What're DC's best pre-crisis runs and stories?

[Jim Kelly]

DC’s pre-COIE extended stories, part 3 of 3 (collect them all): 1975 - 1985, Clash of the Titans

Another important story arc for Superman was in SUPERMAN 296 to 299--“Who Took the Super Out of Superman” et al, by Maggin, Bates, Swan, Oksner.

A byproduct of this four parter was that Clark and Lois became much more intimate. There was a clear hint (especially for a Comics Code approved comic) that the two had slept together. The consequences of that affair were explored during Martin Pasko’s consecutive run, issues 310 to 335. This run had a few different arcs--but the whole thing is pretty much interconnected and marks a much greater sense of continuity between issues in a Superman comic other than Kirby’s run on JIMMY OLSEN.

DC COMICS PRESENTS featured mainly stand alone stories, but it did have a few multi-parters--including Jim Starlin’s Mongul plot for issues 27 to 29--certainly a high water mark in the time just prior to Crisis.

Mike Grell’s WARLORD got its start in FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL, before springing into its own title. This was a fan favourite and the whole book had an extended continuity, with arcs within that continuity. This is definitely something that could just as easily have existed post-Crisis.

I mentioned Jonah Hex before. Once Michael L. Fleisher came onto the series in WEIRD WESTERN TALES, he brought a much greater sense of tight continuity and had a whole back story for Hex worked out. Eventually the feature got its own book, JONAH HEX. On top of everything else, the letter column had the sweetest, most generous assistant editor you’d ever meet in print--Nellie Rooke, who remains something of an enigma in fandom circles.

One of my favourite comics was the short-lived STAR HUNTERS--co-created by David Michelinie. This comic was building toward something, but it didn't have time to get there. Apparently Michelinie was going to tie this book in with STARFIRE (not the one you're thinking of nor the other) and CLAW THE UNCONQUERED.

A new wrinkle in DC books was the idea of the mini-series. At first these minis just seemed a reason to rehash the origins and chronologies of our favourite heroes, but writers began to use them to tell much more involved stories and introduce new bits of lore. Minis like SECRETS OF THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS and THE PHANTOM ZONE.

The Legion already had tight continuity and extended arcs before 1980, but when Paul Levitz returned to the comic and Keith Giffen joined him soon after, they applied that continuity with great rigour and introduced some fine story arcs.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS is one of the most obvious of those just prior to COIE that had amazing sub-plots and story arcs. The first couple of years were just astonishing to me--I was deep into this group and their lives.

While at the same Marv Wolfman and then Steve Engelhart were writing really great arcs for GREEN LANTERN. I don’t think those issues get enough attention.

And in BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS, story arcs threaded through those books.

And so on. AMETHYST PRINCESS OF GEMWORLD, FIRESTORM, OMEGA MEN, SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING, ARAK SON OF THUNDER, THE FLASH--so many others. The early ‘80s were packed full of multi-part adventures and extended story arcs, with CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS being one of the most epic of all extended stories bringing it all to an end.

[Captain Smith]

The Great Darkness Saga - best use of Darkseid and the Legion, IMHO.

[NeathBlue]

My favorite pre crisis jla stories are jla 139 to 146, 149 to 150, written by Steve Englehart.
http://www.comics.org/series/1449/covers/?page=3

I agree though I'd extend it from 138 as that and 139 were a two part story through to 157 which was the last of the giant issues.
Green Lantern - Green Arrow fro 90- 122 was a nice run.
All Star Comics 58-74 and then Adventure Comics Dollar Comics 459-466
All Star Squadron
Batman and Detective Comics
Brave and Bold (there's a good omnibus out later this year)
DC Comics Presents
Legion of Super-Heroes
Flash... Though by around 1981 they were starting to struggle to put together really good storylines.

[Jim Kelly]

A big difference between then and now is that writers back then had little expectation of having their work collected in a trade paperback. So there was no such thing as writing for the trade.

