Gorilla Daze

When DC acquired the licence for the Shadow in 1972 they gave the book to Denny O’Neil to write. But who could they get to draw it? Initially Alex Toth was approached, but, though he was keen and produced a pitch, ultimately things didn’t work out. Jim Steranko lobbied for it, but his wish to produce the book as a complete package ruled him out of the running. Next Bernie Wrightson took a stab, intending to draw both the Shadow and Swamp Thing at the same time. While one can’t fault his enthusiam, it ought to be fairly clear that such a plan was never likely to work out satisfactorily — and he passed. With O’Neil getting desperate young Mike Kaluta, veteran of several short back-ups and mystery tales, offered his services, even though he’d not drawn a full-length book at that point. He got the gig, and the rest is history: five of the finest comics ever produced.

However, before passing, Wrightson drew this sample page to showcase his approach to the character. Although it couldn’t be used for the book itself, it ran as a house ad to announce the forthcoming arrival of the pulp character at DC. Would a Wrightson-drawn Shadow have been even better than the Kaluta one? I dunno, but it’s interesting that we at least got a glimpse of what might’ve been.

©2010 Conde Nast/DC Comics

Ah subscriptions! Most comics publishers offered their readers the chance to subscribe to their favourite titles, allowing them to get their comics fix without having to faff about with little things like having to go to the shops in the wind and rain. Sometimes an incentive was offered. You might expect a poster, say, or a few ‘free’ issues, to entice the would-be subscriber to part with his/her parents cash. Archie, however, went that extra mile. As you can see here, in this mid-60s ad, they decided to offer free, see-through raincoats! Yowza!

Now, I like a raincoat as much as the next man — assuming that man isn’t the guy from the start of Cagney and Lacey, Rorschach — but a transparent one strikes me as kinda… kinky. Could it really be that rubber and PVC fetish wear got its start at Archie Comics?! Gah! Perhaps Wertham was right.

©2010 Archie Comics

Fabulous full-page ad for Joe Kubert’s Viking Prince in The Brave and the Bold #23. That was the first issue to feature just a single character, the previous ones being anthologies of various characters in the heroic mold such as Robin Hood and the Silent Knight. DC repeated the trick the following issue, and then reinvented the title as a try-out book for new super-heroes in the Showcase tradition. First came the Suicide Squad, and then Julie Schwartz’s major revival of the Golden Age Justice Society as the Justice League of America in #28.

I notice that DC is soliciting a brand new 300-page hardcover collection of Kubert’s Viking Prince stories in the current Previews catalogue. Happily, it includes the bizarre story that saw a team-up between the Viking Prince and… Sgt Rock!! I kid you not.

That’s definitely one for my order this month!

©2010 DC Comics