1st Issue Special

Comics anthology series from DC Comics 1st Issue Special 01.jpg 1st Issue Special #1 (April 1975), art by Jack Kirby and D. Bruce Berry. Monthly y DC Comics April 1975 – April 1976 13 Gerry Conway, Michael Fleisher, Mike Grell, Bob Haney, Robert Kanigher, Jack Kirby, Dennis O'Neil, Martin Pasko, Joe Simon, Steve Skeates Ramona Fradon, Jerry Grandenetti, Mike Grell, Walt Simonson, Mike Vosburg Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Nestor Redondo, John Rosenberger D. Bruce Berry, Vince Colletta, Creig Flessel, Al Milgrom, Mike Royer DC Comics 1st Issue Special 1st Issue Special is a comics anthology series from DC Comics, done in a similar style to their Showcase series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. 2212 1st Issue Special The goal was to capitalize on the trend that the first issues of comic book series typically sell better than subsequent issues. Publication history Writer Gerry Conway explained the series' origin: "1st Issue Special was a peculiar book concept based on [publisher] Carmine Infantino's observation that first issues of titles often sold better than subsequent issues. Carmine's brainstorm: a monthly series of nothing but first issues. It sounds like a joke, but he was dead serious."Harvey Allan Apokolips Then: Or, Suppose they Finished a War and Nobody Came Back Issue! 38 54–58 TwoMorrows Publishing February 2010 Raleigh, North Carolina Conway has also denied that 1st Issue Special was a tryout series, pointing out that tryout series run each feature for several issues so that the publisher has enough time to get sales figures before deciding whether to give the feature its own series; since each feature in 1st Issue Special ran only one issue, DC would have had to either launch the new series before sales figures came in for the tryout (thus making the feature's appearance in 1st Issue Special pointless) or launch the new series six months or more after the tryout issue (by which time reader interest in the feature would have faded). Conway added, "We used to sit at editorial meetings and [Carmine Infantino] would say, 'Who has an idea for 1st Issue Special next month?' How do you develop a project that has a potential to be a real series within 20 days? You can't." Only two of the 1st Issue Special features received an ongoing series: Mike Grell's The Warlord, which first appeared in issue #8 (November 1975),McAvennie Michael Dolan Hannah 1970s DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle Dorling Kindersley 2010 London, United Kingdom 978-0-7566-6742-9 165 Writer/artist Mike Grell elevated the sword-and-sorcery genre to new heights with the Warlord. and Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg's Return of the New Gods, which appeared in issue #13. Issues #1 (featuring Atlas) featured art and story by Jack Kirby.McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 162: "Debuting with Atlas the Great, writer and artist Jack Kirby didn't shrug at the chance to put his spin on the well-known hero." A number of issues featured existing DC characters: issue #3, Metamorpho, issue #5, Manhunter (a new take on a pre-existing but dormant characterMcAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "Though 1st Issue Special was primarily DC's forum to introduce new characters and storylines, editor Jack Kirby used the series as an opportunity to revamp the Manhunter, whom he and writer Joe Simon had made famous in the 1940s."), issue #7, the Creeper, issue #9, the Golden Age character Doctor Fate, and issue #13, the New Gods. Abramowitz Jack 1st Issue Special: It Was No Showcase (But It Was Never Meant To Be) Back Issue! 