One of the things Ol' Groove loves so much about the Groovy Age of comics is the free-wheeling experimentation. DC was always considered the "safe" or "square" company, but truth to tell, they did quite a bit of experimentation at the House That
Superman Built. One of their greatest experimental titles was the not-very-originally titled
DC Super-Stars. Each issue would feature a different hero, villain, or theme. Sometimes an issue might be nothing but reprints. Sometimes all-new material. Other times it might be a mix of new and old. You never knew what the folks at DC were gonna toss at us from issue to issue, but we knew it would at least be interesting. One of the wildest issues was
DC Super-Stars #10 (September 1976) with its
Strange Sports Stories theme (and Ernie Chua--aka Chan--cover). This time, instead of an anthology of sports themed sci fi and fantasy stories, editor Julie Schwartz assigned writer Bob Rozakis and artists Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (the regular JLA art team) to create a story about a super-All-Star Game. The story is quite whimsical and more than a little silly, but it's more fun than any dozen "mega-events", can you dig it? Like, who wouldn't wanna read about a super-powered baseball game that pit the team of
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Kid Flash, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the (original)
Huntress, against the team of
Lex Luthor, the Joker, Chronos, Weather Wizard, Dr. Polaris, Matter Master, Felix Faust, Tattooed Man, and
Sportsmaster--with
Uncle Sam and
Amazo as umpires? Just for giggles, I'm tossing in the the play-by-play feature from the letters page. Batter up!
One of the things Ol' Groove loves so much about the Groovy Age of comics is the free-wheeling experimentation. DC was always considered the "safe" or "square" company, but truth to tell, they did quite a bit of experimentation at the House That Superman Built. One of their greatest experimental titles was the not-very-originally titled DC Super-Stars. Each issue would feature a different hero, villain, or theme. Sometimes an issue might be nothing but reprints. Sometimes all-new material. Other times it might be a mix of new and old. You never knew what the folks at DC were gonna toss at us from issue to issue, but we knew it would at least be interesting. One of the wildest issues was DC Super-Stars #10 (September 1976) with its Strange Sports Stories theme (and Ernie Chua--aka Chan--cover). This time, instead of an anthology of sports themed sci fi and fantasy stories, editor Julie Schwartz assigned writer Bob Rozakis and artists Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (the regular JLA art team) to create a story about a super-All-Star Game. The story is quite whimsical and more than a little silly, but it's more fun than any dozen "mega-events", can you dig it? Like, who wouldn't wanna read about a super-powered baseball game that pit the team of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Kid Flash, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the (original) Huntress, against the team of Lex Luthor, the Joker, Chronos, Weather Wizard, Dr. Polaris, Matter Master, Felix Faust, Tattooed Man, and Sportsmaster--with Uncle Sam and Amazo as umpires? Just for giggles, I'm tossing in the the play-by-play feature from the letters page. Batter up!
Thanks for posting this beauty. This was one of the first comics I ever saw. A friend of mine had it and I read it over and over. I true classic!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Mike! These are the kinds of comics I miss. Just plain fun. Goofy, but fun!
ReplyDelete