superman feels slow and stupid, Green Arrow can't remember which arrow does what.

The JLA all leave and a special Senate subcommittee is called to investigate John Dough's charge that the JLA caused a riot at the stadium. Batman escapes John Dough's chamber in time to unmask the Batman testifying at the Senate as John Dough. Dough uses fire grenades to mask his escape while the JLA saves the Senate. They capture Snapper Carr and ask him why he helped sabotage them with the tickets to the debate that contained tiny transmitters while interfered with their nervous systems? Snapper says that he was tired of being the JLA mascot and that no one liked him for himself. Also, he says that he believed Dough, that the JLA are too different from the rest of the world. Green Arrow tries to straighten him out on that line of thinking.

Batman says he knows where to find John Dough and who he really is, that he is hiding in their headquarters. They confront Dough and Canary is able to use her Canary Cry to take Dough down. Batman unmasks Dough as the Joker. This story was reprinted in Justice League of America Archives Vol. 9 HC, JLA: The Greatest Stories Ever Told TPB and Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Heart Throbs #123

Heart Throbs #123 (On Sale: October 23, 1969) has a cover by Vince Colletta.

We begin with "3 Girls--Their Lives...Their Loves Chapter 22 Final Episode" penciled by Jay Scott Pike. I think this is the first of the DC romance soap operas to bite the dust. They obviously were not helping sales any. Next is "Doesn't Anybody Want Me?" penciled by Ric Estrada. Lastly we have "I'll Never Love Again" penciled by Vince Colletta.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

From Beyond the Unknown #2 (On Sale: October 23, 1969) has a cover by Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "Parade of the Planets" by Otto Binder and Frank Giacoia from Mystery in Space #52. Next is "Giants of the Cosmic Ray" by France Herron, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Strange Adventures #82. Lastly we have "The Brain-Masters of Polaris" by John Broome, Alex Toth and Sy Barry from Strange Adventures #12.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Brave and the Bold #87

Brave and the Bold #87 (On Sale: October 23, 1969) has a Batman and Wonder Woman cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Batman and Wonder Woman star in "The Widow-Maker" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. I remember being so very disappointed when this book came out that Neal Adams was not drawing it, particularly because I had read that Wonder Woman was the team guests and had wanted to see Neal's version of her. At the time it didn't even occur to me that the big news here was that Bob Haney's four-year run on Brave and the Bold ended this issue. Haney would be back next issue though, while it would be a year before Adams would return to these pages.

All those sour grapes aside, this is one of my favorite Brave and Bold issues and turning it over to Mike Sekowsky was exactly the right thing to do. With Wonder Woman Sekowsky was mining a new direction for pure action comics, aside from super-hero comics and this fit in well with the powerless Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and the equally powerless Bruce Wayne/Batman. Throw in a European local, and Formula One street-course racing, a homicidal driver, a little revenge and some jet-setter flirting between Bruce and Diana and you have a great story, sans super powers and traditional comic villains.

Diana and I Ching are checking out a fashion shoot taking place in the mechanic area of a European rally when she is spotted by driver Bruce Wayne and Willi Van Dort, the driver of the car Widow-Macher. Bruce butts in when Willi tries to make time with Diana, saving her from Willi's unwanted advances, but Diana doesn't recognize Bruce as he ex-JLA buddy Batman and remembers him only as a millionaire playboy. While watching Willi's qualifying lap they learn that Willi's car is called the Widow-Macher or Widow-Maker because the last seven drivers who seemed on the cusp of beating Willi have all died on the track.

When it is Bruce's turn to qualify his time is three seconds faster than Willi's and Willi and his team take notice. Later while passing a window Diana sees Willi talking to his men in sign language, which Diana can read. However, she does not speak German and does not know what Willi is saying, but as she spells it out I Ching translates the conversation and they learn that Willi has ordered his men to fix Bruce's car so that he will not win tomorrow.

Late that night as Willi's men go to work on Bruce's car they are interrupted by Bruce who begins to go all Batman on their asses until Diana and Ching show up. Bruce holds back in an effort to keep his identity secret from Diana and in the process get whacked in the head with a wrench. Willi's men escape capture and Bruce ends up in the hospital with a concussion. Told by a doctor that he cannot race Diana offers to take his place, but Bruce makes a call to Commissioner Gordon and Batman is (supposedly) soon racing to Europe to take Bruce's place.

