G.I. Combat #137

G.I. Combat #137 (On Sale: June 12, 1969) has a Haunted Tank cover by Joe Kubert. This one is a sub-genre of the "we think we are OK but the Nazis are about to attack us" where the character is either deaf or blind.

We begin with the Haunted Tank in "We Can't See" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2 TPB.

The back-up is a reprint from All-American Men of War #64, "Story of a Boot" by Bob Haney and Joe Kubert.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Swing With Scooter #20

Swing With Scooter #20 (On Sale: June 10, 1969), AKA Giant F-1, has a cover by Henry Scarpelli. This was the beginning of a second Giant series at DC.

This issue begins with four Scooter stories: "If It's Free I'll Take It," "Sign Here, Please," "Carnival Time" and "Cousin Roger's Hang-Up." Next is a Penny and Cookie story, "Golf Anyone," "Cool Bongos" and a final Scooter story, "Johnny, You Kill Me." I have no credits for story details on any of these.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Leave It To Binky #68

Leave It To Binky #68 (On Sale: June 10, 1969) has a cover by Henry Scarpelli.

This issue has four Binky stories: "X Marks the Spot," "The Dance Lesson," "The Fortune Teller" and "Binky Slept Here." I have no credits for story details on any of these, though I am assuming they were all new stories and not touched-up reprints from the book's earlier incarnation.

In 1948, DC was already publishing Buzzy a comic about a "hep cat," and decided to go more directly at there competition at MLJ (now Archie Comics), launching a brand-new character in his own comic. Leave It to Binky #1, introduced us to teenager Bertram "Binky" Biggs, and was written and drawn by Hal Seeger and Bob Oksner.

Leave It to Binky's original run ended in October, 1958, with its 60th issue just as the popularity of superheroes was once again expanding. By the mid '60s, some at DC thought superheroes might be losing their hold over the public, and the era of DC experimentation began.

DC first launched a similar set of characters in Swing With Scooter then brought Binky and crew back with Showcase #70 (October, 1967) in a book of reprints of earlier exploits. I don't own the book, but I figure it was handled like the Willy and Windy book, where a previous series (in that case Dobie Gillis) was reworked for a new generation.

From there, Binky moved back into his own comic; Leave It to Binky #61 went on sale April 11, 1968. Later changed to just plain Binky, the book ran off and on till issue #82 (Spring, 1977). In 1969 and '70, it even had a short-lived companion title, Binky's Buddies.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Unexpected #114

Unexpected #114 (On Sale: June 5, 1969) has an unimpressive cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with Johnny Peril in "My Self -- My Enemy" by George Kashdan, Ed Robbins and Vinnie Colletta. That is followed by our cover-story, "The Well of Second Chances" by Dave Wood and Artie Saaf.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Flash #190

Flash #190 (On Sale: June 5, 1969) has another brilliant cover by Joe Kubert. This is the second of Kubert's three-issue run on the cover of the Flash. What I like about these Kubert covers is three-fold: 1) they are technically excellent, 2) they are dramatic as all get out, and 3) the scenes depicted actually occur inside.

We begin with "Super-Speed Agent of the Flash" by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. A tornado is heading for a trailer park on the outskirts of Central City. Flash creates his own countering tornado to nullify the real tornado. As the two whirlwinds meet Flash is sucked up between the vortexes and knocked unconscious. When he awakens he finds his leg is broken and, like on the cover, is told he will never run again.

Barry Allen returns home, leg in a cast and begins to mope about in his wheelchair. As the days drag on and the crime rate in Central City begins to rise, Barry comes up with a plan. Barry has Iris sew up the openings in his uniform while he works at super-speed to create a series of radio-controlled miniature transistor circuits which he places at different points in his costume. After inflating his costume with air Barry has created a Flash automaton.

