World's Finest Comics #193

World's Finest Comics #193 (On Sale: March 10, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins with Superman and Batman in "The Breaking of Superman and Batman" by Bob Haney, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. The back-up story stars Robin and is from Star Spangled Comics #120 and is drawn by Jim Mooney.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Showcase #90

Showcase #90 (On Sale: March 10, 1970) has a Jason's Quest cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

This issue begins with Jason's Quest in "The Circle of Death" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Continuing from last issue, Tuborg has put the word out on the streets of Paris to find Jason and his sister and they do. Jason has bought a new guitar and is picking up a little extra cash playing in a club in town when in walks Jason's sister. Jason is shocked that she knows his name and then finds out that she was GG, the girl from the ferry, as she looks so different without her wig and makeup on.

As Jason tries to tell her he is her brother, the guy GG came to the club with attacks Jason for making a move on his girl at about the same time that Tuborg's men move in for the kill. Jason grabs GG and they head out the back and into the streets. Eventually they meet artist Andy and with his help get away from Tuborg's men. Just as Jason is about to tell GG they ware brother and sister more of Tuborg's men show up and they head off once again, once again meeting Andy who takes them to his second studio where a group of "friends" are making signs for a big protest tomorrow.

The next morning Jason and GG join the protest and Jason decides the safest place for them to be is in jail, so he smacks a French cop with a protest sign and he and GG are arrested. But Andy and his friends hijack the police van they are being carried in and "rescue" Jason and GG. Though they get away from the police, Tuborg's men are still on their trail.

Eventually Jason and GG make it to a warehouse and a room full of mannequins. Putting GG's clothes on one of the mannequins and strapping it to the back of his bike, Jason lures Tuborg's men away from GG and tells her to meet him tomorrow at noon under the Eiffel Tower. But GG has other ideas, "If I ever see that crazy man again--I'll take off in the opposite direction as fast as I can go! What a kook! And those friends of his--they're worse than he is! goodbye -- and good riddance!"

I really liked Jason's Quest and was sorry that this was the last issue. My good friend Tony Isabella also liked the strip as there is a long letter from on on the letter page.

Next is a on-page ad from Manhunter 2070 in the next issue of Showcase and that is followed by "Incident on Krobar 3" a two-page Manhunter 2070 story by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Justice League of America #80

Justice League of America #80 (On Sale: March 10, 1970) has cover by Murphy Anderson.

"Night of the Soul-Stealer" is by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Joe Giella. The Flash finds Hawkgirl floating in space outside the JLA headquarters and when the other JLAers arrive Atom relates how Hawkman and Hawkgirl were taking the deranged Jean Loring to Thanagar in hopes of curing her mental problems. When Hawkgirl revives she is in a vegetative state. The team breaks up, Batman and Green Arrow head for Midway City, Superman heads for Thanagar, Atom and The Flash head for the Grand Canyon where there is some sort of disturbance and Black Canary gets to cool her heels in the JLA satellite.

At the Grand Canyon the annual Boy Scout Jamboree is going very wrong as the boys are all mindlessly walking towards the edge of the canyon to do the big drop. Flash builds a barrier between the canyon and the kids and they learn that the kids were fine until a creature on a flying broomstick passed overhead.

In Midway City while looking for Hawkman Batman and Green Arrow see a creature riding over the city on what looks like a rocket-powered broomstick. Arrow brings the rider down and in the ensuing scuffle with Batman the rider drops a box he is holding. He makes quick work of both Batman and Green Arrow and as he is about to leave comments that had he not damaged his Ghenna Box he would of added their souls to his collection. Oh and we also learn that his name is Norch Lor and he is on some kind of mission.

Meanwhile, out in space Superman finds Hawkman's ship about to be eaten by a neutron star. Using all his strength he is able to pull the ship from the star's gravitational grasp. Someone we don't see come upon the exhausted Superman and whacks him but good!

Back at JLA headquarters Canary is practicing her sonic wave power when Batman and Green Arrow arrive. Batman has a patch he ripped off of Norch Lor's uniform and the JLA computer says the patch is from Thanagar. Because of Hawkman, the JLA computer is programmed to ignore Thanagarian ships and once Batman adjusts the programming they see the alien ship. However, Norch Lor is at that moment cutting through the wall of the JLA headquarters. Luckily Black Canary is able to reach the switch for the emergency sealer before they are all sucked out into space, but now that Norch is inside the HQ, he opens the Ghenna Box and steals the JLA member's souls.

At the some time on OA, Green Lantern has been summoned by the Guardians who explain that they dispatched the Green Lantern of Xudar, Tomar-Re, to a Thanagarian ship that was under attack. the Green Lantern found a Kryptonian there and thinking he was the attacker, took him out. In minutes Green Lantern is on the scene and he and Tomar-Re take the unconscious Superman inside of Hawkman's ship where they find Hawkman and Jean Loring in a state of mindlessness. Playing back the ship's records they see that they answered a distress signal from another Thanagarian ship and rescued it's pilot, but the pilot opened up a strange box he carried with him and the Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Jean were all incapacitate.

As he was leaving the ship the pilot, Norch Lor, said that they will thank him some day as the signs all point to the end of the universe and only the Ghenna Box and preserve the identity, the soul of beings. As Norch left the ship, Hawkgirl's body drifted out with him and moments later the ship "drifted into space-warp and was carried to its present location" whatever that means.

