From Beyond the Unknown #6

From Beyond the Unknown #6 (On Sale: June 23, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with our cover-story "The Amazing Human Race" by John Broome, Sid Greene and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Strange Adventures #85. Next is "The Runaway Space-Train" by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Mystery In Space #50. We end with "The Magic Lamp from Space" by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson and reprinted from Mystery In Space #62.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #224

Strange Adventures #224 (On Sale: March 12, 1970) has an Adam Strange cover by Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins with Adam Strange in "The Weapon That Swallowed Men" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson and reprinted from Mystery In Space #63. Rann is invaded by alien conquerors using a device called the vacuumizer which changes the Ranagarans into a gas vapor. Adam Strange is altered by the weapon, but returns to Earth intact when the Zeta Beam wears off. When he returns Adam finds that the people have been restored but the aliens have uses the weapons to steal the city of Ranagar itself.

Adam believes that the vacuumizer can only transmute one substance at a time, so he devises a plan to stop the aliens. As Adam and several Ranagaran soldiers approach the invaders, the vacuumizer is used against them, but they have coated themselves with different liquid metals. The vacuumizer must be adjusted to deal with each layer of metal. The delay gives the defenders enough time to catch the aliens and defeat them hand-to-hand. With the vacuumizers in the hands of the Ranagarans, Ranagar is restored, and the aliens leave Rann.

Next is "The Planet That Advanced Backward" from Mystery In Space #41 by Bill Finger, Sid Greene and Bernard Sachs.

We end the issue with the Atomic Knights in "Attack of the Giant Dogs" by John Broome and Murphy Anderson from Strange Adventures #138. After finding two giant dalmatians that survived the war inside a test rocket, the Atomic Knights return to Durvale. The town is attacked by Khagan and the Atlantides. Gardner and the other Knights chase them off, but not before Hollis and Douglas are injured.

Gardner decides to mount a counterattack against the Atlantides. He uses the dogs to track them down, then he and Wayne use them as mounts to defeat the enemy soldiers. The Atlantide menace is finally ended. The town welcomes the dogs for their part in the victory. The dogs soon have puppies, that may eventually grow into giants too.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

DC Special #7

DC Special #7 (On Sale: February 19, 1970) has a cover by Murphy Anderson on the theme Strangest Sports Stories, something Julius Schwartz seemed to like but which never interested me much.

This issue begins with "Gorilla Wonders of the Diamond" from Brave and the Bold #49 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. Next is "The Hot-Shot Hoopsters" from Brave and the Bold #46 also by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. That is followed by "The Man Who Drove Through Time" Brave and the Bold #48 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Sid Greene. Next we have "Goliath of the Gridiron" from Brave and the Bold #45 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. We end with "Solar Olympics of 3000 A.D" from Mystery in Space #39 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #196

Flash #196 (On Sale: February 12, 1970) has a cover by Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins "The Mightiest Punch of All Time" reprinted from Flash #153 and created by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. Professor Zoom is released from prison in the 25th century when he fools the officials and passes an electronic psychological examination. Zoom returns to his lab where he perfects a machine that will enhance a person's tendency towards evil. Zoom tries to use the machine across the centuries to affect Al Desmond and force him to become Mr. Element again. Al contacts the Flash for help.

Zoom's machine fails to function properly when used from the 25th century, so he constructs his own cosmic treadmill and returns to the 20th century. A side-effect of the machine gives Professor Zoom temporary control over the residents of Central City. He forces the Municipal Council to pass a law which forbids the use of super speed within Central City. Flash is unable to use his own powers legally to battle Zoom. He tries to leave town, but Zoom captures him.

Zoom then brings Mr. Element to his hide-out to kill the Flash. Before returning to his criminal ways, Desmond has hypnotized himself. When he sees the Flash, the he succumbs to the hypnotic suggestion to release his foe. Once free of Zoom's trap, Flash punches Zoom. The punch counteracts the effects of Zoom's cosmic treadmill sending the villain back to the 25th century where he is again incarcerated. Desmond however has returned to his criminal ways, so Flash takes him to the future where scientists are able to rehabilitate him.

Next we have "The Speed of Doom" from Flash #108 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia. Responding to Dr. Hirach’s offer to time his speed, Flash takes part in an experiment. However the experiment is actually a trap designed by an alien criminal. Flash is trapped on a treadmill and forced to run himself to death. He manages to escape by speeding up and surpassing light speed.

The alien criminal is a Mohru named Kee Feleg. The gang of criminals have been taking fulgramites from Earth which give them amazing speed. Flash follows the trail of one of his foes, when the Mohru disappears into the side of a hill. Another Mohru vanishes at the same spot. Flash runs into that spot and discovers it is a dimensional gateway to the Mohru’s world. Flash captures the gang and turns them over to the Mohru authorities.

That is followed by "The Origin of Flash's Masked Identity" from Flash #128 and created by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. In the early days of the Flash’s career, Barry Allen wore a mask-less uniform. He did so on his first couple of cases and was not seen. While deciding whether or not to include a mask with his costume, he has a dream.

In the dream, Barry announces his identity publicly. People are skeptical at first, but when he stops a tornado the people believe him. Crowds flock to police headquarters to see him and get autographs. When a burglary occurs across town, Barry has a difficult time making his way through the crowds to get to the scene. When Flash arrives, the thieves have left. Flash is able to catch the getaway car and catch them.

Waking from his dream, Barry realizes that the delay from the crowd almost prevented him from catching the crooks. He decides it would be better to wear a mask and keep his identity secret.

