DC Comics turned 75 last year. As I’ve noted — like you needed me to tell you, if you follow the industry even a bit — the company is marking the first anniversary of that milestone by relaunching its entire main line of superhero titles.
cover to Our Army at War #295
For this July 4th, however, let’s focus not on what DC is doing at 76 but on what it
did in ’76.
My personal Golden Age of comic-book consumption was 5-6 years old — a lot
younger than many thanks to early facility with reading, supported especially by parents who also encouraged the stories and pictures I whipped up based on what I read. Just about nothing makes me as gleefully nostalgic as the batch of issues published by DC in April 1976, dated July — or, if they were bimonthly, August (July-August in the indicia) — to commemorate the 200th birthday of the great, sloppy, ongoing experiment in democracy and freedom that is The United States of America.
Over 30 covers sporting a banner that proclaimed “DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” hit newsstands right as my nascent comic-book craze was crackling
like fireworks — and were followed by a few more nods to the occasion.
“DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” ad; cover to All-Star Comics #61
Of course the banner was as much a marketing gimmick as a pure-hearted patriotic tribute. You can see from the house advertisement shown that sending in at least 25 of the 33 banners would get you a metal Superman belt buckle. For those readers of any age who considered themselves collectors, the numbering was probably also an impetus to collect the entire DC output that month. I was too young at the time to afford or logistically accumulate all 33 issues, and frankly most of the non-superhero offerings didn’t interest me, but today amassing the whole set is a definite if somewhat low-key, long-term goal even as I look to divest myself of the majority of my hoard.
Cover to Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-47, along with other covers and
house ad, © 1976 DC Comics. Logos and characters TM/® DC Comics.
DC also released the tabloid-sized Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-47, whose cover is above, in May 1976. The logo and vintage Superman art were a bait-and-switch as it mostly contained reprints of the long-running frontier adventure feature Tomahawk, along with informative short pieces, while only a smidgen of framing material involved the Man of Steel. Action Comics #462 & #463, the latter seen below and unlike everything else displayed here actually released in July 1976, are on the other hand new stories that find Superman tossed back 200 years where he encounters the freshly inked Declaration of Independence. Joe Kubert’s cover to Our Army at War #295, atop this post, was published the first week in May and likewise commemorated the Revolution.
covers to Justice League of America #132, The Secret Society of Super-Villains #2
Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics has all of the “DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” covers viewable in a chronological gallery of issues dated July or July-August 1976 as part of its incredibly useful Newsstand feature. [Note: URLs for individual pages at that website are subject to change and links get adjusted here periodically.]
cover to Action Comics #463
Related: 1st Issues • Comics of March • Golden Year
I heart this so bad.
ReplyDeleteY'know, when you told me about Stefan's call for proposals that led to your "52 Geek-Out" posts, I thought of coming up with a roster of titles straight from my/our DC golden age — and I realized immediately that 33 of the 52, at least, were easily identifiable because of exactly this; a quick visit to Mike's AWODCC would help me flesh out the rest my skipping a month or so in either direction.
I find it really interesting that covers for basically the entire Line of DC Super-Stars were provided by Ernie Chua/Chan, Joe Kubert, Luis Dominguez, and Dick Giordano, with a little Jim Aparo, Bob Oksner, and Mike Grell.