The two Green Lanterns and a revived Superman head for Thanagar in search of Norch Lor. But back at the JLA headquarters where Norch really is, Black Canary was not affected by the Ghenna Box, perhaps protected by her sonic power and she attacks Norch just as Flash and the Atom show up. Between the three of them they are able to take care of Norch and rescue the Ghenna Box. When the others return the box is opened and everyone's souls return to them. Kind of a confusing story, requiring a lot of coincidences to make it work. It has been reprinted in Justice League of America Archives Vol. 9 HC and Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Tomahawk #128

Tomahawk #128 (On Sale: March 5, 1970) has cover by Neal Adams. The layout of this one seems forced; the medicine man and the archers too squeezed into the picture and the coloring somewhat off-putting.

This issue begins with Tomahawk in "Rangers -- Your 9 Lives for Mine" by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne. The back-up Tomahawk story is "Stovepipe's Secret Skirmish" by George Kashdan and Frank Thorne.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Superboy #165

Superboy #165 (On Sale: March 5, 1970) has cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins with "The Super-Dog from Krypton" by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and John Fishetti and reprinted from Adventure Comics #210. This story tells the origin of Krypto, Superboy's dog. Superboy encounters a super powered dog on the streets of Smallville. The dog seems to recognize him and is friendly. Superboy follows the dog to a rocket that has recently crashed on Earth. Inside the rocket he finds papers which reveal that the dog came from Krypton. The dog was sent into space by Jor-El to test a rocket which was deflected by a meteor. The dog, Krypto, belonged to Kal-El as a baby. Krypto's ship eventually made its way to Earth.

Superboy is thrilled to have his dog back. However, Krypto's frisky nature and super powers cause several problems for Superboy including threatening his secret identity. Superboy constructs a super doghouse for Krypto, but the dog is easily able to free himself.

Eventually Krypto takes off into space to chase meteors. Superboy is happy that he won't have to deal with Krypto's antics anymore, but he is sad that his friend is gone.

Next we have "Superboy's Last Day" by Otto Binder and George Papp and reprinted from Adventure Comics #251. This story tells of Superboy's first encounter with Kryptonite. While cleaning house, Clark Kent recalls how one of his Superboy robots saved his life. Many years before, Pa Kent brought home a green glowing rock for Clark’s mineral collection. Clark immediately took ill and was on his deathbed. To replace him as Superboy, a recently constructed Superboy robot was sent out controlled by Jonathan.

When the robot returned, it inadvertently stepped in front of the Kryptonite. Being made of lead, the robot blocked the radiation. Superboy recovered but relapsed when the robot moved away. Pa Kent realizes that the rock must be responsible and places it inside the robot. Superboy recovers and learns that the rock was Kryptonite, a fragment of his home planet, which is deadly to him.

This is followed by "The Girl Who Saw the Future Superboy" by Jerry Coleman and Al Plastino and reprinted from Superboy #90. While helping her father clean a scientist’s lab, Lana accidentally activates a machine that allows her to see the future. Although the image only lasts for a moment, Lana sees Superman and his girlfriend, Lois Lane. Lana become jealous and tries to alter fate by getting Lois to enter a different career.

Lana visits Lois’s school and tries to sabotage Lois’s attempts to join the school paper. Failing in that, Lana tries to get Lois to pursue a career in science and later, sculpture. Each attempt fails due to the Unbeknownst actions of Superboy and Krypto.

Next we have "The Phantom Superboy" by Robert Bernstein and George Papp and reprinted from Adventure Comics #283. This is the first appearance of the Phantom Zone. Professor Lang discovers a box of Kryptonian weapons which he delivers to Superboy. While Superboy examines and tests the weapons, he is accidentally sent into the Phantom Zone, a dimension which exists near ours in which beings can only exist in a ghostly state. Kryptonian criminals were banished here before the destruction of the planet.

Unable to be seen or heard Superboy can not communicate with anyone in his own dimension. Eventually he discovers that his super thought is enough to activate an electric typewriter on which he types a message to Pa Kent. Jonathan rescues Superboy from the Zone, and then the Boy of Steel disposes of the box of weapons.

We end with "The Death of Ma and Pa Kent" by Leo Dorfman and Al Plastino and reprinted from Superman #161. While on vacation in the Caribbean, Jonathan and Martha Kent find a buried pirate’s treasure. The chest contains a scrap from the diary of Pegleg Morgan and presents them a mystery. Superboy carries them into the past to learn how Pegleg was stranded on the island by Blackbeard the Pirate.

When they return to present-day Smallville, the Kents become ill from jungle fever. Doctors are unable to find the cure, and Superboy is likewise helpless. Superboy tries to send them to the Phantom Zone, but solar flares prevent the projector from functioning.

Without a cure, the Kents die. Superboy blames himself for their deaths and gives up his Superboy career. He donates their money to charity, maintaining their house and store for himself. When searching through his father’s belongings he finds the diary scrap and learns that the chest the Kents found in the sand was the actually source of their illness. Relieved that his time-trip was not responsible for the death of his parents, Superboy resumes his career and treasures the memory of his Earth parents.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Binky's Buddies #9

Binky's Buddies #9 (On Sale: March 5, 1970) has cover by Henry Scarpelli.

This issue begins with Binky's Buddies in "Binky Keeps His Cool." Next is Benny in "Monkey Business" by John Albano, Winslow Mortimer and Henry Scarpelli, which was reprinted in Binky #81 and Best of DC #45. We end with Binky's Buddies in "Run, Mudder, Run" by John Albano, Winslow Mortimer and Henry Scarpelli, which was reprinted in Best of DC #39.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Young Love #80

Young Love #80 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has cover not by Bob Oksner and Vinny Colletta as reported elsewhere, but surely inked by Dick Giordano.

This issue begins with "3 Loves... 1 Broken Heart." That is followed by "The Wrong Boy." We end with our cover-story
"Love Me a Little Longer."

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Our Fighting Forces #125

Our Fighting Forces #125 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has a Losers cover by Joe Kubert

We begin with our cover-story, the Losers in "Daughters of Death" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Finally, a book I don't own!

