KIRBY'S BACK! 'Nuff said!
Well, since this is a DC comic book rather than a Marvel, perhaps we should add that this fourth issue of DC's short-lived '70s series The Sandman marked the return of the legendary Jack "King" Kirby to what had originally been conceived as a one-off reunion of Kirby and his also-legendary former partner Joe Simon. When The Sandman was given an unexpected (and probably unwarranted) order to go to series, Simon had moved on, and Kirby was only available for covers. Writer Michael Fleischer took over scripting duties, and Ernie Chua penciled (with Mike Royer inks) the second and third issues. It's no disrespect to Chua to say that he couldn't match Kirby's pure pizazz, because nobody could match that. Kirby remained with the book for the remainder of its short run.
Making sure that a 1940s Wonder Woman story called "Brain Pirates From The Inner Moon World!" finds its rightful goofy place in an issue of The Sandman is reason enough to expand this into another faux 100-pager. We'll continue with the all-Golden Age focus of our recent Sandman 100-Page FAKES!, and bring in Will Eisner's heroine Lady Luck. Although Lady Luck's comic book adventures were published by Quality Comics in the '40s, she was not included among the characters DC acquired when it purchased Quality's intellectual properties in the '50s; DC got Blackhawk, Plastic Man, Kid Eternity, G.I. Combat, and many more, but Eisner retained the rights to Lady Luck, Mr. Mystic, and (of course!) The Spirit. The Boppinverse finally makes Lady Luck a DC heroine, if only for just this once.
Throw in those World's Mightiest Mortals The Marvel Family, charter Justice Society of America member Doctor Fate (albeit in his later, less distinctive half-helmet look), the stalwart team of The Green Arrow and Speedy, and The Black Condor--a Quality hero that DC did buy--and we have ourselves one rootin', tootin' extravaganza of Golden Age splendor, all backing up another '70s exploit of The Sandman, a hero who would have fit right in back in WWII.
The Sandman in "Panic In The Dream Stream," The Sandman # 4 (August-September 1975)
Wonder Woman in "Brain Pirates From The Inner Moon World!," Sensation Comics # 82 (October 1948)
Lady Luck (untitled), Lady Luck # 90 (August 1950)
"The Marvel Family And Sivana's Miniature Menace," The Marvel Family # 34 (April 1949)
Doctor Fate in "The Two Fates!," More Fun Comics # 83 (September 1942)
The Black Condor (untitled), Crack Comics # 20 (January 1942)
The Green Arrow and Speedy in "A Return Performance," More Fun Comics # 103 (May-June 1945)
Copyright, John! Lady Luck belongs to Will Eisner's estate, everyone else is copyright DC Comics Inc. While the Lady Luck and Black Condor stories are public domain, the rest can only be represented here in sample pages; my $2-a-month paid patrons see the whole thing. We've got two more issues of The Sandman yet to come. Close your eyes...and dream.
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Fans of pop music will want to check out Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a new pop compilation benefiting SPARK! Syracuse, the home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. TIR'N'RR Allstars--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Irene Peña, Keith Klingensmith, and Rich Firestone--offer a fantastic new version of The Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset." That's supplemented by eleven more tracks (plus a hidden bonus track), including previously-unreleased gems from The Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Michael Slawter (covering The Posies), and The Anderson Council (covering XTC), a new remix of "Infinite Soul" by The Grip Weeds, and familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves by Vegas With Randolph, Gretchen's Wheel, The Armoires, and Pacific Soul Ltd. Oh, and that mystery bonus track? It's exquisite. You need this. You're buying it from Futureman.
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