"HEY, KIDS! COMICS!" was - at least, up through the Bronze Age of Comics - the summons of the spinner racks found at many News Stands, Grocery Stores, Bus Depots, Airports, Train Stations, Convenience Stores and Liquor Stores throughout the country. Liquor Stores were also called "Party Stores" in the mid-west - not exactly what you'd consider a thoroughfare for family entertainment, but, hey - if there were comics to be found, you'd find the fans there!
These pages were created with a fondness for the sense of wonder inspired by the comics of a by-gone era. One in which children (and, sometimes, adolescents) were the target audience for these treats, which continue to provide entertainment for all ages - even today.
MetropolisPlus is primarily dedicated to the last great "age" of comics, The Bronze Age. Everything past the Bronze Age is difficult to categorize, though many make attempts. That said, the desire here is to focus on those things loved about the Bronze Age, as well as other items above and beyond.
There are lots of comic book sites. This isn't a blog, or some lazily slapped-together comments with pictures we found in a Google search, but a website of carefully cultivated articles and premium images for the real comic book enthusiast who primarily enjoys the Bronze Age and DC Comics.
Every image on this website is of the highest quality and has been restored to ensure a faithful representation of how that book, panel or cover would have appeared when it was new. We have spent endless hours focused on just restoring these images, so we hope that you will enjoy the level of detail love that has gone into every comic book image you see here.
At the top of a "classic" comic book spinner rack around this period in history, you'd find these signs at the top - greeting you to enjoy these visual confections:
These days, there are comics specialty shops across the nation. There have been comics shops since the late 1960s, but they have had hills and valleys of popularity. After a considerable "valley" in the mid-1990s, there's finally some growing traffic in them due mostly to digital comics and the popularity of the Super-Hero genre in films. Sadly, you won't find comics in many of their formerly ubiquitous locations like grocery stores, news stands or the like any longer. Heck, you can barely find a news stand or many places that sell magazines any longer. Places where a kid would happen across these four colored pamphlets and become inspired with the desire to read through the brightly colored pictures are mostly absent in this century.
Comics shops are sort of like a Hallmark Card Shop - only with comics... trouble is, no one has a regular occasion throughout the course of a normal year to go to one (for that matter, Hallmark card shops are dwindling in numbers, as well, even though we like to get our greeting cards there). Hopefully, sites like Comixology, Marvel.com and DCUniverseInfinite.com - in conjunction with the current mania around superhero movies - might help to change that.
We'll continue to add more links as we have over the past few years, but in the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy the current offerings here!
DC
ANIMATED UNIVERSE (DCAU) VIEWER'S GUIDE
(NEW 2022, UPDATED 12/2023)
The DC Universe, writ large for the small screen. Brought to you by Bruce
Timm, Paul Dini and a host of other animators, the DC Universe has never had
a more well-realized, singular vision of how a cinematic version should work
on any screen. Brilliant and well worth your time.
SPINNER RACK REMEMBRANCES
(NEW 2022, UPDATED 08/2023)
Rarely seen these days, we've
restored some old comic rack signage for your enjoyment. And maybe - someday
- we'll find the comic book spinner rack we'd like to have in our
collection.
COMIC
BOOK PIETA COVERS
(UPDATED 08/2023)
A comic book trope that is not
discussed very often these days, covers inspired (at least, in part) by the
Pieta. A short look at a bunch of covers ranging from 1946 to the almost-present
with this feature.
WITH
ONE MAGIC WORD... SHAZAM! THE RESURRECTION OF THE *ORIGINAL* CAPTAIN MARVEL
(UPDATED 08/2023)
Rather unexpectedly, DC pulled this rabbit out of their hats at the end of 1972,
changing forever the fabric of the DC Universe. This is a short page dedicated
to the wonder that came with having this then-obscure character return to
publishing by the very company that contributed to his demise 20 years earlier.
SUPERMAN'S
SYMBOL/SHIELD/LOGO HISTORY
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 04/2024)
This
page was created to celebrate the origins of the World's Greatest
Super-Hero - and the first - Superman! Created 22 years ago and updated as
better graphics have been able to be created, we've preserved this mostly in
original form from the AOL days and the interim metropolisplus.net days, as
well. His iconic "S" has been reinterpreted over the ages, but no period was
more labile than the first 7 years of his existence - check it out!
WHEN
DOES "THE BRONZE AGE" BEGIN?
(UPDATED 10/2024)
The Bronze Age has languished in obscurity for most of comics fandom. We
work with historical facts and figures to bring a more definitive answer.
This is an article intended to invite discussion and, perhaps, some debate.
But the position has its merits based in previous comic book history.
