celebrating woodstock in a war comic

-

Vintage Ad #22 - We Are Stardust, We're Not GoldenJudging from this ad, nostalgia for Woodstock set in quickly...or at least the cash-ins did. If you weren't there for the brown acid, you could throw on the soundtrack and wear these beauties. "Never-to-be-repeated event", hah!

Warner Brothers must have hoped to milk the peace, love and music train. They released the film and soundtrack and owned the publisher of Star-Spangled War Stories, National Periodical Publications (aka DC Comics).

It may seem ironic that Woodstock jewelery was advertised in a war comic, until you've actually read any from that era. When artist Joe Kubert took over as editor of most of DC's war line in 1968, the stories took a less embracing view towards warfare. Bullets appeared at the end of stories, proclaiming "make war no more". Since none of the ongoing characters had series set in the present, writers and artists had more liberties to address modern concerns It helped that many of them had been WWII vets, drawing on their experiences. Enemies gained more dimensions, issues such as racism were touched on, etc.

Star-Spangled War Stories traced its origins back to Star-Spangled Comics (1941-52), which featured a wide variety of heroes and investigators (Star-Spangled Kid, Guardian & the Newsboy Legion, Robotman, Tarantula, Tomahawk, Dr. 13, Captain Compass and solo Robin stories). When heroes faded in the early 50s, the series mutated into Star-Spangled War Stories - postal regulations forced renumbering after three issues. Ongoing features were dropped until the late 50s. Through the 60s, Madamoiselle Marie (foxy WWII French resistance fighter), The War That Time Forgot (G.I.s versus dinosaurs on a remote island) and Enemy Ace (noble WWI German flying ace who despised killing) held the fort. The Unknown Soldier (WWII disguise master) took the lead spot in 1970 and held it until the series changed to his name in 1977, His war continued through 1982.

Source: Star-Spangled War Stories #156, April-May 1971 - JB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

past pieces of toronto: knob hill farms

-
Image
From November 2011 through July 2012 I wrote the "Past Pieces of Toronto" column for OpenFile , which explored elements of the city which no longer exist. I've republished all but two of those pieces on this website.  Here's the first of the final pair, both of which provided good lessons for future writing. Prepare yourself for a lengthy preamble.
Read more

big v: once upon a time, it was an amazing part of your life

-
Image
While dodging back alley drunks in downtown Kitchener a month ago, I noticed that the back door to a Shoppers Drug Mart bore the mark of its previous identity as part of the Big V pharmacy chain. Years of hearing their slogan "an amazing part of your life" have burned it into my brain, along with images of their comical crusading knight mascot, 25 cent cans of Coca-Cola and the free lunch cooler bags sometimes offered up with the latter. Big V was started in the mid-1960s by a group of Windsor pharmacists who joined together to pool their purchasing and marketing. Most locations were pharmacist-operated, with names reflecting the owners (DeRe, Pond's , Cornett), the neighbourhood (Seminole in Windsor) or town. The chain grew to 135 stores by the time it was purchased by Shoppers in 1995. Amherstburg's store was originally Haslehurst's Big V, then switched to the more generic "Amherstburg" by the time I started shopping there with my parents. Loc...
Read more

past pieces of toronto: albert britnell book shop

-
Image
From November 2011 through July 2012 I wrote the "Past Pieces of Toronto" column for OpenFile, which explored elements of the city which no longer exist. The following was originally posted on December 2, 2011. The Starbucks at 675 Yonge Street isn’t your typical branch of the corporate coffee giant. The walls are lined with sturdy old wooden bookshelves while the floor is a checkerboard of black and white. Why this location is not like the others is hinted at on the façade. Look up to the second floor and you’ll notice a legendary name in Toronto bookselling: Albert Britnell. The quality of the literature on the shelves inside doesn’t always match the standards the Britnell family maintained for over a century of book retailing, but it’s a nod to the building’s past that comes in handy while waiting for a friend or first date. English native Albert Britnell entered the book trade by working in his brother John’s bookstore in London. Both brothers moved to C...
Read more