The 100-Page Super-Spectacular Story
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The 100-Page Super-Spectacular Story Nelson Bridwell once said that the reason why the 100 Page Super-Spectacular series started with #4 was complicated, but he did not explain it. This article includes one possible explanation. Immediately prior to the Super-Specs, DC's most recent "giant series" had been Super DC Giant, which was published into 1971. The last two issues are S-26 and S-25, both cover-dated July/August 1971. If you look at the five-digit number code (beginning with 3) on these books, you'll see that issues numbered before S-25 and S-26 were NOT numbered. Books that were cover-dated BEFORE June, 1971, have no number. The number on S-25 is actually later than the number on S-26; these numbers represent the conceptual TITLE, not the ISSUE number. S-26 (31510, dated July/August) S-25 (31540, dated July/August) As DC Comic prepared to “close up” the Super DC Giant series, they were luring Jack Kirby away from Marvel with a new idea for a 50c series of magazines that Kirby would create. The first few books were supposed to be released in Summer, 1971, with cover dates of "1971." These were: In the Days of the Mob #1, Spirit World #1, and In the Days of the Mob #2. The first two titles were released on schedule (possibly in May or early June, with a sales date of August or September). They tanked. That is to say, the idea of an adult-themed series of magazines done in a comic-art style was not yet something that the people were ready for. This would have been a way to get around newsstand distribution, as Mad magazine had done in 1954. Perhaps as a point of intentional comparison, EC had launched a successful giant series called Mad Special in Fall 1970 which sold for 60¢ per eighty-four-page issue. However, DC’s experiment was unsuccessful to the point that most existing copies came out of a warehouse find some years ago. Since the magazine size seemed to be an impediment, In the Days of the Mob #2 was canceled. One of the stories was published in 1974 in an issue of Amazing World of DC Comics, and some of the rest of the book has also surfaced in completed form. Anyway, that makes three issues. It's POSSIBLE that the 50c series was converted that Summer from magazine format to comic book format. Issues 4, 5, and 6 came out right after one another in Summer, 1971. No. 4 (NOT "DC-4") is numbered 32012 and dated "1971". No. 5 (NOT "DC-5") is numbered 31958 and dated "1971". No. 6 (NOT "DC-6") is numbered 32014 and dated "1971". No. 4 advertises that No. 5 would be out on about July 1st. One of my copies of No. 5 was purchased on August 19, 1971, so it probably came out in mid-to-late July. Someone else reports a copy of No. 6 that has an arrival date of July 27th. Thus, we can see for sure (despite others' claims) that the 100-page series came out AFTER the end of the Super DC Giant series, the last of which went on sale in May. Weird War Tales #1 is cover dated September/October and has a number of 31745. [I caution, though, that if a title was registered early and held back, it might appear out of sequence. This one doesn't appear to be out of sequence.] So, we're likely looking at October/November, 1971, dates for No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 (meaning that the three books actually came out between late June and late July). I contend that the decision to make a new "giant series" with a 50c price was made just as Super DC Giant was printing its last issues. They test-marketed two of the three magazines and determined they wouldn't sell at that size. So... we got DC 100 Page Super-Spectacular. One hundred pages of story and art for 50c. Cheaper than Mad Special, and a way to test out content. A bargain! The concept behind the Super-Spectaculars belongs to E. Nelson Bridwell. Bridwell observed that with the rising cost of paper stock, DC had been forced a planned discontinuation of their Eighty Page Giant series. In fact, that series (formally prefixed as the “G” series) had been reduced from 80 pages down to 64 pages at the end of 1968 – beginning with Action 373 = Giant G-57, which came out the first week in January, 1969, but which was cover-dated March/April, 1969. Bridwell had a terrific institutional memory and may have recalled the original, 100-page size of World’s Finest Comics, which had sold for 15c back in 1941-43. The giant size had done quite well for the book. At the time Bridwell was pitching the idea for the Super-Specs, Batman #233 was being prepared. This was the last “G” series giant (G-85) to sell for 25c; the other 64-page giants would sell for 35c each, with the last member of the title going on sale in August and being cover-dated October/November. Apparently, Bridwell determined that DC should test-market a 50c giant series before terminating the “G” series. If there were demand for a 100-page reprint title, that title would replace the “G” series. It makes sense, then, that DC could have continued the “G” series with the 35c price tag if that format had proven to be more popular. DC tested the market by advertising three books in Summer, 1971. The First Super-Specs Nelson Bridwell was also right in estimating that the demand for DC reprints was high. The first three titles tested the market. One of the magazines was a horror/suspense reprint, another was a collection of love stories, and the third was a superhero title. The romance title did not sell well at all at the 50c size, although the “regular” series was still selling at usual numbers. The horror book, with a fine cover by Berni Wrightson, sold well enough, but the superhero book (with a Neal Adams cover) was the clear sales winner. A spotlight of the contents of the three books shows how broadly Bridwell was setting his trap for readers. Entitled Weird Mystery Tales, issue 4 contained nine stories from the late-fifties Silver Age. These tales came from all across DC’s suspense titles: House of Mystery; House of Secrets; My Greatest Adventure; and Tales of the Unexpected. With such diverse content, it was unlikely that suspense fans had read all of them. Rounding out the book were three Golden Age tales (from Sensation Mystery and Phantom Stranger), all of which were somewhat scarce. The Love Stories giant (issue 5) contained mostly newer material from the mid- Sixties. The rest of the stories appear to have been planned for Girls’ Romances but not used until this book. It cannot be a coincidence that the last issue of that title was the only issue to continue from a 15c regular-size book to a 25c giant (52 page) book. It is also no coincidence that the final Girls’ Romances issue was cover-dated October, 1971 – just before the Super-Specs started. In issue 6, Neal Adams had paid tribute to the cover of All-Star #16 (April/May 1943) with his striking wraparound. The book cleverly reprinted the first two crisis stories (from JLA 21-22), which featured both Silver- and Golden-Age heroes. The rest of the book was split between GA and SA heroes, most of whom were currently appearing nowhere. Bridwell’s genius had captured a fair number of readers, and the stage was set for the Super-Specs to take the place of both the “G” and “S” series of giants. Adding Quality to the DC Line Naturally, Superman and Batman were chosen to lead the way, and the decision was made to offer up one Super-Spectacular per month, following the same format of 100 pages with no advertising. With these issues, DC began re- introducing the world to the Quality Comics characters. DC had continued several Quality titles (most notably GI Combat and Blackhawk) in November, 1956, right after the company folded. However, DC had decided not to publish Quality’s mainstream hero titles like Plastic Man, Uncle Sam, and Kid Eternity. Perhaps with the superhero genre not being as popular as it once had been, DC saw no need to add more characters – at least not until its own pantheon was revived. At roughly the ten-year mark after Plastic Man’s last original appearance, DC decided to re-introduce the character. Plastic Man was revived first as a persona of Robby “Dial H for Hero” Reed; later that year (November/December) his own series was revived. It lasted only ten issues. Aside from the occasional guest appearance, the next Plastic Man book was DC Special #15 (cover-dated November/December, 1971). This appearance coincided with a conscious decision at DC to see whether to introduce the Quality heroes. To a great extent, that re-introduction came in the Super-Spectaculars. Even as the Plastic Man special was going to press, a Kid Eternity tale was slated for inclusion in the next Super-Spectacular (cover-dated December, 1971/January, 1972). That issue, formally Superman #245 but also called “DC-7,” also contained reprints featuring the Atom, Super-Chief, Air Wave, and Hawkman – in addition to one Golden-Age Superman story and a Silver-Age Superman classic.