''1st Issue Special'' was a

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication t ...

series from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, done in a similar style to their ''

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

'' series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. The goal was to showcase a new possible first issue of an ongoing series each month, with some issues debuting new characters and others reviving dormant series from DC's past. No series were actually launched from ''1st Issue Special'' but the

Warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

made his first appearance in the title and the character's ongoing series was already slated to debut a few months later.

Publication history

Writer

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

explained the series' origin: "''1st Issue Special'' was a peculiar book concept based on ublisher

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

's observation that first issues of titles often sold better than subsequent issues. Carmine’s brainstorm: a monthly series of nothing but first issues. It sounds like a joke, but he was dead serious". Conway has also denied that ''1st Issue Special'' was a tryout series, pointing out that tryout series run each feature for several issues so that the publisher has enough time to get sales figures before deciding whether to give the feature its own series; since each feature in ''1st Issue Special'' ran only one issue, DC would have had to either launch the new series before sales figures came in for the tryout (thus making the feature's appearance in ''1st Issue Special'' pointless) or launch the new series six months or more after the tryout issue (by which time reader interest in the feature would have faded). Conway added: "We used to sit at editorial meetings and armine Infantinowould say, 'Who has an idea for ''1st Issue Special'' next month?' How do you develop a project that has a potential to be a real series within 20 days? You can't". Only two of the ''1st Issue Special'' features received an ongoing series:

Mike Grell Mike Grell (born September 13, 1947) is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'', '' The Warlord'', and '' Jon Sable Freelance''. Early life Grell studied at the University of W ...

's The Warlord, which first appeared in issue #8 (November 1975), and Gerry Conway and

Mike Vosburg Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt (TV series), Tales from the Crypt'' TV series. Biography Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15- ...

's ''Return of the New Gods'', which appeared in issue #13. Issues #1 (featuring

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

) featured art and story by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

. A number of issues featured existing DC characters: issue #3,

Metamorpho Metamorpho (real name Rex Mason, also called The Element Man) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created in 1965 by writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon. Metamorpho is a founding member of the Out ...

, issue #5, Manhunter, issue #7, the Creeper, issue #9, the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

character

Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of multiple superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version of the character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More F ...

, and issue #13, the

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

. The Metamorpho feature reunited the character's creators, writer

Bob Haney Robert Gilbert Haney, Jr. (March 15, 1926 – November 25, 2004) was an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and the Super-Sons ...

and artist

Ramona Fradon Ramona Fradon (born October 2, 1926) is an American comics artist known for her work illustrating Aquaman and Brenda Starr, and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her career began in 1950. Early life Ramona Fradon was born in Chicago and mov ...

. Haney and Fradon had met at the 1974

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

, and while reminiscing, it emerged that both of them regarded Metamorpho as one of the features they had most enjoyed working on, leading them to ask DC if they could do one more Metamorpho story together. ''1st Issue Special'' staff have not been able to answer why the Creeper story was illustrated but not written by the character's creator,

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

. Issue #12 featured a new

Starman ''StarMan'' is a 1996 fantasy novel by Australian writer Sara Douglass. It follows the second book in the series, '' Enchanter'', with Axis marching north with his army to confront a formidable enemy. Background ''StarMan'' was first published ...

character which would later be used in James Robinson's 1990s series focused on the character Jack Knight. The character was a supporting player in '' Justice League: Cry for Justice'' in 2010. Some stories which had been intended for publication in ''1st Issue Special'' appeared in other titles instead. A

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in ...

and Robin team-up was published in ''

Batman Family A collective of fictional characters appear in American comic books published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman as the main protagonist. Since Batman's introduction in 1939, the character has accumulated a number of recognizable suppo ...

'' #1 (September–October 1975) and a

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

and

Black Canary The Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics: Dinah Drake and her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance. The original version was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and ...

story was kept in inventory until it was published as a backup feature in ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' #100 (January 1978). ''1st Issue Special'' never printed a letters column, instead accompanying each feature with a "Story Behind the Story" text page.

List of stories and credits

Collected editions

* ''The Jack Kirby Omnibus'' Volume 2 includes the Atlas story from ''1st Issue Special'' #1, the Manhunter story from #5, and the Dingbats of Danger Street story from #6, 624 pages, May 2013, * ''

Showcase Presents ''Showcase Presents'' was a line of black-and-white paperback books published by DC Comics (from 2005 - 2016) at an average rate of two per month. Much like Marvel Comics' '' Essential Marvel'' volumes, each book usually included over 500 pages of ...

: The Great Disaster featuring the Atomic Knights'' includes the Atlas story from ''1st Issue Special'' #1, 576 pages, June 2014, * ''The Creeper by Steve Ditko'' includes the Creeper story from ''1st Issue Special'' #7, 288 pages, April 2010, * ''The Warlord: The Savage Empire'' includes the Warlord story from ''1st Issue Special'' #8, 240 pages, November 1991, * ''Showcase Presents: Warlord'' includes the Warlord story from ''1st Issue Special'' #8, 528 pages, September 2009, * ''The Art of Walter Simonson'' includes the Doctor Fate story from ''1st Issue Special'' #9, 208 pages, June 1989, *''DC’s 1st Issue Specials'' includes issues #1-13, 272 pages, March 2020,

References

External links

*
''1st Issue Special''
at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics {{Steve Ditko 1975 comics debuts 1976 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Bob Haney Comics by Dennis O'Neil Comics by Gerry Conway Comics by Jack Kirby Comics by Michael Fleisher Comics by Robert Kanigher Comics by Steve Ditko Defunct American comics Superhero comics

Publication history

List of stories and credits

Collected editions

See also

References

External links