By vibrating at super-speed Barry in his wheelchair is able to invisibly follow his Flash automaton through Central City. In this manner Flash is able to bring down the Muscle Men gang. The next day Flash visits the doctor only to find out that some mysterious vibrations (Barry vibrating to invisibility) has healed his broken leg.

Our back-up story is "Ten Years to Live -- One Second to Die" also by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. After the previous episode, Flash takes his wheelchair, cast and crutches to Dexter Myles at The Flash Museum. While there Dexter relates how his young assistant, Joel Travis, had been bragging to his friends, a group called the Far-Outers (oh, don't you just love 60's DC hipness?), what good friends he was with the Flash and promised to get the Flash to come to one of their meetings. Not really knowing Flash, Joel attempted to "borrow" one of the Flash uniforms from the museum, but was caught by Dexter and promised to not do it again. However, a uniform is missing and so is Joel.

Flash goes to find Joel and convince him how dangerous it is to pretend to be the Flash, but when he gets to the Far-Outers' place, he finds they have trapped Joel in a cell and gassed him and are talking about the million dollars they are going to make off of this. Vibrating at invisibility, Flash replaces himself for Joel and pretends to be knocked out in order to find the big boss behind the million-dollar payoff.

They take him to the home of "Blue-Chip" Chipman, a thief who specialized in negotiable stocks and bonds and who has recently finished a 10-year stretch in the slammer. He plans on keeping the Flash locked up in a cell in his house for the same amount of time he spent in the joint. Chipman has planted 10 bombs in 10 busy locations in Central City and if the Flash tried to leave his cell his very absence will automatically set off the blasts, killing hundreds or thousands of innocent people. Chipman demonstrates the threat is for real by blowing up an abandoned hotel behind his mansion.

Flash timed the detonation of the hotel and realizes there is a one-second spurt of high-frequency energy between the time the detonator was pushed the detonation. Flash jumps from his cell and then follows the detonator energy spurts to each of the ten locations, disarming each bomb before it can explode. Flash punches out Chipman and reprimands Joel for his impersonation act, but lets him keep his job at The Flash Museum.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Batman #214

Batman #214 (On Sale: June 5, 1969) has one of those covers where DC was trying so hard to be hip and failing so hugely that it made you want to cry. Well, in retrospect it does; I think I thought it was kind of hip when I was 12. Cover by Irv Novick.

The feature-length Batman story "Batman's Marriage Trap" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Joe Giella. The winner of the Queen of Gotham beauty contest wins a night on the town with Gotham's most "coveted male," Batman. A gang leader named Strack figures since the whole night will be televised, and they will know Batman's every move, this is the perfect night to go on a crime spree. It works just as Strack planned and the next morning finds Bruce and Dick lamenting that they can never get a night off and Strack working on a scheme to make this kind of night a regular occurrence.

The beautiful Cleo is brought in and shows up the next morning at a posh Madison Avenue ad agency with a million-dollar budget for promoting W.E.B., Women to the End of Bachelorhood, a group dedicated to removing Batman's bachelorhood, the "one barrier to happy marriage in Gotham, the symbol of all single male eligibles." The city is soon flooded with wave after wave of Batman, "Wanted for Marriage" signs, fliers, and posters. Barbara Gordon smells something fishy in this supposed "grass-roots" movement to snare Batman and goes to check out the local W.E.B. chapter. Women begin picketing City Hall and when Batman and Robin show up they find Batgirl among those picketing "Batman Unfair to Gotham Gals!"

Trying to get away from the mob Batman and Robin are thwarted by the mass of women until they are saved by Cleo, whose car puts out a smoke screen, letting the dynamic duo escape. But Cleo is playing "hard to get" and pretends she is uninterested in Batman. Later Cleo passes out police-band radios to the women, so they can track Batman's every move. The women show up when Batman and Robin intercept a gang of fur thieves. The only thing that saves them from the mob is Cleo, who once again brushes Batman off.

