Written by Len Wein; Marv Wolfman; Robert Greenberger; Paul Levitz; Peter Sanderson; E. Nelson Bridwell; & Todd Klein.
Art by Anthony Tollin; Len Wein; Tatjana Wood; Tom Ziuko; & (See Below).
Wraparound Cover Art by Paris Cullens & Dick Giordano.
SUMMARY:
Released by DC Comics for September 1985, this 32-page seventh issue showcases characters from ‘Doctor Psycho’ to The Amazing Zoo Crew’s Fastback. This two-year monthly series was meant as DC’s equivalent to rival Marvel Comics’ Official Handbook series, which had previously started in 1983. With DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths saga an ongoing series at the time, Issue # 7 could be also construed as a potentially helpful character guide.
Specifically, the profiles and their artists are:
- Dr. Psycho (Stephen DeStefano & Bruce Patterson);
- Doctor Regulus (Pat Broderick);
- Dr. Thirteen (Tony DeZuniga);
- Doctor Tzin-Tzin (Bill Sienkiewicz);
- Doll Man (Murphy Anderson);
- Dolphin (Dave Stevens);
- Don Caballero (Bill Wray);
- Doom Patrol I (John Byrne);
- Doom Patrol II (Joe Staton & Terry Austin);
- Dragon King (Greg LeRocque & Bob Wiscek);
- Dream Girl (James Sherman);
- The Duke of Deception (Jose Delbo & Bob Smith);
- Dummy (Marshall Rogers);
- Duo Damsel (Mary Wilshire & Dick Giordano);
- Duplicate Boy (Jerry Bingham & Dick Giordano);
- Earthworm (Tim Burgard);
- Easy Company (Joe Kubert);
- Eclipso (Dave Gibbons);
- Elastic Lad {Jimmy Olsen} (Howard Bender & Romeo Tanghal);
- Elasti-Girl (John Byrne);
- El Diablo (Gray Morrow);
- Electrocutioner (David Ross & Klaus Janson);
- Element Lad (Colleen Doran & Karl Kesel);
- Elongated Man (Carmine Infantino & Dick Giordano);
- El Papagayo (Mark Texeira & Frank Giacola);
- Elu (Shawn McManus);
- Emerald Empress (Curt Swan & Karl Kesel);
- Enchantress (Carl Potts & Dick Giordano);
- Enemy Ace (Joe Kubert);
- Enforcer I & II (Rafael Kayanan & Gary Martin);
- Eradicator (Carmine Infantino & Dennis Jansen);
- Evil Star (Gil Kane);
- Fadeaway Man (Dave Cockrum);
- Fastback (Scott Shaw).
REVIEW:
It’s a standard Who’s Who, in terms of writing, visual quality, and general production values all meeting expectations. Of the various profiles, ‘Dr. Thirteen,’ ‘Doll Man,’ and ‘Dream Girl,’ are among the highlights where the profile photo is bolstered by terrific background imagery. If anything, this issue retains its charm nearly forty years as a DC Comics relic at a time their storytelling easily appealed to all ages.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
The front inside cover is a letters-and-answers column with project editor Len Wein. The back inside cover lists DC titles where characters from this issue can be presently found or in coming months.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
