Friday, December 21, 2012

12 Days of Christmas 2012! The Grooviest Covers of All Time: DC Comics 40 Years Ago this Month

Merry Christmas, Groove-ophiles! Since so many of ya dug trucking through the flashback spinner rack to check out Marvel's wares for Christmas '72, Ol' Santa Groove thought ya might dig doing the same thing with DC's magnificent mags from the very same Yuletide of Yesteryear! Hope ya had a biiiig Christmas stocking!




































9 comments:

  1. I had a few of these - I see Wildcat featured on the BATMAN 100 Pager and WANTED. Pity DC didn't put him in his own Haney/Aparo book as I think he loads of potential.

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  2. I had quite a few myself: Shazam, Jimmy Olsen, Superman, Batman, Justice League, and Kamandi. Some of those are still up in my attic, the unfiled DC remnants among my Marvels. It was a fun era, and a time in which the two companies were doing utterly different things. CD was really making children's books.

    That Wrightson House of Mystery cover is a real standout.

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  3. Hm. I didn't have as many DC's that month as I did Marvels, looks like- Batman Super-Spec (LOVED those things, many of them served as my introduction to a lot of golden age greats), Secret Origins, Shazam, Swamp Thing, SWORD OF SORCERY (one of my all time favorite comics series, featuring two of my favorite characters, Fafhrd and the Mouser), the Demon, House of Mystery (for that awesome cover), and Justice League. Many of these I got off the spinner rack at the Ben Franklin 5 & 10 cent store, which had only been carrying DCs for a few months (previously it was Dell/Gold Key).

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  4. Swamp Thing #3. One of the best ever :)

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  5. I could never "warm up" to DC. They always left me... scratching my head. Some good creators were working at the company But...

    And to Mr. Groove while I enjoy looking at some of these 70's stories, and I can understand why they bring back memories of yesterday... I've always preferred the early to mid-80s comics. The 70s comics while they can be enjoyable... all sort of have a darkness to them. Maybe darkness isn't the right word. Whatever it may be I definitely prefer the 80s.

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  6. I, too, had some of these books way back in the day. In fact, I've created banners out of some of the covers for the message boards I moderate. :) I loved that 100 Page Batman Giant with the 1950 Batmobile story in it, as well as the JLA's second battle with The Shaggy Man in THEIR book.

    Makes me kind'a sad, about what we've lost, as far as comic publishing goes nowadays. We'll never see reprint or FUNNY books again, I'm afraid. :(

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  7. Thank you,Mr Groove!
    Merry Christmas and a biiiig
    THANK YOU for all the groovy
    goodiness 2012.
    Cheers!
    /Mr Anonymous
    p.s.Keep on truckin' 2013!

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  8. Yes, SWAMP THING #3 is the standout cover (by Berni Wrightson): great composition, lighting, etc. Anyone who thinks Wrightson couldn't draw pretty girls should check out SWAMP THING #3 and #5. Matter of fact, I'd say for sheer intensity of vision that SWAMP THING #1 - 10 were the best drawn comics of the 1970s, period. And Len Wein did his level best to make the writing of a high calibre. Wrightson's HOUSE OF MYSTERY cover is well drawn, but the colors kill it: too garish and ill-chosen (except for the earth hues of the leafy ground).

    Mike Kaluta's SWORD OF SORCERY #1 cover, on the other hand, has beautiful colors which perfectly suit the tone of the art. The interior of the book, scripted by Denny O'Neil (adapted from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd the Barbarian & the Grey Mouser stories), pencilled by Howard Chaykin, and inked by the Crusty Bunkers (Neal Adams' studio, Continuity Associates, including Wrightson in a few spots) is likewise superb, and worthy of being shown in its entirety on this site (hint hint). Best issue of this short-lived series (5 issues, not including a prior and somewhat unlikely appearance in WONDER WOMAN #202 in 1972).

    The romance covers are well done, looking like a cross between Stan Drake and Neal Adams. Will have to check the artist credits on those.

    Yes, comics were suitable for all ages then, even if some were intended for older readers they wouldn't "scar" the youngsters. That's not at all true today. Great stuff then, great price point, ubiquitous distribution, EASY ACCESS FOR OLD & NEW FANS, fine creators....so much fun! Great memories.

    Chris A.

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!