Back at Strack's hideout he informs Cleo that the plan to keep Batman distracted is working great and that the gang is making more money than ever. Meanwhile, Batman is finding it hard to get Cleo off his mind, but soon the duo finds themselves on the trail of a gang of luxury car thieves. When they see the gang trying to steal Cleo's sports car they intercept them only to find it is a trap. However, once again they are saved by Cleo who confesses that she has fallen for Batman, but the gang get the drop on her and are about to execute all of them when Batgirl shows up and the ass-kicking begins.

Batgirl relates how she joined W.E.B. to get to the bottom of the campaign and then started following Cleo. Cleo admits she was part of the gang and is tearfully put into handcuffs. Batman however, gives her a chance to make things right and, using her information and her car, Batman and a disguised Batgirl are able to capture Strack and end the gang's crime spree. Because of her help Cleo has been promised clemency and without the W.E.B. campaign stirring things up, Batman's life goes back to normal. Well, as normal a life as you can have when you dress up as a giant bat and fight crime. This story, guest-starring Batgirl has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Our Army at War #209

Our Army at War #209 (On Sale: June 3, 1969) has another cool cover by Joe Kubert. The "we think we are OK but the Nazis are about to attack us" cover might be a cliche of DC war books, but nobody does this cliche better than Kubert.

We begin with Sgt. Rock in "I'm Still Alive" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath. While on patrol in Nazi country, the new replacement in Easy Co., Tiny Tim, wants to buddy up with Rock, telling Rock, "M-my old buddy g-got killed!" Before Rock can answer Easy is awash with Nazis in close hand-to-had and gun-butt to face combat. When the Nazis take off, Tiny Tim seems dazed and amazed that he is still alive.

He relates to Easy the fate of his last four-man squad, guys he had been through basic with, as they hit the beach at Normandy and how they came face-to-face with a Panzer. Tim loaded their bazooka, but before his buddy Charlie could fire, the Panzer ripped into them. Charlie was the only survivor and used the bazooka to take out the Panzer, but his friends were still dead. Just then Easy is attacked by two Focke-Wulf 190's and as they come in for a strafing run Tim screams that he is a jinx and so he runs off into the strafing, pulling the F.W.'s attention and making them easy pickings for Easy.

They find Tim lying face down in the dirt, but he's OK. A bullet had punctured his helmet, but missed his head. They leave his helmet as a signpost reading, "I walked away from this one! Tiny Tim" Rock remarks how none of them know when he is going to meet the bullet with his name on it and it is best just not to worry about it.

Next is a two-page Battle Album spread by Ken Barr on the Dive-Bombers of Midway.

Our back-up story is "Fill a Dead Man's Boots" by Howard Liss and Fred Ray. Fred Ray is not one of my favorite artists, but he has some fairly nice figures and composition in this story of the Civil War. The Confederates are getting blasted in battle and Sgt. Mal Walker carries his wounded Captain to safety only to realize that the Captain has died. Walker's boot are a mess, so he takes the boots off of his dead Captain, before crawling back behind his own lines.. There he is ordered to take charge of the company and head off whit his men, taking Cedar Mountain from the Union. All the while Walker is just trying to "fill a dead man's boots."

Walker gets order from Stonewall Jackson to destroy the supply depot at Manassas. Using his men as back-up and cover Walker sneaks into the depot and sets fire to the power dump, blowing the depot sky high. When Jackson congratulates Walker he just offers that he is trying to "fill the boots of a good man." Walker's boots are now as tattered and worn as his old pair and Stonewall remarks that "Boots don't lead armies...men do."

Edited by Joe Kubert.

House of Secrets #81

House of Secrets #81 (On Sale: June 3, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams as it rejoins the DC ranks after being AWOL for the past three years.

We begin with "Don't Move It!" by Mike Friedrich, Jerry Grandenetti and George Roussos which is the origin story for the House of Secrets. That is followed by "House of Secrets" drawn by Bill Draut and containing the first appearance of Abel in the House of Secrets (remember he premiered in last month's DC Special #4).