The next morning it is Batman who is seated in the Wayne One Special. As he pulls out into a throng of press he is also met by Willi who informs Batman that he is the son of General Van Dort, a crazy lunatic that Batman once stopped. Willi promises to avenge his father's honor. After warning Batman of the Widow-Macher aspect of Willi, Diana uses binoculars to once again eavesdrop on Willi giving instructions to his men to see that Batman does not finish the race.

The rest of the story is one narrow escape from a Willi tactic by Batman followed by one take down of a Willi henchman by Diana and Ching. It's fun stuff excellently done by Sekowsky and Giordano. In the end Willi is killed in a trap meant for Batman and Diana needs Bruce's help to bail her out of jail when she and I Ching inadvertently used the wrong car to chase down Willi's men. This leads to the promise of a dinner date between Bruce and Diana. This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB and Diana Prince :Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

They fill out one page of space with "A Matter of Life and Death" by Murray Boltinoff and Jack Sparling, a tale regarding the thoughts of a corpse in the back of an ambulance.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff

Debbi's Dates #5

Debbi's Dates #5 (On Sale: October 21, 1969) has a cover by I don't know.

We begin with Benedict in "The Best Food in Life is Free." Next we have Debbi's Dates in "The Blind Date." That is followed by Ding-a-Lings in "The Record 1rst Prize." We end with Buddy in "Nothing But a Hound Dog." I know nothing about any of these stories.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #6 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with a framing sequence that will go throughout the book by Dave Kaler, Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. Mildred and Mordred visit Cynthia at her "mod" apartment, and they are none to happy about it.

The first tale is "A Face in the Crowd" by Gerry Conway, Mike Roy and Mike Peppe (some say this is the work of Don Heck, but it is not even close to Heck's style). After WWII, Arnie searches for Bulgart the Butcher, the Nazi in charge of the concentration camp where Arnie was held, to exact his revenge. His rabbi tries to talk him out of it, but he continues his search till one day, he bumps into a man in a crowd and see it is Bulgart. He chases him into an alley and takes out a gun to shoot him, but Bulgart disappears; he was never there, and Arnie realizes had he shot Bulgart, he would be no better than him. Back on the street he bumps into another man, but pays him no mind so he never sees Bulgart walk past him, just another face in the crowd.

Next is "The Doll Man" by Marv Wolfman and Jose Delbo. The tenants of the apartment building where Cyrus Caulfield lives want him gone. They are freaked out by the creepy dolls he makes, and mob mentality takes over when they burst into his apartment. Despite him having done nothing to the, the other tenants beat him to death. They then go looking for any money he might have and break into his locked bedroom where they are confronted by his monstrous dolls out for revenge.

Next we have "Treasure Hunt" by Steve Skeates, John Celardo and Dick Giordano. Jungle guide Max takes an archaeologist up river, following an old treasure map.. When Max discovers the treasure that the archaeologist is seeking behind a waterfall, he decides to kill the archaeologist and keep it for himself. He takes the man out on the boat and crashes it into some rock, hitting the man with a wrench. As he swims for shore a fog descends and when it clears he seems to be somewhere else, but he is not sure. He hears some rapids up ahead and realizes too lite that somehow he is now on the river that spawned the falls. His body lands on top of the treasure chest he wanted so badly.

We end with "Distortion," a one-pager drawn by Sid Greene. A trip to an amusement park fun house does not end well for John.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Star Spangled War Stories #148

Star Spangled War Stories #148 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has another wonderful Enemy Ace cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with Enemy Ace in "Luck is a Puppy Named Schatzi" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. This is just a neat little tale of Von Hammer and a puppy. It is the kind of story that Enemy Ace was created to tell, for it gives you an unsettling feeling of death waiting around every corner, of the uneasy feeling of being in war and Hans Von Hammer's acceptance of this unreal reality and his small part in the bigger picture. This is wonderful stuff and Joe Kubert was at the top of his game in 1969, of that there is no doubt.

A small puppy sniffs around the Jagdstaffel field before running out to play in the grass, not knowing that he is playing on a runway until a squadron returns and lands almost on top of him. Von Hammer finds the dog under his plane, his foot damaged and he takes the dog in. The other pilots cannot believe that the Hammer of Hell is cuddling a puppy, but hammer sees Schatzi as another soldier injured in the perilous war. The next day Schatzi rides with Hammer to the coast near Cuxhaven where English planes have been using a battle ship for an air base and inflicting much damage.

