AMERICAN CHRONICLES THE 1965-1969 by JOHN WELLS Table of Contents Introductory Note about the Chronological Structure of American Comic Book Chronicles ................. 4 Note on Comic Book Sales and Circulation Data.......................................... 5 Introduction & Acknowledgements ............ 6 Chapter One: 1965 Perception................................................................8 Chapter Two: 1966 Caped.Crusaders,.Masked.Invaders.............. 69 Chapter Three: 1967 After.The.Gold.Rush.........................................146 Chapter Four: 1968 A.Hazy.Shade.of.Winter.................................190 Chapter Five: 1969 Bad.Moon.Rising..............................................232 Works Cited ...................................................... 276 Index .................................................................. 285 Perception Comics, the March 18, 1965, edition of Newsweek declared, were “no laughing matter.” However trite the headline may have been even then, it wasn’t really wrong. In the span of five years, the balance of power in the comic book field had changed dramatically. Industry leader Dell had fallen out of favor thanks to a 1962 split with client Western Publications that resulted in the latter producing comics for themselves—much of it licensed properties—as the widely-respected Gold Key Comics. The stuffily-named National Periodical Publications—later better known as DC Comics—had seized the number one spot for itself al- though its flagship Superman title could only claim the honor of being the United States’ best-selling color comic book, not the best-seller period. That trophy was claimed by Mad, the black-and-white humor magazine that had been quietly purchased by a National subsidiary in 1964. Through a series of superhero revivals spearheaded by edi- tor Julius Schwartz, DC had also shone the spotlight on a new growth genre. Even publishers whose strengths lied in teen humor (Archie), kids comedy (Harvey), or simply the ability to keep the presses running (Charlton) dabbled in costumed crime-busters to one degree or another. (The defiant ACG rejected the idea of superheroes as did Hall- den, whose “line” consisted of Dennis the Menace.) Marvel Comics—under the principal direction of Stan Lee, 1965 Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko—brought something fresh to the concept, though, something beyond the slick artwork and space age premises that DC had successfully marketed. By accident as much by design, the Marvel heroes defied the classical archetype of physical and mental perfection. More often than not, these newcomers had great power that was leavened by disabilities or failings that they had to rise above, situations that could make them brittle and argumentative when they got together. In Julie Schwartz’s DC books, at least, the heroes were well- adjusted adults prone to speaking in even tones and using their indoor voices. At Marvel, the stars—whatever their physical ages—were virtually all overgrown teenagers who screamed at the top of their lungs. To kids moving into adolescence with all the emotional turmoil and drama that entailed, the angst of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and company was all too relatable. That recipe—also including large dollops of soap opera— was paying off for Marvel in comic books sold, which leapt by roughly one million copies in 1964 and again in 1965 (Tolworthy). Marvel’s titles were distributed by a compa- ny named Independent News that, like Mad, was part of the larger National Periodical Publications family. Conse- CHAPTER ONE quently, DC’s executives were well aware of their competi- 8 9 March 23: Aboard April 20: Nine years after being Cartoonist of the Year, Peanuts creator Charles TIMELINE: 1965 Gemini 3, Gus Schulz becomes the first cartoonist to again be honored with the National Grissom becomes Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award. Other winners recognized for their 1964 A compilation of the year’s notable comic book history events alongside the first NASA work include Frank O’Neal (humor newspaper strips, Short Ribs), Hal Foster astronaut to fly in (story newspaper strips, Prince Valiant), George Lichty (newspaper panels, some of the year’s most significant popular culture and historical events. space. (On sale dates are approximations.) Grin and Bear It), and Paul Fung, Jr. (comic book category, Blondie). February 1: Former National March: Charlton’s Son of Comics [now DC] publisher Vulcan becomes the next su- April 6: Intelsat May 4: The star of Marvel’s war comic book acquires January 20: Lyndon Harry Donenfeld dies at age 71. perhero of its line, beginning I (“Early Bird”) a second series in the present as Nick Fury, Agent of Johnson is sworn in for his in Mysteries Of Unexplored becomes the first S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strange Tales #135). Worlds #46. first full term as President February: Superheroes come commercial com- of the United States. to