#paul levitz

[evilhorse]

Doctor Fate will not live through the night!

(All-Star Comics #62)

#all-star comics #justice society of america #jsa #super squad #dr fate #kent nelson #dr midnite #charles mcnider #wildcat #ted grant #star spangled kid #sylvester pemberton #power girl #Kara zor l #green lantern #alan scott #hawkman #carter hall #impending doom #cosmic rod #earth 2 #multiverse #gerry conway #paul levitz #keith giffen #wally wood #dc comics #comics #70s comics #bronze age comics

[comicarthistory]

The Phantom Stranger #41 cover. 1976. Art by Jim Aparo.

#dc comics #dc universe #the phantom stranger #deadman #jim aparo #fred carillo #paul levitz #joe orlando #bronze age

[dailydccomics]

living her absolute best life Huntress vol 3 #4

#helena wayne #dc comics #the huntress #earth 2 #dc #huntress vol 3 #new 52 #comics #marcus to #paul levitz #this made me crave spaghetti and meatballs man #also why red wine in flute?

[cantsayidont]

For a long time, the main impetus for DC reprinting any its voluminous back catalog was some promotional or licensing tie-in: a movie, a TV show, some merchandise they were trying to push, or just a popular ongoing book. Given how prominently Dr. Fate was featured in the recent BLACK ADAM movie, therefore, it's surprising and somewhat disheartening that DC didn't take the opportunity to do some kind of greatest hits compilation for the character, who was certainly the best thing about that mostly terrible film.

This is especially unfortunate because you could fit quite a bit of Dr. Fate's Silver Age and Bronze Age non-JSA appearances in a single volume, starting with the two 1965 SHOWCASE team-ups with Hourman shown above, by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson. There are also a number of later team-ups with Superman and Batman:

Fate then got a couple of solo features in the '70s:

Kubert cover notwithstanding, the 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL story, which is written by Marty Pasko, has some really outstanding early Walt Simonson art, while the SECRET ORIGINS OF SUPER-HEROES story has an eight-page retelling of Fate's origin, narrated by Kent Nelson's wife Inza, by the ALL-STAR team of Paul Levitz and Joe Staton.

In 1982, Doctor Fate got his own eight-page backup feature in, weirdly enough, THE FLASH #306–313. Despite what a couple of the covers imply, there wasn't a team-up between the Flash and Fate (who in those days still existed on separate parallel Earths); the Fate strip was just an unrelated second feature.

This strip, written by Marty Pasko and Steve Gerber with spectacular art by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt, presents an array of interesting ideas (some of which obviously paved the way for Giffen's 1987 revamp). Pasko had already established (in the 1975 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL story) that Doctor Fate wasn't exactly Kent Nelson: He was really the ancient Lord of Order Nabu, the entity who trained Nelson in the magical arts, who possessed Nelson's body whenever he put on the Helm of Fate. In other words, the Dr. Fate of these stories isn't so much a man wearing a magical helmet as a magical helmet wearing a man. Nabu has made both Kent and Inza ageless — they both appear about 25, but by this time, they're really in their 60s — but allows them little real control of their lives. Kent has more or less resigned himself to it, but Inza is feeling the strain of being trapped in a magical menage à trois with her husband and an inhuman entity that has little regard for Kent's welfare and even less for hers. Nabu, for his part, seems to exist in a state of constant mystical urgency in which human frailties are an unaffordable distraction.

This could have been really compelling, and it's both graphically interesting and quite strange, but all that is a lot to squeeze into eight-page installments, and having them crammed in the back of one of DC's most conventional superhero books was obviously not optimal. It was also having to compete for Giffen and Mahlstedt's attention with LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, which I assume was why the Fate strip was dropped after only eight installments.

To everyone's surprise, there was even a Doctor Fate action figure in 1984 as part of the Kenner Super Powers line. This came with a little minicomic, which to my knowledge has never been reprinted:

All of this stuff would add up to something in the realm of 230 pages, which would easily fit into a single trade paperback collection with a digestible price point. Maddeningly, DC has already done the color remastering for roughly three-fifths of this material, so even that probably wouldn't be a huge chore (although the Giffen/Mahlstedt stuff, which has a lot of color holds and graphic effects, really calls for more care in remastering than DC has tended to give its older material of late.)

