Green Lantern Green Arrow Flash publication in the 70's and WGSH

[hedrap]

I didn't realize the odd publication choices DC made in the 1970's.

I knew GL became a GL/GA titled book the late 60's/earliest 70's, but I didn't know that was canceled mid-stream and GL was made a Flash backup story. I faintly recall Arrow being a secondary in Action.

And this was '72-'76, the big Mego days. I'm wondering if this partly explains the WGSH decision to focus on Marvel and away from the initial DC launch. Marvel sales in the 70's were rocky, but DC goes cliff diving, (and doesn't recover until the 90's).

So could Arrow have gotten a figure simply because he was the Action backup story, whereas Flash, and especially Lantern, were lagging too far behind?

[Earth 2 Chris]

By that logic, Flash would have gotten a figure before Green Arrow. Flash maintained his own title, and it was stable enough to house the homeless GL. Green Arrow was never a headliner until The Longbow Hunters (barring that mini-series by Mike W. Barr and Trevor Von Eden in the early 80s).

DC made a LOT of bone-headed decisions during Infantino's days in the big chair, cancelling titles before sales were ever even tallied. I don't doubt GL/GA's sales weren't the best, but you think the critical acclaim they got would have given them a stay of execution.

Mego branched off into odd quadrants of DC, but they still gave us the Teen Titans, and don't forget the Comic Action and Pocket Heroes lines were predominantly DC, especially when it came to accessories.

Chris

[hedrap]

Very true. I haven't looked it up, but I'm guessing Action sold better than Flash and Arrow rode that.

Maybe GA was chosen because so many parts were repurposed for Robin Hood? Or Vice Versa. He really is only three new parts; head suit and quiver.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^His head was actually retooled from the Pirates Long John Silver figure, so it wasn't a totally new sculpt to boot.

You're probably right about Action outselling Flash. That may have helped GA get a figure, but I still think Flash was the more popular character. I think the Atom was an Action back-up at the time too, so it's a shame we didn't get him.

Chris

[Mr.Marion]

Green Arrow also guess starred on Super friends which style guide art they even used for the box.
GA is a strange choice since he was the only new DC addition in 1975.
Aquaman had reruns of the filmation series. Remember ideal made Aquaman, Aqualad, and Mera so he was a big deal back in the 60's.
Teen Titans were brought back for 15 or so issues around the time the figures came out.
The Titans were rebooted again in 1980.
The best way to look at Mego character choices back then were
1. Are they on Television?
2. Are they part of a team or in a more popular heroes universe (Teen Titans, Catwoman,falcon,Lizard,etc)