An INSIDE LOOK at the DC Super-Stars #17 Facsimile Edition — due out May 5…
Hey, wow, look at this: A bona fide SNEAK PEEK at a comic book coming out next week — and this one is a real treat for longtime DC readers.
1977’s DC Super-Stars #17 featured the origin of the original Earth-Two superhero the Huntress, as well as revamped beginnings for Green Arrow and the Legion of Super-Heroes by an all-star team of talent — and on Tuesday, the publisher is re-releasing it as a Facsimile Edition, ads and all.
The main attraction is the story of Helena Wayne — who she is and how she came to be — the best version of the character we’ve seen. The story’s by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton and Bob Layton and we’ve got an INSIDE LOOK for you. Best part — besides the groovy story and the lovely art — is a column written by Levitz that lays out how the issue came together and how the Huntress herself was devised.
So dig the cover, several pages and the column. Oh, and on Sunday, we’re gonna give you a look at Denny O’Neil and Mike Grell’s Green Arrow origin — just in time for the writer’s 81st birthday — as well as a couple of exceptionally cool period advertisements. (UPDATED: Click here!)
In the meantime, here’s the Huntress and Levitz’s column:
Enlarged for easier reading
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A few thoughts:
— This issue is further proof that the Bronze Age really is the sweet spot for comics: old and new meshed together with respect and inventiveness. Love it.
— The Huntress is kind of floating about these days. A version of her was in the recent Birds of Prey movie (and the new comic) and DC earlier this year released the paperback collection The Huntress: Origins, featuring this very tale and others from the Bronze Age. Plus, we’re all waiting for the much-hyped story where Catwoman and Batman learn she’s pregnant.
— Standard price comparison: A pretty clean, unslabbed copy of the original recently went on eBay for $125. The facsimile edition is priced at $4.99. I’m fairly certain this is the first DC Facsimile Edition to reach that price (they’re usually $3.99). I’m chalking it up to the additional page count.
— Now, the big question: How to get this? If your local comics shop is open, they may be getting it from DC’s new distribution system. Contact them and find out. (The store may also offer mail-order options.) I believe the issue will still be offered through Diamond after the distributor gears up again, possibly later in May. Again, contact your shop for the best option.
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MORE
— INSIDE LOOK: When DENNY O’NEIL and MIKE GRELL Revamped GREEN ARROW’s Origin. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A JOE STATON Birthday Celebration. Click here.
May 2, 2020
Joe Staton on JSA was the best. We never were given enough.
May 2, 2020
I can see why the Huntress is so valued in the DC Universe as a character.
May 2, 2020
The Helena Wayne Huntress should still exist in all of her bronze glory. And that means Earth-2 as it was from golden through silver to bronze should still exist as well. They were excellent and imaginative creations that deserve many more stories to be told.
May 2, 2020
Nowadays, there are so many versions of each character that one doesn’t know from issue to issue, editor to editor, who is ‘real’ or still in continuity, who’s been cast aside and revamped, etc. Fortunately, since I have long since opted to say that I don’t care a whit about continuity between the characters and DC has chosen to simply allow any iteration to exist in its own universe making NOTHING Elseworlds’ or ‘Imaginary Story’ anymore, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Once you forget that continuity crap, its smooth sailing.