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Never read this, never had the action figures (though if I had been a few years younger at the time, I sure would have). Jack Kirby did DC's Super Powers miniseries. Anyone here ever read it? I guess it's DC's version of Secret Wars?
www.amzn.com/1401271405
I remember these comics and the toys related to it. It is a bit like Secret Wars to the extent that both were marketing gimmicks geared towards selling toys. Super Powers was better positioned, as there was also a cartoon series, which I believe was more or less a continuation of Superfriends. One thing that distinguishes Super Powers from Secret Wars is that I don't believe the Super Powers comic was ever meant to be canon with respect to the rest of the DCU, whereas Secret Wars was clearly canon, and had lasting effects on several ongoing titles, including Avengers, the Spider-Man books, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and others. The Super Powers issues, I believe, are tie-ins to the cartoon/toy line.
The figure line was pretty well done for the time, and much better quality than the Secret Wars figures. I had been deemed too old by my parents to collect these figures upon release, although I did get this at a flea market years later:
The one I found is missing the lantern, of course, but I got it for $1 or less.
Speaking of Super Powers, check out the second legend talking about how Super Powers was used to get Kirby some royalties for his work. http://www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-454/
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Well, it's a start:
Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway
www.amzn.com/140127255X
Thanks for the heads up. I always enjoy Conway's work. I don't know that I have read any of his Batman work. The only DC work of his that I remember reading are his Firestorm stories, which I recall enjoying. I will have to check this out.
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Posted: |
Feb 6, 2017 - 9:17 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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I remember these comics and the toys related to it. It is a bit like Secret Wars to the extent that both were marketing gimmicks geared towards selling toys. Super Powers was better positioned, as there was also a cartoon series, which I believe was more or less a continuation of Superfriends. One thing that distinguishes Super Powers from Secret Wars is that I don't believe the Super Powers comic was ever meant to be canon with respect to the rest of the DCU, whereas Secret Wars was clearly canon, and had lasting effects on several ongoing titles, including Avengers, the Spider-Man books, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and others. The Super Powers issues, I believe, are tie-ins to the cartoon/toy line.
The figure line was pretty well done for the time, and much better quality than the Secret Wars figures. I had been deemed too old by my parents to collect these figures upon release, although I did get this at a flea market years later:
I remember stopping by the local Toys R Us--which had recently dropped anchor in my town--and being in eighth grade. There was an impressive-looking endcap of all the first wave Kenner Super Power toys. I remember liking the idea of owning those action figures while at the same time lamenting the fact that they were a few years too late for me to have had them. It was one of the only lines that didn't have those despised variations ("Luminescent Orange Robot Batman") of Batman and company; they were just the heroes I adored without the crap.
A few years after that, when I actually worked at Lionel Playworld, which was the toy store of my childhood, I salivated over the Toy Biz batcave playset based more or less on the 1989 film.
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Attention Gordon Reeves! Dept.
Just got the four-issue 1981-82 miniseries, The Phantom Zone. it's written by Steve Gerber and illustrated by Gene Colan.
Here's an article most fine that discusses it with great enthusiasm and affection:
https://confessionsofasupermanfan.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/steve-gerbers-phantom-zone-miniseries/
In this world of "Batman People" and "Superman People", Steve Gerber was apparently one of the latter; who knew?!?
Thanks for the link on this. I have never read Gerber's Phantom Zone story. Reading the article inspired me to seek out the book.
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Posted: |
Feb 17, 2017 - 8:06 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Detective Comics #504 (1981) "The Joker's Rumpus Room Revenge!"
While the story is a run-of-the-mill Joker story, Conway, as he always does, includes substance which would have been over the heads of the average kid reader, but which resonates with any perceptive adult reader. In this issue, it’s the narration about the “Happy Humor Ice Cream Factory”, a somber tale of the relentless passage of time. It is here that Conway provides some narrative weight to what appears to be a slight story of Batman (again) battling the Joker:
“Back in the 1930s, a man named Harold “Happy” Humor had an idea, one of the great ideas...he would make ice cream for the masses--ice cream in every flavor imaginable (and some that were unimaginable)-- and he would sell this ice cream from little white trucks on the streets and roads of America...for more than forty years, Harold Humor’s dream was a country’s reality. Time passes, however, and all things must change. Today, Harold Humor’s monument is a dusty factory and a time-cracked statue. Harold himself is dead. Tonight, that aging statue serves the purpose of another visionary...The Batman.”
