I'm sure that kids complained about paying a buck for a comic book back in the late 70s, but these beauties really do pack quite a punch. This is the first issue of the 'new look' Adventure Comics (how many times did we see that with this title?), and imports a number of DC's heavy hitters. Green Lantern was in the midst of one of his many hiatuses, so it's nice to get a solid Staton drawn story here. The Flash story reminded me of how much I like Frank McLaughlin's inks over Irv Novick's pencils. An Aparo drawn Deadman story? Yes, please! We also see the return of the New Gods with artwork by the always great Don Newton. Are we still talking a single comic book? Rounding out the title are a so-so Wonder Woman story featuring the Killer Shark and a fairly entertaining Elongated Man tale. Overall, the book doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts, but if you see this one on the cheap (I got mine for $2), don't pass it up. Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Hidden Gems: Adventure Comics #459
I'm sure that kids complained about paying a buck for a comic book back in the late 70s, but these beauties really do pack quite a punch. This is the first issue of the 'new look' Adventure Comics (how many times did we see that with this title?), and imports a number of DC's heavy hitters. Green Lantern was in the midst of one of his many hiatuses, so it's nice to get a solid Staton drawn story here. The Flash story reminded me of how much I like Frank McLaughlin's inks over Irv Novick's pencils. An Aparo drawn Deadman story? Yes, please! We also see the return of the New Gods with artwork by the always great Don Newton. Are we still talking a single comic book? Rounding out the title are a so-so Wonder Woman story featuring the Killer Shark and a fairly entertaining Elongated Man tale. Overall, the book doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts, but if you see this one on the cheap (I got mine for $2), don't pass it up. 
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3 comments:
The Dollar Size Adventure got even better a couple issues later when Aquaman (drawn by Newton) and the JSA (drawn by Staton) showed up. Don't feel bad for GL getting shoved out so soon, though, because he was sharing his mag with Green Arrow at the time (the GL/GA mag was revived in '75).
I love the JSA stories in here, as well as those Newton Aquamans. Adventure Comics may have suffered from multiple personality disorder during its final 100 issues, but I liked most, if not all, of those personalities.
I adored this issue when I was eight years old. The New Gods and Deadman stuff were, I am sure, inventory stories from other books that were cancelled or stillborn. But I didn't care because it had The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Elongated Man in it. The fact that it got me to start my lifelong love of Deadman is a bonus.
I loved the Dollar Comics format, because you got lots of superheroes and original tales at that. My allowance at the time was a dollar and it seemed like huge value for money to me even if it did zero out my account!
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