DC Comics insert previews

First page of The New Teen Titans insert preview, from DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct. 1980), art by George Pérez and Dick Giordano.

DC Comics insert previews were 16-page comic book stories inserted into issues of existing DC Comics series to promote new series usually debuting the next month. Running from 1980 to 1985, they consisted of a front cover, 14 pages of story, and a back cover that depicted the cover of the actual first issue. The addition of the insert did not entail an increase in the price of the comic book, and the cover copy called the insert "a special free 16-page comic!"[1]

Publication history

The insert previews began with The New Teen Titans in DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct. 1980). This reboot of an existing property by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez introduced several new characters[2] and would become a sales success for DC.[3] Wolfman would additionally write previews for a reboot of the "Dial H for Hero" feature[4] and for Night Force[5] a supernatural series drawn by Gene Colan, his former collaborator on The Tomb of Dracula. DC highlighted the work of Roy Thomas, newly arrived at the company from Marvel Comics, by featuring several of his series in the format. These included All-Star Squadron, a revival of the Justice Society of America;[6][7] Arak, Son of Thunder, a new Native American character;[8][9] a revitalization of Wonder Woman including an update of the character's costume;[10] and Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! a combination of the talking animal and superhero genres.[11] When the long running The Brave and the Bold series came to its conclusion, the final issue featured a preview of a new Batman series, Batman and the Outsiders by writer Mike W. Barr and artist Jim Aparo,[12] which would be described by DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz as being "a team series more fashionable to 1980s audiences".[13] New talent such as the writing team of Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn was represented in the previews with Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Blue Devil.[14][15][16] Licensed properties were featured as well. A Masters of the Universe preview featured in several comic books cover dated November 1982 led to a miniseries the following month.[17] The Atari Force preview in January 1983 served as a prequel to the ongoing series launched a year later.[18] M.A.S.K. was an animated series and a Kenner Products toyline adapted into comic books in a September 1985 preview which led to a miniseries the following December.[19]

Issues

Issue (cover date)	Insert preview	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Citations
DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980)	The New Teen Titans	Marv Wolfman	George Pérez and Dick Giordano	[20]
Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #272 (February 1981)	"Dial H for Hero" [Note 1]		Carmine Infantino, Frank Chiaramonte, and Dennis Jensen	[21]
Justice League of America #193 (August 1981)	All-Star Squadron	Roy Thomas	Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway	[22]
Warlord #48 (August 1981)	Arak, Son of Thunder		Ernie Colón and Tony DeZuniga	[23]
DC Comics Presents #41 (January 1982)	Wonder Woman		Gene Colan and Romeo Tanghal	[24]
The New Teen Titans #16 (February 1982)	Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!		Scott Shaw, Ross Andru, and Bob Smith	[25]
The New Teen Titans #21 (July 1982)	Night Force	Marv Wolfman	Gene Colan and Bob Smith	[26]
Action Comics #537 All-Star Squadron #15 Arak, Son of Thunder #15 Batman #353 Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #9 The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 DC Comics Presents #51 Detective Comics #520 The Fury of Firestorm #6 Justice League of America #208 The Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #293 The New Adventures of Superboy #35 The New Teen Titans #25 Superman #377 The Warlord #63 Wonder Woman #297 (all November 1982)	Masters of the Universe [Note 2]	Paul Kupperberg	Curt Swan and Dave Hunt	[27]
DC Comics Presents #53 The New Teen Titans #27 (both January 1983)	Atari Force [Note 2]	Gerry Conway	Ross Andru and Dick Giordano	[28]
The Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #298 (April 1983)	Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld	Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn	Ernie Colón	[29]
The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983)	Batman and the Outsiders	Mike W. Barr	Jim Aparo	[30]
The Fury of Firestorm #24 (June 1984)	Blue Devil	Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn	Paris Cullins and Pablo Marcos	[16][31]
Batman and the Outsiders #15 Blue Devil #6 Superman #401 Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #317 Tales of the Teen Titans #48 World's Finest Comics #309 (all November 1984)	Flash Force 2000 [Note 3]	Robert Loren Fleming	Denys Cowan and Sal Trapani	[32]
Batman #387 Batman and the Outsiders #27 Blue Devil #16 Green Lantern #192 Justice League of America #242 Superman #411 Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #327 World's Finest Comics #319 (all September 1985)	M.A.S.K. [Note 2]	Michael Fleisher	Mike Chen and Joe Delbeato	[33]

Collected editions

The following insert preview stories have been reprinted in collected editions:

• The New Teen Titans story from DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) in:
  • The New Teen Titans Archives Vol. 1, 240 pages, February 1999, ISBN 978-1563894855
  • The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1, 684 pages, September 2011, ISBN 978-1401231088
  • The New Teen Titans Vol. 1, 240 pages, September 2014, ISBN 978-1401251437
• The All-Star Squadron story from Justice League of America #193 (August 1981) in:
  • Showcase Presents: All-Star Squadron Vol. 1, 528 pages, April 2012, ISBN 978-1401234362
  • Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years, 496 pages, July 2015, ISBN 978-1401255312
• The Wonder Woman story from DC Comics Presents #41 (January 1982) in:
  • Wonder Woman: 80 Years of the Amazon Warrior The Deluxe Edition, 416 pages, September 2021, ISBN 978-1779511577
• The Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew story from The New Teen Titans #16 (February 1982) in:
  • Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, 168 pages, April 2008, ISBN 978-1401216849
  • Showcase Presents: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, 672 pages, September 2014, ISBN 978-1401247560
• The Night Force story from The New Teen Titans #21 (July 1982) in:
  • Night Force by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan: The Complete Series, 396 pages, October 2017, ISBN 978-1401274290
• The Masters of the Universe story from various DC Comics titles (November 1982) in:
  • DC Through the 80s: The End of Eras, 520 pages, December 2020, ISBN 978-1779500878
• The Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld story from Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #298 (April 1983) in:
  • Showcase Presents: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Vol. 1, 648 pages, October 2012, ISBN 978-1401236779
• The Batman and the Outsiders story from The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983) in:
  • Showcase Presents: Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1, 552 pages, September 2007, ISBN 978-1401215460
  • Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1, 368 pages, February 2017, ISBN 978-1401268121

