1986: THE DC STAR TREK COMIC CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF TREKKIN' IN STARLOG MAGAZINE

From 1986: More STARLOG MAGAZINE salutes to the STAR TREK spin-offs during the 20th anniversary year.  This time: the first run of the DC Comics series....

1993: DC COMICS NEWSTIME MAGAZINE MARKS THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN

From May 1993: Remember when Doomsday killed SUPERMAN... the first time?

DC made the most of the media hoopla around the death of the Man of Steel (the same mass media that was also suckered into thinking every comic book published that year was a surefire investment opportunity... suckers!) by publishing this in-universe current affairs mag (the title is a clue) giving a DCU perspective on the loss and the aftermath.

It's a fun read - complete with spoof ads and articles - that complemented events in the main comic books. As far as I know, it has never been reprinted and remains an interesting oddity.

1981: DC COMICS IN THE SUPER HEROES MONTHLY VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 (LONDON EDITIONS)

From 1981: the gang's all here in this fantastic wraparound cover, by Alan Craddock, to launch Volume 2 (aka issue 13) of THE SUPER HEROES MONTHLY.

There really isn't much difference between the two volumes (still black & white interiors. Still a smorgasbord of DC reprints from across the decades) so the reboot seems to have just been publishing tradition rather than a Panini-style jumping on point dictated by storylines and reboots.

The second volume ran for a mere seven issues although the masthead continued for a few more years as a run of annuals.

1980: DC COMICS IN THE SUPER HEROES MONTHLY VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 (London Editions)

From 1980: the first issue of Britain's THE SUPER HEROES MONTHLY. Not to be confused with any Marvel UK weeklong Montgomery a similar name.

This was a reprint vehicle, from London Editions (aka Egmont), showcasing assorted classic strips (in black & white) from the DC COMICS archives.

The 'Showcase' approach meant each issue had a different emphasis, allowing a wide trawl of the back catalogue. Most of the reprints were self-contained and done-in-one. The line-up was varied but with an emphasis on DC's most bankable screen heroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Where the title really excelled was the editorial attention to detail. From the specially commissioned covers (which were usually also published on the back cover - usually prime advertising space - without the logo and cover text) through to the original feature pages... this felt altogether more classy than the cobbled together Marvel UK reprints.

The first volume ran for twelve issues. The second extended the run by another seven before the title was cancelled. LE were also publishing the British editions of the SUPERMAN POCKET BOOK and  BATMAN POCKET BOOK (editions also appeared in other European markets thanks to switching out the black plates, with dialogue and captions, at the printers) around this time. They also published a number of annuals which also used British artists to provide new covers.

London Editions, latterly Fleetway Editions, renewed their association with DC later in the decade.

1990: TOTAL RECALL MOVIE ADAPTATION (DC COMICS)

From 1990: the done-in-one DC Comics adaptation of the Arnie movie TOTAL RECALL.

The cover is - I think - the key art from the film's marketing campaign.

Carolco were the high spending studio that eventually spent themselves into bankruptcy.

1989: BATMAN MOVIE ADAPTATION (DC Comics)

From 1989: The done-in-one DC Comics adaptation of the BATMAN movie.

DC, unlike Marvel, didn't seem to embrace the idea of stretching adaptations out over multiple issues, either as part of the regular run or (as was the fashion in the Eighties and into the Nineties) as a limited series.  They preferred the one-shot format.  

This is the "floppy" edition.  There was also another, more upmarket, Bookshelf version in a better format and boasting an alternative cover. 

The back cover is the US print spot for the movie itself (which works particularly well as a stylish back cover illo as well) featuring the ubiquitous logo. 

Amidst all the perfectly stage managed hype, BBC TWO's THE LATE SHOW didn't an excellent episode dedicated to all-thing-bat.  I still have my off-air recording somewhere although, if I recalle correctly, atmospherics played merry hell with the signal that night.  Doh. 

1985: FIFTY WHO MADE DC GREAT One-shot (DC Comics)

From 1985: FIFTY WHO MADE DC GREAT.  This DC Comics one-shot only occasionally surfaces in the back issue boxes... a one-shot comicbook-scaled one-shot celebrating fifty past and present names from DC's history to mark their fiftieth year in print.  

I'm a sucker for this sort of thing so I found it a very enjoyable read.  Some of the names might seem a little weird (SUPERGIRL's Helen Slater for one) but it captures a moment in history and, no-doubt, reflects some internal politics over which of their current collaborators (hello Kenner) should receive some ego-boosting recognition.  

