Green Lantern #85 is one of those true landmark comics in the long history of the field, the one in which staid DC Comics bit down hard on the reality of the day. So it was nifty to see it get the facsimile treatment from DC. Escapism fell before the need to speak out about the problems of the time and Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams do it with aplomb in a story which makes us all feel the shock on Green Arrow's face. Now the cover does undermine the story's climax, but the message is more important.
Stan Lee and Gil Kane had broken down the barriers to the Comics Code about drugs with their seminal issues of The Amazing Spider-Man (issues that earned the honorific), and here we see the code seal on a story which features not a single super-villain, merely depraved men using drugs to make money on the backs of impressionable.
Using Speedy as the vehicle to make the point that drugs can grab hold of anyone was brilliant and made sure that this problem wasn't going away at the story's conclusion. Addiction is life-long and Roy Harper is a wounded for all time. The absolute manner in which Ollie Queen is depicted in this story is also amazing. He is so stunningly blind to Roy's plight that his shock which is reflected on this cover is palpable. As a father now, I know that kind of blindness as we tend to always see our kids as just that -- little kids. Seeing them in a cold adult light can be most sobering, though I hope I'm never quite as addled as Green Arrow is in this story. It's to noted that both GL and GA also are given drugs in this story, a seemingly minor detail in characters who are mind-controlled often, but having a some different punch here.
There's no doubt this is an important comic, not just for its message but for the price which leaped to twenty-five cents, though we were gifted with a vintage Green Lantern reprint for our additional money.
I liked the DC books of this time, filled with vintage stories,but it's generally agreed that this is the moment when Marvel took the lead in the industry, a lead it keeps today. (By the way, in reference to the note from Carmine above, I find it highly unlikely that he used the word "rap" commonly. Am I wrong?) It's painful that that quarter a copy has given way to a blistering three dollars and ninety-nine cents for this facsimile, but still a comic worthy of this attention.
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The postman (or mailman as you'd say) just handed me this comic (suitably wrapped) 10 minutes ago. I'm disappointed to find that it's yet another 'scanned' comic, as opposed to one printed from new proofs. I'm sure I'll enjoy reading it, but it's slightly annoying that the colours are muted and - worst of all - it's a continued story. As for the price being changed on the cover, at least they've retained the original font.
ReplyDeleteThat scanned look makes me think of those old washed out pages from years gone by, and that makes me yearn for the good old days. Maybe not the plan.
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The word "rap" was used in the way Carmine used it here during the late 70's. It was one of those "youth" expressions that adults capitalized on and incorporated into their speech or their texts in an effort to hook young audiences, until it ran out of steam through overuse...along with "far out" and "groovy."
ReplyDeleteOh I know, as the awesome "Let's Rap With Cap" (changed from "Let's Yap With Cap" I think) showcases. I just think Carmine wouldn't use it, or maybe like Stan he was trying to stay up with times. As for for "Groovy"...I still use it regularly. Me and Ash!
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