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DC Special

DC Special was a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics originally from 1968 to 1971; it resumed publication from 1975 to 1977. For the most part, DC Special was a theme-based reprint title, mostly focusing on stories from DC's Golden Age; at the end of its run it published a few original stories.

Publication history

DC Special began publication with an issue focusing on the work of artist Carmine Infantino and cover dated October–December 1968.[1] Some of the themes the title covered were special issues devoted to individual artists such as Infantino and Joe Kubert, strange sports stories, origins of super-villains, and stories of historical literary adventure characters such as Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers. Issue #4 featured many supernatural characters and writer Mark Hanerfeld and artist Bill Draut crafted the first appearance of Abel,[2] who later became (along with his brother Cain) a major character in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. The series was cancelled with issue #15 (November–December 1971).[3]

The book was revived four years later and continued the numbering of the original series.[1] The final three issues featured all-new stories. Issue #27 was a book-length Captain Comet and Tommy Tomorrow story by Bob Rozakis and Rich Buckler. Artist Don Newton began his career at DC Comics with an Aquaman story in DC Special #28 (July 1977).[4] That same issue introduced the Quakemaster, an enemy of the Batman co-created by writer Bob Rozakis and artist John Calnan.[5] Paul Levitz and Joe Staton finished the series with a Justice Society of America story which revealed the team's origin.[6]

With DC Special's cancellation following issue #29 (Aug.–Sept. 1977),[1] DC immediately begin publishing the umbrella one-shot title DC Special Series, which lasted until Fall 1981.

The issues

Collected editions

  • Black Canary Archives includes the Black Canary story from DC Special #3, 224 pages, December 2000, ISBN 978-1563897344
  • Secret Society of Super Villains Vol. 2 includes DC Special #27, 328 pages, May 2012, ISBN 978-1401231101
  • Legion of Super-Heroes Archive Vol. 13 includes the Legion of Super-Heroes story from DC Special #28, 240 pages, May 2012, ISBN 978-1401234393
  • Justice Society Vol. 1 includes DC Special #29, 224 pages, August 2006, ISBN 1-4012-0970-X
  • Showcase Presents: All-Star Comics Vol. 1 includes DC Special #29, 448 pages, September 2011, ISBN 978-1401233037

See also

External links

  • DC Special at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
  • Daily Planet, volume 77, #2 (January 10, 1977) house advertisement for DC Special #27 at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

References

  1. {{gcdb series|id= 1852|title= ''DC Special''}}^
  2. Michael McAvennie. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle Dorling Kindersley, 2010^
  3. Jason Sacks, Keith Dallas. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s TwoMorrows Publishing, 2014^
  4. {{gcdb|type=credit|search=Don+Newton|title=Don Newton}}^
  5. Matthew K. Manning. Batman: A Visual History Dorling Kindersley, 2014^
  6. McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 175: "The genesis of comics' first superhero team...had been a mystery since the JSA's debut...Writer Paul Levitz and artist Joe Staton decided to present the definitive origin story".^
  7. {{Gcdb issue|id= 22630|title= ''DC Special'' #3}}^