Hammer's squadron arrive to find Cuxhaven in flames and as they move in closer the English fly out from behind the columns of thick black smoke and attack. Hammer watched one of his men, Kurt, on his second patrol, go down in flames. Hammer gets his men under control and they begin to attack the English who quickly turn and run back through the dark pillars of smoke. Hammer and his men follow only to find the battleship off the coast, now shooting at them. Hammer maneuvers the English Sopwiths in behind him and they follow as he hoped they would. he then dives toward the battleship and sips sideways between the ships funnels, while the less maneuverable Sopwiths impact into the ship in a fiery crash.

When they return to base his men congratulate Hammer but he asks them who will congratulate Kurt (whose name has morphed into Josef in the last three pages) who went down in flames over Cuxhaven? Hammer then takes his good luck charm Schatzi off into the woods to meet the black wolf who sometimes seems to be Hammer's only real friend. When they return to the Jagdstaffel Hammer is informed that his squadron is to provide air support for a drive into France.

In perfect Kanigher fashion they fly into France though a downpour and Hammer tells Schatzi, "Stay under my collar, little one...this rain will not last for long...then the sun will dry us out! Do not whimper, Schatzi...only the heavens my cry in war!" They fly into a pitched battle with the British depicted with amazing skill by Joe Kubert. It is during this battle that the cover scene happens, as Hammer summer-saults to dislodge a pursuer, Schatzi falls from his cockpit. In other comics there would have been some amazing heroics to save the small pup, but this is Enemy Ace and Schatzi falls to his death...and Von Hammer goes berserk! Or as Kanigher puts it, "Like a madman, the Hammer of Hell tears into battle--wreaking a terrible havoc..."

In the aftermath his men return to Germany and their Jagdstaffel, but Hammer does not return with them. One says they saw him land amidst the dead, "It--it was horrible! Like something out of Dante's Inferno! Perhaps...he landed to confirm his kills! He is truly a killing machine!" But of course he landed to properly bury Schatzi. Reprinted in Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents:Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.

The back-up is "The Fall of the Red Knight" drawn by Ric Estrada. I wouldn't be surprised if Estrada also wrote this short retelling of how Captain Roy Brown shot down the most famous of all WWI aces, and the obvious template from which Hans Von Hammer sprang, Rittmeister Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

We end with at two-pages spread Battle Album on aircraft carriers drawn by the wonderful Ken Barr.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Metal Men #41

Metal Men #41 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.

"Requiem for a Robot" is written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos.

Last issue Conan convinced the Metal Men that Doc Magnus has been turned evil by Karnak and they head to Karnia to kill Doc. They were able to destroy Karnak's weapons, but Tina was hurt in the process. This time out they fly Tina to Conan's compound where she is put back together. Against the objections of the other Metal Men, Conan uses Tina a bait to get Doc to show up. Lt. McDonald shows up with flowers for Tina. Conan calls the group together and lets them know that Doc did not fall for the bait and has stolen a Hydrogen bomb and disappeared.

Doc threatens to blow up an American city if he is not given 10 billion dollars. After locating Doc, the Metal Men are sent in a back way to once again get him. However, he is ready for them and they have to escape a number of traps along the way, in one Iron has to cut off his own hand to escape. Eventually they reach the top of the mountain they think Doc is on, only to find it empty. Just then a trap door opens and they Metal Men are captured by Doc.

Iron goes after Doc and loses a leg and an arm in the process, but gets to Doc only to discover that he is a robot. The Doc bot explains that he now knows the Metal Men's weakness, they are turning human and have developed emotions. Not finding Doc the Metal Men get Iron off the mountain and back to Conan who fixes his body up and informs them that Tina has responded to treatment and is good as new. They go to her room to see her just as Lt McDonald is leaving, but not before he gives Tina an engagement ring.

This is the last issue of Metal Men for three years when they will return in reprints. In seven years they would return in new stories by Steve Gerber and Walt Simonson.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Flash #193

Flash #193 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a nice cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

Unfortunately the nice cover hides an absolutely horrendous story by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, entitled "Captain Cold Blows His Cool." It begins with a breakout at Central State Penitentiary, where Captain Cold helps five "old timers" escape by, get this, making them young. No explanation is given for Cold's miraculous power, which alone would make someone rich beyond any other crime they may commit, but I digress.

Cold explains that he is in love with old-time movie star Laura Lamont, who's heart he intends to win over by making her young and presenting her with magnificent gifts that he needs the ex-"old timers" to steal for him. Cold also tells us that he does not know where to find Lamont, but that Iris Allen has written an article and interview with Lamont and so he plans on getting here whereabouts from Iris.

