DC Alphabet Quiz: Bronze Age

[MWGallaher]

We had some fun with this game a year or two ago, so I figured it was about time for another round!

Each letter of the alphabet in the attached image is from a DC cover logo from a comic published after 1971 but before the first issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 in 1985. The logos may be from the comic book's actual title, or it may be from one of the features, if that feature had an "official" logo. For example, I might use the letter "G" from the Global Guardians' logo when they appeared in DC Comics Presents (and of course, I didn't use that one this time!), but I wouldn't take the "G" from a hand-lettered cover blurb that said "Guest-starring the Global Guardians!" I also didn't use any logos like the ones Joe Kubert did for the Losers, the kind that are integrated in to the cover art for that issue only, although one-shot "formal" logos are fair game.

A few of these are pretty easy (at least for Bronze Age DC fans--don't look for anything from the most famous logos in here!), a few are rather hard, and a few might be close to impossible!

Your goal is simply to determine the feature that each letter came from and site at least one series that featured this particular logo design, even if it wasn't the particular series that I used as a source. In other words, you'll have to prove that you weren't just guessing if you want to get it right!

[T GUy]

Okay, here's a start off the top of my head:

G = Black Magic (DC reprint series ca. 1973-4)
J - The Joker in B&B 111
M - Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion - early issues
W - Beowulf, Dragon Slayer
Y - Young Romance (ca. 48pp./25c issues)

[T GUy]

Lucky I went away to check that 'X,' innit? 'Cause, hombre, It ain't from Jonah Hex's own book or Weird Western Tales, but from the slightly obscure Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales digest (specifically, No. 2 - v. good Luis Dominguz cover).

[Lone Ranger]

X - Jonah Hex

[MWGallaher]

T GUy takes an early lead, nailing 6 of the letters! Good catch on the X, and you got one of what I figured would be the hard ones--Young Romance. But don't get cocky: that wasn't one of the nearly impossible ones!

[MDG]

Okay, this is without looking anything up...

A = Black Magic
B = Boy Commandos
N = Metal Men
K - Stalker
L = Lois Lane
W = Beowulf

MDG

[T GUy]

I have no intention of getting cocky, particularly as I've only just noticed that the 'H' is from the logo of Champion Sports.

Hmmm... Joe Simon edited DC books of the early/mid Bronze Age...

[Red Oak Kid]

I think the "I" is from Binky. Leave it to Binky or binky's Buddies.

[MWGallaher]

Okay, this is without looking anything up...

A = Black Magic
Nope! The "G" was from Black Magic. No repeats!
B = Boy Commandos
Bingo! From the 2-issue reprint series
N = Metal Men
Ha! Most definitely not!
K - Stalker
My, it does remind one a bit of that wonderful little 4-issue fantasy, but...no.
L = Lois Lane
Not even close!

[MWGallaher]

I have no intention of getting cocky, particularly as I've only just noticed that the 'H' is from the logo of Champion Sports.

And T GUy nails another!

[MWGallaher]

I think the "I" is from Binky. Leave it to Binky or binky's Buddies.
No guessing! The rules are quite clear: if you think it's from one of Binky's books, you'll have to tell me which one!

[METAROG]

The "K" is from the Karate Kid series...probably from #13.

[MWGallaher]

The "K" is from the Karate Kid series...probably from #13.
It is indeed!
I always thought it was a sign of desperation back in the 70's when a book changed its logo 12 or less issues into its run.

[METAROG]

I think the "L" is from the Elongated Man guest appearence in DC Presents #21 or thereabouts.

[Gingold]

The V is from a Vixen logo that can be seen on DC Comics Presents 63.

[Gingold]

I believe the N is from a Haunted Tank logo (from a blue ribbon digest #12, maybe?).

[Gingold]

The U is from UFO Invaders. (seen on another Blue Ribbon Digest #14).

[MWGallaher]

I think the "L" is from the Elongated Man guest appearence in DC Presents #21 or thereabouts.
That's correct! It's an appropriately elongated logo, don't you think?