We end with "The Mirror Master's Invincible Bodyguards" from Flash #136 and also the work of John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. Mirror Master, upset with being slighted by the criminal fraternity in a recent poll, breaks jail and begins a new robbery spree. To avoid capture by his nemesis the Flash, Mirror Master designs two mirror bodyguards which protect him from the Flash.

At the scene of his first crime the bodyguards stop Flash in his tracks, and the villain escapes with the loot. Mirror Master’s scheme has landed him as the top criminal in a new poll.

Flash tracks down his foe by tracing the radiation given off by the bodyguards. He locates Mirror Master’s hideout. Using his amazing speed abilities, Flash is able to create two-dimensional duplicates of himself that defeat the bodyguards. With the bodyguards pacified, Flash easily captures their master. The quick defeat lands a dejected Mirror Master at the bottom of yet another criminal poll.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #223

Strange Adventures #223 (On Sale: January 20, 1970) has an Atomic Knights cover by Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Adam Strange in "The Beast with the Sizzling Blue Eyes" from Mystery In Space #62 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs. While waiting for Adam Strange to return to Rann, Alanna is apparently caught in a time-warp, taking her back to a prehistoric jungle. She quickly realizes that she is not in the past, but in a forcefield bubble. Adam arrives inside the bubble and saves Alanna from a dinosaur, but suddenly the bubble disappears, taking the jungle and beasts with it.

Later another bubble appears in the ocean, this time containing a sea-beast. Adam and Alanna are able to penetrate the forcefield, but the bubble once again disappears. Unknown to Adam and Alanna, the bubbles are being made by device created by scientist, Zhoran Tew, to study to past. However, Zhoran’s lab assistant, Mortan, has imprisoned the scientist and is using the device for evil.

Mortan demands that the Ranagarans surrender to him or he will unleash the beasts within a forcefield created around the city. Adam traces the transmission and tracks Mortan to his hide-out. Then he destroys the control device, preventing Mortan from unleashing his monsters. After freeing Zhoran, Adam is drawn back to Earth by the Zeta Beam.

Next is "The Genius Epidemic" from Strange Adventures #21 and created by Gardner Fox, Irwin Hasen and Joe Giella. This is a cute story about a bunch of hillbilly boys, the Herbert Brothers. who came into town one day to join the army. Though they looked like something out of Lil' Abner, they soon prove themselves to have amazing genius minds. In looking for the cause of their brilliance the army finds out that a meteorite crashed near their house on the night they were born. The army puts the bothers to work on one project after another which annoys them so much they make a space ship and leave Earth to get some peace.

We end with our cover-story, the Atomic Knights in "War in Washington" from Strange Adventures #135 and the product of John Broome and Murphy Anderson. Wayne and Hollis Hobard are captured by the Atlantides. Gardner and Bryndon mount a rescue mission with the help of Dalas, a reformed Atlantide prisoner. Dalas leads them to Washington where the Khagan and the Atlantides have established a base of operations.

Gardner and Bryndon stop a plot by the Atlantides to let in ultraviolet radiation over Durvale. Dalas located the Hobards and frees them. The remaining Atlantides escape with the Khagan vowing to conquer Earth.

Green Lantern #75

Green Lantern #75 (On Sale: January 15, 1970) has a cover by Gil Kane, the last of these we will see for a while.

This issue features "The Golden Obelisk of Qward" by John Broome, Gil Kane and Joe Giella and this is the last pure Green Lantern story we will have for a few years as big changes, and I think we all know what those are, are coming next issue.

After a sales meeting Hal Jordan was supposed to have a date with Olivia Reynolds (last seen in Flash #191) but when she doesn't show Hal switches to Green Lantern and finds her in the hospital with some mysterious illness. Hal tries to cure her using his ring, but it is unable to get through to her but does pick up some strange molecular distortion leading towards her. Against his better judgment Hal takes Olivia's doctor with him as he searches back along the line of distortion as it leads to a dimensional aperture that leads to the anti-matter universe of Qward.

The doctor is tow, Green Lantern traverses the barrier to Qward where they are met by a patrol of the Weaponers of Qward. Hal makes quick work of them, but a second patrol gets the better of him. Only the quick action of a member of the resistance movement saves Hal and the doc. Hal surmises that the Weaponers are zeroing in on them each time he uses his ring, so they hoof it instead and eventually find some wandering troubadours who they overcome and from whom they steal their clothes and instruments as disguises.

Quick bursts of ring power keep them on the right track, which ends up being the city of Qwardeen, where everyone seems to be heading for the great town square where the Chief Weaponer, Kimon has promised to open the fabled obelisk of Rengan the Abominable and reveal the secret he left for a worthy follower to find. Many have tried to open the obelisk over the years, but all have failed, but Kimon has a captive who will assist in opening the monument: Olivia Reynolds!

Hal then realizes that Olivia's illness must have been the pre-teleportation effect as the Qwardians zeroed in on Olivia. Using the force of Olivia's mind Kimon crushes the obelisk, only to find it empty. A recording by Rengan explains that the real treasure were the advances in scientific discovery which stemmed from the efforts to open the obelisk. Hal, doc and Olivia return to our positive-matter universe and Olivia recovers. Hal also sees that she remembers nothing of what happened as she must never know of her own great mental powers.

As Hal recharges his ring he realizes that the power of Olivia's mind is so great it could be used to destroy him. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB.

The letter page has letters from two of my favorite writers back when they were just fans: Mark Verheiden and Alan Brennert.

This issue, for all intents and purposes, marks the end of one of the most honored careers in comics as, except for a most likely inventory Doctor Mid-Nite story in 1972 and an obvious inventory Flash story in 1976, this is the last DC comic written by John Broome, a guy whose career at DC started in 1946 writing the Golden Age Flash, Sargon the Sorcerer and Green Lantern.

