Aquaman #48

Aquaman #48 (On Sale: September 4, 1969) has another wonderful cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with "A Kingdom to Re-Build" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. Continuing from last issue, Aquaman helps Aqualad defeat the Bugala. The men of Eldfur celebrate the victory over their nemesis and resolve to handle their own problems in the future.

Aquaman, Aqualad, and Mera then return to Atlantis where a revolution is already underway. While Mupo the rebel leader battles Narkran, Mera spots the thieves that kidnapped her. Aquaman defeats them, then returns to the throne room. Before he can finish Narkran, an earthquake rocks the city. Narkran is taken into custody, and Aquaman is left to rebuild the Atlantis. Reprinted in Adventure Comics #499.

The back-up story is "How Aquaman Got His Powers" by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Adventure Comics #260. Aquaman prevents an atomic test by disarming the warhead on several bombs. He meets with the commander of the submarine to explain why he interfered with the testing. In doing so he reveals his origin to the sub commander.

Aquaman’s father was lighthouse keeper Tom Curry. Tom found a woman caught in a hurricane and rescued her. The woman was Atlanna, an exile from the undersea world of Atlantis. The couple fell in love, married, and had a son, Arthur.

As Arthur grew older, he displayed the ability to breathe underwater and communicate with fish. Atlanna’s secret past was revealed to Tom and Arthur on her deathbed. Tom trained Arthur to use his abilities to help others. In doing so he became a renowned friend of all sea life. After his father passed away, Arthur became Aquaman, King of the Seas.

The commander of the sub is still uncertain as to why Aquaman halted the test. Aquaman reveals to the commander that the test site is the location of Atlantis, his mother’s home. The navy agrees to conduct tests elsewhere and keep the secret.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Wonder Woman #185

Wonder Woman #185 (On Sale: September 2, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Our feature-length Wonder Woman story is "Them" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Diana Prince returns to Earth from Paradise Island and finds a teenaged runaway named Cathy Perkins hiding in her boutique. Cathy was taken in by a street gang which treated her as a slave. The gang of girls, whom Cathy calls "Them," want her back.

Diana protects Cathy, but soon finds the gang attacking her too. The girls destroy Diana's clothes and burn down her shop. Cathy blames herself and turns herself over to the gang. Diana and her neighbor Tony Petrucci confront the gang and get Cathy back. Top Hat, the gang leader, is then arrested when Diana finds stolen goods concealed in her hat.

Diana then contacts Cathy's parents and reunites them with their daughter. She also asks that Cathy stay on and work part-time once her store is rebuilt. Reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Our Army at War #212

Our Army at War #212 (On Sale: Sept 2, 1969) has a cover by Joe Kubert.

Inside we begin with Sgt. Rock in "The Quiet War" drawn by Russ Heath and I would guess written by Robert Kanigher. While waiting for a squad of specially-trained British paratroopers, Easy Co. is hit by a barrage of Nazi shells, resulting in Rock losing his hearing. Not wanting to be a burden on his men and their mission Rock doesn't let on that he can't hear, telling his men "No more yakkin', you guys! We sit tight and wait!" Rock watches Easy, using them as his ears.

The British squad arrives and Easy learns that the job is to disrupt a meeting of the German High Command in a castle not too far away. Rock can't read lips and has no idea what the mission is and the British think he is rather a bore for not even seeming to listen to them. As they near the castle the British leader warns everyone of booby traps, but Rock can't hear and takes the lead, somehow managing to avoid all of the traps by shear luck.

When they reach the castle Rock leads the men into an ambush they all heard coming and after the men are pinned down in a crossfire Rock leads them through a hole blown in the floor, which leads them to a way out of the castle and up to its roof where they burst in on the meeting of the German High Command. On the Nazis throws a self-destruct switch and it is a mad race out of the castle as it explodes around them. the resulting explosions returns Rock's hearing.

Next is a one-page Warrior on Patton by Ken Barr and a two-page Battle Album on machine guns also by Ken Barr.