There were the limited series--NATHANIEL DUSK was four issues, RONIN was six issues, CAMELOT 3000 was twelve issues--but the regular comics were unlimtied, other than by cancellation. THRILLER could have kept going, but it was cancelled after only twelve issues--maybe it would've done better if it was advertised as a twelve issue maxi-series. LOIS LANE was a two issue limited series that came out after Crisis, but was set before the new continuity came into effect--it should have been four issues, but instead was put out as two double-size issues.

In the regular runs, a multi-part story went on as long as the editor and writer decided the story required. There was no padding*--except when the dreaded deadline doom struck and they either had to fill the issue with a reprint or an inventory story.

In fact, I don't think writing for the trade became a big thing until the late '90s. A lot of post-Crisis extended storylines don't neatly divide into five or six issues to fit the standard TPB format.

*edit: Oh yeah and with the much maligned Trial of THE FLASH. Cary Bates was asked to pad out that story so it would end in time for issue 350 and for CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS No. 8. Even so, Bates padded the run with lots of other stories besides just the trial, so I think its ill reputation is undeserved.

[Air Wave]

One of my favourite comics was the short-lived STAR HUNTERS

Yay Star Hunters. I have those. That died with the DC Implosion.

[Air Wave]

Brave and Bold (there's a good omnibus out later this year)

I was going to suggest this. I'm looking forward to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Brave-B...bronze+omnibus

[NeathBlue]

I was going to suggest this. I'm looking forward to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Brave-B...bronze+omnibus

Me too, I've preordered it with Amazons price guarantee and it's come down a bit in price

[Doctor Know]

What would be some good Superman stories Pre-Crisis?
I've read the Superman/Sand(Super)man story, but short of Siegel and Shuster's Golden Age stories, I don't know anything reputable worth reading. My main exposure from Pre-Crisis era for Supes is JLA.

[NeathBlue]

What would be some good Superman stories Pre-Crisis?
I've read the Superman/Sand(Super)man story, but short of Siegel and Shuster's Golden Age stories, I don't know anything reputable worth reading. My main exposure from Pre-Crisis era for Supes is JLA.

You've got Action Comics, Superman, Worlds Finest (where he teams up with Batman), DC Comics Presents (where he teams up with different people every month) and Superman Family.

[JackDaw]

What would be some good Superman stories Pre-Crisis?
I've read the Superman/Sand(Super)man story, but short of Siegel and Shuster's Golden Age stories, I don't know anything reputable worth reading. My main exposure from Pre-Crisis era for Supes is JLA.

Think about the Mark Millar run on Superman Adventures. Yes...in since Mark has maybe become a wee bit one note specialist in "slapstick violence"...but these were really well written light hearted adventures, that get the real spirit of Superman.

For me the best recent long run on Superman by a country mile....think it tends to be under-rated because of its artwork style, and "all ages" branding.

[Jim Kelly]

What would be some good Superman stories Pre-Crisis?
I've read the Superman/Sand(Super)man story, but short of Siegel and Shuster's Golden Age stories, I don't know anything reputable worth reading. My main exposure from Pre-Crisis era for Supes is JLA.

I'm trying to think of how to save you some money and not send you to buy back issues that could get expensive or collected editions that might be out of print. In the last 16 years, there have been a lot of TPB collections that cherry pick Pre-Crisis Superman stories (usually according to some theme)--so many that I've fallen behind in buying them all. But looking at my bookshelf, if there were three TPBs I could hand you right now, they would be:

DC's GREATEST IMAGINARY STORIES [first volume] (2005). Has a nice Brian Bolland cover. The stories inside include Captain Marvel, the Flash and Batman--but the bulk of the stories involve the Superman family and are from those golden years in the '60s when Mort Weisinger was editor. Among many other treats this one features "Jimmy Olsen Marries Supergirl," "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" and "Superman and Batman--Brothers."

