Leave It To Binky #61

Leave It To Binky #61 (On Sale: April 9, 1968) has what looks like a Bob Oksner cover on this, the first Silver Age issue of LITB, now dressed up as an Archie clone.

Inside we have Binky starring in (What kind of costume...), a new Binky story and (We're having a family circle...) from Leave It To Binky #23 and (Want to go to the beach...) from Leave It To Binky #27. There is also a Little Allergy story, (You know, Soozie -- you're beautiful...) also from Leave It To Binky #23.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

G.I. Combat #130

G.I. Combat #130 (On Sale: April 9, 1968) has an absolutely gorgeous Haunted Tank cover by Russ Heath.

Inside the Haunted Tank stars in "Battle of the Generals" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. The back-up is "Landing Postponed" a reprint from Our Army at War #49 by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Blackhawk #241

Blackhawk #241 (On Sale: April 9, 1968) has the last of the Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidera covers as new editor Dick Giordano burns through inventory from George Kashdan's run.

"A Blackhawk a Day" is by Bob Haney, Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidera. The Blackhawks receive letters inviting them to various meetings around the world. When they arrive at the individual meetings, they discover traps have been set to capture them. For each of six days one of the Blackhawks is caught by Baron Booby-Trap who intends to turn them over to the Crime Combine. However, Chuck, the Listener, is able to get a message to Blackhawk. He then helps the others escape and together they trap the Crime Combine and Baron Booby-Trap.

The back-up story, "The Phantom Spy," is a reprint from Blackhawk #160 by Jack Miller, Dick Dillin and Sheldon Moldoff.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Unexpected #107

Unexpected #107 (On Sale: April 4, 1968) has a pretty bland Johnny Peril cover by Jack Sparling.

Inside Johnny Peril stars in "The Whip of Fear" by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling. That is followed by "Collector's Item" a reprint from Strange Adventures #28 by Jack Miller, Mad's Mort Drucker and Joe Giella. The last story is "A Trader in Treachery" by Carl Wessler and Bruno Premiani.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Superboy #148

Superboy #148 (On Sale: April 4, 1968) has a cover by Neal Adams.

"Superboy's Greatest Gamble" is written by Leo Dorfman, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Sheldon Moldoff and Jack Abel. Continuing from last issues, having left his foster parents, the Kents, Superboy goes to Casino City and assumes the identity of Chuck Kibbee. He searches a carnival until he finds a couple who are running a crooked game. He then reveals to them that he is Superboy and offers to become their son.

Working with his new parents, the Zeros, Chuck breaks the bank at an underworld casino. The racket boss Hal King realizes that Chuck is Superboy. He then threatens to kill the Kents. The Boy of Steel acts like he doesn't care.

The back-up story, "The Canine That Outclassed Krypto," is by Cary Bates, George Papp and Frank Springer. Superboy is called by an alien zookeeper to help track down a dangerous space bird that has escaped. The Boy of Steel recaptures the bird and saves a space dog in the process. The alien dog which possesses super powers follows Superboy back to Earth. The dog then tells Superboy telepathically that he is a Zkor and his originally family was recently killed. He requests that Superboy make him his new pet.

Zkor helps Superboy fight crime, but when Krypto returns to Earth he becomes jealous of the new pet. Zkor consistently outclasses Krypto.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Secret Hearts #128

Secret Hearts #128 (On Sale: April 4, 1968) has a cover by Jay Scott Pike.

Inside we have "The Memory of Jim" and "My Weeping Heart" both by persons unknown. Lastly is "Reach For Happiness, Episode 19" drawn by Jay Scott Pike.

Edited by Jack Miller.

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.

Our Army at War #194

Our Army at War #194 (On Sale: April 2, 1968) has a nice cover by new editor Joe Kubert.

The Sgt. Rock tale, "A Time for Vengeance, " is written and drawn by Joe Kubert. The back-up, "Second-Best Means Dead" is by Howard Liss and Jack Abel.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Challengers of the Unknown #62

Challengers of the Unknown #62 (On Sale: April 2, 1968) has a Bob Brown cover.

The issue begins with "The Legion of the Weird" by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown. Ace is the victim of a voodoo spell conjured by Mistress Wycker, a sorceress petitioning to join a group of evil magicians. While Ace fights to stay alive, Rocky's grandmother provides a clue to stopping the spell. The other Challengers gather the necessary materials to construct a geechy bag, then they withstand several attacks to reach the sorceress. With Rocky's help, Ace throws the bag into the face of Wycker. The spell is broken, Ace regains his strength, and Mistress Wycker melts.

The back-up Challs story, "Me -- the Walking Nightmare," is also by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown. Red continues to tell his story about what happened after he was presumed dead. After consuming Multi-Man's liquid light formula, Red became a sea monster. Beach bum Herbert Pike caught him and convinces Red to become a side-show attraction.

