http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=fullsize&issue=07729452144%20227


A sampling of what made me a DC man early on.
Adams' revised version of the 1940 cover for DETECTIVE COMICS 31.

Adams' covers across the entire DC line, along with his interior work on BRAVE & THE BOLD, BATMAN, DETECTIVE, the Superman titles, the mystery titles, GREEN LANTERN, FLASH, and others really set them apart with a sophistication that set them above what Marvel was doing at the time.

Adams' disproportionate high ratio of work for DC made clear he was a DC man too. I think he did less work for DC between 1972-1974 because he was making more money in advertising and with Continuity graphics, and maybe asked for more compensation from DC, then when he didn't get it just walked away.


Adams came back and did a lot of covers in 1977, and then that seemed to end with the SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI tabloid-size collectors' edition in 1978.

Around the same time, DC under Jeannette Kahn seemed to dumb down much of the DC line from 1976-1979, aiming more at a younger audience for the most part, that briefly pushed me away from DC. But even during that period, you had Dennis O'Neil, Len Wein, Steve Englehart, Dave Michelinie, Keith Giffen, Mike Grell, Marshall Rogers, Michael Golden, Mike Nasser, Jim Sherman, and many other talented writers and artists doing great work.

But DC really began to take off again when Dick Giordano took over as managing editor in 1980. Starting with Wolfman/Perez's TITANS run, and Pasko/Gerber/Giffen's Dr Fate backup series in FLASH, and Levitz/Giffen's LEGION run.
That was the beginning of my second era as a die-hard DC man.