In disguise as an estate attorney he visits Iris, explaining the Lamont has come into some big money. Iris will not tell Cold Lamont's location but agrees to pass along the information. Barry thinks the attorney looks familiar and notices him following Iris as she drives off to see Lamont. I already hate this story, but the next piece seals it for me. Barry hesitates "several seconds" before deciding to follow as the Flash and is unable to locate Iris or Cold. Horrible writing on Broome's part.

While searching though he does find some of the ex-"old timers" stealing a painting for Cold and he captures them. The next day he finds out that they have the same fingerprints as two of the old guys who recently escaped. He also finds out that there were a rash of robberies last night. Searching for clues he finds an old stump outside of town that is frozen and figures Captain Cold is behind it all. He traces the residual radiation from Captain Cold's "Cold-Gun" but it soon dissipates. He eventually picks up the radiation trail again and tracks it back to Captain Cold. Another digression here: if Flash has the ability to do this, why has he not done it in the past to quickly find and capture Captain Cold? Like I said, really bad writing by Broome.

Where was I? I yeah, Flash has found Cold but Cold hits him with an Absolute Zero Ray that blows Flash into pieces and embeds him into the wall of Cold's hideout. Cold places a picture frame around the broken Flash (this looks pretty stupid folks, which is why the Carmine Infantino cover was such a great idea). Having followed Iris the night before Cold goes to Laura Lamont's house, makes her young, takes her to his hide-out where he gives her the gifts and proposes to her. He then goes off to call a Justice of the Peace to marry them tonight, but dials Heat-Wave instead and invites him over to show him the frozen Flash.

Heat-Wave once to take on last crack at the Flash and blasts him with his Heat-Blaster, reversing the effect of Cold's gun and restoring the Flash, who quickly mops up the room with the two, now bickering, villains. Laura Lamont doesn't want to be young and uses her ability with make-up to make herself look old again and swears she will do that for the rest of her life.

Iris takes Barry by a theater where Laura sells tickets to her old movies. Later on Barry explains that while he was frozen by Captain Cold, his brain still functioned and that he concentrated on Heat-Wave and through some here-to-fore unknown and never-heard-of-again telepathic ability on Barry's part, got Cold to call Heat-Wave instead of the Justice of the Peace. The less said about this mess the better and thankfully, this tripe has never been reprinted.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Batman #217

Batman #217 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams, which is sometimes, inexplicably, credited to Irv Novick and Dick Giordano (which is pure lunacy).

Maybe Julius Schwartz was heeding the advice of Neal Adams when he told Julie that Batman had to change, had to be more like the Batman in the Brave and the Bold. Maybe that explains this issue and the massive changes it attempted to bring to the character. Whatever the reason, this issue marks the beginning of yet another revamping of the Batman character. As the cover depicts, Wayne Manor and the Batcave are mothballed. As last week's Detective Comics cover hinted at, Batman and Robin are a team no more as Dick Grayson goes off to college. This certainly allows for the opportunity for Batman to return to being a figure of the night, which is good, but there are other changes here that don't fare nearly as well, as you will see.

"One Bullet Too Many" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano and you certainly cannot complain about the artwork, which is wonderful. We begin with Dick Grayson saying his goodbyes to Bruce and Alfred at Wayne Manor as he heads off to Hudson University. After he leaves, Bruce explains to Alfred that Wayne Manor is just too big for the two of them and that Batman must change as well. He plans on streamlining the Batman operation and reestablishing the trademark of old: Batman as a figure that strikes fear in the hearts of criminals.

And not just gangsters but those who use "phony respectablilty...big business fronts--legal cover-ups--and hide in the fortress towers of Gotham's metropolis!" So they move out of Wayne Manor and into the heart of Gotham, to the Wayne Foundation building. Bruce goes on to tell Alfred how he wants to set up a special program of the Wayne Foundation to help the victims of crime, a program they end up calling V.I.P., Victims, Inc. Program, an inane name if ever there was one. Based on a newspaper article, Bruce chooses Dr. Susan Felding, the widow of a recently slain doctor, as their first "client."

Bruce first insults the woman and then offers her a zero-interest loan from the Wayne Foundation and the Batman's help in solving the murder of her husband. they go over the night he was killed, how he answered the door late at night and helped a wounded man into his office. She later heard two gunshots and went down to find her husband shot dead and a bullet in a tray that he had taken out of the wounded man. There are no clues to the wounded man's identity and Bruce leaves.