That is followed by "Too Much G.I." from All-American Men of War #60 by Bob Haney and Russ Heath. We end with "The Browning Shot" another story of the U.S.S. Stevens by Sam Glanzman.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Our Army at War #219

Our Army at War #219 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has a Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert.

This issue begins with our cover-story "Yesterday's Hero" drawn by Russ Heath. The new replacement in Easy Co. is Duncan, PFC, who is called the "Hero of Baker Co." Duncan was the first of his company to land at Omaha Beach. The last time his company went out of patrol he was the only one to return.

When Easy Co. goes out on their first mission. to hold a crossroads town, Duncan says the he will do his part, but that he, "won't be responsible for anybody else's skin!" In town they are attacked and Easy responds but Duncan holds back. Confronted by Rock, Duncan breaks down and says that he is no hero. He is too scared to think about others and is just trying to save his own skin.

Rock puts Duncan in a bell town to keep his eyes peeled for Nazis and later that night he sees their dust as they approach. two King Tiger tanks heading straight for the town. Rock tells Duncan to sit tight and stay low in the tower and Easy will take care of the tanks, but instead Duncan draws their fire allowing Easy to take them out. they find Duncan in the rubble of the tower, no worse for wear.

This story was interrupted by a Battle Album on the "Choppers of Viet Nam" drawn by Murphy Anderson.

The book ends with a story of the Civil war, "Follow Sgt. Gruggles" drawn by Fred Ray. Private Tom Cort is following Sgt. Gruggles into battle against the Confederates when he is whacked across the chest with a rifle barrel and about to be stabbed by a rebel. He is saved by Sgt. Gruggles. Hours later after they win the battle Cort says that he was wounded by the smack in the chest and needs to go back for medical help. Gruggles says that the only way he is going to the back of the lines is in a pine box and so he just better get ready for tomorrows assault on Missionary Ridge.

During the next day's assault, Sgt. Gruggles is shot and he and Cort and some of the others are captured by the Rebels and taken to Gray Valley Prison. there Gruggles hatches an escape plan, but they need a diversion and Cort knows that since he is not wounded he is the only one strong enough to "divert the rebs." Tom creates the diversion and holds the Rebels at bay as the men escape, but eventually the sound of his guns stop and he has proven that he did have courage after all.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

House of Mystery #186

House of Mystery #186 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has a very nice cover by Neal Adams.

This issue begins with our "The Secret of the Egyptian Cat" by Robert Kanigher and Bernie Wrightson. Cain is complaining about the caterwauling of the cat belonging to one of his boarders. Mr. Konassos, when said cat makes an appearance. As he stares into the cat's eyes it turns into a beautiful young girl who says that she was once a priestess in an Egyptian temple.

One night the man Cain knows a Mr. Konassos came to the temple and bespoke of his lust for the priestess. Guards arrive and throw Konassos out, but he returns the next day with magical potions to take care of the guards and a spell that turns the priestess into a cat. And so he kept her through time as they wandered the world together till one day they came to the House of Mystery and Mr. Cain.

At night Isha the cat would sneak out and wail her troubles into the night. Only the wild cats of the woods would answer her call and one of them, Ra-Na became her protector, keeping the other cats at bay. But Konassos saw them together and killed Ra-Na with some poisoned milk. One night Konassos drank himself into a stupor and forgot to lock up his potions. Isha dug through them finding just what she was looking for and dripping the potion onto a scarf she had her revenge.

When Konassos awoke Isha was once again a beautiful woman, but he on the other hand had been transformed into a mouse. And Isha let in Ra-Na's friends from the woods. Cain calls Isha's revenge, "purrfect!" This story has been reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23, Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists #3, Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

It is followed by a Room 13 page and a two-page Cain's Game Room both by Sergio Aragones.

Next is our cover-story "Nightmare" by Jack Oleck and Neal Adams.Little Judy is a lonely rich girl but in the yard of the estate she lives in the statue of Pan comes alive and plays with her, or so it seems to her. Not to her governess though nor her father. Her nights are filled with the joy of playing with Pan, but during the day she lays in bed, stricken with a fever. When she does get to see Pan again he takes her to a beautiful place of unicorns and fairies but warns her never to go beyond a wall, "There are bad things on the other side. You must never go through the door. Never!"

But Pan fades away and she is back in bed, her fever getting worse by the day. But for Judy, the world of Pan is the only reality. One day Pan takes a nap during their play and Judy opens the door in the wall. She is transported to a realm of hideous creatures who pursue her leading her toward a fire. Alone amidst the hot flames she is rescued by Pan only to awaken in her bed, her terrific fever finally broken. Her father explains that it was all a dream of hers, a way to escape the pain of the fever and he shows her that Pan is not real, but a statue of stone. And she touches the statue and she knows it is true and she walks away and never looks back as the statue of Pan cries.

Great story of the loss of innocence and childhood, wonderfully told and justifiably reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17, Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Flash #197

Flash #197 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has a cool cover by Gil Kane, which only makes the ungodly inks of Vince Colletta inside this book all the more unpalatable (and please Dan, don't make up yet another fake identity to tell me how wonderful Vinnie's dreadful inks were. I'm looking at them right now; they were a nightmare!). This cover does beg the one question (maybe not a great question) I have always had regarding the Flash. OK, so somehow he fits this entire costume, with hard-soled boots and all, into his ring. If this was such a great thing, why did he never share it with other DC heroes who had to find inconvenient ways of bringing their costume along with them?