Next is a text story, "Burn This House!" by persons unknown. That is followed by "Aaron Philips' Photo Finish!" by Gerry Conway and Jack Sparling. The issue ends with an Epilogue to the "House of Secrets" drawn by Bill Draut. The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

This was Gerry Conway's first story for DC. Between now and 1990 Gerry would write 630 tales for DC. He began selling such anthological stories here and for Marvel's Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows through the end of 1970. He published his first continuing-character story in The Phantom Stranger #10.

Conway broke into Marvel Comics through Marvel editor Roy Thomas as he explained in Back Issue #26:

"I'd been writing for DC Comics for two or three years . . . but to paraphrase the joke about the actor's ambitions to be a director, what I really wanted to do was write superheroes — specifically Marvel heroes. Through friends I'd become acquainted with Roy Thomas, who was Stan Lee's right-hand man at the time, and Roy offered me a shot at the Marvel 'writing test'. Stan wasn't impressed, but Roy liked what I did, and began throwing some short assignments my way, including scripting over his plot on an early Ka-Zar [story]...”

Following his first continuing-character story for Marvel, with his script for Ka-Zar in Astonishing Tales #3, Conway's began writing superhero stories with Daredevil #72. He quickly went on to assignments on Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and both "The Inhumans" and "The Black Widow" features in Amazing Adventures. Conway would eventually script virtually every major Marvel title, as well as co-create (with writers Roy & Dann Thomas and artist Mike Ploog) "Werewolf by Night", in Marvel Spotlight #2; and write the premiere issue of Marvel's The Tomb of Dracula, introducing the longstanding literary vampire into the Marvel universe. He scripted the first Man-Thing story, in 1971, sharing co-creation credit with Stan Lee and Roy Thomas.

At 19, Conway began scripting The Amazing Spider-Man, one of Marvel's flagship titles. His run, from issues #111–149, included the landmark death of Gwen Stacy story in #121. Eight issues later, Conway and Ross Andru introduced the Punisher as a conflicted antagonist for Spider-Man. The character went on to become a popular star of numerous comic books and has been adapted into three movies. Conway additionally scripted Marvel's other flagship, Fantastic Four, from #133–152.

Gerry Conway succeeded Marv Wolfman as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics in mid-1976, but held the job only briefly, relinquishing the post before the year was out and succeeded in turn by Archie Goodwin.

Conway returned to DC Comics in mid-1975, beginning with three books cover-dated Nov. 1975: Hercules Unbound #1, Kong the Untamed #3, and Swamp Thing #19. Shortly afterward, he was chosen by Marvel and DC editors to script the historic inter-company crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man #1, a 96-page, tabloid-sized, $2 one-shot, at a time when comic books sold for 25 cents.

He continued writing for DC, on titles including Superman, Detective Comics (starring Batman), Metal Men, Justice League of America, 1st Issue Special #11 starring Codename: Assassin, and that of the licensed character Tarzan, yet briefly returned to Marvel as editor in mid-1976. For a time, a confluence of publishing schedules resulted in Conway stories appearing in both Marvel and DC comics in the same month.

After leaving Marvel's editorship, he again wrote exclusively for DC, writing both major and lesser titles — from those featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League of America, and the Legion of Super-Heroes to such books as Weird Western Tales, Atari Force and Sun Devils — through mid-1986. His co-creation Firestorm, "the Nuclear Man", debuted in the eponymous Firestorm #1, which lasted five issues before being canceled during a 1978 DC retrenchment. The character then starred in a backup feature in The Flash before again receiving his own series, The Fury of Firestorm (later Firestorm the Nuclear Man), from June 1982 – August 1990; Conway wrote most of the first half of the run, plus four of its five annuals.

Conway returned to Marvel in the 1980s and served as the regular writer of both The Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man from 1988 until 1990. He relinquished writing duties on both titles when he became the script-editor of TV's Father Dowling Mysteries.