The back-up is a reprint from Star Spangled War Stories #78, "Medal for a Marine" by Robert Kanigher and Mort Drucker, who before Mad Magazine, was a hell of a good war artist. The work on this strip being just excellent; look at the page here at how well Drucker told the story with his choice of shots and angles. Some of the figures in this story look a lot like Frazetta. This is great stuff. The story concerns a Marine in the Pacific theater awaiting his Medal of Honor and another Marine whose job it was to deliver the medal to the ceremony.

Edited by Joe Kubert

Detective Comics #392

Detective Comics #392 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams. It is kind of cool that at least one side of this cover is based on the Bob Brown panel on the inside.

Inside we have Batman in "I Died... a Thousand Deaths" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. Angles Moore lets Batman know that he is read to turn on mob-boss Scap Scarpelli. Batman does not trust Angles, and, as expected, Angles tries to kill Batman, their fight ending with them both underwater and the scene on the cover occurring. Angles is a hero to the mob, but he keeps finding evidence of Batman still being alive.

Eventually Scap decides that Angles must have botched killing Batman, so he is going to bump him off instead when it is revealed that, of course, Angles has been Batman since the two went underwater. Batman explains it all as he takes Scap in for booking. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batman Vol. 5 TPB.

The back-up Batgirl story is "A Clue... Seven-Foot Tall" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. and introduces Jason Bard. On her way to work, Barbara notices a man with a cane looking over the  site of a recent murder in Central Park. When the same man comes into the library later on, Barbara and a co-worker, Stella, try to guess what kind of book he will be looking for. As he checks out a book on botany, Barbara tells of seeing him at the murder site. He, Jason bard, explains that he is an armature criminologist and asks her out for lunch. He explains that while the police say the killer hid in the bushes, Jason notes that the leaves on the ground are not from the bushes, but the tree and surmises that it was hit by someone around seven feet tall. They head off to that night's basketball game and notice that one player, Topper, has a bandage on his forehead, as if he whacked it on a tall tree.

During the game, Jason sneaks off to check out Topper's locker while he is on the court, only to run into two of Topper's "friends" who rough him up a bit. Just as one is about to smack him with a blackjack, Batgirl shows up and saves the day. They both meet back at their seats and bot are wondering how to ditch the other so they can continue crime-fighting. This story is continued next issue and was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Adventure Comics #385

Adventure Comics #385 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

Inside we have two Supergirl stories. The first is "Supergirl's Big Sister" by Cary Bates and Kurt Schaffenberger. Supergirl follows an alien spaceship as it lands on Earth. Out pops Kranna, who says she is glad to see Supergirl as she is her sister.  Kranna displays a number of super powers and explains how she was super even on Krypton and that some aliens took her when she was young and wiped the memory of her from her parent's minds. As you might guess, it is all some half-ass ploy by Carol Benton to get Supergirl to create diamonds for her. I'd go into more detail, but, it's really not worth learning.

The second is "The Jilting of Supergirl" by Cary Bates, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. This is an exercise in why Jack Abel should not have been inking anyone. It is really bad. Winslow was not the most dynamic of pencilers, but no one deserved this.

Edited by Mort Weisinger

Action Comics #381

Action Comics #381 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Superman in "The Dictator of Earth" by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Roussos. Superman is doing un-Superman-like things. Gosh! What could be causing that? Dorfman delivers another pretty awful Red Kryptonite story. Do I really need to go over the details? He didn't do it and if he did he didn't mean it. Ugh, this one is a floating turd.

The back-up story is the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Hapless Hero" by Jim Shooter, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. This is the kind of story which explains why the Legion under Shooter was so popular. Rather than the 800th rehash of the Red K story, or some other normal Weisinger nonsense, this story is all about the home lives of a few of the people in the colorful tights.

We follow Matter-Eater-Lad, Tenzil Kem, home from a late Legion meeting. He lives in the slums, his mother wants his Legion check to pay some bills. His father is a n alcoholic who gambles away his pension every month. Disgusted, he heads back to Legion headquarters where he runs into Shrinking Violet, who is pining away for Qued Orlu, Duplicate Boy of the planet Lallor. She had a date with him tonight, but he stood her up.

To cheer her up Tenzil asks her out on a date and blows a lot of cash making it memorable. When he goes to kiss her good night, Duplicate Boy. Tenzil uses simple logic to stop Qued from creaming him and when he then bemoans losing Violet to M-E-L, she tell him that he is being silly and that it is he she loves. the next day at Legion HQ, M-E-L receives a letter from his parents asking him to come home and that his father is giving up gambling.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Green Lantern #72

Green Lantern #72 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has a cover by Gil Kane.

