It's easy to forget that we're living in the Golden Age of Reprints.
These days there are hundreds of books out there (both hardback and softback) reprinting comic books and comic strips from the 1930s to the present. It's an amazing wealth of material that's now available to readers all over the world.
It wasn't always like that. From the '60s until the late '80s, the only reprints were in the back of annuals, and in a few special publications like this issue in the DC 100-Page Super Spectacular series.
This issue is actually best known for its Neal Adams cover, with most of the Justice League on the front cover and the Justice Society on the back, all posing as though for a group photo. Some hated it because it was too static, but I was among the many who loved it. It was unique for the time, and stands up today as an amazing piece of art.
And what a fantastic selection of reprints inside! DC makes great use of the 100 pages, including two issues of the Justice League featuring the first meeting between the JLA and the JSA! The title of the first issue resonates today: "Crisis on Earth-One!"Also included is a '40s adventure with The Spectre, '50s stories with Johnny Quick and The Vigilante, a never-before-published Golden Age tale of the Wildcat, and from the Silver Age, an early adventure of Hawkman and Hawkgirl!
These were treasures undreamed of in 1971 (the cover date of this issue). Golden Age comics were impossible to find (at least in the rural area where I grew up), and early Silver Age issues weren't exactly plentiful, either.
Comics like this one opened the door to the vast history of comics that seemed virtually out of reach.
Thankfully, today the companies have realized the value of those old stories, and they're making them available to today's readers (though sometimes at a hefty price).
The cover was the only thing new about this comic, but oh, what a treasure for fans!
Grade: A
2 comments:
I (or my Dad, I should say) bought this at our local grocery store. I lost it over the years but I bought a reprint a few years ago. It brings back memories. I love Neal Adams' cover too. I like how the heroes are different heights and builds.
When I was a kid, I loved, loved, loved these 100-page Super Spectaculars. In fact, one of them featuring Batman (with a cover similar to this one) had the origin story of the Doom Patrol. That's when I became a fan, and that's why I keep waiting for a good DP series.
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