Conway's last recorded comics credit is Topps Comics' "Kirbyverse" one-shot NightGlider #1 , scripting from a Roy Thomas plot.

In addition to comics, Conway published two science-fiction novels: The Midnight Dancers and Mindship. He also wrote the February 14 - December 3, 1983 dailies of the syndicated newspaper comic strip Star Trek.

Conway as well moved into screenwriting in the 1980s, starting with the animated feature Fire and Ice in 1983, co-written with Roy Thomas, based on characters created by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. Conway and Thomas wrote the story basis for Stanley Mann's screenplay for the film Conan the Destroyer.

Conway went on to write, and eventually produce, for such TV series as Diagnosis Murder, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Father Dowling Mysteries, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Baywatch Nights, Pacific Blue, Silk Stalkings, Perry Mason telefilms, Law & Order, The Huntress, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Challengers of the Unknown #69

Challengers of the Unknown #69 (On Sale: June 3, 1969) has a cover by Joe Kubert; Neal Adams is taking a break from the Challs for a month. This cover is nice and dramatic. I could see Adams utilizing this layout effectively as well.

The feature-length Challengers story "The Secret of Skull Mountain" is by Denny O'Neil and Jack Sparling. The Challengers are summoned to Stark Mountain to investigate a strange murder, in which the main suspect is dead. The Challs are attacked by a huge man who, after defeating them, disappears into the forest. The team follows the man to a castle owned by Algernon Stark. They suspect that the giant is inside the castle.

Algernon Stark give them permission to search the castle. While doing so, Prof is possessed by evil impulses and tries to kill Rocky. When Prof fails, the rest of the team realize that he has been trying unsuccessfully to kill each of them.  A scream sends the team running to find Corinna Stark, who is being attacked by the giant man.
 
Corinna explains that the monster is actually a robot created by her father in hopes of unlocking the secrets of immortality. Prof is shot, nobly sacrificing himself to save the team. Using her father's laboratory, Corinna places Prof's body into cryogenic storage. Then, as the cover portends, she offers to join the Challengers of the Unknown as Prof's replacement. .

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Atom & Hawkman #44

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Detective Comics #389

Detective Comics #389 (On Sale: May 29, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Batman's Evil Eye" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. This is not one of Frank Robbins' better efforts. When a story begins with Professor Crane, AKA the Scarecrow being released from prison and Batman begins striking fear into the hearts of criminals again, it shouldn't take Batman so many pages to figure out who is behind it. This story is so simplistic and half-assedly written that I'm not even going to bother repeating the plot. Suffice to say, Batman scares people and by looking in the mirror he scares himself and in the end the Scarecrow loses.

That is followed by our back-up Batgirl story "Batgirl's Bag of Tricks" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. Continuing from last issue, Barbara in a Batgirl costume not her own has followed "Batman" to an airline costume party where her new roommate, whom she is impersonating, is the guest of honor. Seeing "Batman" hook up with others dressed as the Flash, Superman and Green Lantern she has eavesdropped and found out that her new roommate is in a jewel smuggling ring with the other "heroes." She now finds herself taking on the other "heroes," minus Batgirl's weapons-bag.

The gang subdue her, but the fight has brought the police. This gives Barbara the edge and she knocks out both the Flash, Green Lantern and Batman, but Superman gets away. Thinking Barbara is her roommate, Darlene Dawson, she is given the award for Air-Hostess With the Mostest" then beats a hasty retreat. Remembering that Darlene said she was going to visit her Grandfather on this, his birthday, Barbara cycles out to Cosby Corners in search of the Dawsons, not knowing that "Superman" is tailing her, thinking she is Darlene and heading for the jewels she stole from them.

