Toxl the World Killer

"Toxl the World Killer" from Weird Mystery Tales (DC, 1972) by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer

How many such anthologies did DC have in the 70s? Answer: Too many. How many featured Jack Kirby work? Answer: Too few.

I CAN'T STOP!

"I CAN'T STOP!" from The Web #10 (DC, 2010) by Matthew Sturges and Roger Robinson

But the series, and the whole Red Circle brand, could. Oh DC, why try to gobble up all the superhero properties when you're not really going to really invest in them? The Archie heroes are much better off where they are now.

Ostrander and Close Dig Up Old Story Ideas

"Ostrander and Close Dig Up Old Story Ideas" from Wasteland #5 (DC, 1988) by John Ostrander, Del Close and David Lloyd

A horror anthology when no one was really doing horror anthologies anymore, and an adult one too, it would take the Vertigo banner for that kind of thing to really take off. But every issue I've seen has been worthwhile. I should probably get the whole thing one day.

Dinosaur vs. Unicorn

"Dinosaur vs. Unicorn" from Warlord vol.4 #3 (DC, 2009) by Mike Grell, Chad Hardin, Wayne Faucher, Dan Green and Walden Wong

PLACE YOUR BETS!!! (The odds are on the raptor's side, I have to warn you.) Mike Grell returned to Warlord a few years ago, to resounding ambivalence. No one cares about Skartaris anymore, despite it being the only place dinosaurs fight unicorns.

Did You Say Chest Spikes?

"Did You Say Chest Spikes?" from The Warlord vol.3 #9 (DC, 2006) by Bruce Jones and Bart Sears

Horror writer Bruce Jones had success with his run on the Hulk, which is where I encountered his work, but his Warlord reboot was a dismal failure, ending after only 10 issues, leaving all plot threads dangling, and subsequently getting ignore by later writers. This is just a taste.

Warlord Memories

"Warlord Memories" from Warlord vol.1 #65 (DC, 1983) by Mike Grell, Dan Jurgens and Mike DeCarlo

DC's most successful fantasy series (133 issues and 6 Annuals, with creator Mike Grell writing the first 6 years of it), it even had its own action figures. And I think that's mostly why I would try an issue here and there, but it never did capture my imagination. I suppose by the time I was deep into sword&sorcery, reading many novels and playing D&D, the book's best years were behind it.

Where Is the Love?!

"Where Is the Love?!" from The Wanderers #8 (DC, 1988) by Doug Moench, Dave Hoover and Robert Campanella

No love for this comic, and I'm dreading having to read it for my big Legion project coming in mid-2014... This 30th-century team premiered in a Legion story in the 60s, and was pointlessly brought back in the late 80s, except not really. The first thing DC did was kill them, clone them, and give them all-new appearances. What was the point? Keeping the "Wanderers" copyright? An unlucky 13 issues.

Howdy, Compadres

"Howdy, Compadres" from Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice #3 (DC, 1996) by James Robinson and Tony Salmons

According to the rules I've set for myself, I should post a splash from Vigilante's recent ongoing, but wow did I find the first issue insipid. It didn't last long either. So instead, here's one from James Robinson's mini-series about the ORIGINAL, Golden Age Vigilante, set in that period. Oh yeah.

He Strongly Dislikes Crime

"He Strongly Dislikes Crime" from Vigilante vol.1 #1 (DC, 1983) by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard and Dick Giordano

I don't know very much about this series, except what I've read about it, mostly because I've never had much interest in the Punisher, and this was DC's answer to Frank Castle's popularity. (Is it me or did Marv Wolfman's 80s DC career consist almost entirely of trying to steal Marvel's thunder?) So what HAVE I read about Vigilante? Basically that though the creator, Wolfman's issues aren't very interesting, while Kupperberg's later issues actually do something interesting with the character. But so much other stuff to read before I ever get to this.

Multiple Mon-Els

"Multiple Mon-Els" from Valor #21 (DC, 1994) by Kurt Busiek, Colleen Doran and Dave Cooper

Meant to build the legend of Mon-El in the absence of a post-Crisis Superboy so HE can inspire the Legion of Super-Heroes, the idea that he seeded the various worlds of the 30th century with superhumans didn't even take place in this series. So it was all rather tepid space superhero stuff, quick to become irrelevant when Zero Hour hit and changed everything (again). The final issues tried to connect Valor to the LSH before it was too late.

The Visitors Hate Station Wagons

"The Visitors Hate Station Wagons" from V #13 (DC, 1986) by Cary Bates, Carmine Infantino and Tony DeZuniga

The V comic could have shown us stuff that wasn't possible on a TV budget. Unfortunately, it never really surpassed scenes like the one above.