SUPERMAN: DAILY PLANET (2006). A hodge podge of tales featuring Clark Kent and his co-workers, from 1952 thru 2006. This one has one of the funniest stories I've ever read, "Miss Jimmy Olsen."

SUPERMAN: PAST AND FUTURE (2008). The contents are from between 1947 and 1983. Some of the classics are "Superman Under the Red Sun," 'The Superman of 2965" and "Superman 2001."

Also for kicks and giggles and not to be taken seriously there's these two:

SUPERMAN: TALES OF THE BIZARRO WORLD (2000). Collects the screwball '60s stories by Jerry Siegel and John Forte from ADVENTURE COMICS.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: SAGA OF THE SUPER SONS (2007). Assembles all the whacky '70s adventures by Bob Haney and Dick Dillin from WORLD'S FINEST COMICS.

[Fuzzy Barbarian]

Levitz's Legion of Super-Heroes was good. It hasn't aged THAT well, though. I read it for the first time a few weeks ago and... it's got some of the Silver Age flatness going on; a lot of characters come off as bland and having no personalities.

I've heard good thingsabout Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, which was Silver Age Superman's swan song.

The Wolfman/Perez era Teen Titans is beloved, but it's '''very''' wordy and heavy on melodrama.

I'm like you were and generally avoid Pre-Crisis stories. I dunno, there's some good stuff, but when it comes to the Silver Age and Bronze Age, I really prefer Marvel.

[The Whovian]

JLA vol.1 #183-200
All-Star Squadron
Levitz/Giffen Legion of Super Heroes
Batman: Strange Apparitions (Detective Comics #469-476, #478-#479) Also #500 (not included in the collection)
Batman #243-244
Green Lantern vol.1 #142-150
All-Star Comics #58-74
America vs. The Justice Society #1-4
JLA/JSA cross over stories
Kirby's Fourth World stuff
Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans

[Jim Kelly]

Roy Thomas was one of the wordiest comic writers and he did a lot for Mavel. But I enjoyed his comics. So I have nothing against reading. It's the comics that don't have enough words that give me trouble.

A TPB that I haven't got (yet) is SUPERMAN: PHANTOM ZONE (2013). Not to be confused with SUPERMAN: TALES OF THE PHANTOM ZONE (2009)--though that's a good one, also. The more recent TPB collects the Stever Gerber Phantom Zone series--one of the great highlights of Superman immediately before Crisis.

Another TPB that I don't have, that I would recommend but for a major omission, is SUPERMAN VS MONGUL (2014). This does collect the pre-Crisis Mongul stories, but when Jim Starlin introduced Mongul in DC COMICS PRESENTS No. 27, it was a trilogy. Mongul wasn't in the third part, in No. 29, but that story is the greatest of the three--"Where No Superman Has Gone Before," co-starring the Spectre. That story is reprinted separately in another TPB I don't own, SUPERMAN IN THE EIGHTIES (2006).

In fact, Starlin also contributed to DCCP 26--co-starring Green Lantern--but that issue didn't feature Mongul--however all four comics in that run (26 -29) are worth having. Unfortunately for the collector, even DCCP 26 is bound to be quite pricey as it also has the first appearance of the New Teen Titans, in a special preview insert.

If you want everything and you can't afford the back issues, your best best bet might be the black & white SHOWCASE PRESENTS: DC COMICS PRESENTS: THE SUPERMAN TEAM-UPS. Yet even there DC has not been kind, as No. 26 is collected at the very end of Vol. 1. While the rest of Starlin is in Vol. 2. And be advised the NTT preview and the "Whatever Happened To . . ." back-ups are not collected in these volumes.

[j9ac9k]

The Great Darkness Saga - best use of Darkseid and the Legion, IMHO.

I second that. All of Levitz's Legion of Super-Heroes was great, but that was the best storyline.

Kirby's original "The New Gods" was also great.

Wolfman/Perez "Teen Titans" was a great run.