DC's
BRONZE AGE "CHARACTER BULLET" LOGOS
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 07/2024)
Right at the start of the Bronze Age, DC got rid of the original "DC Bullet" and
replaced it with icons of the heroes starring in the title. It was the first of
many changes that the logo would go through.
METROPOLISPLUS.COM'S
IMAGE RESTORATION PROCESS FEATURING THE
JSA!
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 06/2024)
Every image brought to you from MetropolisPlus is
intended to be the best possible. Endless hours are spent poring over images
with image editors in order to bring clarity to comics and comics history. The
centerpiece of this page is primarily Murphy Anderson's rendering of the Justice
Society of America (JSA) from a pinup he provided for an issue of "Justice
League of America" #76. Initially, I had reconstructed the image from several
sources to bring a solid idea of what the artist intended. However, I was
eventually fortunate enough to have the owner of this piece, who had won the
original art in an auction to benefit Murphy Anderson, allow me access to a
high-resolution scan of the original art. So I've included a re-colored version
of this lovely piece, as well as a quick explanation of how I restored the image
of Superman adorning the masthead of this page. Enjoy!
RESTORING
DAVE COCKRUM'S LEGION
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 09/2024)
A favorite of the
Bronze Age, the Legion of Super-Heroes by Dave Cockrum retains
a great volume of appreciative fans. Here, we restore some images in four-color
beauty. The centerpiece of this page is the wedding of Bouncing Boy (Chuck
Taine) and Duo Damsel (Llourno Durgo) from Superboy and the Legion of Super
Heroes #200. Restoring this image from several sources provides the complete
image as intended by the artist who brought the Legion to have their name on the
masthead of Superboy's title and, eventually, take it over! All hail Mr.
Cockrum!!
THE
AMAZING OUTFITS OF SUPERGIRL!
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 09/2024)
Supergirl has had a LOT of outfits! Here, we
bring you the classics and the many hits and misses from her most diverse
phase of fashion in the early 1970s. We also include the "Supergirls" who
existed be fore Kara Zor-El, as well as those in-between her appearances in the
DC Universe. As with most pages on this site, this one is primarily focused on
the Bronze Age period in which she was something of a fashion plate, but we also
provide all periods of her uniforms up to the present
DC
100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULARS
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 02/2024)
In this page, we have reconstructed all of the great
wraparound covers and their "Key to the Characters" pages, as well as providing
some history to my absolute favorite set of comics from the early 1970s. One 100
pages for 50˘ - cover to cover - such a deal!!!!
A
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
(UPDATED 02/2024)
Exactly what the title says - this is the Marvel Comics Universe, not to be
confused with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I try to give you the basics of
most major events throughout the history of Timely, Atlas and, finally, Marvel.
Hopefully, you'll find something of use in this page with regard to the order of
events in the Marvel Comics Universe, what the difference is between what
happened in the Marvel Comics Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or
simply have fun looking around to find out how the Marvel Universe began and
propagated in the first place.
BRIAN
G. PHILBIN'S GUIDE TO THE BASICS OF COMICS, COMICS HISTORY, COMIC COLLECTING AND
COMICS VALUES
This is
a guide to comics & collecting that was
originally intended for users from "AllExperts.com", but has taken on its own
life as a website for beginners in comics collecting. I've connected with other
resources to bring you the best possible basic information for enjoying,
collecting, grading and - possibly - selling your comics. As indicated in the
title, this is a guide, but not necessarily the definitive word on the subject.
just a beginning to assist in starting you on your journey, should you so
choose.
THE
AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS INDEX
(UPDATED GRAPHICS 04/2024)
One of my first websites, originally created by a group from AOL who
appreciated this DC Fanzine. I've preserved our resulting index here on
MetropolisPlus.
TWO
CAPTAIN MARVELS? WHAT GIVES??
(NEW 03/2023)
Why do both Marvel and DC Comics have a character named "Captain Marvel"?
Why isn't Carol Danvers the only Captain Marvel? Why does the character I
thought was called "Shazam" go by
Captain Marvel? Who IS Captain Marvel? Your answers found here.
If you have any questions, comments or other inquiries, please feel free to contact our webmaster at the E-mail address below.
But most of all - ENJOY!!
Pax, harmonia,
Brian G.
Philbin
BRIAN G. PHILBIN'S
MetropolisPlus.com "Hey!!! Kids' Comics" - text is İİ
Brian G.
Philbin. If you have any question,
comments or other items of interest to
this page, please feel free to E-Mail
Brian G.
Philbin at KlarKenT5477@gmail.com. All items which are highlighted in blue text and
underlined are links to the named item. Some of these pages were originally
hosted at Metropolis1 dot net from 2001-2006 and on my AOL webpage from
1999-2001.