I am kind of overwhelmed here in trying to put John's career into a few paragraphs. John Broome started as a science-fiction writer represented by Julius Schwartz, but he soon found his way to comics. He started at Fawcett where he wrote everything from Lance O'Casey to Captain Marvel, but it was at DC that John Broome bloomed.

Besides the afore-mentioned strips, John wrote Hawkman, The Justice Society of America, Ghost Patrol, the Vigilante, Foley of the Fighting Fifth, Jimmy Wakely, Big Town, Captain Comet, Superboy, Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog, The Phantom Stranger, The Flash (from Showcase #4 onward), Detective Chimp, Hopalong Cassidy, Adventures of Charlie Chan, Green Lantern (from his origin in Showcase #22 on), Kid Flash, Star Hawkins, the Atomic Knights, Batman, The Elongated Man, and dozens of science-fiction stories for Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures. He wrote more than 800 stories for DC in all. and he did it while traveling the world.

John left DC about the same time they were kicking all the old-school writers out, but John actually left on his own accord, having tired of the business. He eventually moved to Tokyo where he taught English. He returned to the states in 1998 to attend the San Diego Comic-Con, and you can find a portion of a panel from that con honoring John on Mark Evanier's site. It was one I sorely missed. John Broome died less than a year later, in March 1999,

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

From Beyond the Unknown #3

From Beyond the Unknown #3 (On Sale: December 23, 1969) has a great cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with our cover-story, "When Earth Turned into a Comet" reprinted from Strange Adventures #150 and created by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. An astronaut on the Moon uses illusion and bluff to save the Earth from invaders.

Next is "Prisoner of the Electronic Eye" from Mystery In Space #53 and the work of John Broome, Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia. A man must figure out how to escape from an inescapable room so he can stop Earth and Saturn from going to war.

The next story is "The Space Hermit" from Strange Adventures #34 and the product of Sid Gerson and Henry Sharp. When an alien sealed in an indestructible bubble crashes into a ballpark a scientist works to free him. The question is should he? Between 1953 and 1955 Henry Enoch Sharp drew 15 science-fiction stories fro DC Comics appearing in Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures; this is the only one of those stories where Sharp provided both pencils and inks. During his tenure at DC Sharp also worked for St. John Publishing.

Henry Enoch Sharp started off in the early 1950s working for the pulps, drawing for Fantastic Adventures and Other Worlds along with doing some advertising work. As the pulps began to die, Sharp switched over to comics, spending four years at Ziff-Davis where he worked on a number of books including G.I. Joe (see his cover painting for G.I. Joe #10, which is actually issue #1) and Sky Pilot. Then in a change of careers, Sharp began to work in television as a writer where he had a successful run through the mid-1970s.

Henry Sharp wrote for such diverse shows as The Real McCoys, Bachelor Father, The Donna Read Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Andy Griffith Show, McHales's Navy, Bewitched, Here Comes the Brides, Mission: Impossible, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Target, MacKenzie's Raiders and The Addams Family. Moreover, Sharp was the Story Consultant and one of the writers for The Wild Wild West for four years. In the 1970s he wrote for Valley of the Dinosaurs, Super Friends and The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan.

Our last story is "Escape from Earth" reprinted from Mystery In Space #61 and created by John Broome and Murphy Anderson. In the 30th century the Council of Eternity decrees that all the people of Earth must enter the Chamber of Immortality so they will live forever. Four people decide that the new immortals no longer seem fully human and contrive to escape from Earth and find a new planet to live on as mortals, even though this means if caught immortality will be forced on them and they will be given a jail sentence of 100,000 years!

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #194

Flash #194 (On Sale: December 4, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

The Flash stars in "The Bride Cast Two Shadows" by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Joan Boardman awakens one night in a trance, walking out of her hotel murmuring something about finding "her love." On the street she sees a poster of the Flash and thinks, "It's him!" The Flash is a few blocks away fighting the Owl Gang and during the fight Joan rushes into the line of fire and is knocked unconscious. When the police and Iris arrive (Iris in her role as a news photographer), Iris suggests that they take the unconscious girl to her house (in real life something this stupid would never happen, but in John Broomeland, this is the norm).

Once there, Joan wakes up and begins referring to the Flash as Daniel. Whenever the woman stares at Barry, he has visions of a past life where he is proposing and planning for his wedding to Elfriede Talman who is the spitting image of Joan Boardman. Eventually Iris uncovers the story of Daniel Porter and Elfriede Talman. Daniel was the mayor of Central City a hundred years ago and is a look-alike for Barry. On the night before his wedding to Elfriede, she disappeared in a freak storm. When Joan awakens again they notice that she casts two shadows, as if two people were in possession of her body.

The next time Joan looks at Barry he does not fight the visions and joins her in marriage. They are then both swept into another realm, where Elfriede says she lives and can visit the Earth once every hundred years for a single day. As she departs, the Flash tries to find his way back to reality but is attacked by a number of demons. Finally, he is able to make his way out of the strange realm, where he finds that Joan Boardman is fine once again and remembers nothing of the past 24 hours.

Confession time. I have never much cared for the art team of Ross Andru and Mike Esposito and found it strange that for years Esposito was the only inker of Ross Andru's pencils (the team actually goes all the way back to Andru's first story for DC in 1953). I particularly did not like the team on the Flash, as Andru's characters seem a little clunky and off-balance and this trait was something that I certainly did not think applied to the Flash. That said, I thought much of the art in this issue worked for me, particularly the scenes of the Flash fighting the demons. Odd that Ross Andru should finally get it "right" on this his last story as the Flash artist.