Later that night Batman visits Susan Felding and talks her into being the "bait" in a plan to flush out the killer. In many disguises Batman plants the story in Gotham's seedier side the Susan Felding got a look at the man who shot her husband. The next day he stakes out her office to see if anyone takes the bait. The killer does show up and Batman almost misses him only to be caught flat-footed and letting the killer escape while he takes a bullet meant for Susan.

He asks Susan to extract the bullet immediately and they take it to police HQ where they compare it to the bullet that shot Susan's husband and the bullet he removed from the wounded stranger's arm. They are all the same, meaning that the man who killed Susan's husband was not the wounded man, but another individual who must have also been in Dr. Felding's office that night.

Surmising that the wounded man was killed by his partner, the man who shot Batman and Dr. Felding, the police are able to track down and arrest "Stub" Sartel. Later in Bruce's office he writes a letter to Dick telling him of the first success of Victim's, Inc. Program when a Native American bursts into his office and pulls a gun on Bruce. This story was reprinted in Batman from the 30s to the 70s HC, Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

My problem with this whole Victim's, Inc. Program idea is that it is so unnecessary and restricts and confines the stories that can be told. It just seems like a really dumb idea and not the kind of thing that is going to help in making Batman a fearsome character again. Instead it makes him a pawn used by a charitable organization. V.I.P. was a step in the wrong direction for Batman. And instead of this issue breaking up the Batman and Robin team, it began the Batman and Bruce Wayne team, and man was that a dumb idea.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #125

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #125 (On Sale: October 14, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover story "Superman's Saddest Day" by Leo Dorfman and Pete Costanza. The back-up is "The Spendthrift and the Miser" from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #28 and is by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Ray Burnley. Jimmy is hyptonized by two con artists. During the day Jimmy spends all his money foolishly, then at night he turns into a greedy miser. The crooks force Jimmy to sell his Superman trophies which they wanted all along. Jimmy tricks them instead by selling them worthless junk. Superman frees Jimmy of the hypnotic spell, and the crooks leave town.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Green Lantern #73

Green Lantern #73 (On Sale: October 14, 1969) has a great cover by Gil Kane. It is moody and effective.

"From Space Ye Came --" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson has some beautiful artwork. After the last few issue where Joe Giella and Vince Colletta butchered Gil Kane's wonderful pencils, it is great to see an inker up to the task. Returning to Coast City Hal Jordan runs into his old buddy Pieface from Ferris Aircraft, who now owns half a dozen gas stations. Later after checking into his hotel an off-shore oil rig explodes and as Green Lantern Hal caps it and cleans up the mess. All the while, people watching from the beach, particularly the women, are digging the Green lantern hero vibe.

When finished with the clean up Hal meets his adoring throng, one of whom is old flame Carol Ferris. Hal grabs Carol and flies way with her for some private time. She explains that she has broken off her engagement to millionaire Jason Belmore because she can't get Green Lantern out of her mind or her heart. Sensing that he is about to fall back into a big pile of emotional drama, Green Lantern abruptly leaves. back in her apartment Carol pulls out a sapphire brooch given to her by Jason. Both Carol and Hal are engulfed in thoughts of love for the other, but Hal decides to talk to Pieface about it only, when he leaves his hotel he finds the oil well has blown again.

Once more he cleans up the mess only before he can return to being Hal Jordan, guests in the hotel are being chased by giant apparitions of famous guests from the hotel's past. While keeping people from harming themselves in the panic, Hal finds himself being attacked by the ghostly faces. As Hal uses his ring to try and determine who created the apparitions they quickly dissipate and are replaced by a very real Star Sapphire.

She explains that she has been creating the problems in Coast City to weaken Green Lantern's resistance so that he will consent to be her regal consort. Hal uses his ring against Sapphire and forces her to change back to her real identify of Carol Ferris. As she feels her identity slipping, Sapphire issues one final mental command, transforming Green Lantern to his other identity and banishing him to outer space.

Hal finds himself floating in space unaware the he is Green Lantern! This is Mike Friedrich's first Green Lantern in more than a year and the next to last one he would write. Reprinted in Showcase Presents:Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Girls' Romances #145

Girls' Romances #145 (On Sale: October 14, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Don't Send My Heart Away" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Next is "Love is a Game -- ­for Two" penciled by Jack Sparling. We end with "Easy to Kiss" also penciled by Jack Sparling.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Young Romance #163

Young Romance #163 (On Sale: October 9, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy. This is pretty much the last decent cover this book will have as starting next issue Vince Colletta begins a long streak of butchering cover inks.

