What's Your Favorite 70s DC Revival?

[Philip Portelli]

Sometimes I feel a little unloved, being a Bronze Ager. With all the attention going either to the Silver Age or today's comics, I always think MY comics are getting ignored! So I ask any and all of you, what DC book that started or was revived in the 70s was your favorite? Granted most of them had limited runs but that doesn't have to be a negative factor. My only rule is that it had to begin or restart in the 70s.

 

My favorites, in no order but memory,

 

"All-Star Comics" : the Justice Society in their own book! I was in heaven! With Giffen/Wood, then Staton/Layton artwork, plus Power Girl and the Huntress, what more could I want?

 

"Firestorm, the Nuclear Man" and "Steel, the Indestructible Man": both lasted five issues but I got both #1s as Christmas presents. It was the first time I read a character from its beginnings. Warm memories!

 

"Secret Origins" and "Wanted" : Great Silver Age and Golden Age reprints!

 

"Challengers of the Unknown": especially the stories from "Super Team Family" (another favorite) which are hidden gems.

 

I could go on and on but what is your favorite?

[Chris Fluit]

Let me add my name to the list of people who mentioned firestorm. He was the first "new" hero and has always had a special place in my heart because of it. Thanks to recent trades, I've also enjoyed all-star and fourth
World.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Firestorm's great -- I'm kicking myself for selling off a lot of issues of Fury of Firestorm some years ago.

[Philip Portelli]

Yeah, Firestorm was a cool moment because I got a first issue, first appearance and origin at the same time. It was that discovery that I, as a kid, wasn't behind in knowledge of a character. More exciting was when he joined the Justice League. Some say that he didn't belong but he was the first Bronze Age hero to be admitted and showed a sense of progress in the League. Even in the infamous "JLA Detroit" phase, a version of Steel joined.

The 90s changes to Firestorm, altering his appearance, giving him a new host, making him way too serious and saddling him with the being the Fire Elemental gimmick did him no favors. I especially didn't like them mocking his origin as I feel (right or wrong) that it's one of the better ones of the time!

Probably Marvel's better 70s series were ROM, Spaceknight, Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In -One. Ms. Marvel got off to a good start, better than Spider-Woman or She-Hulk.

I was always fascinated by heroes who got a cover feature for a few issues then were replaced like Bloodstone, Modred the Mystic, It the Living Colossus and, my personal favorite, the Golem!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Philip Portelli said:

The 90s changes to Firestorm, altering his appearance, giving him a new host, making him way too serious and saddling him with the being the Fire Elemental gimmick did him no favors. I especially didn't like them mocking his origin as I feel (right or wrong) that it's one of the better ones of the time!

Long-term, I have to agree with you. But man, when Ostrander took over that book, what a breath of fresh air it was. It petered out toward the end -- the fire elemental stuff was too much a copy of Swamp Thing, and in retrospect looks like a training ground for Ostrander & Mandrake to take on the Spectre -- but the first 30 issues or so, full of government and international intrigue, just floored me.

But as entertaining as those stories were, they did damage to the character that no one has been able to satisfactorily repair.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Favorite '70s comics that began or were revived during the era? Gee, where do I start? Or, better yet, where do I stop, there were so many good (or at least likeable) ones ... even though I bought and/or read most of these after the fact.

I have to give a nod to All-Star Western/Weird Western Tales, which gave us not only Jonah Hex, but also El Diablo, Billy the Kid, and lots of short one-shot tales drawn by the likes of Tony deZuniga, Noly Panaligan, Neal Adams, Gil Kane and E.R. Cruz and others. And in a similar vein, I loved all those cheesy DC horror titles like House of Secrets, House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, and the spoof, PLOP!

To bend the definition of "revival" a bit, I'd like to bring up the David Michelinie/Gerry Talaoc run on Star-Spangled War Stories, featuring the Unknown Solider. Those were special, focusing on the "hard man who has to do a dirty job" aspect of the character. Their first issue, in which the Soldier, disguised as a Nazi officer, is pressed to prove his loyalty by shooting a resistance fighter "here and now" -- and just does it -- was an unforgettable shock.

On the Marvel side of the aisle, I was firmly hooked on Tomb of Dracula and Master of Kung Fu. I also liked Marvel Team-Up, which was rarely great, but was almost always entertaining.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Ah, I was going to mention Marvel Team-Up, Phillip. One of my favorite all-time series.

I also like the tryout series that Marvel was putting out then as well that were just a grab bag of awesomeness: Marvel Premiere and Marvel Spotlight. I bought a ton of those out of 20¢ boxes in the mid-'80s

Oh, and one of the quirkier war comics I liked just because how out there it was Blitzkrieg, which had a lead feature with the protagonists being a trio of Nazi soldiers. For some reason it only lasted 5 issues...

[ClarkKent_DC]

Travis Herrick said:

Oh, and one of the quirkier war comics I liked just because how out there it was Blitzkrieg, which had a lead feature with the protagonists being a trio of Nazi soldiers. For some reason it only lasted 5 issues...

I remember that; it really wasn't that fresh, just Bob Kanigher recycling his Haunted Tank stories -- again. Decent art from Ric Estrada, if I recall correctly.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Mike Williams said:

What - even the almost impossible to find Gothic Romance?

Actually, no. There are maybe two or three issues I'm missing, but I have virtually all of them.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

ClarkKent_DC said:

Travis Herrick said:

Oh, and one of the quirkier war comics I liked just because how out there it was Blitzkrieg, which had a lead feature with the protagonists being a trio of Nazi soldiers. For some reason it only lasted 5 issues...

I remember that; it really wasn't that fresh, just Bob Kanigher recycling his Haunted Tank stories -- again. Decent art from Ric Estrada, if I recall correctly.

That would work, but with a touch of Weird War Tales in it as well.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'd love to get a run of the DC Dollar anthology Time Warp. I think I've got one or two, and but the covers in the ads always knocked my socks off as a kid. Hell, I even love the logo!

[Philip Portelli]

"For some reason"!! I'm shocked it was even published since it lacked the nobility of Enemy Ace!

Thanks for mentioning "Marvel Premiere/Spotlight" as I am going to start a new thread about that!

Travis Herrick said:

Ah, I was going to mention Marvel Team-Up, Phillip. One of my favorite all-time series.

I also like the tryout series that Marvel was putting out then as well that were just a grab bag of awesomeness: Marvel Premiere and Marvel Spotlight. I bought a ton of those out of 20¢ boxes in the mid-'80s

Oh, and one of the quirkier war comics I liked just because how out there it was Blitzkrieg, which had a lead feature with the protagonists being a trio of Nazi soldiers. For some reason it only lasted 5 issues...

[ClarkKent_DC]

Rob Staeger said:

I'd love to get a run of the DC Dollar anthology Time Warp. I think I've got one or two, and but the covers in the ads always knocked my socks off as a kid. Hell, I even love the logo!

Were there more than two issues of Time Warp? That title was a casualty of the infamous DC Implosion. Too bad; the Dollar Comics and the 100-Page Super Spectaculars were the best things about '70s DC.