DC
Batman No. 251 Cover by Neal Adams
Neal Adams had arrived in comics in the mid 1960s, bringing art skills and techniques that had been honed in commercial art. Making his biggest impact at DC Comics, he's still associated with Batman and Green Lantern decades after he was active as those books' penciller.
Batman No. 291 Cover by Jim Aparo
David V Reed was a notable Batman writer, first writing the character in the late 1940s/early 1950s. He would return in the 1970s and likely his best moment was a four-parter published in Batman Nos. 291–294.
DC Special Series No. 27 Cover – Batman and the Incredible Hulk by José Luis García-López
It was the end of an era. Earlier in 1981, Marvel Comics had handled the second team-up of Superman and the Amazing Spider-Man. And then this book followed, shepherded through the DC offices. While DC and Marvel would still occasionally team-up their characters for reader excitement and mutual profit, the tabloids – a fixture of both companies throughout the 1970s – would not continue much further into the 80s.
The House of Mystery No. 175 Cover by Neal Adams
Kids in peril was an effective theme Adams used for his DC horror covers. Scare the kids, they'll love it and they'll buy the comic.
Limited Collectors Edition C-37 Cover – Batman by Jim Aparo
Another solid volume of Batman stories, these from the Golden Age and featuring villains from Batman's rogues gallery. All of it wrapped in an iconic cover by The Brave & the Bold regular artist Jim Aparo.
Limited Collectors Edition C-43 Cover by Swan & Oksner
DC's 1970s tabloids were great treasures of reprinted material and this – the second "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" collection – was no exception. There was nothing like seeing favourite stories at a larger size.
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter Cover by Dave Gibbons
I'm guessing I don't need to tell readers much about Watchmen here. You likely are already familiar with the 12-issue series – written by Alan Moore, drawn and lettered by Dave Gibbons, coloured by John Higgins and published by DC Comics in 1986 – to be even remotely interested in Tales of the Black Freighter, the allegorical/metaphorical comic within the Watchmen comic.
Sword of Sorcery No. 1 Unpublished Cover by Jeffrey Catherine Jones
The early 1970s saw an influx of new talent at DC, most of it shepherded by editor Joe Orlando. The four artists who would later make up The Studio – Bernie Wrightson, Michael Wm Kaluta, Jeffrey Catherine Jones and Barry Windsor Smith – had three of their number at DC while Windsor Smith was over at Marvel. Working outside the normal super-heroic books, they made their mark with covers, as well as adventure and horror stories.
Stalker No. 1 Cover by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood
Another of DC's short-run comics of the 1970s, this one boasted young Paul Levitz early in his career as writer, with veterans Steve Ditko and Wally Wood on art duties. Despite the quality of Stalker, it lasted only four issues.
Super DC Giant S-20 The House of Mystery Cover by Neal Adams
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, DC Comics leveraged their library of existing stories effectively with specials, annuals and series of books built around reprinted material.
Starfire Poster by Mike Vosburg
Starfire was another creation of writer David Michelinie – creator of Claw the Unconquered – and brought to visual life by penciller Mike Vosburg, debuting with Starfire No. 1, cover dated Aug/Sep 1976.
Claw the Unconquered Nos. 13, 14 and 15 – Unpublished
Following up on a post discussing Claw's origins, we turn to the issues produced but unpublished after its cancellation with issue No. 12.
Green Lantern No. 110 Cover by Mike Grell
Along with writer Denny O'Neil, artist Mike Grell had taken Green Lantern from being a back-up in The Flash and relaunched into his own mag with No. 90 in 1976. By the time No. 110 came out in 1978 during the DC Explosion, Grell was about to leave the book to handle writing and pencilling duties on his own creation The Warlord, a book that went from bi-monthly to monthly status during the same time.
Green Lantern No. 56 Cover by Kane & Anderson
A great cover to a great issue of Green Lantern from 1967. The creature is reminiscent of Jack Kirby's Thing for Marvel's Fantastic Four and bears some resemblance to The Abomination from The Incredible Hulk, a character Gil Kane also designed.
The Justice Society of America by Anderson and McCorkindale
Editor Julius Schwartz did a brilliant thing when he had Gardner Fox write "The Flash of Two Worlds" for The Flash No. 123. Bringing back the original versions of the Second World War-era characters was a unique and compelling way to integrate them into the Silver Age - the second era of super-heroes.
The Arthurian Era by Brian Bolland
Crisis on Infinite Earths had concluded, turning the DC Comics multiverse into a supposedly coherent universe. The History of the DC Universe two-book set documented the new timeline, and The History of the DC Universe Portfolio celebrated it with tabloid-sized images by some of DC's top talent.
Detective Comics No. 481 Unpublished Cover by Jim Aparo
Books come and books go, and in the latter half of 1978, DC Comics was in the throes of The DC Implosion and nearly half their titles disappeared.
