The first volume of the Justice League of America in Showcase Presents, DC's competitor to Marvel's budget-priced black-and-white Essentials line, collects 20 early issues of the super team, starting in The Brave and the Bold 28-30 and continuing into the first 16 issues of the JLA's own book and Mystery in Space 75 (featuring Adam Strange).Truthfully, a lot of the issues have a sameness to them, with the Leaguers generally splitting up to tackle menaces (usually alien) individually and having to figure out how to handle something specifically designed to neutralize each member's powers, e.g., Green Lantern against something yellow (if only they'd selected those assignments a little better...).Notable issues include the JLA's first appearance, facing Starro the conqueror; the introduction of teen "hipster" Snapper Carr; the "origin" of the League; and the addition of Green Arrow and the Atom to the core lineup of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.Fortunately this 1960-62 run by the classic team of Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky (with occasional other contributors) improved as it went along, with more use of teamwork and story lines involving Doctor Light, Felix Faust, the untouchable aliens, and the cavern of deadly spheres.--David Horiuchi

    Get caught up on all things Laura Kinney with these Marvel Primer Pages and then check out the start of All-New Wolverine in Marvel Legacy in All-New Wolverine #25.

    Well, either way, have we got the miniseries for you, in which the full tale of that momentous and momentary pause can be told! It’s a cosmic adventure beyond your wildest imaginings: Power Girl and Harley Quinn, stranded in a forgotten dimension, on the homeworld of the amorous warlord Vartox! They’ll sacrifice anything they have to in order to get home…except their dignity! Kidding! That’ll be the first thing to go.

    Its editor, Vin Sullivan, also drew the debut issue's cover. It features the character "Fui Onyui" who served as the "yellow peril" villain (battled by Slam Bradley and his humourous sidekick Shorty Morgan).No Batman until issue #27.

    [2] of cover.

    Selling in the millions each year for the past six decades, comic books have figured prominently in the childhoods of most Americans alive today. In Comic Book Nation, Bradford W. Wright offers an engaging, illuminating, and often provocative history of the comic book industry within the context of twentieth-century American society.From Batman's Depression-era battles against corrupt local politicians and Captain America's one-man war against Nazi Germany to Iron Man's Cold War exploits in Vietnam and Spider-Man's confrontations with student protestors and drug use in the early 1970s, comic books have continually reflected the national mood, as Wright's imaginative reading of thousands of titles from the 1930s to the 1980s makes clear. In every genre—superhero, war, romance, crime, and horror comic books—Wright finds that writers and illustrators used the medium to address a variety of serious issues, including racism, economic injustice, fascism, the threat of nuclear war, drug abuse, and teenage alienation. At the same time, xenophobic wartime series proved that comic books could be as reactionary as any medium.Wright's lively study also focuses on the role comic books played in transforming children and adolescents into consumers; the industry's ingenious efforts to market their products to legions of young but savvy fans; the efforts of parents, politicians, religious organizations, civic groups, and child psychologists like Dr. Fredric Wertham (whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, a salacious exposé of the medium's violence and sexual content, led to U.S. Senate hearings) to link juvenile delinquency to comic books and impose censorship on the industry; and the changing economics of comic book publishing over the course of the century. For the paperback edition, Wright has written a new postscript that details industry developments in the late 1990s and the response of comic artists to the tragedy of 9/11. Comic Book Nation is at once a serious study of popular culture and an entertaining look at an enduring American art form.

