Young Love #78

Young Love #78 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with our cover-story, "20 Miles to Heartbreak" by Barbara Freidlander, Alex Toth and Vince Colletta, which was reprinted in Young Love #122. 20 Miles to Heartbreak is a unique, four-part romance serial which crosses over from Young Love to Secret Hearts and then back again. Giordano was sure up for trying out different ideas in these romance books.

Next is "A Kiss to Tame a Tiger," and we end with an untitled Lisa St. Claire story.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Superman #223

Superman #223 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

Superman stars in the feature-length "Half a Hero" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and George Roussos.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

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