A Happy Ending for the Unknown Soldier

"A Happy Ending for the Unknown Soldier" from Unknown Soldier vol.4 #25 (Vertigo, 2010) by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli

I was a big fan of this version of the Soldier, and got other people into it at work. The African setting was one we hadn't seen before, and the creators really did their research. It became a war title as worthy as, say, DMZ, though people didn't talk about it as much. It even eventually linked up to the DC continuity Soldier.

Vehicle-Mounted Weapons

"Vehicle-Mounted Weapons" from Unknown Soldier vol.2 #10 (DC, 1989) by Jim Owsley and Phil Gascoigne

The late 80s re-positioned the Soldier in a 12-issue series that revealed he was immortal, and shows him participating in various conflicts from the 70s on. I hear it's pretty good.

News From the Front

"News From the Front" from Unknown Soldier vol.1 #221 (DC, 1978) by Bob Haney and Joe Kubert

It's funny. Because he drew his first story (in a Sgt. Rock tale in Our Army At War), and did all those Unknown Soldier covers - and the Who's Who entry - I associated Joe Kubert with the Soldier, but he really only drew one issue of any series called "Unknown Soldier". With respect to the work of Dick Ayers who drew most of the original series (under that title), I just can't pass up the chance to show a Kubert piece. It's a weakness.

Mean Street

"Mean Street" from The Unexpected #221 (DC, 1982) by Steve Ditko and Gary Martin

Before Danny the Street, there was...

Universe in Crisis: Here We Go Again

"Universe in Crisis: Here We Go Again" from Trinity #2 (DC, 2008) by Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert

I know people were just about sick of DC's year-long, weekly comics series by then, but I quite liked Kurt Busiek's Trinity. It started as an exploration of what Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman meant as superhero memes, with some very nice interaction between them, and later became an alternate universe story - a Crisis of sorts - in a DCU that didn't have them in It. it was nice to have Mark Bagley drawing the DC Universe as well.

The Beating

"The Beating" from Tor vol.1 #1 (DC, 1975) by Joe Kubert

I love Kubert's work, and he makes Tor just about the best caveman strip ever drawn. (Sorry, B.C.!) The art is so gorgeous, the anachronistic dinosaurs and strange monsters thrill you rather than irritate you. The comic actually started in the 50s in a book called "1,000,000 Years Ago" which became "3-D Comics" with its second issue and finally "Tor" with its third (all from St.John). The original five issues were reprinted in the 70s by DC after an original issue (well, almost original, since it was expanded from an attempt at a Tor newspaper strip). Eclipse then reprinted the 3D issues and published a new story in Sojourn. I first encountered Tor in the gorgeous over-sized Epic mini-series and was more than happy to pick up a new mini-series from DC in 2008. Tor also appeared in Kubert's last published series, Joe Kubert Presents. Beautiful stuff.

So Bob Kanigher Is Now Writing Tomahawk, Right?

"So Bob Kanigher Is Now Writing Tomahawk, Right?" from Tomahawk #122 (DC, 1969) by Bob Kanigher and Frank Thorne

Actually, from what I've read, DC's answer to Davy Crockett faced aliens and dinosaurs long before this issue, so the crazy was already in its DNA. For a while, Tomahawk even shared the book with his Howling Commandos-like team, the Rangers. But I've never heard anyone speak kindly of the first 120 or so first issues (or his long stint in Star Spangled Comics before that). The last couple years of the series had stronger art from the likes of Thorne, with covers by Neal Adams, and ran several frontier strips, including the newly introduced Hawk Son of Tomahawk feature that took over the book.

Trigon's Seen Better Days

"Trigon's Seen Better Days" from Titans vol.2 #2 (DC, 2008) by Judd Winick, Joe Benitez and Victor Llamas

And so has this franchise. I guess it's convenient that the Titans can keep shuffling between Teen Titans and just Titans, getting cancelled and going back to #1 each time. This is the series that was turned over to some villains after they killed the Atom, Ryan Choi. Somebody still needs to explain to me what the hell DC was doing there. Not just with the Atom's death (because they sure didn't put Ray Palmer to good use after that), but with using the Titans brand to create a low-rent Secret Six or Suicide Squad.

My Sidekick Is a Junkie Part 2

"My Sidekick Is a Junkie Part 2" from Titans vol.1 #43 (DC, 2002) by Tom Peyer, Barry Kitson and James Pascoe

Oh no! Aqualad! Not you too!