Challengers of the Unknown Part IV

This the last of three posts about the six issues of the Challengers of the Unknown comic book that reprinted the early COTU stories by Jack Kirby. Here are the fifth and sixth.

Issue 79 has two stories - "The Monster Maker" from COTU 2 (June-July 1958) and "The Human Pets" from COTU 1 (April-May 1958). The editor once again has recoloured the original purple outfits to match the later COTU costumes. The new cover by Joe Kubert is a scene from "The Monster Maker".

Issue 80 has "The Day the Earth Blew Up" from Showcase 11 (November-December 1957. The new cover is by Nick Cardy.

Nine of the 18 Kirby stories were reprinted in the six issues.

COTU 79 - March-April 1973

COTU 80 - June-July 1973

COTU Archives Volume 1 - 2003

COTU Archives Volume 2 - 2004

Challengers of the Unknown Part III

Part II of this series of posts introduced the six issues of the Challengers of the Unknown comic book that reprinted the early COTU stories by Jack Kirby. Here are the third and fourth.

Issue 77 reprints "Menace of the Ancient Vials" from Showcase 12 (January-February 1958). The reprint is faithful to the original.

Issue 78 has two stories - "The Isle of No Return" from COTU 7 (April-May 1959) and "The Sorceress of Forbidden Valley" from COTU 6 (February-March 1959). The editor decided that the original purple outfits might confuse the kids so they were recoloured to match the later COTU costumes.

COTU 77 - December 1970/January 1971

COTU 78 - February 1973

COTU Archives Volume 2 - 2004

Challengers of the Unknown Part II

The first Challengers of the Unknown stories by Jack Kirby have been reprinted a number of times in the last decade in collected editions. The earliest reprints of these stories is six issues of the original comic - numbers 75 through 80.

75 August-September 1970
76 October-November 1970
77 December 1970-January 1971
78 February 1973
79 March-April 1973
80 June-July 1973

Here we'll look at the first two. 

Issue 75 reprints the second COTU story from Showcase 7 (March-April 1957). The COTU logo has been changed to the modern one and the last panel's reference to Showcase has been changed. The cover has not been reproduced. Rather the splash page is framed by art from George Tuska, who has also drawn a one page introduction.

Issue 76 reprints "The Traitorous Challenger" from Challengers of the Unknown 2 (June-July 1958). and "Secret of the Sorcerer's Mirror" from Challengers of the Unknown 3 (August-September 1958). The COTU logo has again been changed to the modern version and there is a new cover from Joe Kubert.

COTU 75 - August-September 1975

COTU 76 October-November 1979

COTU Archives Volume 1 - 2003

Batman Part VII

A new volume of my favourite DC Archives series is out - Batman Archives Volume 8. The comics collected here are the Batman and Robin stories from Detective Comics 150 - 175 (January 1950 - April 1951) - right in the middle of the first (and best) 25 years of Batman and Robin.

Eleven of the stories are seen for the first time since they were published. The five stories that have been reprinted are:

*The Batmobile of 1950! issue 156
The Thousand and One Trophies of Batman! issue 158
Untold Tales of the Bat-Signal! issue 164
The Strange Costumes of Batman! issue 165
*The Man Behind the Red Hood! issue 168

The two with an * were published in Batman in the Fifties (New York: DC Comics, 2002). The Man Behind the Red Hood is the origin on the Joker and is one of the most reprinted Batman stories, the first time in Batman 213 (July-August 1969).

Batman Archives Volume 8

Batman Archives Volume 8 back

Batman in the Fifties 

Batman in the Fifties back

Batman 213

Gorillas Part II

Part I introduced the gorilla theme in DC Comics and one of the seventies comics with gorilla reprints. Here's another - DC Special 16 (Spring 1975). Four stories are reprinted:

Batman Battles the Living Beast-Bomb! - Detective Comics 339 (May 1965)
Wonder Woman -- Gorilla! - Wonder Woman 170 (May 1967)
The Reign of the Super-Gorilla! - Flash 127 (March 1962)
Titano the Super-Ape! - Superman 138 (July 1960)

None were reprinted in other comics of the sixties and seventies although two, the Batman and Flash stories, are reprinted in the Archives series.

The best gorilla comic artist was Carmine Infantino, viz. the original cover for the Flash story.

DC Special 16 - Spring 1975

Flash 127 - March 1962

Viking Prince Part II

In part I of this blog I introduced Joe Kubert's Viking Prince and six of the eight stories reprinted in the seventies. Here are the remaining two. DC Special 24 reprints The Brave and the Bold 15 (December 1957-January 1958) and DC Special 25 issue 8 (October-November 1956).

All 27 Viking Prince stories can be found in the 2010 hardcover The Viking Prince.

DC Special 24 - October-November 1976

DC Special 25 - December 1976-Janaury 1977

The Viking Prince - 2010

The Viking Prince back