Inside we have "Phantom of the Space-Opera" by Denny O'Neil, Gil Kane and Joe Giella. The Guardians send Green Lantern to the Berliotz star system on a mission to stop a potential war instigated by the Wagnorians. A group of performers from Berliotz is putting on a space opera. With the help of a spy planted among the performers, the Wagnorians force them to change the play to antagonize a band of rebels known as the Verdees. Angered, the gang attacks the Berliotz performers. Using the incident to intervene, the Wagnorians are then able to move in and begin their conquest of the system. However, Green Lantern uncovers the spy. He then convinces the Verdee leader to stop the fight. Finally he confronts the Wagnorians and forces them to submit to interplanetary justice. Me thinks Denny was a bit fond of opera. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB and Green Lantern:The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 HC (2018).

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Girls' Romances #144

Girls' Romances #144 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has another great sexy-girl cover by Nick Cardy.

Inside we have "How Can He Love Anyone Who Looks Like Me?" which is drawn by Ric Estrada and Vinnie Colletta. Joan is embarrassed by a small mole on her cheek, but she knows she's found the right guy when he calls it a "beauty mark."

Next is "Summer Time Romance" by Winslow Mortimer and George Roussos.. Jill breaks up with her summer boyfriend Bruce when she learns he is engaged, but finds that she can't get him out of her mind when she returns home. Both of these first two stories were later renamed and reprinted in Young Romance #202.

The book ends with "I Couldn't Be Faithful" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vinny Colletta Diane moves easily from one guy to the next until no one will date her because of her reputation. She gets another chance when her family moves to another town, and she decides to do things differently. This story was later renamed and reprinted in Young Love #112.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Bat Lash #7

Bat Lash #7 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has another great cover by Nick Cardy.

Inside we have "(Brothers)" which is plotted by Sergio Aragones, scripted by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Nick Cardy. One night Bat Lash runs into Don Pasqual, his father's best friend, who relates to Bat the night his family was killed and how Pasqual was able to pull Bat's brother, Billy, away from the
"evil ones" who burned his family's farm to the ground and killed his father and mother.

Pasqual related how he took Billy and fled to Mexico, to the house an an aunt, but how Billy would not speak and would not take notice when spoken to. A doctor examined Billy and said his problems were of the soul and he offered to adopt Billy. On the way back to the Lash ranch Don Pasqual was shot by bandits and "struggled with death" for a year. When he finally returned to the farm he learned how Bat had dealt with those who murdered his family and how since that time Don Pasqual has been searching for Bat.

Meanwhile in El Paso, a blond-haired bounty hunter is pulling a Bat Lash wanted poster off the wall and heads off in search of the man he does not know is his brother, while at the same time Bat and Don Pasqual set off in search of Billy. As the bounty hunter searches he recalls his lack of a childhood and how he does remember Dr. Jimeniz taking him to a camp of revolutionaries where he was trained like a man in the ways of shooting. As a revolutionary the young boy fought against the tyrannical Mexican government before traitors in their midst were their undoing. He sought out and hunted down the traitors, killing them one-by-one, and when he was through, he felt as if a part of him had died with each man. All that he was good for was killing, so he took up the life of a bounty hunter.

Billy hit the small town of Encinitas just after Bat and Pasqual, who are in the cantina trying to enjoy a meal wile being eyeballed by a group of brothers who think Bat looks a whole lot like the bounty hunter that nailed their pa, though, the bounty hunter looked younger than Bat. Bat overhears the brothers, knocks them around and then he and Don Pasqual convince them it is better for them to leave the cantina vertical rather than horizontal. As they are chased into the street they meet Billy coming into town and can't believe that there at two of them.

Unable to figure out which one nailed their pa, they run for cover and decide to take them both out. As bat and Don Pasqual leave the cantina, they are confronted by Billy. Bat tries to talk Billy down to no avail and as they prepare to stand off against each other, a shocked Don Pasqual attempts to break up the fight, telling them "You are bro--!" before he is shot in the back by the ambushing brothers. Fighting side-by-side, Bat and Billy neatly handle the four brothers. A dying Don Pasqual tries in vain to tell them who they each are, to no avail.