Batman Family No. 20 Cover by Jim Starlin
It was the best Batbook of its era, and it had gotten there with new talent like Marshall Rogers, Mike Golden, Joe Staton and others breathing new life into the Batman family of characters.
Superman Pin-Up TPB Cover by Neal Adams
Neal Adams is recovering from an illness that nearly claimed him, and we're all reminded that those whose work we love won't be around forever. And when Adams can still knock it out of the park, it's a testament to a life spent practising his skills, and that we always look forward to seeing more from him.
Batman No. 313 Cover by José Luis García-López
This is an amazing symbolic cover. On the surface, it's merely a clever division of Two-Face's hideout, but if you extend the idea to the tragedies these antagonists have endured, it's even more interesting.
BEM No. 28 Cover by Brian Bolland
DC
BEM – or Bemusing Magazine was a British comics fanzine of the 1970s and 80s, and I've had a scan of this cover in my files for a bit, meaning to do a new colour version.
Batman No. 340 Cover by Jim Aparo
Jim Aparo became so strongly associated with DC heroes like Aquaman and Batman that we sometimes forget that he was a solid horror artist and in an alternate reality could have spent his career working in DC's anthologies.
Time Warp No. 4 Cover by Michael Wm Kaluta
As ever, I'm a sucker for a Time Warp cover drawn by Michael Wm Kaluta. How the trumpet player ended up with demons/angels on a rock in space is anyone's guess, but it was certainly headier stuff than your average DC fare of the day.
The Phantom Stranger No. 33 Cover by Jim Aparo
In the early 70s, both DC and Marvel went to a cover format that put solid colour behind the masthead and boxed in the cover art below it. It might have made covers more consistent and easier to lay out, but to my eye it was cramped and did a disservice to the power a good cover could generate to get a potential reader to pick up the comic off the newsstand. It put production convenience and cost control before editorial and artistic decision making. Penny wise and pound foolish is another way to express it.
The Brave & the Bold No. 122 Cover by Jim Aparo
Swamp Thing was a great comic, and the issues done by creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson are classic horror tales, but the book's sales waned in other creators' hands. For the remainder of the 1970s, Swampie was relegated to reprints, and guest-star appearances like this one in B&B.
The Brave & the Bold No. 116 Cover by Jim Aparo
Another of Aparo's inset covers for a 100-page The Brave & the Bold. A creepy idol comes to life in a supernatural team-up of Batman and the Spectre.
The Brave & the Bold No. 112 Cover by Jim Aparo
In early 1974, DC Comics decided to turned part of its line into 100-page comics for 60¢ after previously releasing specials and one shots in similar sizes and price points. Accompanying the normal features were reprints from DC's large library of material. It was my generation's introduction to the deep well of Golden and Silver age stories.
Wonder Woman No. 184 Cover by Sekowsky & Giordano
Coming in the middle of the New Wonder Woman run – where Diana lost her powers and resembled Emma Peel more than an Amazon princess – we have this issue where her warrior roots are front and centre.
The Brave & the Bold No. 87 Cover by Sekowsky & Giordano
I've always loved this cover with Batman driving a Formula One car of the era. But it wasn't until I found a scan of the original art that I realised I liked it even more. Behind the trade dress and flat orange background colouring, there was a great European mountain village and the wheel the Speed Racer-style villain had just sheared off the Wayne Special.
Wonder Woman Pin-Up by Neal Adams
I'm less of a fan of the Wonder Woman as warrior than I am of her original conception with bracelets she used to bounce bullets off of, and a Lasso of Truth that forced bad guys to own up to what they'd done. But, her popularity now is due in part to the current conception of her kicking butt while wielding a sword and shield.
Madame Xanadu Pin-Up by Michael Wm Kaluta
Michael Wm Kaluta has been associated with Madame Xanadu from her first appearance in Doorway to Nightmare No. 1 in 1978.
World's Finest Cover by Jim Aparo
Jim Aparo spent most of his comics career at DC Comics, associated with Batman, Aquaman, Spectre and a plethora of team-ups in The Brave and the Bold. He was a triple threat, pencilling, inking and lettering his stories.
Wonder Woman by Colleen Doran
For the better part of 40 years, Colleen Doran has had a diverse career in comics, encompassing her own epic saga A Distant Soil, assignments from publishers both large and small, and collaborating on graphic novel projects with writers at the top of the field.
DC Special Series No. 26 Superman and His Incredible Fortress of Solitude Cover by Andru & Giordano
One of DC's best tabloid editions was nearly its last. An all-new tale by Roy Thomas, Ross Andru, Romeo Tanghal, Gaspar Saladino and Jerry Serpe, it used the rich mythos of mementoes in Superman's Fortress of Solitude as its backdrop.
