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Post by Farrar on Sept 1, 2022 16:24:30 GMT -5
DC didn’t have that many monthly titles during most of the 1960s. A lot of the anthology titles were monthly. Action Comics. Adventure Comics. Even Detective, which was allegedly on the verge of cancellation in 1964 but somehow didn’t miss a month until well into the 1970s. Strange Adventures. Our Army at War. Blackhawk was monthly. But the following comics were published eight times a year: Superman Batman Superboy Wonder Woman Flash Green Lantern Jimmy Olsen Lois Lane And Justice League of America. I don’t really know why. I would guess there was a strategy not to glut the market, or maybe comics sold better in the summer (when kids weren’t in school) or in the winter (when kids were stuck at home). Or something like that. But it’s true that DC had a lot of top-selling titles that were published eight times a year. Titles like Superman, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman were not monthly until the late 1960s or the 1970s. Here’s a link to Mike’s Amazing World for a sample month in 1962 so you can click on individual titles and see how frequently they were published. www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/newsstand.php?type=cover&month=6&year=1962In late 1965 and 1966 several of the books such as Batman, Superman, Flash, and Superboy were actually published 9-11 times a year, though this often included Giant issues (reprints, so DC didn't have to spend $$$ paying for new material). At one point Batman had 11 issues a year (no doubt cashing in on the TV show's popularity). Wonder Woman, then a poor seller, actually decreased to bi-monthly (6 issues a year) in 1967; it remained that way until late 1976, when it went monthly. Back then I liked to inspect a comic book's indicia ; I was fascinated by DC's publishing frequency for its various books. I loved the notion that some books were even published "semi-monthly" (two issues that month, one being a Giant issue). Marvel was simple: books were monthly (with semi-annual for the Annuals) or bi-monthly. But DC books had these weird schedules; it kind of made DC seem more exclusive and special, at least to my young self.
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 1, 2022 17:30:38 GMT -5
DC didn’t have that many monthly titles during most of the 1960s. A lot of the anthology titles were monthly. Action Comics. Adventure Comics. Even Detective, which was allegedly on the verge of cancellation in 1964 but somehow didn’t miss a month until well into the 1970s. Strange Adventures. Our Army at War. Blackhawk was monthly. But the following comics were published eight times a year: Superman Batman Superboy Wonder Woman Flash Green Lantern Jimmy Olsen Lois Lane And Justice League of America. I don’t really know why. I would guess there was a strategy not to glut the market, or maybe comics sold better in the summer (when kids weren’t in school) or in the winter (when kids were stuck at home). Or something like that. But it’s true that DC had a lot of top-selling titles that were published eight times a year. Titles like Superman, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman were not monthly until the late 1960s or the 1970s. Here’s a link to Mike’s Amazing World for a sample month in 1962 so you can click on individual titles and see how frequently they were published. www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/newsstand.php?type=cover&month=6&year=1962In late 1965 and 1966 several of the books such as Batman, Superman, Flash, and Superboy were actually published 9-11 times a year, though this often included Giant issues (reprints, so DC didn't have to spend $$$ paying for new material). At one point Batman had 11 issues a year (no doubt cashing in on the TV show's popularity). Wonder Woman, then a poor seller, actually decreased to bi-monthly (6 issues a year) in 1967; it remained that way until late 1976, when it went monthly. Back then I liked to inspect a comic book's indicia ; I was fascinated by DC's publishing frequency for its various books. I loved the notion that some books were even published "semi-monthly" (two issues that month, one being a Giant issue). Marvel was simple: books were monthly (with semi-annual for the Annuals) or bi-monthly. But DC books had these weird schedules; it kind of made DC seem more exclusive and special, at least to my young self. I knew it was kind of complicated. I did not know that Wonder Woman was bi-monthly for such a long time.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 15, 2023 18:57:13 GMT -5
It looks like I’m going to have an Amazo-Palooza weekend!
While I was looking for a few more 1970s issues of Batman on eBay, I came across a nice-looking copy of JLA #112 that nobody was bidding on. It’s a 100-Page Super-Spectacular! With the second half of a 1940s appearance of the Seven Soldiers of Victory!
And a new JLA story with Amazo!
I love the JLA’s lame villains from the 1960s and 1970s. Amos Fortune. Despero. Starro. The Shaggy Man.
And Amazo.
So I put a low bid on it, and a few days later I won it for $5.99. (It just came in the mail. It is really nice. I think it’s at least a 7.0.)
I next got to looking at Mike’s Amazing World to see how many times Amazo had appeared, and I saw that he had fought Superman for four issues in a row in Action Comics in the 1970s. Well. I had to have that. I found that on eBay in a group for $17.
This morning, I saw that they would be arriving today, and that was when I decided it would be an Amazo-Palooza weekend. So I went to Comixology and ordered his first appearance in Brave and the Bold #30 and also Justice League #27. I’ve read them both, but it’s been a while.
I’ll have to dig out my copy of that one where the heroes and villains are playing a baseball game and Amazo is on the bad guys’ team.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 16, 2023 18:55:30 GMT -5
So far on my Amazo-Palooza Weekend, I’ve read:
Brave and the Bold #30 - Amazo’s big debut! The third appearance of the JLA! It’s really dumb. Amazo is abducting very old animals, like a 250-year-old tortoise and a 60-year-old carp. Also a 130-year-old Peruvian man. Because Professor Ivo is looking for the secret of longevity!
Justice League of America #27 - Also very dumb. An extra-dimensional entity called “I” has sucked all the success aura out of the League members so that they can’t work together as a team. They can still operate individually though. Snapper Carr gets the idea that reviving Amazo, who is dormant in the trophy room, will somehow fix things, enable the JLA to be a team again and put “I” into an inert state of being. Somehow. And it works!
Justice League of America #112 - In the previous issue, the members lost half of their powers in the contest with Libra and the Injustice Gang. They get the idea to ... revive Amazo, which will somehow attract the atoms of their powers from the galaxy back to Amazo, and then they can get them back from him. Or something. At least this one has very nice Dick Dillin/Dick Giordano art.
I also read Action Comics #480 and #481. These are the first two parts of a four-part story with Superman fighting Amazo alone because the satellite has been shifted to an inaccessible dimension and the rest of the JLA can’t leave. I like this storyline a lot better than the others. The format of the Justice League storytelling is often very awkward. I’ve never been a big fan, but I’ve learned to appreciate the very best JLA issues. I also think the Action Comics storyline benefits from getting four full issues to develop the narrative.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 17, 2023 11:39:37 GMT -5
I finally read all the reprints in JLA #112. It ends with a reprint of JLA #19 with the return of Dr. Destiny.
Comic books are often stupid. We know that. But sometimes Silver Age Justice League abuses the privilege in a flagrant and ostentatious manner.
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