Billy lets bat go, for Don Pasqual's sake as he seemed like he "was a brave old hombre...an' he seemed to think yo're worth savin'!" As they go their separate ways, both brothers are haunted by the familiarity of the other. Billy is drawn to watch as Bat buries Don Pasqual while Bat laments how everything he touches dies. A sad ending.

What is unfortunate is that this is the end, the last issue of Bat Lash; a book killed way too soon. I think DC ran the ads touting the book's near arrival longer than they published the book itself.

This story was reprinted in All-Star Western #11, Weird Western Tales #12 and Showcase Presents: Bat Lash TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #124

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #124 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. 

We begin with "Jimmy Olsen’s Girl Trouble" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Pete Costanza. The will of mob boss, Little Louie, states that his estate will go to the man who kills Jimmy Olsen. The next day, three underworld killers take a shot at killing Jimmy. each time they are thwarted by the clumsiness of cub reporter Hazel Powell. When all three assassins strike at once, Hazel accidentally triggers Jimmy's signal watch. Superman arrives to apprehend the would-be killers. Jimmy then offers to take Hazel on a date to reward her for saving his life. This story was reprinted in Superman: Daily Planet TPB.

We end with the cover-story, "The Secret of Jimmy Olsen’s Lost Father" by Leo Dorfman and Pete Costanza. Continuing from last issue, Jimmy Olsen remains locked in solitary confinement in the basement of his father's house. His dad explains that after the train wreck in which Jimmy's mother died, he had amnesia. He manages to function somehow and ended up in archeology. While excavating a pyramid in the Yucatan, his memory returns, but for defiling their treasure, the natives curse Mark Olsen and force him to live in solitary confinement for five years.

He was allowed to keep the "defiled" treasure which made him wealthy. He obeyed the rules of the curse for four years by locking himself in the basement of his house. However, doctors warned him that he would die if he remained for the final year. The rules of the curse stated that Jimmy could take his place for the final year.

After Jimmy has spent time in the basement cell, Superman picks up a clue that can help his friend. He hypnotizes Mr. Olsen and learns the real truth. He is actually Hal Rand, Mark Olsen's partner in archaeology. When they were in the pyramid, Rand lost his memory and found Mark's pack with pictures of Jimmy and he just assumed they were his. Mark is now believed dead. Superman also convinces Jimmy and Hal that the curse was an illusion. Jimmy is released from the cell. Hal apologizes and offers to adopt Jimmy as a foster-son. Jimmy accepts. Wow. Two guys with amnesia in the same story?

Hey, you ever notice how you never hear anyone tell you how much they loved Pete Costanza's work?

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Heart Throbs #122

Heart Throbs #122 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a cover some attribute to Jay Scott Pike but is obviously the work of Mike Sekowsky and Nick Cardy.

Inside we have Episode 21 of "3 Girls--Their Lives...Their Loves" which is penciled by Jay Scott Pike. She got him...but can she hold him after he finds out the truth about her?

Next are a few filler pages with artwork by Ric Estrada and Tony Abruzzo.

The book ends with "Deception" penciled by Jay Scott Pike, inked by Vinnie Colletta and later reprinted in Young Romance #204. Gail feels terrible when she falls in love with Bob while her fiancée Henry is out of town. Later though she learns that Henry and Bob's fiancée have been seeing each other too.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

From Beyond the Unknown #1

From Beyond the Unknown #1 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a Joe Kubert cover.

The first issue of this new science-fiction reprint book begins with "The Turtle-Men of Space" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Joe Giella and reprinted from Strange Adventures #118. Next is "The Unknown Spaceman" by Gardner Fox, Bob Oksner and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Mystery In Space #11. We conclude with "Star-Actor of the Starways" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Strange Adventures #122.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Brave and the Bold #86

Brave and the Bold #86 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has another great cover by Neal Adams. Nothing like Deadman to bring out the best in Neal.

