September 1965: Animals and Aliens

I was 11 when those aliens gave stunt man Buddy Baker his animal powers in DC’s Strange Adventures 180 (Sept. 1965), courtesy of writer Dave Wood and artist Carmine Infantino.

I enjoyed his adventure then and in The Return of the Man with Animal Powers (Strange Adventures 184, Jan. 1966), despite the fact that his super powers caused cognitive dissonance even in a child.

For example, how could you “borrow” the flying ability of an eagle without also acquiring wings or an avian bone structure? Superman’s powers — mostly amplifications of human abilities — seemed almost plausible by comparison.

But Infantino’s clean-lined, graceful art was always refreshing to the eye, and I also found it refreshing that Baker chose to go into super-powered action without fancy dress. 

Much as I love superhero costumes, the cliché was already becoming a bit shopworn by 1965. I had been attracted to Gold Key’s quasi-omnipotent Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom in 1962 in part for that reason, and my interest waned when he put on red spandex in his fifth issue.

I breathed another small sigh of regret when, in Strange Adventures 190 (July 1966), Baker put on his costume. I didn’t read him much after that. In part it was because with the Batman craze in full swing, we had an embarrassment of superheroic riches.  Just as we have today.

Meanwhile, over in House of Mystery 153, the Martian Manhunter had settled into his first cover-featured run, fighting a giant version of his old archenemy Professor Hugo (introduced battling Batman in Detective Comics 306, Aug. 1962).

“A 1964 editorial shake-up resulted in J’onn J'onzz’s ouster from Detective Comics in favor of a Flash supporting character, the Elongated Man,” noted comics historian Don Markstein.  “The Martian was transferred to House of Mystery, which had hitherto carried only non-series sci-fi/fantasy stories. He started in the 143rd issue (June 1964). After over eight years in comics, he finally held down a lead feature.”

October 1963: Red Planet, Green Arrow

The Brave and the Bold 50 (Oct.-Nov. 1963) began the team-up tradition that would culminate in turning the title into a long-running “Batman and Friends” book.

The art by George Roussos exploited little of the visual appeal that we might have expected in a teaming of the Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow, and Roussos seemed intent on undermining the action at every turn. I’d say either of the characters’ regular artists — Joe Certa or Lee Elias — might have done a better job with the story.

But the idea of teaming and spotlighting two superheroes was a good one, and a logical extension of successful Silver Age team titles like Justice League of America, World’s Finest and Fantastic Four.

In fact, this first team-up was a sort of low-rent version of World’s Finest. Instead of Superman and Batman, we got two back-of-the-book characters who were often compared to them.

The resemblance to the successful World’s Finest formula was probably deliberate, according to Michael Uslan and Robert Klein, writing in the Brave and the Bold Team-Up Archive Edition.

“With his red-clad sidekick, Arrow Car and Arrow Cave, wealthy playboy Oliver (Green Arrow) Queen was certainly at the time being presented as an imitation Batman,” Uslan and Klein observed, “And what superhero was most akin to Superman? But for the fact that his weakness was fire and not kryptonite, the Manhunter from Mars best qualifies. More likely, this was a way to promote the Martian Manhunter, who would soon gain his very own cover-featured series beginning in House of Mystery 143.”

In the Brave and Bold story, the Manhunter and Green Arrow defeat their enemy, Vulkor, with a trick used more than once by Superman and Batman — switching their identities to gain an element of surprise.

Bob Haney’s plot featured an attack on Earth by J’onn J’onzz’ fellow Martians — the same story idea that Bruce Timm used as the springboard for the excellent Justice League animated series in 2001.

December 1962: A Small Problem for the Martian Manhunter

Superheroes shrank from sight in the early 1950s, and then in the late 1950s the remaining ones shrank literally.

Turning superheroes tiny is, after all, a good way to offset the advantages of their super powers for dramatic purposes, one that offers strong visuals. And the readers were then mostly small people who could presumably identify.

I’m guessing that several of these stories were inspired by Richard Matheson’s 1956 novel The Shrinking Man, which had been adapted into the film The Incredible Shrinking Man and released in February of 1957.

Superman and Superboy shrank a few times even before the process became routine with the arrival of the Bottled City of Kandor in the Fortress of Solitude.

Batman and Robin had early experience with this strange turn of events, having been miniaturized in both Detective Comics 127 (Sept. 1947, an illusion) and Detective Comics 148 (June 1949, for real). But then a dramatic size differential was virtually baked into the feature by Bill Finger, who frequently introduced giant props of everyday items that played a role in the Dynamic Duo’s crimefighting activity.

Wonder Woman tackled giants many times during the period.

Archie Comics’ new superhero the Jaguar slugged it out with fearsome-looking microbes in The Battle of the Bacteria Brutes! (Adventures of the Jaguar 2, Oct. 1961). And Archie’s Fly and Fly Girl traveled to a planet where germs were gigantic, so that amounted to the same thing. 

Even Harvey Comics’ Casper took a shrinking pill in Casper the Friendly Ghost 61 (Oct. 1957). And Tom Terrific’s pal, Manfred the alleged “Wonder Dog,” shrank in the wash in Tom Terrific 2 (Fall 1957). 

Then the Martian Manhunter was miniaturized in Detective Comics 310 (Dec. 1962). Criminal inventor Victor Vance shrank J’onn J’onzz to doll size, and the Martian had to fight off a hostile squirrel before he could get on with the job of saving the day.

January 1962: A Bit of a Stretch

When I first met him, Batman was as familiar with alien landscapes as he was with the dark alleys of Gotham City.

“When the Justice League of America was founded in 1960, who would have thought that Batman had more experience with alien races than Superman and Green Lantern combined?” wrote comics historian Anthony Durso. “From 1960 to 1964, Batman and Robin had close encounters with alien life (or in some cases supposed alien life) 27 times! Holy extraterrestrial, Batman!”

In Prey of the Alien Hunters (Detective Comics 299 (Jan. 1962), Batman and Robin are patrolling a Gotham City jewelry exchange when, within only two panels, they are teleported via polka-dotted beams to a “weird, unknown world.” 

There, they find themselves in an interplanetary “Most Dangerous Game,” being stalked by alien hunters who can elongate their limbs, project “magnetic rays” and deploy rainbow-colored “stun spheres.”

Artist Jim Mooney puts the Dynamic Duo through some colorful ordeals with extraterrestrial dinosaurs and whatnot, and Batman ultimately teams up with the hunters to overthrow the planet’s overlord, Kaale.

The story ends with the Masked Manhunter intoning a ringing defense of freedom without even being returned to Earth. Presumably he and Robin eventually got there.

Rounding out the issue were stories about the Martian Manhunter protecting a beautiful spy and Aquaman guarding an old sea captain’s self-esteem. 

Moving over from Adventure Comics, Aquaman and Aqualad replaced the Roy Raymond TV Detective feature that had ended seven issues before. 

The last page of this Aquaman adventure included a house ad announcing the start of the Aquaman comic book. After 21 years, he’d finally landed his own title.