Marvel and DC: Side-by-Side in 1978

1978

Doug: We're downhill on our examination of the 16 years that, at least in some circles, comprise the Bronze Age of comics. The past few years have been high-water marks for many of our readers, as it seems like we've hit a run of 3-4 years when people are really taken back to those first few years of comics buying. The year 1978 saw the birth of the world's first "test tube" baby in the UK, and the ascension to the papacy of John Paul II. The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, pleaded guilty to six murders, and the Camp David Accords were signed between Egypt and Israel. The mass suicide in Guyana at the direction of the reverend Jim Jones occurred. The comic strip Garfield debuted, and the Sony Walkman debuted. And at the theaters, we believed a man could fly; other major pictures included Grease, The Deer Hunter, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Halloween (egad, was that a fright fest!!).

Doug: National Periodical Publications kicked off the first quarter with GL/GA #100 which introduced the new Air Wave. Had that one -- and I know just where I bought it! One of my faves (you wouldn't know it from reading my reviews!) was canceled but went out in style when Teen Titans #53 ended the book's revival. Steve Englehart's and Marshall Rogers' Joker Fish story was in Detective Comics #'s 475-476. Maybe the biggest going-on to come out of DC was the introduction of Firestorm the Nuclear Man in the eponymous #1, cover-dated March. As I said in a previous Open Forum, this is a character that's done nothing for me over the years. Maybe I just don't get it. Same thing for Steel, who also debuted that month in Steel #1. The Don Heck art alone would have kept me away from that one! But All New Collectors' Edition C-55 did get my hard-earned $2.00, as it was a treasury-sized dose of the Legion of Super-Heroes and featured the wedding of Lightning Lad to Saturn Girl. Great story! And they weren't done yet, as the Superman vs. Muhammad Ali treasury (All New Collectors' Edition C-56) shipped in March as well. Man, was March 1978 DC's best month in a long time, or what?

Karen: I remember that DC biggie well! I think the Legion one was the only treasury-sized book I had from DC. Doug: However, the House of Ideas was in no way caught napping! Wendell Vaughn debuted in the pages of Captain America and the Falcon #217 by Roy Thomas, Don Glut, and John Buscema --Vaughn would of course later become known as Quasar. Also in January, Captain Britain made his American debut in Marvel Team-Up #65 (which also introduced the villain Arcade). Jim Shooter and George Perez kicked off the "Korvac Saga" in Avengers #167, one of the classic storylines involving Earth's Mightiest Heroes (EDIT: Jim Shooter has recently entered the blogosphere -- see the link on the sidebar. Interestingly, a recent post discusses how the Marvel Method led to the now-decades old personification of Hank Pym as a wife-beater). In February Weapon Alpha, James Hudson, showed up in X-Men #109 to bring Wolverine back to Canada. He failed.

Karen: I believe I had all those Marvel titles you just mentioned. For some reason, I really wanted to see more of Captain Britain after this team-up, but I don't think I ever paid much attention to Excalibur.

Doug: The Captain's costume pictured at right is, in my opinion, far superior to his later duds. I especially like the mask.

Doug: As spring sprung, Showcase turned 100 -- issues, that is. Many of our readers have implored your favorite reviewers to give this one a whirl. Trouble is, neither of us own it! That ish was cover-dated May, and featured somewhat of a prelude to Crisis on Infinite Earths as writers Paul Levitz and Paul Kupperberg and artist Joe Staton combined the powers of five dozen heroes to combat an intergalactic menace that threatened to pull the Earth from its orbit, and in the process disrupted the time stream. At Marvel, the month of April showcased four major events: Jack Kirby put another two #1's on the shelves with Devil Dinosaur #1 and Machine Man #1, the debut of Spider-Woman #1 by Marv Wolfman and Carmine Infantino, and Luke Cage shared billing with his new partner in Power Man and Iron Fist #50.

Karen: I recall at the time thinking that the pairing of Luke Cage and Iron Fist was just crazy; it reeked of desperation. Yet 30 years later, they're still hanging out together -and both Avengers (although who isn't an Avenger now?).

Doug: DC's summer saw Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes begin the Earthwar in SLOSH #241 in July. The next month Superman began his monthly team-up series in DC Comics Presents #1. And perhaps one of the most well-known (though rarely seen) collectibles was "published" in the summer months, as DC's editors decided to make available many of the stories lost during the so-called DC Implosion -- but only to DC personnel. This was in two volumes of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, which carried a price tag of 10c, even though it was never sold. On the frontispiece to this chapter of the DC Comics Year By Year, the author writes that in spite of the December release of Superman: The Movie DC dropped 31 titles. Blame was tossed toward the recession, increasing printer costs, and spotty distribution due to blizzards on the East Coast. Maybe... but how about the fact that Marvel was kicking the snot out of DC for shelf space?

Karen: Earthwar was one of my favorite Legion stories -I prefer it to Great Darkness actually. Jim Sherman did a fine job as Legion artist but seems to be forgotten by many. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of Canceled Comic Cavalcade; I keep reading things about it. I wasn't that aware of the DC Implosion at the time as I was still mainly a Marvel reader, but it was obviously a very painful period for the company. On the other hand, we did get Superman:the Movie, which I think is still one of the best super-hero films.

Doug: Marvel's summer of comics love included the introduction of Mystique in a story that ran through Ms. Marvel #'s 16-18, and the renaming of the Rampaging Hulk black-and-white magazine to simply The Hulk! as it attempted to tie-in more closely to the television show.

Doug: As for DC, the DC Comics Year By Year does not have any entries for September-December. I guess that's because everything was canceled! But Marvel gave fans a costume revamp for Ms. Marvel by noted costume revamper Dave Cockrum in Ms. Marvel #20. The "Korvac Saga" ended in Avengers #177, and David Michelinie and Bob Layton began their classic collaboration in Iron Man #116. In December Marvel's first graphic novel, by none other than Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, hit the shelves and was entitled The Silver Surfer. Incidentally, 1978 was another watershed year at Marvel personnel-wise, as Kirby departed for the last time to enter the animation field. This perhaps also coincided with the ascension of Jim Shooter to the position of Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics.

Karen: I'm shocked by how many times the DC book has nothing to say for a given time period. There can't have been nothing happening. Seems like laziness to me. I was glad to see Ms. Marvel's costume change. The black outfit is much better than her Capt. Marvel-lite version.