''Daily Planet'' was a promotional page appearing in

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 ...

publications from 1976 to 1981. The ''Daily Planet'' contained previews of upcoming stories, as well as recurring features like "The Answer Man", where DC writer/editor

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of '' 'Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis ...

would answer questions sent in by readers, and a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

by cartoonist

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

which poked fun at DC characters. Edited by Rozakis, the ''Daily Planet'' was set in the format of a page from the fictional

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

newspaper where

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

worked.

Publication history

The ''Daily Planet'' first appeared in '' House of Secrets'' #141, cover-dated May 1976. The volume numbers started at 76, to correspond with the debut year 1976. Each week, a new issue of the ''Planet'' appeared in selected issues of DC's lineup. As time went on, new materials and features were added, including puzzles, crosswords, and trivia. Beginning in 1980, the ''Daily Planet'' was rotated with its sister publication, the "''Feature Page"'', which often featured an expanded "Answer Man" column and "DC Profiles" of company creators. In 1981, the ''Planet'' was moved exclusively to DC

Dollar Comics Dollar Comics was a line of DC Comics comic book publications issued from 1977 to 1983 and revived in 2019. The 1977-1983 line included the titles '' The Superman Family'', ''House of Mystery'', ''G.I. Combat'', ''World's Finest Comics'', ''Batman F ...

The Superman Family ''The Superman Family'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1974 to 1982 featuring supporting characters in the ''Superman'' comics. The term "Superman Family" is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters of c ...

'' and ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

''. With only seven issues produced in 1981, the ''Daily Planet'' feature was discontinued after the December 1981 issue (DC

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 ...

March 1982). The "

Direct Currents ''Direct Currents'' is the name of several promotional features by DC Comics, including a long-running newsletter. History ''Direct Currents'' was first used as the name of a text feature appearing in DC's comics beginning in 1966.''Direct Currents ...

" section was continued sporadically on some comics' letters pages. 212 editions of the ''Daily Planet'' were produced from 1976 to 1981.

Successors

In 1983, DC instituted a monthly column much more in the vein of Marvel's "

Bullpen Bulletins "Bullpen Bulletins" (originally titled "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins") was the news and information page that appeared in most regular monthly comic books from Marvel Comics. In various incarnations since its inception in 1965 until its demise in 200 ...

". Titled "Meanwhile...", it was written by DC Executive Editor

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

for most of its history, which ran into the early 1990s. Unlike "Bullpen Bulletins", which was characterized by an ironic, over-hyped tone, Giordano's columns "were written in a relatively sober, absolutely friendly voice, like a friend of your father's you particularly liked and didn't mind sitting down to listen to". Giordano closed each "Meanwhile..." column with the characteristic words, "Thank you and good afternoon". As the "Meanwhile..." column started to peter out, it was succeeded by a similar page called "DCI with

Johnny DC Johnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as a metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears. History The character originally appeared ...

". The Johnny DC column featured miscellaneous DC news items, often spotlighting certain books or creators, and also included a partial checklist of current DC titles.

Recurring features

* ''The Answer Man'' — Rozakis answering reader-submitted questions ranging from basic trivia to obscure facts about DC characters. ** ''What It's Worth?'' — Short-lived "sub-feature" created in response to frequent inquiries about the value of back issues. * '' Hembeck'' — Three-panel strip that ran from 1978 until the ''Daily Planet'''s demise in 1981. * ''Direct Currents'' — Checklist of DC comics on sale that week.

Quotes

Writer

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

References

{{Reflist

External links