We begin with "Next Door to Love" drawn by Alex Toth and Ric Dano. I don't know anything about this Ric Dano guy, except that he would only ink three stories for DC and this is the first of them and looking at the work I would bet this is a pen name for Dick Giordano. As it says on the cover, this is a two-part story that will conclude next issue.

 Next is "Blind Love" penciled by John Rosenberger. We end with "My Father, My Love" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. I didn't know DC was doing incest stories back then.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Sugar and Spike #87

Sugar and Spike #87 (On Sale: October 9, 1969) has a cover by Sheldon Mayer.

Inside we have three Sugar and Spike tales: "A Tale of Two Sugars," "One Good Deed" and "Plumbers' Problem." All three are written and drawn by Sheldon Mayer.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Leave It To Binky #70

Leave It To Binky #70 (On Sale: October 9, 1969) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

We begin with "The Teen-Tour... Play as You Go" drawn by Henry Scarpelli. This story was reprinted in Binky #80 and Best of DC #28. Next is "Sightseeing is Believing" also drawn by Henry Scarpelli and all reprinted in Best of DC #28. Lastly we have "Heap Big End of Trip." This story was also reprinted in Binky #80 and Best of DC #28.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

G.I. Combat #139

G.I. Combat #139 (On Sale: October 9, 1969) has a Haunted Tank cover by Joe Kubert. This one is a standard "we think we are safe but we are not" cover and Kubert could churn these out, seemingly forever.

The Haunted Tank stars in "Corner of Hell," called "Corner of Hades" on the cover, by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. The Haunted Tank is night-dropped into narrow Zahilla Pass in a effort to ward off an enemy attack on the stronghold of Prince Akmed, but due to an attack from a night fighter plane, their chute is damaged and they end up short of the pass. They arrive in time to see a funeral pyre being lit for a dead Prince Akmed and a living Princess Azeela and step in to put a stop to it and save the Princess. The Mufti declares the team "infidels" for contaminating their Islamic holy place.

He goes on in an attempt to turn his tribe against the Americans, saying that since he saved the Princess's life, he must marry her. Surprisingly, Jeb agrees and they are married. They spend a wonderful honeymoon in a tent and then in the morning Jeb leaves the camp with the Princess, heading off for the Zahilla Pass.

There they get into a hairy fight with a number of Nazi tanks. Through it all the Princess is by Jeb's side. However, they are hopelessly outnumbered and know it is just a matter of time before the Nazis push through. Suddenly, the tribesmen come to the rescue, saying they are against the Nazis and for the Princess. They quickly turn the tide in Jeb's favor, when the mufti arrives kill Jeb. The princess jumps in the way, protecting her husband and a Nazi shell takes out the mufti. In the end, Jeb hands his wife's lifeless body over to her tribe.This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2 TPB.

The back-up story is "A Man... a Chain... a Rock" by Bob Haney and Fred Ray.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Unexpected #116

Unexpected #116 (On Sale: October 7, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with a Mad Mod Witch story, "Express Train to Nowhere" by Dave Wood and Artie Saaf. Four passengers board a train to, well, we are not sure. they are Alex, just fired from his job for having no imagination or drive; Doc, a brilliant surgeon leaving the city to become a country doctor because of shaky hands; Linda, an artist who flopped int he big city and is now heading back home in shame, and Zaroff, a circus aerialist who turned to crime to make ends meet, now on the lam.

The train heads into a strange mist and stops. The four exit the train only to find a world of zombie like automatons. They realize their train has vanished in the mist so they attempt to follow the automatons but find themselves trapped by an electronic barrier. Alex convinces Linda to use her makeup to make him look like one of the automatons and in his disguise he is able to pass through the barrier. With Linda's help they all get free.

Only now they find their path blocked by a giant skull. Though Doc doesn't think he can do it, they talk him into climbing the skull and using Linda's nail file and scissors he is able to operate on the skull, triggering the jaw to open. Inside they find a path that eventually is bisected by a deep chasm. Zaroff uses their shirts and jackets to make a rope and uses it to carry Linda across the chasm, like walking a tightrope. Doc realizes that he has seen Zaroff's face on a wanted poster and wants nothing to do with him, but the others convince him to use the improvised rope to cross with them.

