] type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Thursday, October 27, 2011

DC Super Heroes - "Prisoner of the Stars"

sg
With General Mills back in the comics business (sort of), I thought it was the perfect time to take a look back at another DC comic given away as a premium in GM brand cereals--namely, the 1979 "Prisoner of the Stars" mini-comic!

This book was part of a four-book series; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman each got their own, with Aquaman (*sigh*) only making an appearance in this group book.

I had never read this comic before, so of course I was excited to finally see it (I get that way about any Aquaman comic)--that was, until I read it. I've decided to post the whole book without comment, so I'll join you after page sixteen:

sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
sg
Sadly, this is the kind of comic book that really helped cement in kids' minds that Aquaman was pretty useless as a superhero. He's in this story just as a hostage; after page five he's basically an Aqua-cicle. To make matters worse, since this was part of a mass-merchandising tie-in, these General Mills comics were probably more widely read than any regular DC comic of the time, thereby reaching a lot more kids than, say, Adventure Comics ever did.

Also--why are the Super Friends planning to let Xisis go the next day? He did try and kidnap (and transport across planetary lines) a superhero, for Neptune's sake--you'd think that earns him a bit more of a punishment than being stuck in the Metropolis Zoo for a day. "Aw, come on, Aquaman, lighten up--he didn't do anything that bad!"
I don't know who produced this comic; though the cover is clearly by go-to guy Ross Andru. Can any of the regular Shrine readers who actually toiled at DC around this time clue us in?

7 comments:

Earth 2 Chris said...

The inks look like Vince Colletta. The pencils have me stumped as well.

Looks like Robin gets on the cover, but not the interior?!?

Chris

Wings1295 said...

Ugh, indeed. And what did Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman do for SEVERAL hours while waiting for Aquaman???

r duncan said...

Xisis must be friends with Lobo, another character who does whatever he wants and the heroes let him go.

LaurieS..Sutton said...

This was produced a little before my time in the Special Projects department at DC, so I can't identify the artists with any certainty. However, Ross Andru and Dick Giordano were indeed our go-to guys during my tenure.

Joseph Brian Scott said...

I can understand your disappointment, but I thought using the tail slaps to convey location was pretty clever.

misterperturbed said...

I;m getting a George Tuska vibe from the pencils. The inks are obviously Vince Colletta

rob! said...

Randy-

Hmm...I think that's a really good guess.