This issue begins with our cover-story "Four Star Super-Hero" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Vinnie Colletta. This story is based on an interesting idea, how people who work together have silent communication, in this case Detective Charlie Conwell and Barry Allen. When Charlie solves a case he tugs at his ear and Barry touches the tip of his nose as a way of saying "nice going!" It is non-verbal and instinctive between the two of them.

After an overnight snow storm the Ice King is on skis hitting a bunch of jewelry stores when the Flash shows up and takes him out, But after he crashes to the snow he is not moving and his heart is not beating. An ambulance shows up and takes the Ice King away, but a few blocks later we see that the ambulance is a fake and the Ice King has turned off his pacemaker to simulate death (OK, so pacemakers don't work that way, but Friedrich obviously didn't know that). back at the scene of the crime Charlie shows up and asks Flash how the ambulance showed up so quickly. Flash replies that he was too stunned to think straight at which Charlie tugs at his ear and proclaims, "The ambulance was a cover for Ice's getaway!" Out of reflex Flash touches the tip of his nose as Charlie stares at him. Realizing his mistake Flash tried to cover up by faking a sneeze, but Charlie is now wondering about the Flash.

The next morning Barry finds out that wife Iris has been made the temporary drama critic for Picture News and she suggests that Barry get involved in the local drama scene., which he does getting a part in the local production of Hamlet. the morning of their opening night the entire cast, except Barry comes down with some sort of virus and as the Flash Barry suggests to director (and curator of the Flash Museum, Dexter Myles, that he can do the entire performance on his own.

Dexter reluctantly agrees and that night the Flash, moving at super-speed, plays all of the parts in Hamlet. During the curtain call he reveals that he is the Flash. Afterward however, he begins to feel ill, just as Ice and his gang, disguised as cops show up. In the middle of a violent seizure due to the virus now attacking his body the Flash is in no condition to take on Ice and his gang, who beat the crap out of him. However, once rested Flash is back in action and takes out the gang.
The next day Charlie Conwell comes to visit the ill Barry Allen at his home and sees that Barry is being visited by the Flash, which is of course Barry moving at super-speed again and looking as if he is two separate people.

The back-up story is "To the Nth Degree" by Robert Kanigher, Gil Kane and Vinnie Colletta. Professor Ira West creates a breakthrough telescope that can pierce hyper-space and allow one to see stars thousands of light-years away as they exist today.The professor is sending the telescope to the Astronomical Society and an amateur telescope to son-in-law Barry Allen, but he gets the labels mixed up and Barry gets the "hyper-scope"

Through the "hyper-scope" Barry sees an inhabited planet in the process of exploding and uses the scope to transport himself to the planet where he is able to stop the explosion and save the aliens. Once back home Professor West shows up to pick up his scope, realizing the shipping mistake he had made. But the Professor drops the scope and shatters the special lens, but says not to worry as he "wrote all the data I need to grind a duplicate lens on a wall in my lab."

Returning to his lab though he finds that the painters have just finished repainting the wall and secret of the Nth Degree lens is lost forever.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Batman #221

Batman #221 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has cover by Neal Adams, and what a cover. This is another one of those that I would stare at for hours and think, "Yeah, this is Batman!"

This issue begins with our cover-story "A Bat-Death for Batman" by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. This story is not nearly as exciting or moody as the cover and it could have been. Novick really needed to get some more blacks into the work and the coloring provides no mood whatsoever, relying heavily on stale blocks of orange and green. The story begins with strange goings on along the Rhine River in Germany. A man is devoured in the water by killer trout and a farmer is attacked by rampaging oxen. As luck, or the story would have it, Bruce Wayne is visiting Baron Willi Von Ritter, head of Biochem-Fabrik, Ltd, a chemical company on the Rhine.

Von Ritter lives in Fledermaus Castle, created in the shape of a giant Bat. Von Ritter and his company were cleared of accusations of conspiracy with the Nazis, but he refuses to cooperate with health inspectors who are investigating the strange animal activities. Once at the castle Bruce meets Von Ritter's wife Ilga and his head bio-chemist, Professor Otto Kramm.

That night as Batman, Bruce does a little reconnoitering of the castle's underground maze. There he finds a masked man egging on a lion to fight. The lions attacker? A lamb! The masked man says that he has synthesized the essential chemical elements that trigger the killer instinct in predators and that some of it accidentally overflowed into the Rhine. He plans on using the serum to see that Germany does not fail next time because its armies will possess the primal killer instincts of predators. With that the masked man traps Batman in the room and lets loose some bats which have been exposed to the serum.

Leaving Batman to his fate the masked man takes off his protective mask to reveal Otto Kramm as Ilga brings in the valet to be used as the first human test subject for the serum. However, before they can administer the serum, Batman shows up and Ilga injects Otto with the serum. Once infected Otto turns on Ilga for hurting him and Batman has to jump in to save her. In the ensuing fight Otto is thrown into the pit with the killer lamb and is killed by it.

Ilga is dying but wants to know how Batman escaped the bats and he explains that he used a wadded up piece of tin foil, ripped into strips to confuse the bats sonar and escape. OK, not much of a story here.

The back-up Batman story is "Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight" by Mike Friedrich, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. There is a heat wave in Gotham City and the fire department keeps being sent out on false alarms. On their way back from one such false alarm a truck gets a call of a fire in his own building. When they get there the place is in flames and a woman is yelling that her baby is trapped inside. Just then Batman is seen repelling down the side of the building, child in hand. Watching the spectacle are a couple of teenage kids who wonder what would have happened if that had been their kid sister in the fire. They decide to turn themselves in for calling in the false alarms.

Meanwhile, back at the fire the fire inspector says to the fireman that "All signs point toward the firs starting in your apartment Frank!" When they go upstairs they see that the door to Frank's apartment is not burned at all. Inside they find Frank's brother Joey who says he was just polishing an idol he brought back with him from Viet Nam. One of the firemen try to touch the idol and says he is overpowered by the feeling of evil it is generating. It begins to glow and some strange rays flash out from its eyes and suddenly Batman is there racing toward the idol.