1981: BATMAN DOES CHRISTMAS from THE SUPER HEROES (London Editions)

From December 1981: a UK-only Bryan Talbot festive-themed full colour piece from the back page of London Edition's THE SUPER HEROES (a UK black & white monthly dedicated to reprints of various DC strips of various vintages) volume 2, issue 3. 

1985: SUPERGIRL Movie Adaptation (DC Comics)

From 1985: the cover of DC's SUPERGIRL movie tie-in one-shot, complete with a distinctive piece of New York geography.  

The movie was, of course, something of a creative and box office stinker which hastened the sale of the rights to Cannon Pictures.  The result was their legendary SUPERMAN IV, the death knell for the once-lucrative franchise.  

1987: SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE MOVIE ADAPTATION (DC Comics)

This is DC Comics' (of course) adaptation of CANNON FILM's low-flying entry into the SUPERMAN movie franchise: the much lambasted (I saw it in the cinema in 1987… I believe it was deemed more acceptable than whichever JAWS sequel was playing on another screen at the same time… and it was pretty bad) SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, the last outing in the original sequence of films.

Somewhat unbelievably, DC had only started doing adaptations of these movies with the third outing (they also covered-off dodgy spin-off SUPERGIRL) because the corporate mandarins believed that having the movie version of Supes AND the regular comic book incarnation appearing on news stands at the same time would confuse the punters.  Go figure.

1983: POWER LORDS (DC Comics)

Welcome to the world of also-ran toys...

I vaguely remember seeing the POWER LORDS (The Extra Terrestrial Warriors) in British toy stores but I never owned any and I never met anyone who did.  I don't recall much (any?) of a marketing push behind them over here so it's entirely possible that we were seeing excess stock dumped after the line had failed stateside.

But Revell certainly gave these the best start they possibly could across the Atlantic: a three-issue DC Comics limited series (December 1983 - February 1984) and a spin-off computer game (advert below).

The toys themselves, obviously a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE wannabe, look to have featured some innovative action features, although Adam Power's was obviously just a twisting torso as demonstrated in the print ad (that ran across the DC comics line) below.

Probably not unsurprisingly, the early noughties revival in eighties toy and animation characters didn't see the return of this bunch.

1988: STAR TREK DC COMICS COVER GALLERY - PART SIX

Here's the final Cover Gallery of the regular issues of DC Comics' first crack at STAR TREK.

Publication suddenly halted (although I don't think subsequent issues were ever solicited) after the 56th issue (which looked suspiciously like an inventory tale anyway) without warning.  DC and Paramount were locked in behind-the-scenes wrangling over the future direction of the book and the supporting cast.

Simultaneously to the main book, DC had also published a six-issue STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION limited series, based on the show's first season (or, more accurately, extrapolated from the show's bible and the shooting scripts of the first few TV episodes as the comic had to debut alongside the syndicated series) so - with plans afoot for a regular TNG book and the imminent release of STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER - the studio obviously saw the moment to renegotiate the license with DC.

Both titles did return, along with another movie adaptation (which also - unusually - had a UK edition published under license from London Editions), the following year in a swankier format.

The arrival of DEEP SPACE NINE upset the apple cart when Paramount, rather than automatically grant the license to DC, favoured Malibu Comics.  For the indie start-up, it was a deal worth doing as not only did it raise their own profile in the industry but it also proved they could take on the big boys and do business with the Hollywood studios for major licensing deals.

Malibu, eventually home of the ambitious Ultraverse (after giving Image a helping hand) eventually started to succumb to the declining market and put itself up for sale.  Marvel, fearful of loosing market share to DC (also sniffing around the West Coast outfit), snaffled-up the smaller rival and promptly struggled to do anything meaningful with the characters it had just acquired and - eventually - shelved the lot.

However, the Malibu tie-up did open the doors for Marvel to do a comprehensive deal with Paramount to license various properties including Star Trek and the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie franchise,. snatching Trek away from DC.  Marvel went all-out on the deal, launching a raft of new books based on the constituent shows (now including VOYAGER) as well as 'non-core' spin-offs like STAR FLEET ACADEMY (also a series of books from Pocket Books), THE EARLY YEARS (based on Trek's original pilot episode The Cage) and - possible in a nod to Marvel's own history with the franchise - a book set during Kirk's (largely unchronicled) second five year mission after THE MOTION PICTURE.

Although Marvel apparently considered the line a success, it pulled the plug because the cash-strapped publisher wasn't happy about the licensing fee it was paying Paramount.  The franchise then hoped back to DC via their Wildstorm imprint before the current deal with IDW.

