good blog post
Nathaniel | 03.03.08 - 1:53 am | #

What a nice set of Joe Staton drawings.

My memory tells me that the best of these back-ups was the deMatteis/Giffen "Doctor Fate" in the back of "The Flash", but I don't see a stamp for that. Was it a later addition?
Steve Flanagan | Email | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 3:00 am | #

Although I'm not sure I've ever read an actual Nemesis story, I do have a real soft spot for the character because a friend of my mom's gave me a bunch of "Brave/Bold" comics years before I was actually into comics, and I did love the black turtleneck with gunholster ensemble. The B&B cover with Nemesis firing at Batman is an iconic cover to me, too.
Bryan | 03.03.08 - 3:33 am | #

wait. congorilla?
Nathaniel | 03.03.08 - 4:57 am | #

I think Seraph also showed up in Suicide Squad.

Yes, Congorilla.
Martin Wisse | Email | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 5:31 am | #

Jack O'Lantern was on the Morrison-penned Ultramarines, was he not?
David Cutler | Email | 03.03.08 - 5:33 am | #

I'd like to see the uterine adventures of Superfetus.

"oh no! I'm being attacked by Krypto-Rh factor!"
jon h | Email | 03.03.08 - 6:23 am | #

I... so totally remember these.
Dark_Wesley | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 8:06 am | #

Just came across one of those on Saturday as I was reading through one of my quarter-bin finds from the past year. I was a little disappointed that they weren't actual stamps.

On the subject of Krypto and/or Superbaby, I think we could all use a little more hijinx in our funnybooks.

Demand more Beppo!
philip | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 8:25 am | #

the thing is, many of these were really good. I bought DC Comics Presents for the "Whatever Happened to..." backup, and lots and lots of people bought Wonder Woman for the Huntress backup. The current publishers need to do this again, if only to teach some of today's writers how to plot an 8 page (not 8 issue) story.
Jim Kosmicki | Email | 03.03.08 - 8:31 am | #

No. Sorry.




Congorilla?
Nathaniel | 03.03.08 - 9:02 am | #

> My memory tells me that the best
> of these back-ups was the
> deMatteis/Giffen "Doctor Fate" in
> the back of "The Flash", but I
> don't see a stamp for that. Was
> it a later addition?

I think the Dr. Fate back ups in FLASH came later. (And was it deMatteis who wrote them? I thought it was Martin Pasko and Steve Gerber, with Giffen doing the art...) When these backup features started, it was Firestorm who got the slot in back of FLASH, then to be kinda/sorta replaced by Dr. Fate in the early 300s
Tommy Raiko | Email | 03.03.08 - 10:29 am | #

I can't remember if the Pasko/Giffen DR. FATE stories came before or after the 40-page issue experiment, but the Flash had a long history of backup strips, spinning off the Elongated Man to Detective, then running Green Lantern as a backup during the period he didn't have a solo book.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up there, buddy, but who still has a planet? Oh, that's right, I do."

No joke, Mike. Imagine, if the guy survived the destruction of Krypton, he was living in a BOTTLE. Lighten up, smarmy.
Randy | Email | 03.03.08 - 12:44 pm | #

I wish there were more back-ups these days. Detective Comics had them just a few years ago. The Josie Mac and Slam Bradley back-up were excellent. Too bad Josie Mac never got collected.
Jason | Email | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 2:02 pm | #

Fun stuff.
Hey Mike, you got linked to by Tom Spurgeon's awesome comics roundup, comicsreporter.com!
Fnord Serious | Email | 03.03.08 - 3:14 pm | #

How many of these books ended up in the remainder bins when they showed up sans stamp?

I, too, loved the "Whatever Happened To" series.

ps. Did Swamp Thing warrant a back-up series then?
Michael-Sensei | Email | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 6:52 pm | #

Yep, Congorilla. The sidekick/slave of big game hunter/adventurer Congo Bill. For those people who thought B'wana Beast wasn't white enough a character for an African hero...
LurkerWithout | Email | Homepage | 03.03.08 - 10:34 pm | #

Nemesis (like so many characters) really came into his own in Suicide Squad.
Jacob T. Levy | Email | Homepage | 03.04.08 - 4:42 am | #

Elongated Man never ran as a back-up feature in Flash. He always appeared in a supporting role in Flash's own stories (and, once, in a Kid Flash story that was a back-up).

Hm. Never *ran*...in *Flash*. Ha ha. I kill me.
Daniel | Email | Homepage | 03.04.08 - 9:05 am | #