He picks it up and with great effort tosses it out of the window where it shatters on the ground below. Once it does the eerie feeling disappears, along with Batman. The closing caption reads: "For the natural violence of life there is always the fireman! For the supernatural violence of life there is always the Batman!" Strange take and one of the first to give Batman some heretofore unknown ability to battle the supernatural. Not a great story, but it points the way that DC was moving and the way they were positioning the Batman. Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-25.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Wonder Woman #188

Wonder Woman #188 (On Sale: February 26, 1970) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano that is a wonderful return to the heavy bondage roots of classic Golden Age Wonder Woman covers.

We begin with our cover-story "Cyber's Revenge" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Continuing from last issue, Diana and Ching have been pulled from the waters of Hong Kong Harbor as the Junk that was the headquarters of Dr. Cyber burns. The badly burned Cyber and her associate Lu Shan, maybe I Ching's daughter, escaped with a new power source to be used to power Cyber's earthquaker devices. Ching was shot by Lu Shan and is rushed to the hospital, while Diana and Patrick McGuire meet at the police station and go over the events thus far.

Suddenly Hong Kong is hit by an earthquake and Diana and Patrick head for the streets where they are shot at by a strange car carrying Lu Shan and a assortment of Cyber henchmen. They escape Cyber's people by hiding under some wreckage, when another quake hits Patrick is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile Cyber sends a message to the wold that she must be declared supreme ruler of Earth or she will level every city on the planet with her earthquakers.

Lu Shan and her thugs locate Diana but she overpowers her and chases off the thugs and "convinces" Lu Shan to show them where one of the earthquakers is located. However, suspecting a trap, Diana wants Lu Shan to throw the power switch to turn off the machine and when she refuses Diana once again overpowers her. Eventually Lu Shan is convinced to turn off the earthquakers safely, bypassing the self-destruct feature that she was hoping would catch Diana.

Back at the inspector's office, Diana gets the location of the other earthquakers out of Lu Shan and while the inspector's men go after most of the machine, Diana and Patrick take the last one themselves. They race across the destroyed city to the location of the final earthquaker as it is turned on once again. They make it into the facility but run afoul of a trap door.

When they awaken they are chained to the ceiling and a heavily bandaged Dr. Cyber is there. She removes her bandages and shows Diana the mess she made of her face. Diana turns her face away from the sight and Cyber grabs her and turns Diana toward her. Which is what Diana hoped she would do, come in close enough so that Diana could knock her out with a swift kick to the face. Using the training she was taught by I Ching Diana is able to free herself but then is attacked by Cyber's personal guards, whom she quickly defeats.

As Diana frees Patrick Cyber awakens and attacks her with a sword, but Diana uses the chains to keep Cyber at bay and knock her into a power supply on the earthquaker. As Cyber fries, she pushes the self-destruct button. Diana and Patrick barely make it out alive. From hiding we see Lu Shan, vowing to get revenge. Diana and Patrick then begin helping those wounded in the quakes.

Days later she and Patrick make it to the hospital to check in on I Ching only to find that he is gone. A visitor came to his room and spoke something of Lu Shan and how she had crossed the border into Red China. Ching seems to have followed her. Reprinted in Diana Prince:Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

We get another great Sekowsky/Giordano teaser page for the next issue followed by a two page filler, "Crime Does Not Pay!" also by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. This little short is about a pick-pocket who unwisely tries to pick Diana's pocket!

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Detective Comics #398

Detective Comics #398 (On Sale: February 26, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams.

This issue begins with our cover-story "The Poison Pen Puzzle" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. It begins with Bruce Wayne on a jet headed for Los Angeles where Wayne Enterprises is about to buy into the picture business by purchasing a stake in Seven-Star Pictures. Sitting next to him is writer Maxine Melanie, who creates quite a stir on the plane when her identity is revealed by a couple of flight attendants. Her latest Hollywood tell-all "novel" has just been published and when she asks Bruce if he would like an autograph, he makes it clear how he feels about her type of literature, "I wouldn't be seen dead with your--book!"

But as fate would have it Seven-Star Pictures has just optioned the thing and after landing Bruce makes a big stink in the boardroom of Seven-Star, threatening to call of the merger if Seven-Star makes the movie. One of the board-members rightfully accuses Bruce of being a boorish "censor" for criticizing a book he has not read and when they go to get Bruce their advanced copy, they find it missing. This sends Bruce to a nearest bookstore where Maxine just happens to be signing her work.

Bruce is told that if he wants an autograph from Maxine that he better bring his own pen as "Maxine ran out of hers hours ago..." Just then an old woman asks to be let into the line awaiting autographs as she is "too frail to take this pushing around." As Maxine signs her book, she spasms, screams and collapses. The old woman tries to beat a hasty retreat but drops her book. Bruce tries to return it to her and is flipped onto his back by the old broad. By this time a doctor has shown up and pronounces Maxine dead. Bruce notices that there is a pin-prick in Maxine's finger and that there is a needle sticking out of the pen. When Bruce looks at the dropped book he sees that it is an advanced copy.

Back at Seven-Stars Bruce finds that they know of Maxine's death and that one of their top "properties," Loren Melburn has confessed to the murder. She is half of Hollywood's "perfect couple" with husband Dorian Spence. They were both "speared by Maxine's poison-pen in her novel." They mention to Bruce that there is a third major star mentioned in the book, Ronald Dart, who also had motive to kill Maxine. Another board-member walks in and announces that Dorian Spence has also confessed to the murder of Maxine.

