Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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For well over a century, people have been arguing about which is best? AC or DC?
Well, DC, of course.
After all, it gave us the random selection of comics below!
And you don't get more random than this, as the company gives us its take on the Three Musketeers and Robin Hood.
I'd assumed this was going to be an all-reprint mag but it seems it's not.
At least not when it comes to the Three Musketeers. For, herewithin, Denny O'Neil and Jorge Moliterni give us that legendary quartet in a drama titled A Monster Met on the Road to Calais.
When it comes to everyone's favourite outlaw, Bob Haney and Joe Kubert give us The Battle of the Kites! in which Robin hunts a dangerous boar - only to discover it's a trap set by Prince John!
And, then, Bob Haney and Ross Andru tell us of how a lone knight, returning from the Crusades, became the legendary Robin Hood.
Those two Sherwoodian adventures are, as you might suspect, recycled from the 1950s.
And this month sees the mechanical marvels visit Venice to retrieve the blackmail money that Doc decided to hide when he was feeling unstable.
However, because he still suffers from amnesia, the man doesn't recall that he left someone called Chemo in charge of guarding it!
There's only one way to find out.
And that's to read this comic.
And, when we do, we learn it's a book in which a number of League members have gone missing, including Superman!
Fortunately, Supergirl shows up to help out.
Thrill, as Ruth Monroe and Edward Holland attempt to find a cure for the Swamp Thing.
Gasp, as they actually succeed!
And get tense, as the villainous Sabre tries to bump off our hero before he can enjoy his regained humanity.
We all would.
But we also encounter brand new short features, such as Batman's New Home and A Key to the Batman's New Home.
Clearly, whatever Batman can do, DC's finest villains can replicate.
When it comes to new material, we stumble upon Wanted, a two-page feature containing character profiles of 18 different super-criminals.
And there's a short history of the battles between Dr Light and various members of the Justice League.
Posts
15 comments:
STEVE Aka DANGERMASH!
Great painting and i could (seriously!) see it as a legit cover for a METAL MEN comic like above!!!
CH
SWAMP THING 23 was the only one of these that I bought back in the Long Ago. It’s….interesting.
I read somewhere recently that DC’s new Three Musketeers series may have been inspired by the recent box office success of the two Richard Lester / George MacDonald Fraser ‘Musketeers’ movies. Even if that was actually the case, it seems to me a pretty odd thing to be publishing in 1976. I did end up buying a few later issues for the Kubert Viking Prince and Heath Robin Hood reprints.
b.t.
Cheers Charlie. At least you know who Count Binface is now
Dangermash, Count Binface looks very noble and heroic in your painting and every inch the defender of democracy against that corrupt conman Farage.
Did UK readers see Charles & Camilla arriving at the Commonwealth Games in the Tardis? It was quite amusing.
The Halifax bank is closing or merging with Lloyds or something so all Halifax customers (me included) are being moved over to Lloyds against our will. A few years ago my electricity supplier SSE transferred all their customers to OVO and in 2024 all of BT's customers were shifted to EE so I'm getting used to ending up with a company and a service that I didn't originally sign up for!
Cheers Colin. All down to a sneaky trick on my part. Painting portraits in landscape format with the face on the left and loads of empty space on the right gives the subject "room to breathe" and allows all sorts of personality to come through.
I found your revelation of “the sneaky trick” interesting! Joe
I've got that Batman Limited Collectors Edition! Got it when I was a kid.
It was great fun. Puzzles, features, and what not.
Obviously it got read to shreds, but apparently I picked up a new copy many years ago at some comic store.
And a story drawn by Neal Adams . That might have been the first time I thought Batman looked scary.
Hey, about those DC comics back then, I loved the banner across the top. Y'know, with faces or figures or blurbs and the "DC bullet" in the center.
Man, that takes me back. What do you guys think?
Ah, the '70's.
Great post, Steve!
M.P.
Thanks, MP.
Did that Batman Limited Edition contain a 3D diorama? That's what always made me want a limited edition but, sadly, I never encountered any of them in the shops.
Bt, that Swamp Thing issue is also the only one of this month's comics that I had.
I don't remember a 3-d diorama. Well, maybe. I'd have to go look.
The deal with those collectors editions, whether it was DC or Marvel, the covers were fantastic! I remember as a kid seeing ads for them and wondering what was in there. But it was basically just a bunch of reprints. When I bought some as an adult I was a little disappointed.
It was a larger format, the pages were bigger, and the art looked cruder, somehow.
But those covers....wow.
M.P.
I had the Metal Men and Swamp Thing comics from the above list. I think DC were trying to add a superhero vibe to swampy at this time with the costumed villain and new logo. Metal Men was a fun comic under Walt Simonson.
Steve: I don't think that Batman Limited edition had a diorama . You can see some of these from other books in the link below.
https://13thdimension.com/dig-this-complete-gallery-of-finished-dc-comics-treasury-edition-3-d-dioramas/
Even as a kid I wondered why you’d cut the cover off your treasury edition and assumed the finished article would look a bit crap…
DW
b.t., I get how the Three Musketeers can seem like a throwback to an earlier era, but at the same time it makes sense that if DC were casting around for new directions they'd consider what was doing well in the cinema.
Plus of course they adapted to contemporary trends in comics by adding a bit of a sword & sorcery element! Actually, that was probably where they went wrong with their version of the Musketeers...
Steve, that's actually not a bad issue of Justice League. Not only does the Maid of Might show up, but together her, Wonder Woman and the Black Canary save Chicago!
Which I think was nice of Wonder Woman, considering that over in her own comic this month - WW #224 - iirc the American govt was trying to deport her as an illegal immigrant.
-sean
McScotty, thanks for that link. They look nothing like I'd imagined.
Sean, I have always wondered how the likes of Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Superman get round the immigration authorities.
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