DC RetroActive

[The Toyroom]

OK, I've made it through the 70s set...Can't say I'm impressed. Not sure what got lost in the translation but these seem to be long padded stories that don't quite carry out the 70s vibe they were supposedly going for.

Probably the best of the bunch is the Superman one by Marty Pasko and Eduardo Barreto. It's got some nice 70s villains in it but the story seems to run a bit long.

The JLA by Cary Bates and Andy Smith comes in next...It has a feel of those 70s stories, features Adam Strange, Earth-Prime and Julie Schwartz. But again, I think it runs too long. The backup is the JLA/JSA cross-over when Cary Bates was the badguy (?!)....however they only printed the 1st part.

The Green Lantern one is by Denny O'Neil and Mike Grell...This one is the only one in the group that actually has a 70s artist paired with a 70s writer. However O'Neill drops the ball by having the story feature Green Lantern separate from Green Arrow and Black Canary, only pairing notes on their respective adventures at the end. Not sure what connection, if any, both stories were supposed to have. The backup is the 1st part in the classic O'Neill/Adams GL/GA series.

The Flash is by Bates again with Benito Gallego on pencils (Sal Buscema on inks helps give it a bit of a 70s falvor but when did HE ever do work for DC?)Big 70s Flash fan here but Bates just didn't pull it off as far as I'm concerned.And the backup is a reprint of DC Comics Presents #2 with Supes and the Flash...Really? Couldn't they have done a solo Flash story?

Lastly, Wonder Woman by O'Neill and J. Bone is a disaster! Artwork blows as does the story, not much more to say than that. The backup is WW (during her I-Ching/white jumpsuit/powerless days)...That was the best part of the book.


Not sure if I'm really going to get any of the 80s or 90s ones yet....I feel duped!

[thunderbolt]

flipped thru one at a comic/statue store yesterday, looked really bland.

[The Toyroom]

Oh, backup in the Superman is when E-2 Supes married Lois Lane.....

[BlackKnight]

I got

The 1st Green Lantern one ...
& The Batman book with the Reaper.

The Batman book is pretty cool. I always loved Year 2 ..., and the Reaper. I haven't gotten into the GL Book Yet...


I wanna get the other Batman Book with Breyfogle for sure. I love him as the Batman artist..., and grew up on his Run.

The other 2 Green Lantern books Interest me ..., as well as the Superman Zero Hour Book.

[samurainoir]

I'll probably pick up Giffen and co's JLI. Nothing else really jumps out at me.... Maybe Messner Loeb on Flash. Although I have no idea why they didn't try and get Waid onto the 90's Flash retroactive.

[madmarva]

Oh, backup in the Superman is when E-2 Supes married Lois Lane.

That story was one of my favorites as a kid, but it wasn't quite as fun as I remembered. But that Garcia Lopez cover from that issue, believe it was in Action Comics was excellent.

Can't say the same about the retro stuff.

I enjoyed seeing Grell's Green Arrow and Black Canary and Hal. The story read a lot like their run on GL/GA when it returned from bein canceled. But it was kind of clunky.

I enjoyed the Batman issue with Tom Mandrake art and the Justice League one with Adam strange.

I'm also looking forward to the Barr/Breyfogle Batman issue. Would have loved to have seen an Alan Grant/Alan Davis Batman issue, too.

I've yet to read the others, but man Joe Staton wasn't really helped by whomever inked his GL story. The overall art looks a little slapdash.

The art was so bad on the Wonder Woman issue, I didn't even buy it.

You know, I know the conceit is to have them approach the story as if it was done in that time period, but I would have preferred that they just write and illustrate a good story.

Speaking of retro stuff, I picked up the Trial of Flash Showcase collection. I remembered really hating this as a teenager. Thinking the story just went on forever. And it did go on forever. It did go on for 27 issues, if I counted right.

But I have to say, I really enjoyed reading through it this weekend. I also remembered Carmine Infantino's aret being really poor, too. I actually liked it. Yes, it was inked a lot looser than his 60s stuff, and I still believe his inkers could have helped him a bit more than they did, but it was pretty good stuff. The only thing is that in black and white, it's much tougher to tell the difference between Flash and Reverse Flash.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I've picked up a couple, but also didn't get the retro-vibe from them. They all felt and looked a bit "half-hearted" to me.

[samurainoir]

I'm feeling like they should have gone for a higher caliber of talent... Denny O'Neil aside.

Wonder Woman and George Perez are synonymous with the 80's incarnation to me. John Byrne with the 80's Superman.... and failing that, at least Jerry Ordway.





But is is nice to see the Injustice League again. And it's kind of funny to think that getting shot in the head was probably the best thing to happen to Ted Kord in almost the same way Barry Allan getting killed in Crisis gave the character a boost from the bottom of the sales charts to a Patron Saint of DC Comics. I don't think Kord had this much exposure in the decade preceding his death. Now he shows up easily a dozen times a year in prominent roles from co-starring with Booster to showing up in The Brave and the Bold.

[Werewolf]

So far I've picked up the 70s Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman and JLA. Wonder Woman was inexcusably bad. The artwork was horrible and going with the unpopular depowered mod era WW was a mistake, in my opinion. Superman followed by JLA were the best of them. Batman wasn't bad but didn't really seem like a 70s comic to me.

Great idea but could have been a lot better executed. The $4.99 cover price can't be helping either. I still plan on getting the 80s WW. Hopefully it's good.

[The Toyroom]

Just realized I missed the 70s Batman book...

[boynightwing]

I got all the 70's books. I think the best ones were Green Lantern and JLA.
I only got some of the 80's ones. I really liked the Flash one. The others didn't really cut it.
I'll get some of the 90's stuff. Especially Batman so I can see Norm Breyfogle's art again.

[johnnystorm]

I picked up only the 70s batch so far. Pretty covers, so-so stories. The Wonder Woman story & art was terrible and I too was disappointed in not getting an actual GL/GA teamup.
And the choice for reprints was also poor. What editor thinks it's ok to print 1/2 a story? Especially when there were so many single issue tales in that era. And to publish a Flash reprint from another series? Unacceptable!

[The Toyroom]

And the choice for reprints was also poor. What editor thinks it's ok to print 1/2 a story? Especially when there were so many single issue tales in that era. And to publish a Flash reprint from another series? Unacceptable!

Agree 100%

[jemboy2004]

The Wonder Woman reprint stories were good but the new one's not so good. I didn't buy any of the other's but I'm still gonna buy the last retro Wonder Woman 90s and hope it's better than the 70s and 80s one's.

[VintageMike]

Still have a few waiting to be read but I enjoyed 70's Batman & JL. Glad I skipped WW!