Batman by Alex Toth
It's just a sketch. 40 years old and fading. But nothing of its power has diminished. Few people could distill a drawing down to its essence as well as Alex Toth. Running across something like this is always a welcome surprise. Like finding a sapphire on the sidewalk.
Wonder Woman and Donald Trump by Ramona Fradon
Ramona Fradon was one of the few female artists working in professional comics in the late Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages. She had a great run on Aquaman, co-created Metamorpho with Bob Haney, and later did The Super Friends comic. In her 90s, she's still going strong with commissions.
Time Warp No. 6 Cover by Michael Wm Kaluta
Time Warp lasted five issues in 1979-1980 before DC Comics cancelled it. But it's well-remembered among a certain era of readers for its imaginative sci-fi stories and amazing covers by Kaluta.
Green Lantern by Marcio Takara
For this colouring and packaging commission, the client wanted this ink-wash drawing turned into a vintage Green Lantern cover.
Claw the Unconquered by Michelinie, Chan, Giffen et al
Claw the Unconquered was a DC Comics title that debuted in 1975. DC wanted to get a piece of the market Marvel had established with adaptations of Robert E Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Kull the Conqueror and Solomon Kane. Editor Joe Orlando talked with writers, and after a false start settled on David Michelinie. Claw emerged as a Conan-like character at first, and the art supplied by Ernie Chan – himself a Conan contributor over at Marvel – for the first seven issues of the comic deviated little from that conception.
Salvation Run No. 7 Cover by Neal Adams
I came across the pencils for this 2008 cover by Neal Adams, loving the energy. So this time out we're going to go backward from the published cover to the pencils, and then back up to a new final version with inks and colours by myself.
Star Hunters No. 1 Cover by Rich Buckler and Bob Layton
One of the casualties of the DC Implosion was this science fiction swashbuckler which debuted in DC Super Stars No. 16, and then continued for seven issues of its own magazine between November 1977 and 1978.
Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country Cover by Jerome K Moore
It was the last time the original Star Trek crew would be together and they sent the original cast off with a great story helmed by writer/director Nicholas Meyer – the man who'd been behind a lot of great movies: Invasion of the Bee Girls, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Time After Time, The Day After, and two previous Trek films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Robin, the Boy Wonder
Debuting in 1940, Dick "Robin" Grayson changed Batman from a vengeful, lone creature of the night into a parent with a young ward. At the time, comic book publishers added junior versions of the main characters in an effort for kids to have someone to relate to that was closer to their age, not realising the obvious – kids wanted to be the adult hero, not the sidekick.
The New Teen Titans v1 No. 21 Cover by George Pérez
From its launch in 1980, The New Teen Titans was a hit for DC Comics – arguably bringing some Marvel-style storytelling and energy to a team of young characters. And as a popular book, it was prime real estate to introduce new series, especially if it was Titans writer Marv Wolfman's new project. The Night Force was nothing like Titans, but I thought it was good and still have my copies today.
Star Trek DC v1 No. 1 Cover by George Pérez
In the US, Star Trek comics began with Gold Key and they spanned 1967–79 with tales based on the original series. With the release of Star Trek – The Motion Picture in '79, Marvel picked up the licence and published from 1980–82.
The Barren Earth by Gary Cohn & Ron Randall
Throughout its run, DC Comics' The Warlord – created by Mike Grell – was the anchor of the publisher's fantasy books. It also meant a number of new fantasy series were carried in its back pages. In No. 63, The Barren Earth debuted and appeared in most issues until No. 88. It continued in a four-issue mini series Conqueror of the Barren Earth.
Star Trek DC v2 No. 16 Cover by Jerome K Moore
Star Trek has supported a number of comic book series, almost from the beginning of the original series. Gold Key, then Marvel had the licence, but it wasn't until it landed at DC Comics that the property found its footing and enjoyed longer runs. A return to Marvel in the 90s was short lived, and IDW has been steadily producing quality series for a number of years now.
Wonder Woman No. 249 Cover by Buckler & Giordano
It's a great Wonder Woman drawing by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano. Plus Hawkgirl is fluttering about like a pigeon, and some assassin with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher behind them is about to learn the effect of Newton's third Law of Motion as he swings free there on a painting platform.
Superman No. 344 Cover by José Luis García-López
It's most likely unique in the history of Superman covers. Superman, bright and happy, gets his powers from our yellow sun, at the mercy of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster on a dark and stormy night with no Batman to help him combat their supernatural forces. And drawn with dramatic flair by García-López, coming into his own and on his way to becoming the recognisable look of DC's licensing art.
Swamp Thing No. 6 Cover by Bernie Wrightson
Swamp Thing is one of the great American comic book horror characters. During its initial run at DC Comics in the early 1970s, each issue was a mini masterpiece by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson.