A Desperate Cry For Help: INFERIOR FIVE No. 6!

[Scott Shaw!]

Normally, I don't hype individual ODDBALL COMICS here, but today I've got a comic that I'll bet that most of you have never seen, one that presents two "insiders'" point of view of DC Comics near the close of of the Silver Age -- created from within -- that you'll never see anywhere else!

ODDBALL COMIC #1,143: MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2006 -- Which ODDBALL COMIC cover-features Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, the Atom, the Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman, the Martian Manhunter, Superboy, the Blackhawks and the Metal Men? (>Whew!< So where’s the entire Legion Of Super-Heroes?) And features an interior story that takes a scathing look at the entire editorial staff of DC Comics, circa 1968, including Mort Weisinger, Jack Schiff, Julius Schwartz, Cover Editor Carmine Infantino and even Editorial Director Irwin Donenfeld? Wouldja believe -- THE INFERIOR FIVE? Plus, an epic poem in honor of the IF by teenage Mark Evanier!

This week's ODDBALL COMIC guest-stars the editorial staff of DC Comics, circa 1968. It's an extremely hard-to-find comic that I'd been looking for a looong time, but as I re-read it, my jaw kept hitting the floor. I don't think I've ever seen such a vehement commentary on working in the comic book industry..."How To Build A >Bomb<!" even exceeds Jack Kirby's acidic issue of MISTER MIRACLE that introduces Stan Lee, er, Funky Flashman to the world.

How the heck did this thing ever see print? Who at DC ever allowed this thing to be printed? What was the reaction within fandom? (I never saw this when it was published, which was very unusual, because I really haunted the comic racks by that time.) Why are copies of this comic so hard to come by? Is it because of the cover? Or the outrageous story inside?

Plus, a cover that features tons of superhero guest-stars (even that Oddball incarnation of the Blackhawks), yet only actually features Robin The Boy Wonder for about three panels? And then there's that lettercolumn poem by a teenage Mark Evanier!

I said it in my column and I'll say it again, this just might be the very ODDEST comic book that DC Comics has EVER published!

If you dig DC comics from the 1960s (this one's from 1968), you really owe it to yourself to read this week's column about INFERIOR FIVE No. 6! Please, drop by ODDBALL COMICS and leave your reactions on its message board!

Aloha,

Scott!

P.S.: "Desperate Cry"..."DC", get it? -- SS!

[dan bailey]

Crap -- for some reason, hitting the link on the Oddball page does nothing. This is one I've been really wanting to read up on, in part because I'm extremely curious about why the comic is so hard to find.

[dan bailey]

Never mind ... it's just taking awhile to go through, for some reason.

[Scott Shaw!]

Crap -- for some reason, hitting the link on the Oddball page does nothing. This is one I've been really wanting to read up on, in part because I'm extremely curious about why the comic is so hard to find.

Maybe Mark Evanier bought up all the copies?

Seriously, I have no idea WHY it's so hard to find, but in my experience (which is considerable), I've only encountered ONE copy of it (back in 1975) before the one I purchased from Steve Wyatt a few weeks ago. And I never saw this comic on the newsstands when it was first published in 1968; I was 16 or 17 at the time and was not only avidly buying every issue of INFERIOR FIVE, I was driving and was, henceforth, able to "canvas" every good funnybook rack in San Diego.

I figure that with all my years of collecting, if I haven't had any luck locating a copy of this comic, it MUST be scarce!

Aloha,

Scott!

[Jeff O.]

For those coming upon this topic in the future, the direct link for this DC (and Oddball) classic is

http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=2006-10-16