Wonder Woman, no. 81
<span>Wonder Woman was created by the psychologist William Moulton Marston (using the pen name Charles Moulton) and artist Harry G. Peter. Though Marston died in 1947, “Charles Moulton” is still credited as the author of this issue’s Wonder Woman stories, and Peter draws them. As Jill Lepore has documented, Marston created Wonder Woman, with the help of his two domestic partners, to be an explicitly feminist hero. Marston claimed in a 1942 interview that “Wonder Woman . . . is a New Woman. ‘The one outstanding benefit to humanity from the first World War was the great increase in the strength of women—physical, economic, mental,’ he says. ‘Women definitely emerged from a false, haremlike protection and began taking over men’s work. Grealy to their own surprise they discovered that they were potentially as strong as men—in some ways stronger’” (232-233). (Reference: Jill Lepore, <em>The Secret History of Wonder Woman.</em> New York: Vintage, 2015.)</span>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephen+Neil+Cooper+Synchronic+Comic+Book+Collection%2C+CARCSC-055">Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Comic Book Collection, CARCSC-055</a>
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Ellsworth, Whitney, 1908-1980 (Editor)
Kanigher, Robert (Editor)
Novick, Irv (Penciler & Inker)
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Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, no. 12
This long-running series blends humor and adventure, as the well-meaning but somewhat inept reporter Jimmy Olsen stumbles into situations, many involving the help of Superman, that lead to stories in Metropolis’ <em>Daily Planet</em> newspaper. As Jonathan Friedmann notes, “the comic book began as a spin-off from the popular <em>Adventures of Superman</em> television series (1952–8), which co-starred Jack Larson as the naive cub reporter” (44). In this issue, Jimmy Olsen performs as a circus clown, visits dinosaurs on Mystic Isle, and, as depicted on the cover, becomes invisible when transported to the fourth dimension. (Reference: Jonathan L. Friedmann, “When Jimmy Blew the Shofar: Midrash and Musical Invective in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen,” <em>Journal of Religion and Popular Culture</em> 28.1 (Spring 2016): 43-53.)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephen+Neil+Cooper+Synchronic+Comic+Book+Collection%2C+CARCSC-055">Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Comic Book Collection, CARCSC-055</a>
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Schwartz, Julius, 1915-2004 (Editor)
Swan, Curt (Penciler)
Burnley, Ray, 1902-1964 (Inker)
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Strange Adventures, no. 67
A science fiction anthology comic, <em>Strange Adventures</em> features a cover penciled and inked by renowned artists Gil Kane and Joe Giella. The cover telegraphs the issue's opening story, written by John Broome and drawn by the same artistic team, in which a martian arrives on Earth to influence human development, only to realize that humans can innovate on their own. After drawing this conclusion, and in a moment of metacommentary on the science fiction genre, the martian arrives at the editorial office of <em>Strange Adventures</em> to tell his story. Notably, this science fiction comic is the origin point of our Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Collection of Comic Books. The collector Stephen Cooper remembered reading this issue's second story, "Search for a Lost World!," written by science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton, penciled by Sid Greene, and inked by Joe Giella. In Cooper's own words, "I was reading a story about a guy who was getting larger and larger, and still larger, until he grew so incredibly colossal that the enormous planets of the solar system simply passed through him. What? My pea-sized brain struggled with this cosmic-sized vision" (34). Cooper's mind-opening encounter with this comic led him, many years later, to track down this issue of <em>Strange Adventures</em>, and then to track down every title on newsstands at that time in April 1956, "in order to fully recapture the comic book Zeitgeist of that momentous day in my life!" (35). Because of his effort, we can now all look back at this snapshot of comic book and cultural history. (Reference: Steve Cooper, "The Odyssey of a Synchronic Collector," <em>Comic Book Marketplace</em> 67 (March 1999): 32-51.)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephen+Neil+Cooper+Synchronic+Comic+Book+Collection%2C+CARCSC-055">Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Comic Book Collection, CARCSC-055</a>
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Ellsworth, Whitney, 1908-1980 (Editor)
Schwartz, Julius, 1915-2004 (Editor)
Kane, Gil (Penciler)
Giella, Joe (Inker)
Schnapp, Ira (Colorist)
<em>RIT Libraries makes materials from its collections available for educational and research purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. It is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.</em>
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Showcase, no. 1
The first issue of DC's <em>Showcase</em> introduces "Fireman Farrell" in three stories written by Arnold Drake and drawn by John Prentice. While Fireman Farrell would appear periodically in later DC Comics titles, <em>Showcase</em> is today best remembered for its fourth issue in October 1956. That issue introduces Barry Allen as the Flash. The new version of the Flash in that issue is widely thought of as the beginning of the "Silver Age" of comics, in which superhero stories, and not firefighting tales, become synonymous with comic books in the United States.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephen+Neil+Cooper+Synchronic+Comic+Book+Collection%2C+CARCSC-055">Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Comic Book Collection, CARCSC-055</a>
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Ellsworth, Whitney, 1908-1980 (Editor)
Weisinger, Mort, 1915-1978 (Editor)
Prentice, John, 1920-1999 (Penciler & Inker)
Schnapp, Ira (Letterer)
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Our Fighting Forces, no. 10
This issue of <em>Our Fighting Forces</em> features a cover and story by Charles "Jerry" Grandenetti, one of the iconic war comics artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, some of Grandenetti's work in the 1960s would be used by Pop Art painter Roy Lichtenstein in his 1962 work Jet Pilot. This issue's "Grenade Pitcher" story puts the reader in the shoes of a World War II soldier, who uses his skill as baseball pitcher to hurl grenades at Nazi tanks. As demonstrated by the dynamic cover here, the story asks the reader to identify with the athletic protagonist. (Reference: "Jerry Grandenetti, 1927-2010," <em>The Comics Reporter</em>. 29 Sept. 2010. http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/jerry_grandenetti_1927_2010/ )
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Ellsworth, Whitney, 1908-1980 (Editor)
Kanigher, Robert (Editor)
Grandenetti, Jerry (Penciler & Inker)
Schnapp, Ira (Letterer)
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Detective Comics, no. 230
This issue of DC’s long-running <em>Detective Comics</em> series reintroduces the Mad Hatter, a Batman villain who first appeared in the 1940s. As the Mad Hatter’s villainous ambition here makes clear—he wants to add Batman’s signature cowl to his collection of hats—the villains of the “Silver Age” of comic books are “wacky conjurors, nothing more, with no menace or violence about them” (242). This anthology comic also contains a story featuring the “Martian Manhunter,” another mainstay of DC’s superhero universe. (Reference: Andy Medhurst, “Batman, Deviance, and Camp,” <em>The Superhero Reader</em>, ed. Charles Hatfield, Jeet Heer, and Kent Worcester. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2013. 237-251.)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephen+Neil+Cooper+Synchronic+Comic+Book+Collection%2C+CARCSC-055">Stephen Neil Cooper Synchronic Comic Book Collection, CARCSC-055</a>
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Ellsworth, Whitney, 1908-1980 (Editor)
Schiff, Jack (Editor)
Mortimer, Win (Penciler)
Roussos, George, 1915-2000 (Inker)
Schnapp, Ira (Letterer)
<em>RIT Libraries makes materials from its collections available for educational and research purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. It is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.</em>
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