August 1976: The Return of Captain Comet
In 1976, Captain Comet took a leaf from another stalwart captain’s book, the one called America.
Like that Marvel superhero, Adam Blake reappeared after having been missing for decades, apparently unaged.
“He’s been across the galaxy twice aboard his Cometeer, visiting a thousand worlds with his flight belt, seeing sights no man has seen before him, or will ever see again,” wrote my old friend David Anthony Kraft, collaborating with Gerry Conway on the second issue of a fun title called The Secret Society of Super Villains (July-Aug. 1976). Pablo Marcos penciled.
Out of touch in deep space for two decades, Comet couldn’t be expected to tell a superhero from a supervillain, so he waded into a skirmish against Green Lantern on the side of what he presumed to be underdogs, Grodd the Super Gorilla and the playing-card themed Hi-Jack.
Actually, given his own past experience with evil super-gorillas and the fact that he’s telepathic, Captain Comet might have been a bit more suspicious.
Whatever.
Comet ends up being recruited by the villainous super-team, whose roster also includes Star Sapphire, Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Copperhead, the Wizard and Sinestro, but it doesn’t take him long to learn the truth. Comet begins to oppose the villains as the title’s resident superhero, joined by Manhunter and, later on, Kid Flash.
I was particularly amused by a scene DAK penned for the third issue. Dressed in civvies, Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang rob a fast-food franchise outlet located under distinctive M-shaped arches.
“That’ll be $3.02, please, with tax,” says the cashier, “And have you got the two pennies?”
“Just consider it my treat,” says Mirror Master to Captain Boomerang, making them both vanish.
“Th-they’re gone,” the cashier exclaims. “And the cheeseburgers and fries disappeared with them!”
What, five cheeseburgers and two fries for $3.02? Well, it was the 197os. You could buy a Big Mac for 65 cents.
Matthew Grossman wrote:
ReplyDeleteI liked the series a lot as a kid, though as an adult I’d say it was a little too brawl-oriented.
Captain Comet was certainly a clever choice for protagonist - obscure enough to be interesting and not involved in conflicting stories, and powerful enough to take on more than one Society member at a time but not quite at a level where he could fight all of them and win.
I replied:
Matthew Grossman, Good analysis. That was my feeling too, though I'd never put it into words.
And in retrospect, I'm glad to see that
DAK threw in the "flight belt" to explain how Captain Comet suddenly gained the ability to fly.
James J Gerber wrote:
ReplyDeleteCoulda been worse… he coulda ended up in ‘Crisis Of Infinite Hostess Fruit Pie Ads.’
Bob Doncaster wrote:
ReplyDeleteSecret Society is one of my favorite short lived series. Wish there’d have been more
Steven H. Bullard wrote:
ReplyDeleteLoved SSSV. Another great comic that was gone too soon! And I had never seen any of Captain Comet's original stories, so he was a brand-new hero to me!
Mark Engblom wrote:
ReplyDeleteConsidering Marvel was awash with mutants, Captain Comet may have been DC’s only prominent official mutant. Also, like the Martian Manhunter, he made his debut in that pre-Silver Age (i.e. “Pre-Barry Allen”) era, which made him the perfect “outsider” figure for the SSoSV series.
Jeff Hawthorne wrote:
ReplyDeleteI wish they'd made him more prominent. i know it's outside the timeline, but i really liked what they did with him in L.E.G.I.O.N. and then later in Starlin's Hardcore Station related series.
Robert A George wrote:
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, it was odd that he had spent two decades crisscrossing the universe, but he thought that a Green Lantern was the bad guy in a fight with some random (bad) guys.
I replied:
Good point. Not only that, but he presumably would have remembered the Golden Age Green Lantern.
Foster H. Coker III wrote:
ReplyDeleteI missed the first issue of that series but grabbed this one. I was hooked immediately. One of the things I loved about this issue was how DAK incorporated a key element of '60s and '70s DC books... i.e., the hero with seemingly invincible power fighting a villain with decidedly less impressive abilities.
Bob Buethe wrote:
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite title at that time. I loved the original concept of villains banding together against Apokolips, because in a world ruled by Darkseid they'd be nothing but slaves. With #5, that idea was dropped and it became a simple super-villain team-up comic with Captain Comet as the resident hero. I still enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite as much fun.
Brian Telford wrote:
ReplyDeletewith his power-set, CC would have been a shoo-in to join the Justice League, yet he declined. Has CC been in ANY super-group as a regular member or has he been a loner for practically all his existence?
Paul Zuckerman wrote:
ReplyDeleteI was happy to see the good captain returned even though I had read only a handful of his stories at the time (maybe two handfuls now.)
Considering Comet was supposed to be the smartest man in everything and was a 1000 years ahead of his time, he was a bit slow on the uptake here!
ReplyDeleteRick Diehl wrote:
I was a huge fan of the Secret Society of Super Villains. Just a great comic and Captain Comet was awesome in it.
Ricky Lowe:
ReplyDeleteI was very excited by his return and felt he has been under used. I didn’t know all of his original stories but immediately liked Captain Comet.
Rich Lee:
ReplyDeleteHe actually made a live action appearance on the short lived Naomi show , just called Adam Blake and I wondered then how many people had any idea who he was.
Dylan Crossman:
ReplyDeleteAlways liked the good Captain here, especially in SSoSV. He was popular enough to have come on second in the fan vote for who should join the JLA, coming in second only to Zatanna.
It’s only for a few pages, but he’s also very well treated and written in the novelization of Kingdom Come.
And, of course, the absolutely perfect use of his place in continuity in the Golden Age mini.
Mark Engblom:
ReplyDeleteDespite “being across the galaxy twice,” it beggars belief that the good Captain was unaware of the Green Lantern Corps (and vice versa), so his attack on Hal Jordan seems especially ignorant!
I replied:
Well, even Superman seemed unaware of DC's TWO Atlantises. LOL.
Foster H. Coker III:
ReplyDeleteI instantly fell in love with the character after reading SSoSV #2.
Marc Pyrtle:
ReplyDeleteOf the series DC introduced in the 70s, this is my favorite.
James Jackson:
ReplyDeleteI just got a replacement copy of this issue this past winter. I love collecting mutant first appearances, and Comet is usually named as DC's first mutant. What's mind-boggling is that DC didn't use Comet at all during the Silver Age. (Equally mind-boggling is that Animal Man went unused throughout the 1970s and didn't re-appear until early 1980).
Michael Fraley:
ReplyDeleteThe page was originally torn from the pulp SF adventures of Anton York, Immortal, written by the Binder brothers, Earl and Otto (Eando). York would go into suspended animation, have a space adventure, and then go back into the deep freeze for a few more centuries before reappearing again. The difficulty of knowing the good guys from the bad is also part of H.G. Wells' suspended animation classic, The Sleeper Awakes.
I replied:
Not to mention Buck Rogers.
Bob Sliney:
ReplyDeleteGreat series! I liked that they used Captain Comet as the protagonist. He had super powers, but he wasn't overly powered, and he was obscure enough so that he wasn't constrained by a lot of continuity.
I replied:
Yes. As someone else pointed out, he was just powerful enough to take on any member of the Secret Society, but not ALL of them.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see Comet in that series. It needed a heroic protagonist and he fit the bill. I would say that it is a shame that he has been under-utilized since then, but, considering how DC manages to morph and destroy their characters in revivals, maybe it is a blessing instead.