100-Page FAKES! presents: ADVENTURE COMICS # 450

100-Page FAKES! imagines mid-1970s DC 100-Page Super Spectaculars that never were...but should have been!




Another 1977 issue of Adventure Comics brings us more gorgeous Jim Aparo artwork on the Aquaman lead feature, backed by more gorgeous Mike Nasser art on the Manhunter From Mars support strip. The Martian Manhunter also features the return of former Adventure Comics star Supergirl as special guest heroine.

To make this into a phony 100-pager, we add some Golden Age Hawkman and Phantom Lady, some Silver Age Martian Manhunter, and the conclusion of the 1970 Aquaman-Deadman crossover (with more gorgeous Aparo art, and some gorgeous Neal Adams art, too). 

We also have the debut of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's version of the MLJ Comics/Archie Comics hero The Shield. In the '40s, the original Shield had been comics' first star-spangled superhero, predating Simon & Kirby's (much) more famous Captain America. S & K had nothing to do with that first Shield, but created an entirely new and unrelated Shield for Archie in 1959 under the title The Double Life Of Private Strong. That comic book only lasted two issues, but it was energetic and fun, and worth a look for hero fans like you 'n' me.

Aquaman in "The Watery War Of The Weather Wizard," Adventure Comics # 450 (March-April 1977)
The Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl in "The Wishing Well, " Flash Comics # 35 (November 1942)
Aquaman in "The Traders' Trap!," Aquaman # 52 (July-August 1970)
Deadman in "Never Underestimate A Deadman," Aquaman # 52 (July-August 1970)
The Shield in "The Man With The Double Life!," The Double Life Of Private Strong # 1 (June 1959)
The Phantom Lady in "The Vortex Of Scoundrels And Scandal!," Phantom Lady # 14 (October 1947)
Manhunter From Mars in "Ordeal By Fire," Detective Comics # 239 (January 1957)
Manhunter From Mars in "Return To Destiny," Adventure Comics # 450 (March-April 1977)

The Shield/Private Strong is copyright Archie Comics, and everything else is copyright DC Comics Inc. The Phantom Lady story is public domain, while the rest can only be shown here in sample pages; my subscribers see the whole thing. 100-Page FAKES! will return in a few days with another faux 100-page Adventure Comics as we continue the Martian Manhunter serial.

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