Bruce says he will handle this personally and as Batman visits the Los Angeles police where he tels them to announce that Batman is on the case. Later Batman visits the Spense's where Dorian tries to convince him that he is the real killer. Planning to head over to Rod Drake's place next door Batman is confronted by Drake in the garden, where he says he overheard Spence planning Maxine's death. When Drake comes out of the shadows he is wielding a fireplace poker and is not Drake, but Dorian Spense. But just as quickly he is grabbed by Dorian Spence who pulls the mask off the attacking Spence to reveal Rod Drake.

Drake confesses that he fed Maxine most of the dirt in her "novel" with the promise that he would star in the movie version. Only, she reneged and he decided to kill her for it. Does much of this make any sense at all? Not really.

The back-up is Robin in "Moon-Struck" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Vinny Colletta. Hudson University is being visited by a moon rock which NASA is giving to Russia and is being accepted by Russian Exchange Professor Zukov. Geeky student Herb Stroud, the campus "profit of doom" who "showers every hour--on the hour" arrives to say that the moon rock may be dangerous. His prediction appears to have been right as the rock flashes green and Herb's skin turns the exact same color. The campus is quarantined and NASA people grab Herb for testing. They can find no radiation issues at all.

Meanwhile Robin is suspecting a hoax and is visiting the showers and finds a strange bar of green soap with an odd scent. Just hen the lights go out and so does Robin, who is attacked trying to keep the soap. When he awakens he smells an odd scent on the hand of the person who awakened him. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB. Not much to say about this one except the art is horrible and I don't blame Gil Kane.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Aquaman #51

Aquaman #51 (On Sale: February 26, 1970) has another brilliant cover by Nick Cardy. This may be the Silver Age of comics, but it was the Golden Age of Comic Covers.

We begin with Aquaman in "The Big Pull" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. Continuing from last issue, some alien creatures sent by Ocean Master have blasted Aquaman, well, somewhere unearthly. There he met a woman who lived in a strange city where their religion only allowed for communication in their sanctuary. Looking for information about Earth the woman has brought Aquaman to Brother Warnn and as we pick up the story this issue we learn that even this man has no concept of Earth. The people here only believe in the City and the Wilderness beyond; to them nothing else exists.

When Aquaman tells the woman that he intends to search for someone who knows of Earth, the woman warns him that there is nothing but the City and the Wilderness and to speak otherwise is blasphemy. Aquaman is overheard however by a Supreme Brother, one of the few allowed to communicate outside of the sanctuary. The woman tells Aquaman that if he leaves they will surely attack him, but Aquaman doesn't want to wait around any longer and bolts from the place. He is followed by a couple of warriors with the crazy bubble-guns seen last issue. Aquaman sneaks up on an unsuspecting guard, and knocking him out, uses his body as a shield from the bubbles. Escaping Aquaman soon finds that he is once again being followed by the woman.

Back in the City, on official turns on a machine which sends out huge telepathic waves into the Wilderness. The waves his Aquaman and his companion, causing extreme pain and knocking her out. Aquaman carries the woman and swims on. Eventually as he puts more distance between him and the City the pain eases.

Back in Atlantis, Black Manta is seen approaching the city and Mera, alone and in charge, wishes with all her might that her husband were back with her. At that same instance, somewhere else, Aquaman feels a strange force pulling him in a specific direction. His companion wakes up and seems unsure of what to do, but eventually decides to continue following Aquaman.

As they continue on they are seen by two strange little men toiling in a rock quarry. Jimm thinks he sees Aquaman, but Steev has never heard of Aquaman and thinks they better get back to work or Dikk will have their heads. This was a nice little inside bit by Skeates and Aparo.

Luckily the woman did not see Steev or Jimm for she would have surely freaked when she saw them talking, for a little later on Aquaman is drawn toward a large sphere, covered with cave-like structures. When the woman sees the cave-people communicating in the open she is shocked and pulls out her gun to shoot them. Aquaman stops her, but not before one errant shot is let loose. It hits near a child playing and the cave people head toward Aquaman with clubs at the ready. This story was reprinted in Adventure Comics #503.

The back-up is Deadman in "The World Cannot Wait for a Deadman" written and drawn by Neal Adams. If you remember last time, the same aliens that zapped Aquaman where ever the heck he has been zapped, let loose a cat-like creature when they realized a non-corporal being like Deadman was in their midst and said cat-like creature was flipping Deadman out! More like taking him for an inter-dimensional ride! Now as he lands on solid ground (hard for a dead man to do!), the cat-like create has turned into a beautiful woman who explains that in this dimension Deadman is real

The beautiful Tatsinda explains that in our world she can only exist as the "cat-like" creature, that the aliens captured her two years ago and that the only way she could get home was to "ride" a nonentity, such as Deadman, back to her dimension. Deadman says that she can just ride him right back then, "Look, just drop me off and you can come back here!" But of course, she can only make the dimensional jump with someone like Deadman to ride her through it.

Just then Tatsinda's brother and sister arrive and after a tearful reunion they all run underground to avoid a massive storm. As they near Tatsinda's underground home city they are attacked by two ugly-looking guys on a giant crab-like creature. The crab-like creature's eyes hold them all in a hypnotic trance as the ugly ones grab Tatsinda and scamper (scuttle?) away on a giant network of spider-like webbing. Once they snap out of the trance Deadman asks what is the best way to go after them and Tatsinda's brother says that there is no way, that no one has ever followed the depth crabs, "We'll never see Tatsinda again!"