1987: STAR TREK DC COMICS COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE

Here's the penultimate collection of covers from the original 56-issue DC Comics STAR TREK run.  There's more nods to the TV past with the conclusion of the Harry Mudd storyline, Orion pirates and slave girls and a sequel to The Apple.

Peter David, a writer now closely associated with Trek in print (amongst many, many other things) first signed aboard as regular writer - a role he would continue in the early issues of the second run - from issue 48, bringing with him his trademark humour.

- TO BE CONTINUED - 

1986: STAR TREK DC COMICS COVER GALLERY - PART FOUR

Back to 1986 and STAR TREK's 20th anniversary for another gallery of covers from DC Comics' first crack at the franchise.

Although this seems like relatively recent history to me (a sure sign of getting old me thinks) I was suddenly struck by how much simpler the franchise was back then.  There was just the two TV versions (live-action and animated) and the occasional feature film (plus a back issue box of comics and paperbacks from Pocket Books).  As these books were being prepared and published, THE NEXT GENERATION was just gearing up on the Paramount lot.

There's a lot of loose-ends being tied-up in these issues as the creative team resets everything in time to tie everything into STAR TREK IV (which slots-in between 36 and 37).  Basically, the crew had to be deposited back onto Vulcan and Spock returned to his unstable state-of-being (courtesy of a space virus that also wiped-out his former supporting cast from his science vessel) to match the beginning of the fourth flick.

The team also continued to mine Trek's back-catalogue of good ideas.  Issue 30 gave Uhura a solo outing during the Enterprise's original five-year mission, the Romulans turned-up in 34-35 followed by Harry Mudd from 39.  The post ST IV Enterprise crew also added Arex and M'Ress from the animated series.

BTW - I did indeed go and see the new Trek at the weekend and whilst you'll find no spoilers here (don't you hate it when people inadvertently blurt stuff out?) I can confirm that it's jolly good.  Purists may bitch and moan (a bit) but were it ever so?  I thought it was stonking!

- TO BE CONTINUED - 

1984: THE DC SUPER POWERS COLLECTION ADVERT

This is the US launch ad for Kenner's SUPER POWERS COLLECTION action figure line, based on the DC Comics characters, from late 1984.

The Super Powers brand was created for the toy line but - in that clever toy marketing way - expanded to encompass numerous products and manufacturers.  It probably did a lot to bolster the public profile of DC's characters at a time when Marvel's heroes were still struggling to gain traction despite the odd animated series and the late-seventies live-action shows.

The collection did reach the UK but didn't seem to have anything like the same impact.  The Hanna Barbera animated show (a rejigged version of the long-running SUPER FRIENDS franchise) didn't cross the Atlantic despite the success of SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS on the BBC and THE HULK on ITV.

Marvel may have played a part by nobbling the success of a British Super Powers comic.  Around this time, the Annex of Ideas acquired certain rights to reprint DC strips.  This deal, which fandom initially anticipated would see a number of regular DC comics issued under the Marvel banner, never actually amounted to much and - as far as I know - only spawned the 1985 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE SUMMER SPECIAL and a solitary SUPER POWERS ANNUAL (which I'll cover in more detail in a future post) which seemed to suffer from very limited distribution at the time (I never saw a copy) and rarely turns-up today.

Whether Marvel or DC suddenly grasped the implications of the deal and terminated it or whether the early ventures were deemed a value and the venture ended is unclear but both the DC and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE licenses eventually landed at London Editions (despite the fact that Marvel US took over the US MOTU strip license, through the Star Comics line, in the States).

The most likely explanation is that Marvel UK were also publishing a British edition of MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS, loosely based on the Mattel action figures (Mattel only did the deal with Marvel to act as a spoiler for the DC/ Kenner tie-up) and - understandably - favoured supporting their own characters and licensing deals rather than simultaneously publishing a rival title promoting a rival (and - frankly - superior) toy line.

1985-86: STAR TREK DC COMICS GALLERY - PART THREE

DC's monthly US STAR TREK book outperformed its successor my mustering a mere 19th issue and its twentysomething issues reflected the confidence of the comic despite having to fill that tricky void between the third and fourth movies.

The creative team didn't leave Kirk and co. mopping around on Vulcan but restored them to Star Fleet. Kirk and crew went to - inevitably - the Excelsior whilst Spock, presumably at the behest of the studio, was placed in command of a Vulcan science vessel.

The highlights of this run of issues was a sequel to the memorable TOS episode The Wolf in the Fold (Redjac's back!) and an amusing two-parter with some pretty inept alien antagonists (the sort of premise the latter days of Marvel's STAR WARS run would have some fun with).

- TO BE CONTINUED -