The back-up story is "The Man Who Televised Time" from Strange Adventures #13 and produced by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. This little story is about a professor who offers $1 million for an invention that will change the world. The first man has what he calls a perpetual motion machine, but has forgotten to take into account the wear caused by friction. Next is a man who claims his machine can extract gold from water, but it costs more to run than it can produce in gold. Next is a man who has invented a sonic typewriter, but it has no way of dealing with homophones. The last man says that he has a machine that can retrieve past light waves and display the past on a television screen. The professor has this man arrested for fraud when he shows sound and pictures at the same time, since sound waves travel at a very different speed than light waves.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #222

Strange Adventures #222 (On Sale: November 18, 1969) has an Adam Strange cover by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "Beyond the Wall of Death" by Denny O'Neil, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. This was the first new Adam Strange story in a very long time and I guess was a try-out of sorts to see if new material picked up sales. Apparently it did not, as there were no more new Adam Strange stories in Strange Adventures. I used to own this book, but can no longer locate it, so I don't remember anything about the story.

Next is "Treasure Planet" from Mystery In Space #15 by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs.

We end with the Atomic Knights in "Thanksgiving Day -- 1990" from Strange Adventures #132 and by the standard team of John Broome and Murphy Anderson. Using the seeds obtained from the Atlantean island and new cultivation techniques, the Atomic Knights are able to grow trees in Durvale within a few months. To celebrate the success of the trees, they invite people from several surviving communities to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Elsewhere, Khagan, the leader of the Atlanteans has escaped the peril that befell the island of Atlantis. In the months since he escaped the island, he has been able to learn much of the post-World War III world and the Atomic Knights.

When Khagan learns of the Thanksgiving celebration, he sends his men to attack. Douglas is wounded by the mirror weapons of the Atlanteans. The other Atomic Knight defend themselves and defeat the attackers. Wayne Hobard is appointed to guard the prisoners.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

From Beyond the Unknown #2 (On Sale: October 23, 1969) has a cover by Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "Parade of the Planets" by Otto Binder and Frank Giacoia from Mystery in Space #52. Next is "Giants of the Cosmic Ray" by France Herron, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Strange Adventures #82. Lastly we have "The Brain-Masters of Polaris" by John Broome, Alex Toth and Sy Barry from Strange Adventures #12.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #193

Flash #193 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a nice cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

Unfortunately the nice cover hides an absolutely horrendous story by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, entitled "Captain Cold Blows His Cool." It begins with a breakout at Central State Penitentiary, where Captain Cold helps five "old timers" escape by, get this, making them young. No explanation is given for Cold's miraculous power, which alone would make someone rich beyond any other crime they may commit, but I digress.

Cold explains that he is in love with old-time movie star Laura Lamont, who's heart he intends to win over by making her young and presenting her with magnificent gifts that he needs the ex-"old timers" to steal for him. Cold also tells us that he does not know where to find Lamont, but that Iris Allen has written an article and interview with Lamont and so he plans on getting here whereabouts from Iris.

In disguise as an estate attorney he visits Iris, explaining the Lamont has come into some big money. Iris will not tell Cold Lamont's location but agrees to pass along the information. Barry thinks the attorney looks familiar and notices him following Iris as she drives off to see Lamont. I already hate this story, but the next piece seals it for me. Barry hesitates "several seconds" before deciding to follow as the Flash and is unable to locate Iris or Cold. Horrible writing on Broome's part.

While searching though he does find some of the ex-"old timers" stealing a painting for Cold and he captures them. The next day he finds out that they have the same fingerprints as two of the old guys who recently escaped. He also finds out that there were a rash of robberies last night. Searching for clues he finds an old stump outside of town that is frozen and figures Captain Cold is behind it all. He traces the residual radiation from Captain Cold's "Cold-Gun" but it soon dissipates. He eventually picks up the radiation trail again and tracks it back to Captain Cold. Another digression here: if Flash has the ability to do this, why has he not done it in the past to quickly find and capture Captain Cold? Like I said, really bad writing by Broome.

Where was I? I yeah, Flash has found Cold but Cold hits him with an Absolute Zero Ray that blows Flash into pieces and embeds him into the wall of Cold's hideout. Cold places a picture frame around the broken Flash (this looks pretty stupid folks, which is why the Carmine Infantino cover was such a great idea). Having followed Iris the night before Cold goes to Laura Lamont's house, makes her young, takes her to his hide-out where he gives her the gifts and proposes to her. He then goes off to call a Justice of the Peace to marry them tonight, but dials Heat-Wave instead and invites him over to show him the frozen Flash.

Heat-Wave once to take on last crack at the Flash and blasts him with his Heat-Blaster, reversing the effect of Cold's gun and restoring the Flash, who quickly mops up the room with the two, now bickering, villains. Laura Lamont doesn't want to be young and uses her ability with make-up to make herself look old again and swears she will do that for the rest of her life.

Iris takes Barry by a theater where Laura sells tickets to her old movies. Later on Barry explains that while he was frozen by Captain Cold, his brain still functioned and that he concentrated on Heat-Wave and through some here-to-fore unknown and never-heard-of-again telepathic ability on Barry's part, got Cold to call Heat-Wave instead of the Justice of the Peace. The less said about this mess the better and thankfully, this tripe has never been reprinted.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #221

Strange Adventures #221 (On Sale: September 18, 1969) has an Adam Strange cover by Murphy Anderson.