Batman and Deadman star in "You Can't Hide from a Deadman" which is written by Bob Haney and drawn by Neal Adams. Well, that's the story anyway, but I don't buy it for one minute because the Neal Adams Checklist on Neal's own site and my gut say this is Neal's work through and though. Now it is not that this checklist is all that accurate, as it only lists Neal as the writer and penciler of this story when he is obviously the inker as well, but my gut is pretty good on this stuff and this story so nicely wraps up the writing that Neal was doing on the Deadman strip in Strange Adventures, that I guess it is possible that Bob Haney did some of the dialog, but the plot has got to be Neal's.

This is Neal's eighth Brave and the Bold and his last of this run. Neal would draw one more full issue in a little over a year and finish up a Jim Aparo story a year or so later, but for all intents and purposes, this was the end of Neal's run as the regular penciler and it seems appropriate that he both began and ended his B&B run with Deadman.

However, this end-of-the-run may not have been Neal's idea. According to the DC Timeline "Neal Adams fired by Murray Boltinoff for rewriting Bob Haney’s script for Brave and Bold 86." I can't find any verification of this actually being the case. I know that Neal says that about this time Julius Schwartz came to him with "a handful of letters and he stops me in the hallway and he says, “How come all these fans say the only Batman at DC Comics is in Brave and Bold?” I said, “Well, Julie, in Brave and Bold he’s really Batman. He is not walking around in the daytime in his underwear, he is skulking around at night.” He said, “What makes you think you know how to do Batman?” I said, “Julie, it’s not me who knows how to do Batman, it’s me and every kid in America who knows what Batman ought to be. The problem at DC Comics is that no one knows what Batman is.” He said, “Get back here. Now you are going to be drawing Batman.” So it may have been a more gentle parting of ways than the DC Timeline says, but who knows.

It is rather telling though that in the same Comics Bulletin interview, Neal says of his talk with Boltinoff when getting the book, "I said, “Only one thing, I don’t want to change anything in the writing, I just want to every once in a while change locations and time of day.” I wanted to change the time to night because it just seems silly to have Batman walking around in his underwear in the daytime. Murray said, “That’s fine, no problem.” So, I took the script and I started drawing Brave and the Bold." If this is true and what I suspect as to the identity of the real plotter of #86, Boltinoff may have given Neal the boot.

It's just another night in Gotham as Batman and Robin break up an extortion racket, except that after mopping up the bad guys, Robin picks up a gun and tries to shoot Batman. Blinding the boy wonder with a smoke pellet saves Batman's hide and Robin strangely snaps out of it. When Commissioner Gordon and his men reach the scene Gordon uses an officer's service revolver to try and shoot Batman as well. Everyone is clueless, except Batman who has surmised that his "old friend Deadman is trying to kill me!"

Out on the street Batman runs a gauntlet of people suddenly possessed by Boston Brand's ghost and out to kill Batman. After almost being run over by a truck, Batman heads for the rooftops where Deadman will have a much harder time finding a host to possess. However Deadman finds a pigeon fancier and comes after Batman with a club. Batman tries to talk sense into Deadman, saying they are friends, but Deadman says he is trying to kill Batman. Batman's response is that Deadman is a liar and that he can prove it. "If you really want to kill me, do it the simple way...jump into my body and make me jump off the roof...clean and simple!" The logic of this causes Deadman to freak out and quickly exit the man's body.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong at the secret headquarters of the Society of Assassins, the Sensei is listening to a report from Willie Smith. Smith recounts how Deadman found his killer, the Hook and after confirming that he was dead, returned to Nanda Parbat seeking out Rama Kushna and the end of his unnatural existence. Deadman interfered with Smith's plan to destroy Nanda Parbat and thinking Smith dead, Deadman met with Rama Kushna. Afterward, Deadman chose to leave Nanda Parbat and return to being a ghost (a pretty good recap of Strange Adventurers #215 and #216). As Deadman was leaving, Smith shot him with a poison dart, but because he was only partially corporeal at the time it did not kill him but left him dazed and susceptible to suggestion. Smith used the opportunity to turn Deadman's hatred of the Sensei into a hatred for Batman. With Deadman busy trying to kill Batman the Sensei sees this as the perfect time to once and for all destroy Nanda Parbat.