Disney comic books via March 2: The Sound of Music, munications satellite Super Goof in Gold Key’s New starring Julie Andrews and launched into orbit. May 10: Former Adventures of the Phantom Christopher Plummer, pre- adventure cartoonist Art Blot #2. mieres, eventually becoming Sansom goes for laughs one of the highest-grossing April 11: On Palm in his new comic strip, movies of all time. Sunday, dozens The Born Loser. February 15: Morrie Turner’s of tornados strike trailblazing Wee Pals comic six Midwestern March 18: Russian strip, with an ethnically-di- states with June 6: The Rolling Stones’ cosmonaut Aleksei verse cast of children, debuts more than 250 “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” Leonov becomes the in five newspapers. fatalities. is released in the United States, first man to walk in eventually becoming their first space. number one hit there. JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE February 20: The Ranger 8 May 3: Kid comic strip March 11: Abandoning its spacecraft photographs future , by Bud Blake, Justice League template, Tiger landing sites for astronauts debuts. before crashing on the moon. Marvel’s Avengers #16 replaces its headline stars with Captain America and a trio of reformed villains, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. April 29: DC’s adolescent side- March 8: 3500 U.S. kicks—now including Wonder January 24: Sir Winston Marines become the Girl—are formally dubbed the Churchill dies at the age first American combat Teen Titans in a tryout in of 90. The widely-hailed troops set to foot in The Brave and the Bold #60. former British Prime Vietnam. May 25: Muhammad Ali’s Minister’s state funeral February 25: DC’s The Brave victory over Sonny Liston in in London is attended by and the Bold #59 unites Batman March 7: In Selma, Alabama, a violent confrontation between Civil Rights a highly-anticipated boxing scores of world leaders. with Green Lantern, a harbinger marchers and state troopers becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.” As rematch is mired in contro- of the Caped Crusader’s future further marches take place, President Johnson condemns racism and versy over whether the latter co-starring role in the title. invokes the seminal phrase of the movement: “We shall overcome.” took a dive. Batman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans TM and © DC Comics. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. TM and © Marvel Characters, Inc. Blazing Combat is TM and © respective copyright holder. Lobo is TM and © respective copyright holder. Peanuts is TM and © Peanuts Worldwide LLC. Tarzan TM and © ERB, Inc. the rules” until future DC writer Cary the kids could relate to. They were for the writer’s style, something he Bates took him to task in the letter starting to talk back to their elders. later reflected on: column of Star-Spangled. War. Stories. They were starting to make their el- “Stan Lee’s success had some- #127 for the “unnecessary hard-sell.” ders earn their respect. So Beast Boy thing to do with it. But only in was an attempt to picture what I Drake found a relatively more recep- the sense that I saw it as a sig- thought was happening among some tive audience in editor Murray Bolti- nal that much of what I had of the young people” (Mougin, “Ar- noff, for whom he wrote Bob. Hope, always wanted to do could nold Drake” 9). Jerry.Lewis, Doom.Patrol, and others. now be done. Two other fac- The DP was the furthest thing from The previous few years (and those to tors were much more impor- traditional superheroes that DC pub- come) had been transformative ones tant in changing my work. lished, with a quartet of crime-fight- ers who justifiably regarded their powers as a curse. Issues #99 and #100 (November-December 1965) went further by upending the tem- plate of the well-mannered kid side- kick via Gar Logan, a green-skinned hero dubbed Beast-Boy who was mouthy and insulting in the extreme. “Beast-Boy was a double entendre,” Drake observed. “He was a brat—a pain in the ass. So calling him Beast Boy was appropriate. […] We wanted a character who could assume many different animal forms, and also Beast.Boy.embodied.the.generation.gap.in.these.panels.from.Doom Patrol.#100..Art.by.Bruno.Premiani... wanted a kid in the strip, someone Beast Boy, Doom Patrol TM and © DC Comics. 10 11 Fan.artist.Dave.Cockrum.first.made.his.mark.in.mainstream. comics.through.his.designs.for.the.Shrike.and.a.new.look.for. Son.of.Vulcan..Hawkman, Son of Vulcan TM and © DC Comics. ing old comic books than creating new ones did not deter fans from dreaming of a career in the industry. The fanzines and letter columns of the era were filled with names of young men like Rich Buckler, Mike Friedrich, Mike Vosburg, and Marv Wolfman who’d make the leap to comics pros in a few years. 18-year-olds Walter Si- monson and Bernie Wrightson—des- tined to make a splash in the 1970s on features like Manhunter and Swamp Thing—first surfaced on fan art pages in Magnus,.