We begin with"The Duel of the Two Adam Stranges" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Mystery In Space #59. A giant Adam Strange appears outside Ranagar and proclaims himself dictator. Alanna can’t believe that Adam has become evil, but he claims to have been altered by the gravitational pull of a radioactive planet. As the giant Adam begins demolishing Ranagar, the former dictator or Rann, Avanar Bar, rises to stop him.

When the real Adam Strange arrives, he explains that the giant is a robot. He tries to stop the robot as well, but when he can’t he realizes that Avanar is controlling it and in doing so trying to reclaim his position as ruler. Adam exposes the plot and gains control of the robot using a device Avanar had hidden under a wig.

Next is "The Square Earth" by Otto Binder and Sy Barry and reprinted from Mystery In Space #22.

We end with the Atomic Knights in "World Out of Time" by John Broome and Murphy Anderson and reprinted from Strange Adventures #129. Bryndon develops a machine that can tap into satellites in Earth's orbit. He uses the satellite cameras to view the world ravaged by World War III. Unexpectedly, the cameras reveal an island in the Atlantic that still has green trees. The Knights speculate that it might be Atlantis, so they leave to investigate.

The island is indeed Atlantis returned as a result of the war. The island is inhabited by Atlantean people planning to conquer the rest of the world. However, they cannot leave the island due to a radiation field surrounding it.

When the Atomic Knights arrive, they can safely pass through the radiation field. The Atlanteans capture them to find out how they are immune to the radiation. The Knights escape before their enemies learn that the armor they wear protects them. As they leave the island, an earthquake causes it to sink into the ocean. Marene manages to gather some seed and food before it sinks. The Knights hope plant life on Earth can be restored with what they've recovered.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #220

Strange Adventures #220 (On Sale: July 17, 1969) has an Adam Strange cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with Adam Strange in "The Beast from the Runaway World" reprinted from Mystery In Space #55 and created by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs. Adam Strange waits for the Zeta Beam to strike Earth and return him to Rann, but the Beam never comes. Puzzled by its failure to appear, Adam calculates when the next beam is scheduled to strike and takes it to Rann.

When he arrives, he meets Alanna, who explains that the first beam was intercepted by a planet with an erratic orbit. A creature from that planet was brought to Rann, Zaradak. Zaradak, a giant dinosaur-like beast, has been causing damage on Rann ever since.

Adam attempts to stop the creature with his ray-gun, but the creature absorbs and reflects the blast. Adam has food brought to the beast, which settles its rampage. It was only hungry.

When an alien attack force arrives, Adam plans to use the creature to deflect their bombs, but the Zeta energy in the creature returns it to its native world. Adam flies into space to intercept the bomb, destroying with his ray-gun just prior to his own return ride to Earth on the Zeta Beam.

Next is "The Star Oscar" reprinted from Strange Adventures #34 and the work of Sid Gerson and Frank Giacoia.

We end with the Atomic Knights in "The Lost City of Los Angeles" reprinted from Strange Adventures #126 and produced by John Broome and Murphy Anderson. After a hurricane devastates Durvale, Gardner Grayle proposes to discover what remains of the country. He instructs the Hobard brothers to build gliders with which they can fly across country. Bryndon joins Gardner and the Hobards on the trip west. The plains of the midwest are black and lifeless and the Rocky Mountains have become volcanic.

The Knights finally reach Los Angeles, where they locate a small band of living humans. The Knights help them retrieve a supply of food from a canyon protected by electrical beings which are merely illusionary. After getting the food, Bryndon sets up a radio allowing the Knights to communicate with Durvale.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #191

Flash #191 (On Sale: July 17, 1969) has the last of the three brilliant covers by Joe Kubert. This is the least of the three, but it is one of those like Secret Six #1 where the cover is the first panel of the story.

"How to Invade Earth -- Without Really Trying" is by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito and begins with a groggy figure crawling around a corner to find the Flash's suit and as the cover tells you, it is not Barry Allen. No, it is Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan and he is surprised as anyone to find the Flash's costume and not his own.

From this point the story backtracks to earlier in the day when Hal is visiting the home of the Barry Allen's, Hal being in Central City on toy business. Iris Allen informs Hal that she has a surprise for him, a beautiful woman who she met while doing interviews for an article on modern fashions for her newspaper. Hal then recounts how he had met another woman in Florida last week and how she had stole his client by employing "the most shameless use of her feminine wiles!" This of course took place in Green Lantern #71 earlier this month and a nice bit of cross-over work by John Broome and Julius Schwartz, something you rarely saw at DC in 1969.

The doorbell rings and the cross-over continues as in walks brazen toy saleswoman Olivia Reynolds. Hal is really annoyed but over a good home-cooked meal he begins to warm up to Olivia and can't believe she is the same woman who went for the "hard sell" in Florida. Hal wonders which Olivia is real when his ring attempts to read her mind to find out. It is an unconscious act which Hal can't stop, but he does manage to turn the mind-probing beam invisible at least. However, for some reason the beam is thrown back at Hal, who yelps in pain. While getting some air he explains to Barry what happened and Barry thinks it might be that the Guardians prevented the beam from reaching Olivia and sent it painfully back at Hal because he was trying to use it for personal gain.

Suddenly spaceships appear over Central City and begin sending out telepathic communications saying they are the Mogrians and the they are taking over the Earth. Barry and Hal change into the Flash and Green Lantern and attack the Mogrians only to be attacked by strange monsters, that look like something out of a science-fiction movie. Something isn't adding up here as the Mogrian's ray-guns are just toys. Just then the aliens link arms and blast the Flash and green Lantern, appearing to disintegrate them.

