803 – Superman Changes the Past

Superman #146 (May 1961) has a great re-telling of Superman’s origin, deftly weaving in all sorts of facts and notes of the Superman mythos up to this point, but I found its second feature “Superman’s Greatest Feats!”. In it, we see Superman convinced by Lori Lemaris to try and save Atlantis from being sunk. Superman […]

Read More »

802 – Marvel Monsters: April 1961

I’m going to call April 1961 the month when Atlas Comics finally FINALLY became Marvel Comics, since some of their comic books on sale that month had a very distinctive “MC” insignia box on the covers: Journey into Mystery #69 and Strange Tales #86. Farewell Atlas Comics! I, for one, welcome our overlords Stan Lee, […]

Read More »

801 – DC and Togetherness

A fun letter appears in the Justice League of America #5 (Apr 1961), in which Bob Cherry of Detroit, Michigan calls on DC comics to up their crossover type events and weave their characters much more tightly together. Clark (Superman) Kent, Lois Lane and Iris West interview Carol Ferris and Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan on […]

Read More »

800 – Mon-El

Superboy #89 (April 1961), expands the Superboy/Superman/Legion mythos yet again by introducing another important character: Mon-El, also known as Lar Gand. After crash-landing on Earth, Superboy rescues the amnesiac young man who seems to have all the powers of a Kryptonian, carries a letter written in Kryptonese from Jor-El, and a locket expressing their love […]

Read More »

799 – Shadow Thief

In the Brave and the Bold #36 (April 1961), one of Hawkman’s repeating enemies is introduced: the Shadow Thief. Carl Sands learns how to separate himself from his shadow, then rescues a dying alien who gifts him with a “dimensiometer”, which can let him control his shadow and manipulate the world around him. The alien […]

Read More »

798 – Atomic Knights Go Green

In “World out of Time”, Strange Adventures #129 (Apr 1961), after the Atomic Knights manage to connect to a satellite orbiting the Earth and are able to see live video from across the globe, they discover an island that is lush and green – a surprising anomaly in a world devastated by atomic war. It […]

Read More »

797 – Marvel Monsters: March 1961

Atlas Comics still has a just a teensy bit longer before they officially become Marvel Comics, so I guess we should keep going with the “Marvel Monsters” series, this time showing issues on sale in March 1961: Torr, Gargantus, Kraa the Unhuman and “X” the Thing That Lived!

Read More »

796 – The Amazing Adult Fantasy Adventures of Dr. Droom

Atlas / Marvel Comics introduced a new comic book in March 1961: Amazing Adventures. It’s just another fantasy book, but what’s there are a couple interesting things about this book. First, the creators decided to introduce its first ongoing character since Jimmy Woo and the Yellow Claw: Dr. Droom and this character sticks around in […]

Read More »

795 – More Legion Please

More Legionnaires are introduced in the Supergirl story in Action Comics #276 (March 1961). This time around, Saturn Girl and two new-to-us members Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl play pranks on poor ol’ Kara Zor-El and then invite her into the future where they want her to try out again for Legion membership. That didn’t […]

Read More »

794 – Wonder Tot

They just added Hippolyta as an active member of Wonder Woman’s family, but they decided to add another incarnation of our main hero in Wonder Woman #122 (March 1961): Wonder Tot. This is really a try-out via a device that de-ages Diana to just above toddler. She manages to kick-ass anyway.

Read More »