And of course, Batman defeats Joker with...ice cream (groan):
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Posted: |
Mar 9, 2017 - 8:02 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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I got the four-issue Phantom Zone miniseries quite cheap (VF-NM) in back issue form for eight bucks total. Will read it over the next few days (I'm mostly a slow, deliberate reader).
I only now got to starting this, and it's outstanding one issue in. Gerber, like Gerry Conway, tosses in social commentary in his stories--I'm sure it was more obvious in Howard the Duck--but he's more subtle than Conway, which surprised me. Gerber excels at keeping the the narrative moving along. Issue one sets up the Phantom Zone's origin and all the nasty Kryptonians imprisoned there. Superman himself only appears towards the end of the issue, but you really won't miss him since Gerber and the stellar, moodily surreal and appropriate art by Gene Colan and Tony Dezuniga is magnificent. I love the off kilter panel layouts for the Phantom Zone scenes, which the reader will notice all the more when the story moves back to Earth. The story ends on a cliffhanger, with Supes in deep, deep trouble. Can't wait for the second issue.
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I meant to say thanks for bringing up The Phantom Zone miniseries. I wasn't aware of it until now.* I've loved the combination of Gerber and Gene Colan ever since getting Howard the Duck magazines in the 70's. I thought the main series was actually very good, much stronger than I expected, and genuinely creepy in a way I didn't think DC was at that time.
I picked up the trade collection because of these posts, which also includes the post-Crisis, erm, pre-Crisis wrap-up also by Gerber (though not Colan). It was good too, but not as strong and felt rushed, and I don't even remember it too well even though I read this just a couple of weeks ago.
So thanks for sharing about these - your time is not wasted, at least, not for me.
*I say that a lot, because I'm a wide-ranging fan but also a dilettante, easily bored and ready to move on to something else, but enough about me, eh, what?
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Posted: |
Mar 9, 2017 - 1:29 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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I meant to say thanks for bringing up The Phantom Zone miniseries. I wasn't aware of it until now.* I've loved the combination of Gerber and Gene Colan ever since getting Howard the Duck magazines in the 70's. I thought the main series was actually very good, much stronger than I expected, and genuinely creepy in a way I didn't think DC wad at that time.
I picked up the trade collection because of these posts, which also includes the post-Crisis, erm, pre-Crisis wrap-up also by Gerber (though not Colan). It was good to, but not as strong and felt rushed, and I don't even remember it too well even though I read this just a couple of weeks ago.
Glad to know this thread has inspired someone to seek out or re-investigate these old gems.
Speaking of Gentleman Gene Colan, I've always been curious about his work on the first Night Force series, which is the Marv Wolfman-Gene Colan Tomb of Dracula reunion of sorts.
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Posted: |
Mar 9, 2017 - 1:55 PM
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By: |
drop_forge
(Member)
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Thanks, Jim. In the 7 Feb entry, he discusses Vigilante #21. I loved that book. Dang, Aaron Eckhart would've been perfect for the movie. Missed opportunity.
I followed Vigilante--hey, Marv Wolfman again!--early in its run, and preferred its (mostly) separate existence from the larger (read: super-hero) DCU. I would be open to exploring the rest of it now, in my dotage.
Between Tomb of Dracula, The New [Teen] Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Vigilante, Marv's one of my favorite comics writers. He's one of the best. No debate.
Marv also wrote a Nightwing series around ten-ish years back, which I have yet to look into. It's the old classic "this will be a four-issue miniseries...nah, let's make it a dozen!" And then it went to #137! (At that point, the title was relaunched as part of the New 52, but Marv was done.) During that run, Marv introduced a new Vigilante. Pretty sure it's not Adrian Chase.
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Speaking of Gentleman Gene Colan, I've always been curious about his work on the first Night Force series, which is the Marv Wolfman-Gene Colan Tomb of Dracula reunion of sorts.
Just so happens I have the DC Presents 100 Page Spectacular version, which reprints issues 1-4. I enjoyed it, but don't recall it too well - I'll have to pull it out and give it another look.
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