Once on th other side they hear the sound of a train whistle in the distance and make a run for it, finding the train pulling out just as they get there. In a mad dash they all make it and the train ends up back where they started. But Linda now has confidence in her artwork and decides to stay, Alex feels he has plenty of imagination and aggressiveness and decides he will prove it, Doc realizes he still has some surgical skills and notices how steady his hands now are, and Zaroff decides to turn himself in and take his punishment. As Alex leaves he knows that once he feels he is a success he will be looking Linda up.

Next is "Steps to Disaster" drawn by Pat Boyette. A Dutch cobbler finds a piece of mahogany floating int he water and decides to make some wooden shoes out of the beautiful wood. A worker in the tulip fields kills his boss and takes the payroll and heads out of town, planning to steal a boat for England. One night a week later he sees the cobbler making shoes and needing shoes he steals the mahogany ones and kills the cobbler. He then steals a sloop and heads for England, but is pulled out to the deep Atlantic by a storm, being pulled ever northward for days. A sudden lurch tosses him into the water where the wooden shoes begin to pull him down. He sees an iceberg as a spectre of death and then sees hundreds of skeletal people trapped in an ice prison. A giant face materializes saying that it is his own evil that has brought him to this place. The shoes pull him under and as he dies the shoes slip from his feet sinking to the bottom where they come to rest at the wreck of the Titanic, where the mahogany beam had come from. Reprinted in Unexpected #162.

Next is "Mad To Order" a one-pager inked by Murphy Anderson. I don't know who penciled it. In it a man invites two tailors into his room for a fitting of a new jacket, but finds the jacket too small, too tight and too constraining. As they leave the room we see him in a straight jacket in his cell saying how he will never by anything from them again.

That is followed by "Ball of String" drawn by Bernie Wrightson. Ethatn had been saving string since he was a small boy and had amassed a gigantic ball, when his landlord threw him our for keeping "that sphere of rubbish." In a fit of rage Ethan kills his landlord and wraps his body up in the ball of string. He places the ball into an open carriage and heads out for the country to bury the body. However, his cat had grabbed a hold of the end of the string and as Ethan drove through town the ball was slowly unwinding, revealing the body inside to a passing policeman. Reprinted in Unexpected #161.

Lastly is "Ashes to Ashes, Dustin to Dust" by Murray Boltinoff and Sid Greene.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Superman #222

Superman #222 (On Sale: October 7, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson featuring Superman's Secret Family.

We begin with "Superman's Lost Brother" by Ed Hamilton and Al Plastino from Superman #80.

Next is "The Sweetheart Superman Forgot" by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino and reprinted from Superman #165. Superman encounters Red Kryptonite which causes him to lose his powers and suffer amnesia. This time the effects last for weeks.

During his period of amnesia, Superman takes the identity of Jim White and gets a job as a lumberman. He falls in love with a wealthy farm girl, Sally Selwyn, and plans to marry her. Bart Benson, a lumberjack jealous of Jim, causes a rodeo accident leaving Jim crippled.

Though Jim postpones the wedding, Bart still tries to cause him harm. Bart rolls a boulder at Jim’s wheelchair, causing him to fall into the ocean. Sally believes Jim to be dead, but Aquaman rescues him and takes him to Lori Lemaris to recuperate. When his memory returns, Superman has no recollection of Sally or his other life as Jim White.

"The Fantastic Story of Superman's Sons" from Superman #166 is next and is by Ed Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein. In this imaginary story, Superman becomes the father of two children. One of the boys, Jor-El II, inherits super powers; the other, Kal-El II, does not. Kal-El II grows up with an inferiority complex because he can’t perform super deeds.

Superman takes the boys to Kandor, where they become a new Nightwing and Flamebird. Despite the fact that both boys now lack powers, Kal-El II still feels inferior. The boys track down a masked criminal, who escapes Kandor to Earth.

Superman and Jor-El II pursue the criminal, while Kal-El II takes a time bubble back to Krypton and meets the original Jor-El. Kal deduces the identity of the mystery criminal as Phantom Zone escapee Gann Artar. He also develops a way to reverse the effects of Gann’s new weapon. Kal returns to the present and defeats Gann by sending him back to the Phantom Zone. He also rescues Superman and Jor-El II from Kryptonite. With his success, Kal overcomes his inferiority complex.

We end with "The Story of Superboy's Sister" from Superboy #36 by William Woolfolk and John Sikela. When Lana's parents are presumed dead in the African jungle, she moves in with the Kents. Superboy stops a pair of radium thieves, but the crooks escape. Suspecting that Superboy is still radioactive from the radium, the crooks use a geiger counter to find where he lives. The trail leads to the Kent home.

