Adventures with at least one eye open.
It starts with Santa Claus being blown up.
It ends with one of the most garish gifts in the DC Universe.
It features six super-heroes behaving criminally stupid in an Agatha Christie-style caper that climaxes with a ridiculous deus ex machina simply because the story had only so many pages and just had to end.
So why is “The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus” such a fun story – and yes, even important?
Continue reading “Slay Bells Ring! The Justice League Gets a Lock on Santa’s Killer”
Len Wein had a problem: He was too good.
The writer for “Justice League of America” had marked the 100th issue of DC’s premier team book in 1972 with a rousing, riveting three-part JLA/JSA team-up that brought together 33 heroes to save Earth 2. It was a time-spanning epic that re-introduced the Golden Age heroes the Seven Soldiers of Victory and an old-school story so much fun, it sent a generation of comic book lovers into orbit.
A year later, Wein was ordered to do come up with something even better.
Continue reading “The JLA/JSA Nightmare: When Nazis Rule an Earth”
The Big Two in comics – DC and Marvel – use the summer to declare war and blow up universes.
Just a way to help readers pass school vacation.
While DC’s “Convergence” and Marvel’s “Secret Wars” are currently laying waste to continuity and wallets through their multiple, mediocre tie-ins, the summer comics event isn’t a new thing – but conversely, it was far more enjoyable and less painful to the wallet.
Continue reading “The Iron Hand That Shook the World: The Summer Comics Event of ’72”