When police begin to question him about a murder, Red changes form and flees with Pike. Pike brings him to an island and wants Red to take the form of the island god Seekeenakee. Red initially refuses. However when Pike attacks a girl named Tiana, Red becomes Seekeenakee and chases Pike away. After Tiana is accidentally killed, Red remains in his form as Seekeenakee and becomes the leader of the islanders.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Atom #37

Atom #37 (On Sale: April 2, 1968) has a nice cover by Gil Kane and Sid Greene.

"Meet Major Mynah" is by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Sid Greene. Ray Palmer joins an archaeological expedition in Cambodia. The team uncovers some golden treasure, but a mynah bird snatches one of them. Ray chases the bird as the Atom and uncovers an entire temple of gold statues. When Viet Minh soldiers discover the temple, the Atom fights them. The mynah bird even helps him survive an attack, but the bird is injured.

Ray takes the bird back to America when he returns. He names the bird Major Mynah and has Hawkman fashion special wings to overcome his injury. The Atom then uses Major Mynah for transport while defending the gold statues from being stolen by thieves. Jean Loring begins to suspect something when both the Atom and Ray have new birds, so Ray decides to make a disguise for Major Mynah's next outing.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

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Detective Comics #375

Detective Comics #375 (On Sale: March 28, 1968) has a cover by Irv Novick.

"The Frigid Finger of Fate" is drawn by Chic Stone and Sid Greene. Pete Maddox discovers that when he sleeps in cold temperatures, his dream reveal the future. He uses this new ability to win money at the track. However, things go wrong when he tells people about the dreams. If he does, the dreams no longer come true.

Pete hires some crooks to rob a diamond exchange. Batman apprehends the crooks, who believe that Pete set them up. Pete then dreams he kills Batman. However, the crooks come after Pete. He tries to stop them by telling them about his plan to kill the Caped Crusader. By informing the crooks, Pete is no longer able to kill Batman, who apprehends the crooks.

Pete continues to use his ability, but he requires a colder temperature each time. When he tries to sleep in a butcher's freezer, the cold kills him.

The Elongated Man back-up, "The Face That Stopped Clocks," is by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos. Ralph Dibny meets a man who claims that his face can stop clocks. He demonstrates this ability by stopping Sue Dibny's wristwatch and a wall clock. The man dons a mask, then leaves. Ralph follows his cab, but the man disappears leaving the mask behind.

Ralph finds an address on the mask which leads him to a robbery scene. Ralph stops the crime, then realizes that he got the address backwards. He then goes to the correct address where he finds that Sue has put together a birthday party for him. The clock stopping man was a fake that Sue arranged as a mystery for Ralph's birthday gift.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #368

Adventure Comics #368 (On Sale: March 28, 1968) has another cover by Neal Adams.

"The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines" is by Jim Shooter, Curt Swan and George Klein. After Karate Kid and Superboy test Val's fighting skills, they and the other Legionnaires are summoned to Metropolis Spaceport to rescue a spaceship carrying an alien ambassador to Earth. Upon their arrival the ship crash-lands in a ball of flame, but the ambassador, a woman from the planet Taltar named Thora, easily frees herself, and emerges unscathed.

Her society is a matriarchal one, and she expresses a marked distaste of all males, but she cordially greets President Boltax of Earth. Later, Thora researches Legion lore, and carves miniature statues of the female Legionnaires, then touches a stud on her bracelet and causes an eerie radiation to bathe the statuettes.

The result shows itself the following morning, when the Legion girls wake to find that their powers have been increased fantastically. Supergirl is now immune to Kryptonite, and she rescues her cousin Superboy from a Green Kryptonite trap.

The boys, suspecting that the girls' increased powers may be the result of a rare space disease, quarantine them, while Thora continues to treat the statuettes with radiation at various intervals. When the boys are trapped by inmates while attempting to quell a riot at the Prison Citadel on Mt. Metro, the girls break quarantine to save them. However, the boys chastise them for doing so, and the girls respond by angrily battling and defeating them.

Now the bruised and battered male Legionnaires realize that a person, and not a disease, is behind the heroines' physical and mental change. Thora gloats over her division of the Legion, and visits the girls at headquarters. As the division between the boys and the girls grows wider, Shadow Lass makes a remark about Brainiac 5 that shocks Supergirl, who remembers their romance.

Thora keeps bathing the statuettes in radiation, and when the time seems right, she has the girls attack the boys and nearly kill them. The story was later reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 8 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #363

Action Comics #363 (On Sale: March 28, 1968) has a cover by Neal Adams over a Carmine Infantino layout.

"The Leper from Krypton" is by Leo Dorfman, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Lex Luthor develops Virus X, a plague germ mixed with Kryptonite that is capable of killing Superman. He gives the virus to the criminal ventriloquist Ventor who has hypnotized Clark Kent. Ventor then orders Kent to infect Superman. Clark doesn't remember that he is Superman, but he does try to put the virus on his own pillow. His exposed skin touches the virus and infects him.

The infection causes Superman to snap out of the hypnosis, but he soon develops plague symptoms. Luthor then tells the world that Superman is infected with Virus X. People begin to fear the Man of Steel, and he is forced to leave town. Before leaving Clark intends to leave a letter at the Daily Planet.