71 40–47 TwoMorrows Publishing April 2014 Raleigh, North Carolina The Metamorpho feature reunited the character's creators, writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon. Haney and Fradon had met at the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con, and while reminiscing, it emerged that both of them regarded Metamorpho as one of the features they had most enjoyed working on, leading them to ask DC if they could do one more Metamorpho story together. When asked in later years, 1st Issue Special staff have not been able to answer why the Creeper story was illustrated, but not written, by the character's creator, Steve Ditko. Issue #12 featured a new Starman character which would later be used in James Robinson's 1990s series focused on the character Jack Knight. The character was a supporting player in Justice League: Cry for Justice in 2010. Some stories which had been intended for publication in 1st Issue Special appeared in other titles instead. A Batgirl and Robin team-up was published in Batman Family #1 (September - October 1975) and a Green Arrow and Black Canary story was kept in inventory until it was published as a backup feature in Green Lantern #100 (January 1978). Wells John 'Lost' DC: 1971 - 1975 Comics Buyer's Guide 1249 125 October 24, 1997 Iola, Wisconsin 1st Issue Special never included a letters column, instead accompanying each feature with a "Story Behind the Story" text page. DC published a hard cover collection of the series in 2020.DC's First Issue Specials https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/dcs-first-issue-specials dc.com en Characters from 1st Issue Special star in the 12-issue 2022-2023 DC Black Label series Danger Street by Tom King and Jorge Fornes.Grunenwald Joe 2022-11-10 INTERVIEW: Tom King talks DANGER STREET: "This is a hard one." https://www.comicsbeat.com/tom-king-danger-street-interview-dc-comics/ 2023-12-19 The Beat en-US Instead of devoting separate issues to each character or group, as in the original series, Danger Street incorporates all the different characters into overlapping narratives.Danger Street #1 Review: 13 Tales Collide in a Special First Issue https://comicbook.com/comics/news/danger-street-1-review-tom-king-jorge-fornes/ 2023-12-19 Comics 13 December 2022 en List of stories and credits Issue #DateFeatured character and story titleWriterArtists1April 1975AtlasJack KirbyJack Kirby and D. Bruce Berry2May 1975The Green Team: Boy MillionairesJoe Simon Jerry Grandenetti3June 1975Metamorpho, The Element Man: "The Freak and the Billion-Dollar Phantom".Bob HaneyRamona Fradon4July 1975Lady Cop: "Poisoned Love"Robert Kanigher John Rosenberger and Vince Colletta5August 1975ManhunterJack Kirby Jack Kirby and D. Bruce Berry6September 1975Dingbats of Danger StreetJack Kirby Jack Kirby and Mike Royer7October 1975The Creeper: "Menace of The Human Fire-Fly".Michael FleisherSteve Ditko and Mike Royer8November 1975The Warlord: "Land of Fear"Mike Grell 9December 1975Doctor Fate: "The Mummy That Time Forgot"Martin PaskoWalt Simonson10January 1976The Outsiders: "Us...The Outsiders".Joe Simon Jerry Grandenetti and Creig Flessel11February 1976Codename: AssassinGerry Conway and Steve Skeates The Redondo Studio and Al Milgrom12March 1976StarmanGerry ConwayMike Vosburg and Mike Royer13April 1976Return of the New Gods: "Lest Night Fall Forever".Gerry Conway and Denny O'NeilMike Vosburg Collected editions The Jack Kirby Omnibus Volume 2 includes the Atlas story from 1st Issue Special #1, the Manhunter story from #5, and the Dingbats of Danger Street story from #6, 624 pages, May 2013, 978-1401238339 Showcase Presents: The Great Disaster featuring the Atomic Knights includes the Atlas story from 1st Issue Special #1, 576 pages, June 2014, 978-1401242909 The Creeper by Steve Ditko includes the Creeper story from 1st Issue Special #7, 288 pages, April 2010, 978-1401225919 The Warlord: The Savage Empire includes the Warlord story from 1st Issue Special #8, 240 pages, November 1991, 978-1563890246 Showcase Presents: Warlord includes the Warlord story from 1st Issue Special #8, 528 pages, September 2009, 978-1401224738 The Art of Walter Simonson includes the Doctor Fate story from 1st Issue Special #9, 208 pages, June 1989, 0930289412 DC's 1st Issue Specials includes issues #1-13, 272 pages, March 2020, 978-1779501776 See also List of DC Comics publications References 30em External links title 223 1st Issue Special 1st Issue Special at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics collapsed Category:1975 comics debuts Category:1976 comics endings Category:Comics anthologies Category:Comics by Bob Haney Category:Comics by Dennis O'Neil Category:Comics by Gerry Conway Category:Comics by Jack Kirby Category:Comics by Michael Fleisher Category:Comics by Robert Kanigher Category:Comics by Steve Ditko Category:Comics by Walt Simonson Category:Defunct American comics Category:Superhero comics Category:DC Comics titles