''DC Special'' was a
comic book 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 to co ...
series published by
DC Comics originally from 1968 to 1971; it resumed publication from 1975 to 1977. For the most part, ''DC Special'' was a theme-based
reprint
A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields.
Academic publishing
In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known a ...
title, mostly focusing on stories from DC's
Golden Age; at the end of its run it published a few original stories.
Publication history
''DC Special'' began publication with an issue focusing on the work of artist
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 ...
and
cover date
The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
d October–December 1968.
Some of the themes the title covered were special issues devoted to individual artists such as Infantino and
Joe Kubert, strange sports stories, origins of super-villains, and stories of historical literary adventure characters such as
Robin Hood and
The Three Musketeers. Issue #4 featured many supernatural characters and writer Mark Hanerfeld and artist
Bill Draut crafted the first appearance of
Abel, who later became (along with his brother
Cain
Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...
) a major character in
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
's ''
The Sandman
The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.
Representation in traditional folklore
The Sandman is a traditional charact ...
''. The series was cancelled with issue #15 (November–December 1971).
The book was revived four years later and continued the numbering of the original series.
The final three issues featured all-new stories. Issue #27 was a book-length
Captain Comet and
Tommy Tomorrow story by
Bob Rozakis and
Rich Buckler. Artist
Don Newton began his career at DC Comics with an
Aquaman story in ''DC Special'' #28 (July 1977). That same issue introduced the
Quakemaster, an
enemy of the Batman co-created by writer
Bob Rozakis and artist
John Calnan
John Calnan (February 26, 1932 – December 27, 2016) was an American comics artist best known as the co-creator of Lucius Fox with writer Len Wein.
Early life
John Calnan graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. One of ...
.
Paul Levitz and
Joe Staton finished the series with a
Justice Society of America story which revealed the team's origin.
[McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 175: "The genesis of comics' first superhero team...had been a mystery since the JSA's debut...Writer Paul Levitz and artist Joe Staton decided to present the definitive origin story".]
With ''DC Specials cancellation following issue #29 (Aug.–Sept. 1977),
DC immediately begin publishing the
umbrella one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'' (2 ...
title ''
DC Special Series'', which lasted until Fall 1981.
The issues
Collected editions
* ''
Black Canary Archives'' includes the Black Canary story from ''DC Special'' #3, 224 pages, December 2000,
* ''Secret Society of Super Villains'' Vol. 2 includes ''DC Special'' #27, 328 pages, May 2012,
* ''Legion of Super-Heroes Archive'' Vol. 13 includes the Legion of Super-Heroes story from ''DC Special'' #28, 240 pages, May 2012,
* ''
Justice Society'' Vol. 1 includes ''DC Special'' #29, 224 pages, August 2006,
* ''
Showcase Presents: All-Star Comics'' Vol. 1 includes ''DC Special'' #29, 448 pages, September 2011,
See also
* ''
DC Special Series''
References
External links
*
* {{comicbookdb, type=title, id=7172, title=''DC Special'' (1975)
''DC Special''at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
*
''Daily Planet'', volume 77, #2 (January 10, 1977) house advertisement fo
''DC Special'' #27at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
1968 comics debuts
1971 comics endings
1975 comics debuts
1977 comics endings
Comics anthologies
Comics by Gerry Conway
Comics by Paul Levitz
DC Comics titles
Defunct American comics
Superhero comics
Team-up comics