Superman Family #200

One of my favorite comic titles growing up was Superman Family. Being a huge fan of the Man Of Steel in his own comic and in Action Comics, I could not get enough of his exploits. Superman Family dealt with the supporting characters in Superman's universe. It began in the mid-70's as a combination of Lois Lane's and Jimmy Olson's comics when they were cancelled. I'm especially fond of the issues that were Dollar Comics. This particular issue features a great Ross Andru/Dick Giordano cover and interior art by the likes of Bob Oksner, Alex Saviuk, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Win Mortimer. If you haven't read these stories before, check them out. They're great late '70's/early 80's gems. This issue was cover dated April, 1980.

Showcase #43

In 1963, to capitalize on the recent success of the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, DC printed its adaptation. It wasn't very successful which surprised the people at DC because they thought Bond would be a no brainer as a comic book. The art by Norman J. Nodel wasn't very good and it felt rushed like they were trying to get the book on the stands before the hype went away. The cover by Bob Brown is pretty good though. If they had gotten somebody like Carmine Infantino or Gil Kane to do the book, it probably would have turned out a lot better. Maybe someday DC or Marvel will publish Bond comics again. It probably won't happen but a Bond geek can dream, can't he?

Showcase #56

DC decided to capitalize on the success of Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line by putting this issue out in November, 1964. It reprints three classic war tales from the pages of G.I. Combat, "Hot Corner" by Kanigher and Kubert from #59, "Frogmen S.O.S." by Haney and Heath from #60, and "Battle Arithmetic" by Haney and Andru, from #52. Top it all off with another fantastic Kubert cover and you have yourself a typically great DC war comic of the sixties!

Showcase #29

I thought I'd post some great covers from one of the most important comic book titles of all time. DC created Showcase in the mid 1950's to try out ideas for proposed new series. It had its successes and failures. It was most well known for marking the first appearances of the Silver Age Flash, Green Lantern, and Atom. I'm more fascinated with some of the less heralded issues. This particular issue comes to mind although anybody who has it and the other two issues the Sea Devils appeared in love it. It's quite possibly Russ Heath's best work. It's spellbinding. Any other artist would not have been able to capture the undersea drama as good as Heath did. Needless to say, it's definitely worth picking up.