Back in Gotham Batman visits the Hills Bros. Circus where Boston's brother, Cleveland, has taken over the role of the trapeze artist Deadman. Boston enters his brother's body and once again takes to the high platform, where he attempts his famous quadruple somersault, only to find that his brother's muscles are not as supple as his once were and he is saved only by the intervention of Batman. Boston is more confused than ever now that Batman has saved his brother's life. Just then circus mystic Vashnu arrives to say that Rama Kushna wants Deadman to return to Nanda Parbat.

Batman and Deadman in his brother's body are shot at as they parachute over the Himalayas down to Nanda Parbat. Deadman leaves his brother's body and leaps into the body of his attackers, turning one against the other. Returning to Cleveland's body Deadman leads Batman to Nanda Parbat where upon entrance he leaves Cleve's body and becomes corporeal once again. But as he does so the poison from Willie Smith's dart takes affect and he collapses to the ground.

Rama Kushna appears and explains that Boston has been poisoned but that one of the men coming to attack Nanda Parbat carries an antidote. Batman and Cleve head out to stop the assault on Nanda Parbat and to find the antidote. Using a now arrived blinding snowstorm for cover they take out the Sensei's men one by one, till they finally get to Smith and retrieve the antidote. The Sensei challenges them both, but they ignore him and hurry back to Boston.

Once back in Nanda Parbat Batman uses the antidote to save the life of a Deadman. Boston realizes the absurdity of it all and that Nanda Parbat is the only place where he can be harmed and therefore decides to leave and become a ghost once more. The Sensei is seen trudging down the mountain plotting his revenge on Batman and Deadman.

This classic story has been reprinted in Best of DC #26, Deadman #7, Deadman Collection HC, Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Witching Hour #5

Witching Hour #5 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We began with "The Witching Hour Has Arrived - And I Have A Chilling Tale To Tell!" which is the story wrapper penciled by Alex Toth wherein the witches test the backbone of Cynthia's college boyfriend with their eerie tales. Cynthia's college boyfriend Terrance visits the witches' castle. He was frightened by Egor, who met him outside, but Cynthia's sisters scare him even more when the tell him their tales. Terrance wants to run, but Cynthia makes him stay for her story. Terrance is too frightened to judge the tales and leaves the castle as quickly as possible. This tale interweaves the others in the book.

The first of those is a seven-pager, "The Sole Survivor," introduced by Mildred and drawn by Bernie Wrightson. The bowsprit of a wrecked ship acts as a witness against Captain Dandrigde, who recklessly sails his ship into a storm, killing his crew and stranding himself on a deserted island.

That is followed by "The Non-Believer!" which is a one-page horror story. Mr. Scruje forecloses on Mr. Meek's house and Mr. and Mrs. Meek conspire to scare Mr. Scruje into signing the house back over to them.

Next is "A Guy Can Die Laughing," a six-pager drawn by Pat Boyette and is introduced by Mordred. A clown having difficulty in making people laugh finds himself in a museum where an old jester costume promises laughs to whoever wears it. The night watchman interrupts the clown before he can finish reading the costume description and the clown kills the man in order to steal away with the costume. That evening, he is a success in his new costume, but after the show he finds that he cannot remove it. Everywhere he goes in public, people laugh at him. He returns to the museum to read the rest of the description and, to his horror, finds out that the cursed costume can only be removed upon the wearer's death.

"The Computer Game" is Cynthia's tale and is drawn by Stanley Pitt and Dick Giordano. A dating service computer bent on world conquest is accosted by its boss when its plans are made known, however, the boss turns out to simply be an illusion the computer was responsible for creating in order to keep up appearances.

It is followed by "My! How small You've Grown!" a one-page tale drawn by Sid Greene. Two explorers in Africa run into a tribe of headhunters.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Superboy #160

Superboy #160 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has just an astounding cover by Neal Adams. Every once in a while Neal just knocks one out of the park and this is one of those!

Superboy stars in "I Chose External Exile" a 23-pager by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. I find it hard to believe that these stories have never been reprinted. I remember Frank Robbins doing a good job on the scripts and hell, this is Wally Wood inks we are talking about. Egyptian envoy Abdul Amahdi and his beautiful daughter, Cleop, visit Smallville. Cleop soon clashes with Lana Lang over the affections of both Clark Kent and Superboy. Superboy escorts Cleop to a costume ball, but when they kiss, he appears to fatally crush her. Tormented by what he has done, Superboy exiles himself from Earth.

