Announcing a new reading project! Over the next…however long it takes… I’ll be reading many of the super-hero titles published by DC Comics, from cover date December 1969 until at least the end of the Bronze Age (so late 1986). I was going to start from Jan 1970, but there was too much continuation from the previous month (Green Lantern, Detective, Action, and JLA all carry over). Interesting to see all the changes initiated at this point (Dick Grayson goes to college, Bruce and Alfred move downtown, Snapper betrays the League forcing them to relocate, etc.). Almost like a rebirth of sorts… Anyway, I’ll be making posts here to chronicle my foray through DC’s Bronze Age.
This month, Superboy decides he’s had enough and wants to just be Clark, which includes giving up his powers. If you’ve ever ready a Superman comic, you know this doesn’t last long. In Green Lantern, Hal returns to Coast City, and Star Sapphire returns to GL’s life, leaving him in space and with amnesia at the end of the story. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Dick Grayson heads off to Hudson Univerisity, so Bruce decides to move to the Wayne Penthouse downtown and employ a “back to basics” approach. He also starts up a new program to help out the vicitms of violent crimes, which also provides cases for Batman. In Central City, Captain Cold finds a way to restore youth to old people, and tries to use it to save and marry an old, rich actress. It kind of works, but after taking out Flash (catching him in suspended animation which the hero was vibrating), he brags to Heat Wave which ends up being his undoing. Elsewhere, the Joker, in disguise, tricks Snapper Carr into revealing the location of the Justice League’s secret headquarters. Fortunately, Black Canary’s new sonic powers, which she cannot yet control, allow her to save the day. However, this still leaves the JLA in need of a new headquarters. In Action, 2 alien space suits, 1 belonging to a criminal and 1 to a law enforcer, given sentience by the radiation of passing comet, reach Earth, and their struggle causes trouble in Metropolis, drawing the attention of Superman. The story ends with both suits racing to be the first to possess the powerful Man of Steel. In the 30th Century, Chameleon Boy falls for a girl who is scared of his looks, so he disguises himself to appear more human. This doesn’t last long though, as he is forced to uses his powers, revealing who he really is, but the girl decides that there is more to him than his alien appearance. In Detective, Batman has to clear both his name, and a driver hired by the Wayne Foundation for a race, when it appears that the driver was hired to shoot another driver, causing him to lose an eye. Meanwhile, Robin has his first adventure at Hudson University.
This month, Aquaman returns to Atlantis, Wonder Woman goes to Red China made up like a Chinese woman (although with this art, the only change was the skin color), Superman saves Metropolis from bombs, but the second story has him losing his powers and costume before being sent to the Execution Planet (to be continued), the story of Superbaby blowing up the Earth helps Superboy save it, Black Canary is hypnotized, Superman entrusts the President with a weapon that can destroy even him (definitely pre-Watergate), Batman is stalked by a hunter, and Batigrl and Robin finally team up in their 2-part team-up story.