#comics #doctor fate #dr fate #showcase #world's finest comics #1st issue special #secret origins #dc comics presents #the brave and the bold #brave and the bold #the flash #gardner fox #murphy anderson #denny o'neil #dick dillin #paul levitz #joe staton #mike nasser #walt simonson #martin pasko #steve gerber #keith giffen #larry mahlstedt #alex saviuk #ross andru #dick giordano #neal adams #jim aparo #don newton #hourman

[avengerscompound]

Steve Rogers

Avengers: War Across Time (2023)

#marvel #avengers #marveledit #comicedit #steverogersedit #captainamericaedit #steve rogers #captain america #avengers: war across time #616 #paul levitz #alan davis #marvel comics #avengerscompoundedit

[wwprice1]

Covers and scenes from the amazing epic “The Great Darkness Saga”. By Levitz and Giffen.

#dc comics #dc heroes #dc women #dc villains #darkseid #Darkseid is #keith giffen #paul levitz #carl gafford #larry mahlstedt #john costanza #Superboy #supergirl #Kara Zor-El #Kal-El #clark kent #polar boy #phantom girl #wildfire #brainiac 5 #ultra boy #lightning lad #bouncing boy

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #147

I had a weird love/hate relationship with BRAVE AND THE BOLD throughout almost teh entirety of its existence. I bought the book more often than not, the matching up of the Caped Crusader with other stalwarts from across the DC Universe proving too enticing too often. Plus, there was the superlative artwork of B&B artistic regular Jim Aparo, which was always appealing. But more often than not, I…

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#Batman #Bob Haney #Brave and the Bold #Cary Burkett #Daily Planet #DC #Fred Hembeck #Jim Aparo #Paul Levitz #Supergirl

[chernobog13]

The Super-cousins during the climatic battle between the Legion of Super-Heroes and Darkseid in The Great Darkness Saga. The story ran in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #290-294 in 1982. Written by Paul Levitz, art by the late Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt.

#Legion of Super-Heroes #The Great Darkness Saga #Superboy #Supergirl #Darkseid #DC Comics #Paul Levitz #Keith Giffen #Larry Mahlstedt

[dcbinges]

Legion of Super-Heroes #38 (1987) by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRocque

#superboy #clark kent #kal el #lar gand #mon el #kal-el #mon-el #legion of super heroes #paul levitz #greg larocque #dc #dc comics #comics #80s #80s comics

[onlylonelylatino]

Ragman by Joe Kubert

#ragman #joe kubert #dc comics #modern age #peter sanderson #mike w barr #paul levitz #bob rozakis #greg weisman #e nelson bridwell

[evilhorse]

Now…I need the Justice Society!

(All-Star Comics #62)

#all-star comics #justice society of america #jsa #super squad #hawkman #carter hall #signal #in trouble #earth 2 #multiverse #gerry conway #paul levitz #keith giffen #wally wood #dc comics #comics #70s comics #bronze age comics

[prydefulhunts]

- Helena Wayne of Earth 2 meets Batman of Prime Earth (Worlds’ Finest #19)

- Helena Wayne from the future of Prime Earth meets present day Batman. (Justice Society of America #4)

#dc comics #huntress #jsa #helena wayne #justice society of america #batman #bruce wayne #batcat #geoff johns #paul levitz #flashpoint #earth 2 #power girl #detective comics

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

#Avengers #Wasp #Hank Pym #Paul Levitz #Alan Davis #OTP

[cantsayidont]

May to July 1986. I think a lot of people have seen the above panels from LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (1984) #22, which are really the first indication of the attraction between Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet, but consider also this scene from the following issue:

It certainly looks here like they're going to hook up in the Legion cruiser, and probably not for the first time.

In the issue after that, Lightning Lass finally breaks off her longstanding relationship with Timber Wolf (Brin Londo), a hunky sad boy who spends much of this series gradually turning into a werewolf:

This was indeed what it looked like, although it wasn't until early in the subsequent Legion series that Ayla and Vi were unequivocally together. Several of the later reboots erase their relationship completely, although they were once against together in the last Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen series (the reboot prior to the recent Bendis one).

#comics #legion of super heroes #legion of superheroes #paul levitz #greg larocque #steve lightle #mike decarlo #larry mahlstedt #lightning lass #ayla ranzz #shrinking violet #salu digby #timber wolf #brin londo #wlw

[smashedpages]

On this day in 1985, DC published Legion of Substitute Heroes Special #1 by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Karl Kesel. The comic featured Polar Boy, Color Kid, Stone Boy, Fire Lad and the rest of the rejected Legion of Super-Heroes candidates battling Pulsar Stargrave, who was well above their weight class.

#legion of substitute heroes #legion of super heroes #comic books #comics #comics to remember #dc comics #keith giffen #paul levitz #karl kesel

[wwprice1]

Awesome sequences from Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 2 by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt, John Costanza, and Carl Gafford.

#dc comics #dc heroes #dc women #saturn girl #imra ardeen #dc villains #darkseid #fourth world #new gods #jack kirby #keith giffen #paul levitz #carl gafford #john costanza #larry mahlstedt