Greatest 1950's Stories Ever Told

by Carmine Infantino and Jack Kirby

A graphic novel which offers a collection of fantasy fiction from the 1950s, featuring various superheroes. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0930289838
• ISBN13: 9780930289836
• Release Date: March 1992
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.7" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

A melting pot

If I recall correctly, DC Comics released 7 "Greatest Stories" collections (Superman, Batman, Joker, Flash, Team-Ups, Forties, and Fifties), with all but the Forties making it into trade paperback format. Then, for some reason I'm not privy to, the line was dumped. Maybe DC felt they were giving readers too good of a deal, and I can believe it, each book costing about $15 for ~300 pages of great reading. It's unfortunate that they didn't continue the series, or at least keep it in print. And don't be fooled by the recently-released Superman and Batman "Greatest Stories Ever Told" collections. Those are completely different and don't nearly approach the worthiness of these collections. THE GREATEST 1950s STORIES EVER TOLD highlights a decade of uncertainty for DC Comics, and the entire comic medium in general. The ageing of their former audience, the shifting of entertainment to television, and political and moral pressures forced the majority of the costumed heroes out of the spotlight, to be replaced by a crazy mix of adventure, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, war, and romance comics. Towards the end of the decade, DC moved back on track, revamping their shelved Golden Age heroes with more of a modern, science-fiction angle. That successful gamble signaled the beginning of the Silver Age of comics. All of the above-mentioned genres are represented in this collection, and I have to say that the selection is excellent. Included are Showcase # 6, 8-9, and 23; Adventure Comics # 159, 245, and 253; World's Finest Comics # 77 and 64; Star-Spangled Comics #113; Detective Comics #228; Sugar and Spike #3; Congo Bill #6; Strange Adventures #28; Western Comics #72; Wonder Woman #99; Blackhawk #109; The Fox and the Crow #14; Superboy #22; Brave and the Bold #3; Sensation Comics #107; Batman #81; Phantom Stranger #1; Action Comics #238; All-American Western Comics #121; Girls' Love Stories #27; Our Army at War #87; and Jimmy Olsen #32. In addition to the heroes indicated by the issue titles, the book also provides appearances from the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Nighthawk, King Faraday, Tomahawk, Captain Comet, Green Arrow & Speedy, the Shining Knight, Jon the Viking Prince, and Sgt. Rock. This is a very worthwhile book that deserves reprinting. In fact, DC should pick up this line again, with both more heroes and more decades. The intro is very informative as to the creators involved with these comics, as well as the various pressures put upon the comic medium at the time. It shouldn't be too hard to find a copy, as it hasn't been out of print for very long.

Excellent mix of genres from DC's 1950s archives.

By the end of the 1940s, the comic book super-hero was on its way out with the exception of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and four backup feature characters. With the advent of the 1950s, DC's creative staff had to keep the readers interested and thus were given an opportunity to experiment with a wide variety of genres: romance stories, spy stories, science fiction, adventure and dectective tales, and westerns. By the end of the 1950s, DC had reintroduced some of their most popular charactors, notably Flash and Green Lantern, and thus ushered in the "Silver Age of Comics." This decade produced some of the most inventive and innovative attempts at comic book story-telling, and this wonderful book is a microcosm of what DC produced then. "The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told" features some of the best non-super hero stories DC ever produced, as well as some choice stories starring the Big Three: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. DC was trying to regain its footing in the comic book market and these efforts helped it accomplish that goal. The stories in this volume feature Congo Bill, Johnny Thunder, King Farraday, Tommy Tomorrow, Viking Prince, Nighthawk, Captain Comet Sgt Rock, Sugar & Spike, the Fox & the Crow, and Tomahawk. The super-hero stories , of course, feature the World's Finest Team of Batman, Superman and Robin; Wonder Woman; and three surviviors of the comic book purge: Aquaman, Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter. This volume also includes the Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern, the Challengers of the Unknown, and Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane at the height of their books' popularity. The variety in these 30 stories alone would be enough to recommend this book, but the stories are truely some of the best the decade produced. Frank Frazetta's Shining Knight art is still crisp and beautiful, while Ramona Fradon's rendition of Aquaman gave that difficult character some charm and whimsy. Dick Sprang draws Batman and Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert collaborate on Sgt Rock: enough said on that. This book features some of the comics industry's best producing outstanding work turing an amazingly productive and creative period. There is not a bad choice in the book. Dont' miss it.