Adventure Comics - ;The Final Decade

Adventure Comics—The Final Decade, 1973-1983

Denys Howard, November 2001 (revised January 2008)

The format of Adventure Comics changed in 1973 when the Supergirl series that had run since 1969 left, moving to her first-ever solo title. In a half-page text piece at the end of issue 425 (Dec. 1972 - Jan. 1973), editor Joe Orlando explained that this was now a try-out book: "Be it science fiction, mystery, horror, whatever ... if it is good ... if it is exciting ... if it has ADVENTURE ... then it can appear in ADVENTURE COMICS."

The try-out aspect of the format only lasted, really, for the half-dozen 1973 issues. Adventurers' Club never caught on. Captain Fear only ever appeared again in 1981, in Unknown Soldier [1977 series] 254-256 (a story reprinted in The Art of Walter Simonson, 1989). However, Black Orchid did go on to various issues of Phantom Stranger [1969 series] from 1974 to 1976 and in Super Friends (!) 31 in 1980, and then she was Vertigoed in 1988.

The Vigilante story in the second new-format issue was a foretaste of the type of series that would be featured from 1974 until the Dollar-Comic format started in the summer of 1978. During this period, Adventure Comics served as a revival title for existing features currently on hiatus, rather than brand-new concepts. It wasn't very successful in the short term, but several of the features did have additional series later in the 1970s and 1980s.

These are the major features that ran from 1973 to 1983:

The Spectre had been Silver-Aged in 1966, but The Spectre [1967 series] had ended in 1969. After stories here in Adventure Comics in 1974-75 (all reprinted in Wrath of the Spectre [1988 series] and Wrath of the Spectre [2005 series]) he had no regular series for another dozen years.
Aquaman [1962 series] had been canceled in 1971; his Adventure Comics series in 1975-77 preceded a short-lived revival of his own title in 1977-78. He didn't have another series for almost a decade after that.
The Seven Soldiers of Victory series might have been considered a "new concept" - the team had not had a new story since 1942! They had headlined Leading Comics until that title changed to a humor format with issue 15. Their first appearance in a modern comic book was as guest stars in the JLA/JSA annual team-up in Justice League of America [1960 series] 100-102 in 1972, followed by a reprint of their story from Leading Comics 2 in two of the 100-page issues of Justice League of America [1960 series] in 1974. Their Adventure Comics story was in 1975-76. (The entire Leading Comics run has been reprinted in DC Archive Editions.)
Beware the Creeper had ended in 1969. Most recently, the character had been in 1st Issue Special 7 in 1975 and was paired with Wildcat in Super-Team Family 7 that winter. The Creeper's Adventure Comics series was in the summer of 1976 and was followed by another in seven issues of World's Finest Comics in 1978. He didn't have his own series again until 1983, as a back-up feature in The Flash [1959 series].
The Martian Manhunter series in House of Mystery had ended in 1968. After a three-issue story here in Adventure Comics and one story in World's Finest Comics, all in 1977, he appeared only in the JLA (and famously, of course, in the JL - anyone want an Oreo?) until a 1988 mini-series.
In 1977, the original Superboy title changed to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. His next appearance was here in Adventure Comics in 1977-78, followed by another short series in The Superman Family in 1978-79. He finally got his own book again in 1980, The New Adventures of Superboy.

During 1979, Adventure Comics changed formats again to a 68-page anthology (the so-called Dollar Comics). Deadman was in every issue and Wonder Woman was in all but the last two issues. The book was rounded out with Green Lantern and New Gods stories in the first two issues, followed by a Justice Society of America series for the rest of the format.

The Dollar Comics were followed by a year in which DC tried making Adventure Comics a two-in-one monthly book for a while and then even added a third story in the 36-page book. Those features were Plastic Man, a new Starman, and Aquaman. After Dial H for Hero was featured solo during 1981 (during which the title of the book was actually changed to Adventure Comics Presents Dial H for Hero), Adventure Comics finally reached its nadir, limping on as a digest a for another year and a half before finally being euthanized.

One of the core DC titles was gone, with only its logo revived for nostalgic purposes on Adventures in the DC Universe and its title given a new #1 during the 1999 retconning of the Justice Society of America. Sic transit gloria mundi.

This is a list of the features and some of the stories in the final decade of Adventure Comics.

425: Pegasus cover [Kaluta]; "The Wings of Jealous Gods" [Marron/Toth]; "Prior Warning!" [?]; Sword of the Dead "Death Rides with Evlig!" [GKane/GKane]; Captain Fear 1st app. "Captain Fear" [Kanigher/Niño]

426: Vigilante cover [Giordano]; Adventurers' Club 1st app. "[Haunt Me to My Death!]" [Albano/Aparo]; Vigilante "Snow-White Death!" [Bates/Sekowsky&Giordano]; Captain Fear "God of Vengeance" [Kanigher/Niño]

427: cover [Dominguez]; Adventurers' Club "The Voodoo Lizards!" [Albano/Aparo]; Vigilante "The Slaying Town!" [Bates/Sekowsky&Giordano]; Captain Fear "His Daughter's Keeper!" [Kanigher/Niño]

428: Black Orchid cover [Oksner] (r in Direct Currents 10); Black Orchid 1st app. "Black Orchid" [Mayer/DeZuñiga]; Dr. 13, the Ghost Breaker "The Ghost on the Glasses" [Skeates/DeZuñiga]

429: Black Orchid cover [Oksner]; Black Orchid "Challenge to the Black Orchid" [Mayer/DeZuñiga]; Captain Fear "Pirate's Revenge" [Skeates/Niño]

430: Black Orchid cover [Oksner]; Black Orchid "The Anger of the Black Orchid" [Mayer/DeZuñiga]; Adventurers' Club "Whick! Whock! Whick! Whock!" [Drake/Dominguez]

The Spectre [Aparo]: [Toth] 431 Captain Fear [Skeates/Niño] 432 433 434 Aquaman 435 436 437 Seven Soldiers of Victory 438 439 440 (all Spectre r in The Wrath of the Spectre 1-3)

Aquaman: Seven Soldiers of Victory 441 442 443 444 The Creeper 445 446 447 448 Martian Manhunter 449 450 451 452

Superboy (from DC Super-Stars 12; then to The Superman Family 191-198): Aqualad 453 454 455 456 Eclipso 457 458

$1 ISSUES: Deadman all; Wonder Woman to #464

Green Lantern, New Gods 459 460

Justice Society (from All Star Comics [1940 series]; then to All-Star Squadron): 461 462 463 464 465 466

Starman (Prince Gavyn) [Ditko], Plastic Man [Staton]: 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 Aquaman 475 476 477 478 (Plastic Man from #467-471 r in Adventure Comics 498, 499, 501-503)

Dial H for Hero: 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490

DIGEST FORMAT, LSH r all: 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503

All references to Adventure Comics are to the first series, which was published by National Periodical Publications and DC Comics from 1938 to 1983. [return]