Every so often I'll find one of these attempts DC used to make towards other genres, and feel obligated to pick it up since I didn't support anything other than superhero books. Well, not entirely, but a lot. And then it's usually quickly apparent why it didn't take off; in fact, this was the last issue for this title. It's more than a bit hokey.
In "Horse Story," a young orphan is given the chance to buy a college girl's foal, which he raises into a champion, but his beloved Flash breaks his leg winning the big race. Is the orphan hard enough to put him out of his misery? Luckily, we don't have to find out! And the other two stories go much lighter, as "Wide Bill Hickok," a distant descendent of the Western legend, struggles to find a sport he can excel at. Ah, he does try out for football, but that's not his forte. Lastly, "Jack the Giants Killer" learns his b-ball skills with a lopsided ball and undersized basket, which somehow leads to success against way taller kids. Seem unlikely? Yes.
I feel like I must've grabbed one of DC's crazier sports books with this, like maybe Strange Sports Stories. Or maybe I just wish I did.
E for effort right?
ReplyDeleteMan, this is pretty straight-laced for a 70's Joe Simon comic. Considering he was doing Prez and Brother Power around the same time, sports stories are a very 'safe' choice. Though it doesn't surprise me this got cancelled so quick- not because it's sports (DC was still willing to experiment with genres at this point), but I remember hearing EIC Carmine Infantino had some sort of grudge against Joe Simon and cancelled most of his books after only a few issues.
ReplyDelete@H: Really now? Did NOT know that. Wonder why.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, it was mostly to do with how Joe was using characters from hippie culture in most of his books and Carmine absolutely hated hippies and everything they stood for. Sort of a comics Gene Roddenberry, I guess.
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