[MWGallaher]

The V is from a Vixen logo that can be seen on DC Comics Presents 63.
You're good, Gingold! I was thinking of using this one for the hard-to-find "X" but Vixen's X had a dead giveaway symbol smack dab in the middle of it. But it gave me a good V, which proved also to be a difficult letter to find.

[MWGallaher]

And Gingold scores two more, finding the Haunted Tank's N and UFO Invaders' U on the Blue Ribbon Digests! Who hear actually knew that DC had published a comic featuring "UFO Invaders" in the Bronze Age? Not me, 'til I put together this puzzle!

[METAROG]

I think the "R" is from Robin's appearence in DC Presents also.

[MWGallaher]

I think the "R" is from Robin's appearence in DC Presents also.
Good guess, but wrong...however, the "R" is from the logo of a major character.

[T GUy]

the "R" is from the logo of a major character
Aha! My first instincts were right (I thought of this yesterday, but dismissed it as a mere flight of fancy... until you shovelled this clue at me). This is from The Brave and the Bold 105, guest-starring Wonder Woman.

[MWGallaher]

Aha! My first instincts were right (I thought of this yesterday, but dismissed it as a mere flight of fancy... until you shovelled this clue at me). This is from The Brave and the Bold 105, guest-starring Wonder Woman.

Right! I think this was the only time this logo was ever used--and I can't imagine why it was used this once!

[T GUy]

I think this was the only time this logo was ever used--and I can't imagine why it was used this once!

This issue was edited by Murray Boltinoff, which I think is the nearest we're going to get to an explanation. :)

I, er, wonder if it's something to do with the WW in this issue being the Emma Peel version and Boltinoff (or someone in production?) thinking that the standard WW logo of the time wouldn't work on the B&B cover where it had to be side-by-side with the Batlogo? Perhaps he thought that it didn't work on the cover of No. 87 and that he'd try something different.

[MWGallaher]

That's perceptive, T GUy. For the fun of it, I thought I'd see what the cover would look like with the then just-retired "mod" Wonder Woman logo (she reverted to her Amazon roots the same month that this B&B came out!) Its scale is not suitable for the cover design; "Wonder Woman" looks to small at the shrunken size required to fit it into the same area as the logo Murray went with. To use the "real" WW logo, Batman's logo would have to be shrunk, and that was probably out of the question, not only for commercial reasons, but because that would then leave gaps in Aparo's cover. Much easier to solve the problem by whipping up a new logo from some on-hand commercial font.

[MWGallaher]

I left participants hanging and the thread is dead...anyone want one more crack before I list the unsolved letters?

Hints for the remaining:

A--I seem to have forgotten the source myself!*
C--The cover feature recently had a new series debut.
D--Not superhero.
E--Also not superhero.
F--Find the right one out of four possibilities.
I--A one-time only logo from a fluke publication.
O--The source cover featured pizza!
P--Going The Thing one better!
Q--Barely made the "pre-Crisis" time cutoff.
S--An "impossible" one--think small.
T--You'll have to tell me; I've forgotten this one, too!*
Z--Not superhero--which doesn't imply that all the others are.


*but I've got the sources somewhere...

[MWGallaher]

And the answers are:

A--Shade the Changing Man
C--DC Superstars of Magic (featuring Zatanna)
D--Unknown Soldier
E--Sun Devils
F--Super-Team Family. Did you know that S-TF was the only series in the "Family" family that had a unique 'family'? (Translation: Superman Family, Batman Family, and Tarzan Family logos had identical lettering for the word 'family', but Super-Team Family did not match. Didn't make any sense, either, but we're stuck with it!)
I--Binky #82. Published from out of the blue for one issue, following a 6-year hiatus, this single issue featured a different logo than previous comics in the "Binky Family" (not an official member of the "Family" family!).
O--Heart Throbs
P--Superman Family
Q--Conquerors of the Barren Earth
S--Year's Best Comics Stories (from Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #23)
T--Sinister House of Secret Love
Z--Blitzkrieg



The word "family" starts looking really weird to me when it appears so often in the same sentence--it looks like it's spelled wrong, or is from another language or something...

[T GUy]

I am quite annoyed with myself for not getting

O--Heart Throbs
T--Sinister House of Secret Love
Z--Blitzkrieg

but thanks for putting us all out of our suspense!