Not the right answer for Deadman, who leaps into the depths and swings about on the webs like he once did the trapeze. He quickly finds the ugly ones and landing among them begins to open a can o' wup ass! He rescues Tatsinda and as he is taking her back to her home she says, "You've done what no man on this whole planet could have done! I've been thinking...about how your dimension needs you more than I need to go home! Don't throw up!" and she rides him once again through the dimensional barrier! This story was reprinted in Deadman Collection HC.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #128

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #128 (On Sale: February 24, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins with our cover-story "No Father for Jimmy" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Pete Costanza. The back-up is "The Story of Superman's Souvenirs" from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #5 by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Ray Burnley. Killer Burke, a hunted fugitive, hides in the apartment of Jimmy Olsen. Burke forces Jimmy to tell him the stories behind several of his Superman souvenirs, hoping one will enable him to escape. Burke then uses an invisibility belt invented by Luthor to slip past the police. However, the belt causes Burke to go blind. Without his sight, Burke is forced to surrender. When Jimmy turns off the belt, his sight is restored.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Heart Throbs #125

Heart Throbs #125 (On Sale: February 24, 1970) has cover by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta.

This issue begins with our cover-story "Leave Me! Leave Me! Leave Me" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Next is "Two Loves Have I" drawn by Lee Elias. We end with "Am I Too Young for Love?"

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Green Lantern #76

Green Lantern #76 (On Sale: February 24, 1970) is an obscure, little-known book of no real importance. Not! Neal Adams provides the cover to this ground-breaking comic with the new Green Lantern Co-Starring Green Arrow logo.

I remember seeing this book on the stands like it was yesterday. Having read the Green Arrow make-over issue of The Brave and the Bold and having been following his exploits in Justice League of America I was hankering for some more Green Arrow, and I was always ready for a new Neal Adams' series. This issue I got both and so, so much more. "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" is the classic Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams revamping of the ailing Green Lantern franchise that changed the direction of comics for years to come and introduced the word "relevance" to comics.

This landmark issue almost went out with this cover instead, but editor Julius Schwartz passed on this one, perhaps because it looks like Green Arrow is about to shoot Green Lantern in the back. I've seen another version of this cover on-line somewhere which has the Green Lantern figure inked by Adams.

Stop me if you've heard this one before... or not. Green Lantern is in the area of Star City and decides to drop in on Green Arrow to see how he is doing. Once in town he sees a guy in a suit being accosted by "a punk" on the street. Lantern does a little green-ring razzle-dazzle and sends the "punk" off to police headquarters. He then picks the accosted man off the street and dusts him off accepting his gratitude. Then the crowd gives Lantern their opinion of his performance as they begin to pelt him with bottles, cans and other assorted garbage.

Green Lantern grabs the nearest punk and is about to work him over when Green Arrow arrives with the classic lines, "Touch him first, Green Lantern, and you'll have to touch me second...and I'll touch back!--Believe it chum!" "I was almost tempted to throw a can at you myself!" Arrow takes Lantern aside and explains that the accosted guy was Jubal Slade, the fat-cat landlord who owns these tenement slums, and who is now evicting everyone to turn the buildings into parking lots.

Up on the roof of the building, the straight-laced Green Lantern says he was only doing his job and Arrow accuses him of being a Nazi. Then in one of the more powerful moments in comic history an old black man asks Green Lantern a question, "I been readin' about you...How you work for the blue skins.. And how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins...And you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there's skins you never bothered with--! The black skins! I want to know... How come?! Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern!"

This is one of two scenes that everyone seems to remember from this book and regard as its high point, but for me it is the first panel on the next page that makes this scene kill. More precisely, it is the caption of that first panel: " In the time it takes to draw a single breath...the span of a heartbeat--a man looks into his own soul, and his life changes..." What makes this story work and the whole concept of the book work, is that Denny O'Neil is able to give voice to two opposing views through the two main characters, but he is obviously slanted toward Arrow's more liberal views.

In a way, O'Neil turned this book into his own take on Steve Ditko's the Hawk and the Dove, only he is playing the favorite that Ditko never would ever have considered. Arrow gives a powerful voice and presence to the Dove and Lantern finds himself conflicted as the black and white Hawk. The country, certainly the youth of the country, was rejecting Ditko's black and white view of the world and embracing a more humanistic approach. Green Arrow was the perfect tool to bring that view to comics.

Back in our story, Green Lantern goes to Jubal Slade and tries to talk him out of razing the buildings. Slade calls him a "bleeding heart" and has his men attempt to throw him out. Lantern takes out Slade's thugs and is about to open a can of whoop-ass on Slade when the Guardians intervene, telling Lantern to report to Oa immediately. The Guardians are pissed that Hal attacked Slade, who in their eyes, had committed no crime. They send him out to save a moon of Saturn from a swarm of meteors and tell him to wait there for further orders. Tired of doing the work of the "blue skins" and thinking back on the words of the "black skin," Hal disobeys the Guardians and heads back to Earth.

At that moment Arrow is visiting Slade and convincing him that he needs to pay Arrow for "protection." They set up a meeting for later than night for a payoff. We watch the two guns heading for the rendezvous, silencers in place. Seeing a figure in a chair they pump it full of lead, only to find it is a dummy and Green Arrow is upon them! After handling the men, Arrow retrieves his hidden tape recorder, only to find that one of the gunsel's stray bullets has scored a direct hit on the tape and Ollie is back to square one.

When Arrow and Lantern get together, Ollie relates his failure and Hal comes up with a plan. One of the gunmen shows up at Slade's penthouse and Slade erupts, telling him never to come there and wanting to know if the "hit" on Green Arrow was a success, "Green Arrow! Did you finish him? I paid you to kill him...remember?" At which point the gunman turns into Green Lantern and Green Arrow shows up with the District Attorney in hand to arrest Slade.