Superboy discovers that the crooks are following him as Clark, but eventually switches their focus to Lana. The crooks begin suspecting that she is really Superboy. When Lana overhears them, she play along. Superboy is able to help Lana secretly, until the crooks are convinced.

Superboy doesn't apprehend the crooks right away because he fears that the radiation evidence could lead them back to his Clark Kent identity. When he learns that a package sent to Lana by her parents contained uranium ore, he is able to explain the radiation and apprehend the crooks. Lana's parents are then discovered to be alive, so she returns home to them.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Superboy #161

Superboy #161 (On Sale: October 7, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

"The Strange Death of Superboy" is by the regular team of Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. What I love about the better Frank Robbins' stories is that they are driven by emotion and there had to have been a lot of emotion for Superboy growing up. He packs a couple of good ones into this story of being so fed up with having to constantly build up the lie of meek Clark Kent, feeling so humiliated in front of the girl he loves, that he decides he would rather be human and able to fully express himself, than be Clark Kent, the butt of jokes.

The hows and wheres of Clark stripping his powers away are not nearly as important as the why, and Robbins has spun a great "why." But Robbins doesn't stop there. There is a great scene where a non-super Clark Kent boxes school jock "Bash" Bashford and is losing until he realizes that he he is still fighting like Superboy, and Superboy always pulls his punch. Clark KOing Bash is fun to see, but even better is when a freak accident on the football field leave Bash near death and Clark must regain his powers to fly in the only surgeon who can save Bash's life.

The issues ends with a two-page The Superboy Legend by E. Nelson Bridwell, Bob Brown and  Wally Wood covering "More of Superboy's Secret Hideaways."

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Secret Hearts #140

Secret Hearts #140 (On Sale: October 7, 1969) has a nicely done cover inked by Dick Giordano and penciled by, my guess is, Ric Estrada.

We begin with the 11-page "Half a Heart" by persons unknown. Doreen grew up loving Nelson, her older next-door neighbor, even though he never saw her in a romantic light. Doreen is devastated when he gets engaged to Elaine, but refuses to believe that she has lost him forever.

"I Stole His Love Away" by Jack Miller, John Celardo and Vinny Colletta. In this 7-pager, Leta fears that she has fallen in love with her mother's fiancé. Is it all a terrible misunderstanding?

We end with 8-pager "Lost in the Shadow of Love" which is penciled by John Rosenberger. Sheila is resigned to the fact that her friend Gloria will always attract the guys that Sheila likes.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Our Army at War #213

Our Army at War #213 (On Sale: October 2, 1969) has a Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with Sgt. Rock in "A Letter for Bulldozer" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. Just as mail is being opened by Easy, a squadron of Stukas attack and Bulldozer is slow to respond, almost getting Easy killed. When the attack is over Rock tears into him for being so careless. Bulldozed says it is because of a letter he received. He recounts how he got a job in the Chicago Stock Yards and how he was attacked on his first payday by a group of men in search of his paycheck. He fought back and was knocked out. When he came around he found of his attackers was dead and as the police showed up he high-tailed it.

Later he started to receive letters, blackmailing him and he payed. He figured once he got in the army he would get away from the blackmailer, but in the mail was a letter from the same person, which he is afraid to open. Rock tells him to open it, but just then, a couple of Nazi tanks arrive and Bulldozer leaps into action, taking them both out with his bazooka.

The action over, Bulldozer opens the letter to find it full of money. Inside a note says that their son was one of the hoodlums and pretended to be dead then blackmailed Bulldozer to keep quiet. He never killed anyone and the person was returning all his money. When a group of Nazis come at Easy from over a hill, Bulldozer lays them low, saying it is much easier to fight now that he is a free man. Not a great story, but typical for Kanigher.

That is followed by "The Ghost Bayonets" by Robert Kanigher and Sid Greene. During World War I a group of French fighters attach bayonets and are prepared to charge when they are buried by an explosion, only the points of their Bayonets visible. During World War II, an American fighter is shot down over the field of bayonets. He misses them when he lands, but is attacked by a Nazi on the ground. he defends himself using one of the bayonets then pushes the Nazi to his death in the field of blades. Another turd of a story from Kanigher and some uninspired art by Greene.

We end with Great Battles of History, "Kadesh" written and drawn by Ric Estrada. I usually like the Estrada history tales, but this one is not so good.

Edited by Joe Kubert.