    Untreated, they fester and grow into the diseases of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness. Unaided, the law is blinded by bureaucracy and bound to a justice bent toward the protection even of the criminal. The face of a kinder and gentler nation is destroyed, carved into a harlequin's mask; a grim skull. And the wielders of the scythe laugh, secure in the knowledge that their crimes will go without punishment.They are wrong. In the urban jungle, there is one who stands alone and apart; one who lives not for the law, but only to see justice done. The Punisher reaps a different harvest.Once, he was Frank Castle, loving husband and father. A tour in Vietnam had shown him what war was. Part of him died there, but a precious part stayed alive, determined to return to the family he loved, and the peace and freedom that was his America. Part of him held on to live, until his family died in a hail of mob gunfire, victims of the wrong place and wrong time.Daily, criminals greedily cut their portions from the souls of the weak and weary, the foolish and the frightened. One man senses how the guilty feed like parasites on the heart of the American Dream. One man hears when evil laughs at the law. One man sees clearly that the most powerful criminals have placed themselves above the law. One man has become their judge, their jury.One man has become their Punisher.

    In this new collection, Kyle decides to seek the guidance of the greatest heroes alive -- the Flash, Batman, and Wonder Woman -- only to find that he is already worthy of the name "hero."

    The Cold War has begun. The Age of the Superhero is in decline. But where are the heroes of tomorrow? DC: The New Frontier recounts the dawning of the DCU's Silver Age from the perspective of those brave individuals who made it happen. Encounter "keepers of the flame" including Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, who survived the anti-hero sentiment of the Cold War, as well as eager newcomers like test pilot Hal Jordan and scientist Barry Allen, poised to become the next generation of crimefighters.Cooke, a master storyteller, writes and illustrates this landmark tale, a must-have for fans of the DCU and all lovers of powerful tales of heroism!Collecting: DC: The New Frontier 1-3 & the three extra pages originally seen only in Wizard Magazine

    Retold and redefined in this volume is the origin of the Spectre, the most powerful being in the universe. As the Wrath of God bonded on a human soul, the Spectre roams the Earth in order to confront evil and avenge the unavenged dead as a form of penance. Paying for his earthly sins, the Spectre must not only oppose evil but also understand why men commit it. Once this metaphysical journey is completed, his mortal soul will be freed and another will be called upon on this holy mission of redemption.

    In this hard-hitting, value-packed volume, witness Batman's formation of the original Outsiders! Metamorpho, Black Lightning, Katana, Halo and Geo-Force star in these stories from BATMAN and THE OUTSIDERS #1-19, BRAVE and BOLD #200 and NEW TEEN TITANS #16!

    Plastic Man is more than just a putty face--with his bad-boy past, he literally embodies the comic book form: the exuberant energy, flexibility, boyishness, and subtle hints of sexuality. And as cartoonists "become" each character they create, it can be said that Jack Cole himself resembles Plastic Man. Cole revealed the true magnitude and intensity of his imagination and inner thoughts as Plastic Man slithered from panel to panel--shifting forms and dashing from male to female, or freely morphing from a stiff upright figure to a being as soft as a Dali clock. With a compelling history, a V-necked red rubber leotard, a black-and-yellow striped belt, and very cool tinted goggles, Plastic Man is truly a cult classic, and this art-packed book will delight any fan.

    While Bruce Wayne and Hunter Rose play power games in Gotham's high society, Batman finds himself up against a new and vicious foe of uncanny intellect and evil intent, one more than capable of testing the Dark Knight's formidable skills to their limits.

    1. Included are many tales either never before included in graphic novel form or long out of print, including SUPERMAN: SPEEDING BULLETS, SUPERMAN: KAL, SUPERMAN: DISTANT FIRES, SUPERMAN: A NATION DIVIDED, SUPERMAN, INC. and SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE WORLDS.

    Gotham City is on the brink of a violent evolutionary path and the danger level to Batman and his allies reaches a fever pitch. The Magistrate now have full support from the mayor to handle high level law enforcement in Gotham and have branded the Dark Knight as Enemy #1. Plus, the Scarecrow has his own terrifying agenda as he takes this chaotic moment to launch his master plan. This is the first look at the epic FEAR STATE event that runs across the Batman titles beginning this Fall. The new Dark Knight, Jace Fox has arrived in this sneak peek of the upcoming I AM BATMAN series written by Academy Award-winner John Ridley with stunning art by Travel Foreman. Fans will get a taste of this blockbuster storyline starring the next Dark Knight.