When she finds the Dawsons she learns that Grandpa is actually the brains behind Darlene's crimes. Deciding to take them down Barbara fights Darlene while Gramps pulls out an old Tommy Gun. At the same time "Superman" shows up sees that there are two Darlenes and decides to kill them both. However, it's been a long time since Grandpa's bootlegging days and the Thompson is a little too much gun for him. Bullets fly haphazardly around the room, killing "Superman." Barbara stops Grandpa cold with a two-tiered birthday cake in the chops. This has been reprinted in Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #382

Adventure Comics #382 (On Sale: May 29, 1969) has a Supergirl cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams.

The feature-length Supergirl story "The Super-Team's Split-Up," is by Cary Bates and Kurt Schaffenberger. Looking at both the cover and the story here, you can see that DC wanted to try a Supergirl book, so long as it looked exactly like a Superman book. It would really take Mike Sekowsky in a year or so to turn this book into anything other than a Superman in a skirt clone.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #378

Action Comics #378 (On Sale: May 29, 1969) has a great Curt Swan and Neal Adams cover.

We begin with Superman in "The Devil's Partner" by Jim Shooter, Curt Swan and Jack Abel.

That is followed by the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Forbidden Fruit" by Jim Shooter, Winslow Mortimer and Mike Esposito.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Green Lantern #70

Green Lantern #70 (On Sale: May 27, 1969) has a nice cover by Gil Kane.

Green Lantern stars in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Earth" by John Broome, Gil Kane and Vinnie Colletta. I remember this one from when I was a kid, as it has one of the strangest solutions for killing a space monster I have ever read. The Guardians call Green Lantern to take out a gigantic creature that eats gravity. OK, I know that gravity is a force and not a thing, but hey, it eats gravity, OK? Green Lantern is attacked by the creature and eventually kills it by making it eat its own shit, or as John Broome put it, "Its own waste product." I kid you not.

But this issue is not just about shit-eating monsters, it's about a toy factory on the planet Ghyra, where the circuitry in a "Hilar-Toy" goes haywire and instead of making people laugh, it causes people to fight. Unable to fix the indestructible Hilar the makers turn it off and throw it away, but it still finds itself "active" and locates a space ship in the junkyard, which it uses to escape. With no plan of where to go, Hilar sees Green Lantern fly by, returning from giving the gravity eater a shit-eating grin, and follows him back to Earth.

After a run-in with the police for jay-walking the Hilar finds a TV studio as a hiding place. There he interrupts the filming of a TV comedy show which brings him to the attention of Hal Jordan (working his first day as a toy salesman). As Green Lantern he rushes to the studio only to find that any attack against Hilar is rerouted back at himself. Some gangsters see Hilar take out Green Lantern on TV and saying that he only wants to make people laugh. They high-tail it down to the studio and pick up Hilar by pretending to find everything he says funny.

The gangsters win over Hilar's confidence and bring him along when they go to rob a train. When Green Lantern shows up, Hilar again knocks him out cold. When he comes to, Green Lantern finds the gangsters' car and begins to take them out one at a time and then turns to face Hilar. Hilar has realized that his "friends" are evil and tries to communicate that to Green Lantern telepathically, but GL is using his ring to create an impenetrable aura around himself. Lantern uses his ring to steal Hilar's gravity and he crumbles like the toy he is.

Discovering that Hilar is just a malfunctioning toy, Green Lantern returns Hilar to Ghyra, repairs his faulty circuits and as he leaves Hilar is on stage and getting big laughs with his "A funny thing happened on the way to Earth" story.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Girls' Romances #142

Girls' Romances #142 (On Sale: May 27, 1969) has a cover by Jay Scott Pike and Vinny Colletta.

We begin with "No Love for Janie" penciled by Jay Scott Pike. If the cover is any indication, it was likely inked by Vinnie Colletta. That is followed by "Possessed by My Love" also penciled by Jay Scott Pike. Next is an untitled Betty's Boutique penciled by John Rosenberger. Lastly is "Meant for Each Other" a reprint from Secret Hearts #36 and drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #121

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #121 (On Sale: May 22, 1969) has a great Curt Swan and Neal Adams cover. I love the way Adams' inks respect the Swan pencils on this one.