All that is left is Slade's attempt to get away via a hand grenade he uses as a paperweight, but Green Lantern makes quick work of that and the D. A. takes Slade away. Happy ending, right? Not so fast bucko! There is the Epilogue and the other famous scene from this story.

The Guardians are pissed off at Hall for disobeying their orders and Green Arrow lays into them and Hal in some of the most amazing dialog ever written. For the time it was shocking. "Listen...Forget about chasing around the galaxy!...and remember America...It's a good country...beautiful...fertile...and terribly sick! There are children dying...honest people cowering in fear...disillustioned kids ripping up campuses...On the streets of Memphis a good black man died...and in Los Angeles a good white man fell...Something is wrong! Something is killing us all...! Some hideous moral cancer is rotting our very souls!"

And so Ollie tasks the Guardians to do something about it and after much deliberation they send down one of their own, disguised as a human and together, the three of them take off in a pick-up truck to find America. "Three set out together, moving through cities and villages and the majesty of the wilderness...searching for a special kind of truth...searching for themselves."

This classic tale has been reprinted in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #1, Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told HC, Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told TPB, DC Silver Age Classics Green Lantern 76 (#6), Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection Vol. 1 TPB, Millennium Edition: Green Lantern 76 (#5), Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection HC and Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Girls' Romances #148

Girls' Romances #148 (On Sale: February 24, 1970) has an absolutely beautiful cover by the great Nick Cardy.

This issue begins with "I Won't Fall in Love" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Next is "My Nightmare Love Affair" drawn by John Rosenberger. We end with the transgendered romance (just kidding) "I Wish I Wasn't Born a Girl" inked by Vince Colletta.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Brave and the Bold #89

Brave and the Bold #89 (On Sale: February 24, 1970) has a Batman and Phantom Stranger cover by Neal Adams over an obvious Carmine Infantino layout. This is the first issue to use the new Batman logo, which will disappear next issue but return after that.

This issue is dreadful. From the uninspired cover to the uninspired ending this book reeks. Bob Haney doesn't have the slightest clue how to use the Phantom Stranger or worse yet, Dr. Thirteen. We open with a group of covered wagons pulled by oxen and led by one Josiah Heller, self-proscribed descendant of the Hellerite leader of the same name. The Hellerites, so Batman says the legend goes, settled in Gotham 150 years ago, a strange sect of people (think Amish crossed with Mormon) who frightened the citizens of Gotham because they were so different. When a child is found dead on the streets the citizens blame the Hellerite sorcery for the death (most likely caused by a fever) and burned the Hellerite encampment, killing Josiah who proclaimed as the flames engulfed him that, "Someday the dust of the desert will fill Gotham's streets--and then this city's sins must be cleansed!"

These modern-day Hellerites set up camp in Gotham Park, where Batman and Commissioner Gordon head Heller tell his people that they have returned to Gotham for reparations and that they will demand that Gotham give up the land where their ancestor's encampment once stood. This land is now part of downtown Gotham, even Bruce Wayne owns a piece, and worth a fortune. The declaration splits Gotham in two and at a council meeting, Bruce Wayne (who Haney seems to think in on the City Council), donates the Wayne Foundation building to the Hellerite cause.

As Batman, Bruce keeps tabs on Heller and that night Heller is visited by the Phantom Stranger, who warns Heller that he has "unleashed a terrifying threat against Gotham City." When Heller tried to attack the Stranger, he knocks himself unconscious and Batman enters Heller's room and finds cigarettes in his pocket. He notes that Hellerites don't smoke and that they are supposed to be non-violent, yet Heller attacked the Stranger.

The city is soon crawling with Hellerites with glowing eyes and when Batman attempts to find out why he is confronted by the Phantom Stranger who paralyzes Batman so he can watch the Hellerites confronting Gotham citizens and demanding their property. The people find it impossible to resist the glowing stare of the Hellerites. The Stranger tells Batman that some of the Hellerites are "spectral beings...ghosts of Gotham's past."

Batman heads to Gotham Park and confronts Heller, who says that his people are all in the park and knows nothing of the Hellerites walking around Gotham. The Stranger appears and says that Heller has unwittingly called forth the spirits of the long-dead Hellerites. Dr. Thirteen shows up to call the Stranger a fraud (does he do anything else?) and karate-chops the Stranger unconscious.

Heller disappears during all of this and Batman goes searching for him, finding him painting a mark on the door of a house in Gotham. When Batman confronts Heller, his hands go right through him and Heller vanishes. Batman notices that the house is the one he has rented after vacating the Wayne Foundation building. Using the Gotham police computers Batman finds out that all of the houses "marked" by the Hellerites have an elder son at home (I guess Haney decided to ignore the fact that Robin wasn't living at home anymore).

Returning to his house Batman is psychically attacked by Dick and when Heller arrives to ask Bruce Wayne for even more "reparations" he is attacked by the ghostly Heller who calles him "an imposter." The ghostly Heller says that the modern-day Heller is not his decendant and only has the power to "unwittingly stir the spirits from their eternal sleep. Once aroused, all we can do is evil--until he who called us forth confesses his sacrilege."

Batman awakens the Stranger in police lock-up and the two of them go on the attack against the ghostly Heller and Dick. The ghosly Heller tries to kill the modern-day Heller and the Phantom Stranger intervenes. A sherriff arrives with a wanted poster for Karl Lofus, the modern-day Heller. Seeing the poster snaps Lofus out of his delusion that he is Heller and the spirit Heller and all his Hellerites disappear.

It is explained how Lofus had amnesia after breaking out of jail and ran into the Hellerite settlement in the desert and was mistaken by them for Heller. Dr. Thirteen looks stupid once again and the real Hellerites head back for the desert. Ugh! Horrible story all around. This piece of dreck was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 2 TPB and Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.