Inside the spaceship we see a different type of character, an old alien named Glabr, who we learn is from an ancient race know as the Lenglyns, who use the power of subconscious mental giants they call U-Minds to sustain their civilization. Glabr has found a U-Mind on Earth in Olivia Reynolds. It was Glabr who repelled Hal's energy beam from Olivia's mind and decided to distract Green Lantern by staging a fake invasion of Earth using the Mogrian robots he carries on his ship, robots that just so happen chose this time to revolt against their masters and begin constructing machines to build more of themselves.

Which takes us to the opening scene of Hal waking up on a sidewalk to find the Flash's uniform. Just then Barry comes round the corner in Hal's Green Lantern suit, Barry saying he was told where to find Hal by a voice in his head. Glabr appears and tells them what has transpired and that only the Flash and Green Lantern can defeat the Mogrians. But Hal and Barry soon learn that they have been stripped of their powers. Glabr says that the Mogrians do not have the power to do such a thing unless they have already tapped into the power of Olivia's U-Mind. By banding together Glabr, Barry and Hal are able to telepathically locate Olivia being held captive in the spaceship.

They are able to connect with her mind and convince her that she has the power to mentally restore the Flash and Green Lantern's powers, which she is able to do. All that remains is for the Flash and Green Lantern to board the spaceship, defeat the Mogrians and rescue Olivia. Green Lantern uses his ring to remove Olivia's knowledge of what has transpired, a requirement for the Lenglyns to use her U-Mind. They wake Olivia up back at the Allen's house and she is none the wiser where the four of them play some bridge.

The letters page is a real winner this issue, featuring letters by regulars Gary Skinner and Peter Sanderson Jr and a guy named Mark Evanier.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Phantom Stranger #3

Phantom Stranger #3 (On Sale: July 15, 1969) has its first cover by Neal Adams, and the new Neal Adams logo. What is interesting is that while the logo depicts the revamped Phantom Stranger, using his hat's shadow as a mask, the cover shows an entirely different guy, closer to the Bill Draut covers of the first two issues.

We begin with the Phantom Stranger in "How Do You Know My Name?" a reprint from Phantom Stranger #5 (1953) by John Broome, Frank Giacoa and Joe Giella. A carnival mystic, Vasti, predicts supernatural behavior will increase at an amusement park. Suddenly ghosts and spectres are seen and cause trouble for the park. The Phantom Stranger investigates in order to debunk the supernatural explanation. He exposes Vasti as a fraud, trying to force the park owner to sell cheaply.

Next we have Doctor 13 in "No Such Thing as Ghosts" a reprint from Star-Spangled Comics #126 by France Herron and Leonard Starr. We end with the only new material in the book, the Phantom Stranger in "Some Day in Some Dark Alley..." by Mike Friedrich and Bill Draut. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Green Lantern #71

Green Lantern #71 (On Sale: July 10, 1969) has a very simple but very dramatic cover by Gil Kane.

This one is going to be more than just your normal recap of an issue. There are some things about this issue that are indicative of DC Comics in 1969. Let's start with the first of the two Green Lantern stories, "The City That Died!" by John Broome, Gil Kane and Joe Giella. First off, when you look at the excellent Gil Kane cover it is very hard to believe that the interiors were penciled by the same artist. Joe Giella does everything in his power to quash the vibrancy and life right out of Kane's pencils. He is completely unprepared to handle Gil Kane's expressive faces and dynamic, powerful anatomy. Likewise, there is something very wrong with John Broome's script, something essential that is missing, as you shall see.

Hal Jordon visits a school for handicapped children in Solar City while there trying to land the toy account for the Wilson Chain Stores. His boss has promised him a bonus if he can land the deal and Hal plans on turning the money over to the school for their building fund. His only competition is Olivia Reynolds.

Hal pitches his companies line of toys to the Wilson executive but when it is Olivia Reynold's turn she strips down to s skimpy outfit and garners not only Mr. Wilson's attention but his dinner invitation as well. A little despondent, Hal heads off for his hotel, but along the way his car stops. Soon all the cars in Solar City are stopped as are everything electrical. Hal switches to Green Lantern to investigate.

As Green Lantern Hal works the city, providing emergency energy for medical facilities and stopping an armored car robbery, when he notices that even people are now passing out on the streets. Using his ring Hal pin-points the source of the strange power drain, forty miles beneath Solar City. Diving down Hal finds a pit of boiling metal, which, and this is where Broome really lets us down, seems to be the cause of the problem. Hal closes the pit and all is back to normal in Solar City. Wow, this is about as thin a threat as you can come up with.

With the threat to the city averted, Hal learns that old man Wilson, who must of had a great time with Olivia, has chosen her company over Hal's. However, all is not lost as the city wants to give Green Lantern a reward and though he does not accept payment for his services, he makes the suggestion that the money be given to the handicapped children's school. This lightweight piece of fluff was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB.

The letter page is interesting in this issue for two reasons. First, it contains a letter by Irene Vartanoff. If you read enough DC comics around this time you know that eventually there became the thought that Irene was not a real person, but was actually a name DC editors used to concoct fake letters and eventually leading to these "Yes Grandma, there really is an Irene Vartanoff" messages after she appeared at one of the early conventions. Second, there is a letter by Don McGregor where he re-plots Green Lantern #68 to include the scene Gil Kane had depicted on the cover. This was of course years before McGregor would write Sabre, Detectives, Inc., Nathanial Dusk, Black Panther or War of the Worlds to name but a few.