We begin with "The Three Lives of Superman" by Jim Shooter and Pete Costanza.

That is followed by our cover-story, "Jimmy Olsen's Death Trick," by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and Jack Abel.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

DC Special #4

DC Special #4 (On Sale: May 22, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams for the 13 Shock-Ending Stories issue.

We begin with a framing sequence for 13 Shock-Ending Stories 13 by Mark Hanerfeld and Bill Draut. This is famous for being the first appearance of Abel, caretaker of the House of Secrets. Not only did Hanerfeld write Abel's first appearance he is the original model for Abel.

Next is "Ghost Writer" drawn by Leonard Starr and reprinted from House of Mystery #19. That is followed by "The Magic Hammer" drawn by Jack Kirby and reprinted from Tales of the Unexpected #16 where it was originally entitled "The Magic Stick."

We next have "A Piece of Rope" from House of Mystery #5. Jerry Grandenetti drew "Last Mile Martin" from House of Mystery #15 "The Dream Lamp " is drawn by John Prentice and is reprinted from Tales of the Unexpected #1.

Next is "Door of No Return" written by Murray Boltinoff and drawn by George Roussos and reprinted from House of Secrets #62. That is followed by "Beware after Dark" drawn by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella and reprinted from Sensation Mystery #114.

"The Tree Man of Tanganyika" comes to us from House of Mystery #30 and is drawn by Ralph Mayo. Ralph Mayo was the art director of AC Comics in the 1940s. He drew 'Black Terror and Tim' for America's Best Comics, Black Terror and Exciting Comics. He also penciled some 'Miss Masque' splash pages. In the 1950s he drew Jann of the Jungle for Marvel, 'Camilla' for Fiction House and crime stories for Lev Gleason and St. John. He was penciller and/or inker on Dell titles like Dragoon Wells Massacre, Jungle Jim, Lassie, Quentin Durward and Roy Rogers. His first work for DC was in Mr. District Attorney #2 in 1948. He worked mainly on the Johnny Quick feature in Adventure Comics and drew 66 stories in all for DC before his death in 1956. Some of his last work was with Al Williamson on Jann of the Jungle.

Next is "Written in the Sands" drawn by George Papp and reprinted from House of Mystery #26. "The Secret of Salzo the Great" comes to us from artist John Prentice and House of Mystery #2. That is followed by "Secret Locked in the Ice" from House of Secrets #63 and the pen of artist Gene Colan.

Rounding out the issue is "The Bullet Man" drawn by Bernard Baily from Tales of the Unexpected #17 and "The Strange Faces of Death" drawn by Ruben Moreira and reprinted from House of Mystery #19.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Windy and Willy #2

Windy and Willy #2 (On Sale: May 20, 1969) has a cover by Bob Oksner.

"The Two Astro-Nuts" is of course a reprint from Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #25 by Arnold Drake and Bob Oksner. They have renamed the characters and touched up the artwork to be more modern and to avoid copyright infringement.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Superboy #158

Superboy #158 (On Sale: May 20, 1969) has a great dramatic cover by Neal Adams.

"Superboy's Darkest Secret" is by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. With these great Neal Adams' covers, the interesting Frank Robbins' scripts and Wally Wood's inks, Superboy was one of the more interesting, yet unsung titles DC was producing at the time.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Secret Hearts #137

Secret Hearts #137 (On Sale: May 20, 1969) has a cover by, well, if I had to guess (and since I don't know, I do), I'd say Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Forbidden Romance" penciled by Tony Abruzzo. Next is "Today's Heartbreak" a reprint from Secret Hearts #43 inked by Bernard Sachs. We end with "Reach for Happiness Episode 28" by persons unknown.

Edited by Dick Giordano.