70's DC reprint book identification help 0

[Number 6]

Growing up in the 70's I would check out the comic book reprint books that my local library had.  There was the Marvel Fireside stuff, and were a few DC books as well.

There was the Baman and Superman From the 30's to the 70's books, I believe first issued by Crown and then reissued from Bonanza.  Later there was a Shazam From the 40's to the 70's book issued by Harmony.  I'm kind of assuming that Crown/Bonanza/Harmony are all actually the same publisher, just changing their name for some reason.

Anyway, I also distinctly remember checking out a book that reprinted the origins of the Golden Age DC heroes, but I don't remember what it's called.  I would think it was published by the same company as the books above but I don't know that.

Any idea what the title for that book from that era might be?

 

Thanks in advance for the help.

[SOTIcollector]

Was it only the DC heroes?  Or were there others?  Jules Feiffer’s Great Comic Book Héroes was a common book back then. It had origins of DC and other heroes.

Edited October 23, 2023 by SOTIcollector

[Number 6]

Just checked eBay, yeah I think that might be it.  I was about 5-6 years old when I checked it out so my memory is hazy.  The 30's to 70's books I had the benefit of checking out multiple times growing up so my recollection on those is better.

 

Thanks!

[shadroch]

The Super-Heroes was many a young boy's introduction to the Golden Age, as every library had a copy. It even had one page about Captain Marvel and an explanation that they were legally prohibited from printing more.

Library books on comics or with comics were scarce. The only other books I recall were Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

The Origin of Marvel Comics was a big deal in its day.

[SOTIcollector]

On 10/23/2023 at 4:35 PM, Number 6 said:

Just checked eBay, yeah I think that might be it.  I was about 5-6 years old when I checked it out so my memory is hazy.  The 30's to 70's books I had the benefit of checking out multiple times growing up so my recollection on those is better.

 

Thanks!

Glad to help.  Here’s a first page from each character in the book.  Perhaps something here will jog your memory.

 

[SOTIcollector]

… and then there’s the afterword. Can you believe people being such diehard collectors that they would buy a ‘Tec 27 or Action Comics 1 for $50?

 

[Number 6]

I actually don't have very fond memories of this book.

Keep in mind:  I checked this book out when I was like 5 or 6 years old so at that point I was probably looking at the pictures more than anything.  

My mom always encouraged reading and would read to us before we would go to bed.  One night I asked my dad to read me my story before bed and I handed him this book.  You have to understand that my dad had absolutely no knowledge or interest in comic books and thought all the science fiction and superhero stuff I was into was dumb.

So he starts reading the Green Lantern story and when he "becomes" Green Lantern I start objecting that that's not right because that's not Green Lantern...because he doesn't look what I knew Green Lantern looked like and because the origin wasn't right either.  And my dad argues that it IS Green Lantern because that's clearly what the book says.  We go back and forth until my dad loses patience and I'm in tears.  My mom had to intercede and that's the only time I checked that book out from the library.  

My dad didn't know enough about comic books to explain the difference between Golden Age and Silver Age DC characters and I was too young to articulate what the problem was.

 

What's interesting to me is how I had such a clear idea at that age of what Green Lantern's origin should be.  The different look is obvious, but I can't think of how I knew Hal Jordon's origin at that point.

I know that there was the Challenge of the Super Friends episode that got into some of their origins, but that also has the villains interjecting themselves into the heroes' origins and I probably saw that episode only once (if it even had aired at that point) so I'm not sure if Hal's origin would imprint on me that strongly from just that exposure.

 

Was there one of these reprint books that had the Silver Age origins of the DC characters?

 

[shadroch]

On 10/26/2023 at 10:35 AM, Number 6 said:

I actually don't have very fond memories of this book.

Keep in mind:  I checked this book out when I was like 5 or 6 years old so at that point I was probably looking at the pictures more than anything.  

My mom always encouraged reading and would read to us before we would go to bed.  One night I asked my dad to read me my story before bed and I handed him this book.  You have to understand that my dad had absolutely no knowledge or interest in comic books and thought all the science fiction and superhero stuff I was into was dumb.

So he starts reading the Green Lantern story and when he "becomes" Green Lantern I start objecting that that's not right because that's not Green Lantern...because he doesn't look what I knew Green Lantern looked like and because the origin wasn't right either.  And my dad argues that it IS Green Lantern because that's clearly what the book says.  We go back and forth until my dad loses patience and I'm in tears.  My mom had to intercede and that's the only time I checked that book out from the library.  

My dad didn't know enough about comic books to explain the difference between Golden Age and Silver Age DC characters and I was too young to articulate what the problem was.

 

What's interesting to me is how I had such a clear idea at that age of what Green Lantern's origin should be.  The different look is obvious, but I can't think of how I knew Hal Jordon's origin at that point.

I know that there was the Challenge of the Super Friends episode that got into some of their origins, but that also has the villains interjecting themselves into the heroes' origins and I probably saw that episode only once (if it even had aired at that point) so I'm not sure if Hal's origin would imprint on me that strongly from just that exposure.

 

Was there one of these reprint books that had the Silver Age origins of the DC characters?

 

What year are we talking about?  The Super Heroes came out in the 1960s.  I can't think of a 1970s TPB that reprints Hal Jordans origin. 

[seanfingh]

On 10/26/2023 at 1:35 PM, Number 6 said:

I actually don't have very fond memories of this book.

 

 

Mine are very mixed as well.  I got that book when I was nine or ten for Christmas.  I spent the entire rest of the break devouring it, and I was really taken aback and almost scared at how brutal the comics were.  And in my memory, I really had a problem with the Golden Age Flash, because it made it seem like he had killed all those bad guys (at least to my 10 year old self - I haven't read it in decades.) I have an impression of a lot of brutality in other stories as well.