1970

One of my favorite blogs from the comic book works is Dial B for Blog, which is a play on the title of DC Silver Age comic, Dial H for Hero, about a normal boy with a magical rotary phone dialer that could turn him into any hero appropriate for that issue's situation, i.e. villain. It was a great device for opening the imagination -- a different hero each month!

This week this Silver Age-oriented blog (mid-1950's to early 1970's) covers one of the most significant advances in the history of comic books, when certain comics creators broke from the strictures of the Comics Code Authority and at last started dealing with contemporary social problems. One of the first and best to do this was the celebrated writer/artist team of Dennis "Denny" O'Neil and Neal Adams (sometimes called Denny O'Neal Adams) and their remarkable Green Lantern/Green Arrow run. Check it out:

Great Art and Bold Storytelling

The focus here is on the last in their 12-issue run of relevant stories, which dealt with racism, heroin abuse, Native American rights -- all previously out-of-bounds due to comics industry strictures initiated in response to the Congressional horror comics hearings of the mid-1950's.

This final story in their run concerns a latter-day Jesus Christ who puts his life on the line to stop pollution. I don't want to steal any thunder from blogger "Robby Reed" (his nom de web the same as the boy hero of the Dial H comic). But let's just say they ended with a bang, and while I can't find that last page reprinted anywhere on the web, it's worth seeking out. Best last line of any comic I've ever read: "Send me the bill."

(If there's interest, I'll explain in comments.)

Theirs was a uniquely powerful writer/artist team, and their work included some of the best Batman stories, including the creation of Ra's Al Ghul, immortalized on the silver screen in last year's Batman Begins feature film.

Denny O'Neil was a big step up in comic book writer/editors, a man of his time who took the medium seriously. In Neal Adams, he had the perfect collaborator.

Adams brought a new graphic realism to the comic world, drawings that seemed more real than anything before and most of what has come after, adult in layout and use of line, nothing kiddie about it but still very easy to follow and appreciate.

If there's a cinematic equivalent of Neal Adams right now it might be George Clooney's work as director of Good Night & Good Luck and producer/star of Syriana. Both artists have created images that are sharp and clear yet with a certain stylishness all their own. Maybe that style is immediacy. Others may disagree, but I've found that in each case there's never too great an imbalance between pictorial values and social relevance.

I like being entertained where it's assumed I'm an adult. In no small part, such possibilities opened up for me way back in 1970 thanks to Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Adams, with their real life-meets-superhero breakthroughs.