The last installment of this tour guided us through all the red kryptonite stories through 1964.
In 2001, the WB Network debuted a new television show based on DC Comics' premier superhero, Superman. But this series had a unique spin. It would tell the tale of schoolboy Clark Kent, growing up with his parents as he begins to discover his powers, which seem to be ignited by puberty. The series was pitched to the network under the tagline "no tights, no flights" and was titled Smallville.
"Oh Mighty Isis!" These were the words that school teacher Andrea Thomas would utter to transform into the superheroine called Isis. In 1975, before Wonder Woman or the Bionic Woman, Isis became the first female superhero to lead a regular weekly television series.
Isis was created to be a companion show for Shazam!, both series created by Filmation Associates. Because of her association with Captain Marvel, her series eventually bled over into DC Comics. Because of this, she's earned a place on this blog!
Buckle up, and we'll review the long and complicated history of the mighty Isis!
In the pages of Fawcett Comics, a superhero named Captain Marvel made his debut in 1940. He quickly became the best-selling superhero across all comic publishers at the time. Riding on that success, Fawcett introduced a younger hero in 1942... Captain Marvel Jr. The new character became a hit in his own right, and within just a few months, he was regularly featured in three ongoing Fawcett titles. One of those, Captain Marvel Jr., ran for an impressive 118 issues.
Seeing how popular these younger heroes were, DC Comics decided to create a teenage version of their own biggest star, Superman. But there was a challenge. Superman’s origin story said he was the only survivor of a destroyed planet, which didn’t leave room for another younger Kryptonian growing up on Earth. The solution? They rewrote Superman's backstory and introduced the idea that he had actually started his heroic career as a young lad, going by the name Superboy. His first appearance as Superboy came in 1945, in More Fun Comics #101.
Over the years, writers began creating stories that showed young Superboy crossing paths with all sorts of characters who would later become part of Superman’s regular supporting cast. In this tour, we’ll take a look at some of those early, imaginative encounters!
The last installment of this tour guided us through all the red kryptonite stories through 1963
In 1964, DC introduced its readers to a new heroine called Zatanna. Zatanna Zatara, to be exact. She was the daughter of another hero, Zatara (Giovanni Zatara, to be exact!), who debuted in Action Comics #1, along with Superman, in June 1938. Zatanna opened the door for many other Golden Age heroes, and eventually many Silver Age heroes as well, to have children who would take up the family business of crime fighting. In this tour, we will take a look at the many superheroes in the DC universe who are the children (or grandchildren) of another superhero!
Let's start this tour off by making one thing very clear! The wizard is named Shazam. The hero is named Captain Marvel. I don't care how many continuity reboots DC undertakes; the hero who Billy Batson turns into when he says, "Shazam!" is Captain Marvel. I said it, and I won't take it back!
In this tour, we will go sightseeing through the Marvel Family of heroes who have popped up since the Cap's debut in 1940. Strap in and enjoy!
I started my comic reading and collecting hobby back in 1971 when I was just seven years old. It was a fantastic time for it because reprint...
