Alternate World Comics

dcu:

(I’m going on vacation so you get to learn a little early this week because I don’t trust scheduling posts)

This month in DC History

For the first time Batman met Talia al Ghul in 1971. She was in a cell being held hostage by a man named Dr. Ebenezer Darrk and his League of Assassins. Talia proved how lethal she was when she shot Darrk and sent him reeling into the path of a train. In the following June issue of Batman, she and Robin would be kidnapped and Batman would meet her father, Ra’s, as they would go looking for the two. In the end Batman would reveal that he knew it was Ra’s(’s?) doing all along and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for the meddling kids.

What else happened in 1971?

• The Fourth World abound as three comics where introduced including Mister Miracle. Mister Miracle could escape from anything except the wrath of Big Barda (who joined him in issue 4) when she told him to put his dishes in the dishwasher instead of in the sink.
• Aquaman’s title ended as the story “The Creature that Devoured Detroit!” concluded. In the story the “creature” was made up of algae that grew rapidly because of a satellite that emitted artificial sunlight so criminal couldn’t take solace in the cover of night. Both the story and the title ended abruptly, but Aquaman would be back to fight another day.
• Green Lantern and Green Arrow attacked drugs when Speedy was discovered to be doing heroin. Green Arrow tossed him out and it was Dinah Lance who helped him quit cold turkey. This was a big issue as drug use in comics was seen as taboo even if they were condemning them.

With all the public domain characters that have been brought back in the last 10 years or so I’m surprised no one has ever done a reboot of the Sorceress of Zoom, appeared in 20 issues of Weird Comics and some were more than a bit odd.