''1st Issue Special'' is 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 to co ...

series from

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, done in a similar style to their '' Showcase'' series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. The goal was to capitalize on the trend that the first issues of comic book series typically sell better than subsequent issues.

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, science ficti ...

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

Carmine Infantino Carmine 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 creations are ...

'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 ...

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

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

'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 world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

) featured art and story by

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

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

Metamorpho Metamorpho (Rex Mason) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon, the character debuted as the lead feature in The Brave and the Bold, ''The Brave and the Bold'' (January 1965). ...

, 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 wh ...

character

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

, 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 Lance Bruner, Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and ...

and artist

Ramona Fradon Ramona Dom Fradon (; October 2, 1926 – February 24, 2024) was an American comics artist known for her work illustrating Aquaman and ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'', and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her career began in 1950 and lasted until ...

. Haney and Fradon had met at the 1974

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

, 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 ac ...

. Issue #12 featured a new Starman 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 fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Bette Kane, Betty Kane was introduced into publica ...

and

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

team-up was published in ''

Batman Family ''Batman Family'' is an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters to the superhero Batman. An eight-issue miniseries called ''Batman: Famil ...

'' #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'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

and

Black Canary Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As one of the earliest female superheroes in the DC Comics universe, the character has made numerous appearances in prominent team-up titles, ...

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 included a letters column, instead accompanying each feature with a "Story Behind the Story" text page. DC published a hard cover collection of the series in 2020. Characters from ''1st Issue Special'' star in the 12-issue 2022-2023

DC Black Label DC Black Label (also referred to simply as Black Label) is an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics consisting of original miniseries and reprints of books previously published under other imprints. The imprint intends to present t ...

series ''Danger Street'' by Tom King and Jorge Fornes. Instead of devoting separate issues to each character or group, as in the original series, ''Danger Street'' incorporates all the different characters into overlapping narratives.

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'' is a line (comics), line of black-and-white paperback books that were 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 incl ...

: 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 Comics by Walt Simonson Defunct American comics Superhero comics DC Comics titles

Publication history

List of stories and credits

Collected editions

See also

References

External links