This brings us to the back-up story, called a Green Lantern Brother Story, "Hip Jordan Makes the Scene!" and it is by John Broome, Dick Dillin and Murphy Anderson. If that name doesn't tell you something really inappropriate, old fogey stick-in-the-mud and decidedly un-hip is about to be shoved down your throat by DC, nothing will. Some of these people where absolutely clueless about where young people in America were in 1969. It is the annual family reunion of the Jordan clan held at the palatial home of millionaire Titus Jordan and the fun of the evening (Uncle Titus thinks that nephew Jim's wife Sue's new dress looks like a bathing suit, etc,) is interrupted by the appearance of cousin Doug "Hip" Jordan, the long-haired hippie black-sheep of the Jordan family.

Some want Hip thrown out but Uncle Titus says he can't do that because he is family, though he does suggest that Hip take a bath because, you know, all long-haired hippies were dirty in DC comics. Now Sue thinks that her husband Jim is really Green Lantern and demands that he change into his suit and check Hip out. She pulls out a Green Lantern costume from a past year's masquerade party and argues that Jim needs to put it on. The argument is heard through the fireplace by Hip who decides he does not want to mess with Green Lantern and jumps out the window beat a hasty retreat.

Unable to convince Sue that he is not Green Lantern Jim puts on the costume to humor her and takes a run around the house in a pretend search. However, Hip thinks Jim really is Green Lantern and that he is tracking him, so he knocks him out and decides to use Green Lantern as a way to win over the Black Scooter gang he has been trying to join for a while, because at DC all hippies are criminals and gang members. Well, when it is discovered that Jim, Hip and Uncle Titus's Rolls Royce are all missing Hal get into the real Green Lantern costume and locates Jim, unconscious in the back of the Rolls which is just stopping at the Black Scooter gang's hideout (Black Scooter? This is the best Broome could come up with? Scooter???). Thinking Jim is the real Green Lantern they tie a bomb around his neck and give Hip the detonator. Just then the real Green Lantern arrives, but gives up his ring when Hip threatens to blow up Jim.

When Hip reaches for the ring, he is paralyzed, as Hal commanded the ring to do before giving it up. Hal then beats the rest of the gang up with plain fists. Hip and the gang are taken to the police and Jim asks Green Lantern if he will show up at the reunion to prove to Sue that he is not Green Lantern. Later Jim wonders why Lantern did not show up as he stands next to Hal. Really, this kind of crap makes me want to puke. This insulting piece of junk was also reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB. If you happen to read it, check out the artwork. I don't know how often Dick Dillin and Murphy Anderson worked together, but what a great team they made; I prefer the inks on this story to most of the inking done on Dillin during his long run on Justice League of America.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #190

Flash #190 (On Sale: June 5, 1969) has another brilliant cover by Joe Kubert. This is the second of Kubert's three-issue run on the cover of the Flash. What I like about these Kubert covers is three-fold: 1) they are technically excellent, 2) they are dramatic as all get out, and 3) the scenes depicted actually occur inside.

We begin with "Super-Speed Agent of the Flash" by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. A tornado is heading for a trailer park on the outskirts of Central City. Flash creates his own countering tornado to nullify the real tornado. As the two whirlwinds meet Flash is sucked up between the vortexes and knocked unconscious. When he awakens he finds his leg is broken and, like on the cover, is told he will never run again.

Barry Allen returns home, leg in a cast and begins to mope about in his wheelchair. As the days drag on and the crime rate in Central City begins to rise, Barry comes up with a plan. Barry has Iris up the openings in his uniform while he works at super-speed to create a series of radio-controlled miniature transistor circuits which he places at different points in his costume. After inflating his costume with air Barry has created a Flash automaton.

By vibrating at super-speed Barry in his wheelchair is able to invisibly follow his Flash automaton through Central City. In this manner Flash is able to bring down the Muscle Men gang. The next day Flash visits the doctor only to find out that some mysterious vibrations (Barry vibrating to invisibility) has healed his broken leg.

Our back-up story is "Ten Years to Live -- One Second to Die" also by John Broome, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. After the previous episode, Flash takes his wheelchair, cast and crutches to Dexter Myles at The Flash Museum. While there Dexter relates how his young assistant, Joel Travis, had been bragging to his friends, a group called the Far-Outers (oh, don't you just love 60's DC hipness?), what good friends he was with the Flash and promised to get the Flash to come to one of their meetings. Not really knowing Flash, Joel attempted to "borrow" one of the Flash uniforms from the museum, but was caught by Dexter and promised to not do it again. However, a uniform is missing ans so is Joel.

Flash goes to find Joel to convince him how dangerous it is to pretend to be the Flash, but when he gets to the Far-Outers' place, he finds they have trapped Joel in a cell and gassed him and are talking about the million dollars they are going to make off of this. Vibrating at invisibility, Flash replaces himself for Joel and pretends to be knocked out in order to find the big boss behind the million-dollar payoff.

They take him to the home of "Blue-Chip" Chipman, a thief who specialized in negotiable stocks and bonds and who has recently finished a 10-year stretch in the slammer. He plans on keeping the Flash locked up in a cell in his house for the same amount of time he spent in the joint. Chipman has planted 10 bombs in 10 busy locations in Central City and if the Flash tried to leave his cell his very absence will automatically set off the blasts, killing hundreds or thousands of innocent people. Chipman demonstrates the threat is for real by blowing up and abandoned hotel behind his mansion.

Flash timed the detonation of the hotel and realizes there is a one-second spurt of high-frequency energy between the time the detonator was pushed the detonation. Flash jumps from his cell and then follows the detonator energy spurts to each of the ten locations, disarming each bomb before it can explode. Flash punches out Chipman and reprimands Joel for his impersonation act, but lets him keep his job at The Flash Museum.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Green Lantern #70

Green Lantern #70 (On Sale: May 27, 1969) has a nice cover by Gil Kane.

