INFINITY, INC.

(All artwork featured is by Jerry Ordway & Mike Machlan.)



(The team from Who's Who in DC Comics)

I was always a fanatic about DC Comics and Earth 2 in particular.
The JSA were a real favorite of mine, perhaps for the nostalgia--the sense
of history, longevity, originality, familiarity to the team.
Growing up in the 1970s, reprints of the Golden Age greats were
plentiful, and it was as if I had read about them all along.
(The All Star Squad and Power Girl were some of my
favorite characters!)

So when DC had Roy Thomas join together all the offspring
of the original JSA (the first time such an idea was done, I
believe,) I was ecstatic. This was a prime time to be collecting.
Between having the JSA active again in the present,
the excitement of new characters (especially kids a teen
could relate to,) and the tremendous art team, it was a
definite highlight of my comic reading experience!

(teaser from DC Sampler)

There was a lot to digest with such a huge cast and so much

history to play with, and this was back in the day when comics

(in particular Roy Thomas ones) were chock-full of dialogue

and a multitude of panels and story. You got your money's worth.

It was magical; You started with Jerry Ordway, and then some

Don Newton 'fill-in" issues, to be followed by Todd McFarlane

who--at the time--had a new and fun look that fit the book well!

I loved those crazy panel and page designs! (Later, there would be

phenomenal Michael Bair issues.)

(Specialty shop promo poster)

Alas, like most good things, it wasn't meant to last.

With pending changes due to DC's ridiculous and unnecessary "Crisis"

(which erased the Multiverse and decades of history and uniqueness,)

Infinity was one of the hardest hit books.

Everything Earth 2 was affected by the mess of Crisis, and the book

had to upend stories and characters to fit all the revisions in.

To be fair, Roy & Dann did a phenomenal job of making lemonade out

of lemons, but in the end you were still left with a bitter taste.

Infinity, Inc. ended up being one of those teams whose characters

and memory got a continual shaft, with deaths and limbo and

bad handling following the inevitable cancellation.

But I will always have great memories of all the issues

that gave me happiness those years ago. DC can't take

my memories!

As long as the back issues exist, the revisions and

editorial dictates of a corporation mean nothing to me.

R.I.P. Syl, Karen, Dick, Helena, Lyta, Hank, Yolanda,

Todd, Rick, Beth, Albert, Norda, Hector, Jennie-Lynn, & Bones!
You'll always be Infinitors to me!

Thanks to Roy, Dann, Jerry, Mike, Todd, and all the rest for

a stellar run and a lot of good memories.

 

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"It Was the Seventies"

"Say 'cheese'!"

The two made-for-TV specials from the Hanna-Barbera team
and NBC in the late 1970s, "Legends of the Super-Heroes", 
were live-action hoots that captured the imaginations of hungry
fanboys (and girls) at the time!

Like all things H/B, it probably has not weathered the test of
time well, and surely it is an embarrassment to anal-retentive
or angst-ridden continuity geeks. As for me, I still have fond
memories.

To see live people clad as super-heroes or comic book 
characters at that time was nearly unheard of...and here were
not only some good looking guys in form-fitting spandex,
but some B and C list characters (which tended to be my faves!)



As an Earth 2 fan (and majority DC fan at the time,) I 
went ape-shit wild over the promos for these! I marveled at
the Huntress, Black Canary, Solomon Grundy and others!
Captain Marvel? Awesome! MORDRU from the Legion?!?!
Whodathunk? It was a comic fan's wet dream.


Whatever criticisms there were (and are) about content,
the shows were very fun and exciting, and the costuming and make-up
were phenomenal! The action scenes exploded, and for young gay
kids everywhere, seeing shirtless and spandex-clad super-heroes
acted by hunks was a dream come true!
(Straight guys must have loved the Double-D's on Hunny
and B.C., too...something for everyone!)


I would probably intentionally never watch it again--some
things do not revisit well--but it's a great memory, and 
given the time and resources, it was great TV!


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