The Supergirl back-up is "The Landmark Looters" by Otto Binder and Kurt Schaffenberger. Several famous landmarks from around the world have been snatched by giant tweezers. Supergirl investigates and discovers two giant alien children are playing a game called Snatchaway which is similar to monopoly, but they are using real landmarks instead of markers. Supergirl is unable to stop the delinquents because they possess super-powers of their own. She is forced to play the game with them.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Teen Titans #15

Teen Titans #15 (On Sale: March 26, 1968) has a cover by Nick Cardy. In my opinion this is the last so-so cover Cardy will ever do for this title.

"Captain Rumble Blasts the Scene" is by Bob Haney, Lee Elias and Nick Cardy. Elias hadn't really drawn super-heroes since a stint on Green Arrow in the early 60s, but is one of those "old timers" who did his first work at DC in 1947. In search of Ken Matthews, a teenage runaway, the Teen Titans go undercover as hippies. With the help of a neighborhood guru, they stop a cycle gang from terrorizing the hippie community, and save Ken and his girlfriend from becoming involved with mobsters. Reprinted in Showcase Presents:Teen Titans Vol. 1 TPB


Dick Giordano has taken over as editor.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #83

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #83 (On Sale: March 26, 1968) has a pretty cool cover by Neal Adams.

"Witch on Wheels" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Mike Esposito and marks Robbins' first work at DC. Lois writes a series of articles on a cycle gang called the Maniacs. However, she wants to get the inside information on the gang, so when the gang leader Kaiser Bill approaches her, Lois petitions to join the gang. The gang is reluctant to accept Lois as a biker. They require her to perform an initiation stunt of vandalism.

After Lois helps the gang, Superman gets involved by going undercover as cyclist King Cross. Secretly using his powers to perform riding stunts, Superman shows up Kaiser and tries to win leadership from him.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Strange Adventures #212

Strange Adventures #212 (On Sale: March 26 1968) starts off with a nice dramatic Neal Adams Deadman cover.

"The Fatal Call of Vengeance" is written and drawn by Neal Adams; this is Neal's second story for DC. Unable to locate the Hook in Mexico, Deadman return to America when he finds that his brother Cleveland has taken his place at the Hills Brothers Circus. Cleveland hopes to smoke out his brother's killer and is nearly killed by a lion.

Deadman saves him, but he is unable to save Tiny, when the strong man dons the Deadman costume. Hook has hired Kleigman the animal trainer to impersonate him. Tiny chases Kleigman, which sets them both up for the Hook's sniper rifle. Deadman arrives too late, and the Hook escapes. Reprinted in Deadman #4.

The back-up story is "The Man with the Op Art Eyes" drawn by Lee Elias.

Dick Giordano has taken over as editor.

Girls' Love Stories #135

Girls' Love Stories #135 (On Sale: March 26, 1968) has a very nice cover by John Rosenberger.

The issue begins with "A Torrent of Tears" drawn by John Rosenberger, which is followed by an untitled Cindy the Salesgirl story by persons unknown. Next is "The Wrong Road to Love" drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs. Lastly is "The End of Romance -- The Beginning of Love" drawn by John Rosenberger, which was later reprinted in Heart Throbs #141.

Edited by Jack Miller.

Beware the Creeper #1

Beware the Creeper #1 (On Sale: March 26, 1968) has a wonderful cover by Steve Ditko.

"Where Lurks the Menace?" is scripted by Denny O'Neil and plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko. This is O'Neil's first work for DC, having been brought over from Charlton by editor Giordano. An underworld informant named Jurgens is killed by a masked murderer known as the Terror before he can pass information to Jack Ryder. Ryder does get a few names from the dying man. The first of which is underworld boss Gerk Kreg.

Kreg and other crime boss's are being threatened by the Terror. Ryder visits Kreg as the Creeper, and begins to suspect that Kreg is the masked killer. The Creeper is unable to get proof, so he visits the other names given to him by Jurgens including Hack Axeley, an investigator.

When the Terror finds that Ryder has been investigating him, he attacks. Ryder is able to escape and become the Creeper. After a fight on the rooftops, Creeper is able to expose the Terror as Axeley's assistant Forbes, who has been blackmailing crooks. Creeper is able to take down Forbes and Kreg and escape as the police arrive.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Plastic Man #10

Plastic Man #10 (On Sale: March 21, 1968) has a cover by Jack Sparling, a new logo and a death sentence in this its last issue.

"The Terrible Plastic Twin" is by Arnold Drake and Jack Sparling (I don't know what the insides looked like, but Sparling did a bang-up job with Plas on that cover). When Gordy is injured in an explosion Plastic Man donates his blood for a life-saving transfusion. The blood saves Gordy, but also gives him Plastic Man's powers. Gordy then tries to become a super-hero and show Plas how to fight crime. Instead, Plastic Man has to work extra hard to protect Gordy from getting into trouble. After Plas defeats killer doll-maker Marcel Mannequin at Madame DeLute's high society party, Gordy realizes that Plastic Man's methods, though unconventional, are effective.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.