Green Lantern stars in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Earth" by John Broome, Gil Kane and Vinnie Colletta. I remember this one from when I was a kid, as it has one of the strangest solutions for killing a space monster I have ever read. The Guardians call Green Lantern to take out a gigantic creature that eats gravity. OK, I know that gravity is a force and not a thing, but hey, it eats gravity, OK? Green Lantern is attacked by the creature and eventually kills it by making it eat its own shit, or as John Broome put it, "Its own waste product." I kid you not.

But this issue is not just about shit-eating monsters, it's about a toy factory on the planet Ghyra, where the circuitry in a "Hilar-Toy" goes haywire and instead of making people laugh, it causes people to fight. Unable to fix the indestructible Hilar the makers turn it off and throw it away, but it still finds itself "active" and locates a space ship in the junkyard, which it uses to escape. With no plan of where to go, Hilar sees Green Lantern fly by, returning from giving the gravity eater a shit-eating grin, and follows him back to Earth.

After a run-in with the police for jay-walking the Hilar finds a TV studio as a hiding place. There he interrupts the filming of a TV comedy show which brings him to the attention of Hal Jordan (working his first day as a toy salesman). As Green Lantern he rushes to the studio only to find that any attack against Hilar is rerouted back at himself. Some gangsters see Hilar take out Green Lantern on TV and saying that he only wants to make people laugh. They high-tail it down to the studio and pick up Hilar by pretending to find everything he says funny.

The gangsters win over Hilar's confidence and bring him along when they go to rob a train. When Green Lantern shows up, Hilar again knocks him out cold. When he comes to, Green Lantern finds the gangsters' car and begins to take them out one at a time and then turns to face Hilar. Hilar has realized that his "friends" are evil and tries to communicate that to Green Lantern telepathically, but GL is using his ring to create an impenetrable aura around himself. Lantern uses his ring to steal Hilar's gravity and he crumbles like the toy he is.

Discovering that Hilar is just a malfunctioning toy, Green Lantern returns Hilar to Ghyra, repairs his faulty circuits and as he leaves Hilar is on stage and getting big laughs with his "A funny thing happened on the way to Earth" story.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Strange Adventures #219

Strange Adventures #219 (On Sale: May 15, 1969) has an Atomic Knights cover (minus the Knights) by Joe Kubert.

Adam Strange stars in "Menace of the Robot Raiders" from Mystery In Space #53 and created by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs. Adam Strange returns to Rann to find Alanna in control of a giant robot. The robot and others like it were given to the people of Ranagar in exchange for a mineral by some aliens, the Griks. When the robots rebel, the Griks are believed to be responsible. Adam fights to free Alanna, then he confronts the Griks, who claim to be innocent. Adam traces the controller to Vor Kan, the Ranagaran man responsible for keeping the robots operational. Adam destroys his control device and captures Vor Kan, before being sent back to Earth by the Zeta Beam.

Our cover-story is "The Cavemen of New York" featuring the Atomic Knights, reprinted from Strange Adventures #123 and produced by John Broome and Murphy Anderson. The Atomic Knights visit New York City to find a cache of food and supplies in a large fallout shelter. The city took a direct hit in the war and no life remains. The Knights enter the shelter and are attacked by a band of former men, who now resemble cro-magnons. After fending off the attack, the knights befriend one of the men. They are able to calm the rest of the group as well. After a brief respite underground, protected from the radiation above, the Knights leave New York and the cavemen behind.

Lastly we have a Space Cabbie story "Space-Flight to Danger," from Mystery In Space #28 and created by Otto Binder, Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs. Space Cabbie buys a new battery case for his taxi at an auto parts story. He chooses a case from the bottom of the stack because it is in the best condition. The salesmen doesn't want to sell it to him, but the cab driver refuses the give up the case.

After installing the new battery case, Space Cabbie takes on several jobs. He then notices several bizarre incidents designed to separate him from his cab. He finally allows one of the men to search his cab and steal the battery case. Space Cabbie then summons the Interplanetary Police and is able to lead them to the crook.

The crook is working for the auto parts salesmen. The battery case that Space Cabbie purchased contains a map to the gang's hidden loot. The police arrest the gang, and Space Cabbie earns a reward for their capture.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Phantom Stranger #2

Phantom Stranger #2 (On Sale: May 13, 1969) has a cover by Bill Draut. The character is still two issues away from a stylistic redesign at the hands of Neal Adams which will transform the character forever.

The new story this issue is "The Man Who Died Three Times" by Mike Friedrich and Bill Draut. With this story they bring the Doctor Thirteen character into interaction with the Stranger. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.

They round out the book with reprints. From the old Phantom Stranger #1 comes "The House of Strange Secrets" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. Neal Hunter is lured to a strange house after he is led of the main road. Neal enters the house and is greeted by a man who wishes to kill him. The Phantom Stranger appears and protects Neal. The killer then disappears and the house changes.

Neal and the Phantom Stranger explore the house as the killer strikes again. The Stranger learns that the killer is the former apprentice of a dead magician named Robart. He believes that by killing Hunter he will gain immortality. The Stranger then exposes the killer's magic as a fraud and rescues Neal. The apprentice is killed himself during an attack on the Stranger.

From Star Spangled Comics #128 comes Doctor Thirteen in "The Girl Who Lived 5,000 Years" by France Herron and Leonard Starr.

Edited by Joe Orlando.