Here we go. March of 1964. The era of Camelot has ended, The Beatles are at the top of the charts and Uncle Mort Weisinger now takes over as editor. The first thing you'll note is that starting now, WF looks like a Superman title with Batman and Robin in it rather than a Batman title with The Man of Steel in it. Swan and Klein take over for much improved art over what wan't all that bad to begin with. Edmond Hamilton provides a story geared more toward the Superman family than to time travel, wizards or aliens.
The Superman Family of titles were known for their letters pages so, for the first time ever, WF gets one! Yay! We'll finally know what the fans thought!
Something Mort never quite got right in my opinion was the back-up strip. This one--perhaps purposely--features Green Arrow and Aquaman, the two most recent back-up strips…only it's a reprint of a Lois Lane story.
"Lois Lane -- Super-Slut!!"
ReplyDeleteAlso, the first "New Look" Batman is rendered in WF, though Batman's bat insignia isn't surrounded by the yellow oval on the cover.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I totally missed the New Look Batman! Thanks for the reminder! Yes, another important change!
ReplyDeleteSounded like the cover is drawn before they think out the story, by the look of it!
ReplyDeleteBTW, since this is Mort Weisinger's first issue of WF as editor, he managed to launched the reprints of other DC features as the back-up story feature, as he would implied to throughout his reign.