The costume ball continues without him. Cleop, who was not really killed, meets Lana on the roof. Pete Ross witnesses Cleop fall to her death and believes that Lana pushed her. Lana is then taken into police custody for murder.

Meanwhile, back on the moon, Superboy decides to return to Earth and report his crime to the police, but when he does so, the police explain that Lana was the killer, not him. Superboy investigates and discovers that Cleop was never truly alive. A former assistant of Professor Lang named Tingly discovered Cleopatra's tomb. He animated her corpse in order to frame Lana and get Superboy out of the way. The Boy of Steel's provides evidence to clear himself and Lana and exposes Tingly.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Sugar and Spike #86

Sugar and Spike #86 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Sheldon Mayer.

Inside we have Sugar and Spike and Bernie the Brain in "Tale That Can Never Be Told" written and drawn by Sheldon Mayer.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Star Spangled War Stories #147

Star Spangled War Stories #147 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has an Enemy Ace cover by Joe Kubert.

"A Grave in the Sky" is by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and, my god, is Kubert on fire this issue. The story surrounds a British pilot who as a child was obsessed with the story of St. George and the Dragon. Years later he is still obsessed and sees the RAF as a way of attaining knighthood and flying a steed and using machine guns as his lance.

The delusional pilot wears the top half of a suit of armor when he flies and believes himself to be the reincarnation of St. George. As with all Enemy Ace stories, the real story is about the killer skies and the terrible strain leading men into battle is for Hans Von Hammer. It has some amazing Kubert artwork, bringing the aerial dogfights of Fokkers vs. Sopwith Camels to glorious life. Kubert in his early 40s at this time was a master of the brush for sure, but it is his amazing story-telling abilities that make these books come to life.

Suffice to say that in the end St. George is defeated by his own personal dragon, Hans von Hammer, the Enemy Ace. This story was reprinted in Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Secret Hearts #139

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Metal Men #40

Metal Men #40 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.

As the Metal Men franchise is sputtering to a close next issue we have "Madman and Traitor," written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos. Back from the remains of Magna Studio, the Metal Men are summoned to a meeting with Mr. Conan. He informs them that Doc has recovered from his coma, but has been kidnapped by Karnak, the dictator of a small island nation you have never heard of. He also informs them that Karnak operated on Doc's brain, turning him evil, and that he is now willingly building an army of robots to help Karnak conquer the world. Conan is sending them to the island to kill Doc.

After Conan convinces them that Doc is really evil, the Metal Men parachute onto the island where they are immediately attacked by Doc's new robot soldiers. They are able to defeat the soldiers and take their uniforms to impersonate them.

Impersonating the new robots, the Metal Men gain entry to Karnak's lair and Doc's laboratory. They are able to destroy the central computer that ran all the robots, putting them out of commission. Tina gets separated from the rest of the team and runs into Doc, who does not recognize her. She has the opportunity to kill Doc, but just can't do it. When Doc realizes it is Tina he shoots her and leaves. As Doc makes his get away, the team calls Conan asking for technicians for Tina, who is in bad shape.   Continued next issue.

One interesting thing in this issue is the letters page, now dubbed "Metal Scraps Scrappers' Page" and features one half of the page to comments against the new Metal Men look and the other to comments for the new look. On the "against" side, someone asked, "Who was the idiot who thought up this ridiculous change?" They answered, "Carmine Infantino, that's who!!"  

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Debbi's Dates #4

Debbi's Dates #4 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Samm Schwartz..

We began with three Debbi's Dates' stories, "Better Date Than Never," where Buddy and Debbi sign up for a computer dating service, "Double Date, Mate," where Bernard wins a new car and clothes enabling him to easily get dates, and "A Date with Him... is Quite a Charge," wherein Debbi goes out with Harold but ends up paying for everything. This last one was drawn by Doug Crane.

We end with the Ding-a-Lings in "Swing n' Slay" where Bingo, Jinks,Denny, and Yo-Yo decide to form a band called The Ding-A-Lings.

Edited by Dick Giordano.