See also

• DC Comics Bonus Book
• Pandora Pann

References

1. As seen on the cover of DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct. 1980), among others.
2. Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. [The New Teen Titans] went on to become DC's most popular comic team of its day. Not only the springboard for the following month's The New Teen Titans #1, the preview's momentous story also featured the first appearance of future DC mainstays Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven.
3. Levitz, Paul (2010). "The Bronze Age 1970-1984". 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Cologne, Germany: Taschen. p. 454. ISBN 978-3-8365-1981-6. [Marv Wolfman and George Pérez] created a title that would be DC's sales leader throughout the 1980s.
4. Manning p. 192 Legion of Super-Heroes #272: "Within a sixteen-page preview in Legion of Super-Heroes #272...was "Dial 'H' For Hero", a new feature that raised the bar on fan interaction in the creative process. The feature's story, written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Carmine Infantino, saw two high-school students find dials that turned them into super-heroes. Everything from the pair's civilian clothes to the heroes they became was created by fans writing in. This concept would continue in the feature's new regular spot within Adventure Comics".
5. Manning p. 197 The New Teen Titans #21: "[T]his issue...hid another dark secret: a sixteen-page preview comic featuring Marv Wolfman's newest team - Night Force. Chronicling the enterprise of the enigmatic Baron Winters and featuring the art of Gene Colan, Night Force spun out into an ongoing title of gothic mystery and horror the following month".
6. Markstein, Don (2010). "All-Star Squadron". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024.
7. Catron, Michael (June 1981). "Thomas Revives WWII Superheroes". Amazing Heroes (1). Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books: 28–30. All-Star Squadron, DC's new World War II-era superhero series debuts in May in a 16-page preview insert in Justice League of America #193.
8. Catron, Michael (June 1981). "Thomas's Indian/Viking to Roam Medieval Europe". Amazing Heroes (1). Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books: 28–30. Arak, Son of Thunder, described as an 'Indian/Viking', makes his debut in a preview insert in Warlord #48, on sale in May.
9. Thomas, Roy (2011). Alter Ego: Centennial. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-60549-031-1. As it happened, May of '81 was virtually 'Roy Thomas Month' at DC Comics.
10. Sanderson, Peter (September–October 1981). "Thomas/Colan Premiere Wonder Woman's New Look". Comics Feature (#12/13). New Media Publishing: 23. The hotly-debated new Wonder Woman uniform will be bestowed on the Amazon Princess in her first adventure written and drawn by her new creative team: Roy Thomas and Gene Colan...This story will appear as an insert in DC Comics Presents #41.
11. Manning p. 196: "The New Teen Titans #16 - In a sixteen-page bonus preview insert in the middle of The New Teen Titans...was the debut story of Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew".
12. Manning p. 202 The Brave and the Bold #200: "Despite being the final issue of this particular series, the book wasn't closed on Batman's team-ups. Although Batman was through working with partners, it was time to think bigger, and in a special sixteen-page preview insert written by Barr and with art by Jim Aparo, the Outsiders debuted. A super-hero team of Batman's own creation, the Outsiders would soon star alongside Batman in the new monthly series Batman and the Outsiders".
13. Levitz p. 462
14. Manning p. 201 Legion of Super-Heroes #298: "The other-dimensional Gemworld found a new princess in the form of Amy Winston, an ordinary young girl from a distant reality, in the pages of a sixteen-page insert comic by writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn, and artist Ernie Colón. Standing strong against the forces of the nefarious Dark Opal, Amethyst was gearing up for her own self-titled maxiseries in May".
15. Manning p. 208 The Fury of Firestorm #24: "[A] sixteen-page preview story marked the debut of fledgling stuntman-turned-hero Blue Devil. An attempt to put the fun back into comics, writers Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin and penciller Paris Cullins had Blue Devil face the machinations of Flash villain the Trickster in this lead-in to his own ongoing series".
16. DeAngelo, Daniel (December 2014). "Circuits and Sorcery: The Honest-to-Goodness Story of Blue Devil". Back Issue! (#77). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 51–54.
17. Masters of the Universe at the Grand Comics Database
18. Atari Force at the Grand Comics Database
19. M.A.S.K. at the Grand Comics Database
20. DC Comics Presents #26 at the Grand Comics Database
21. The Legion of Super-Heroes #272 at the Grand Comics Database
22. Justice League of America #193 at the Grand Comics Database
23. The Warlord #48 at the Grand Comics Database
24. DC Comics Presents #41 at the Grand Comics Database
25. The New Teen Titans #16 at the Grand Comics Database
26. The New Teen Titans #21 at the Grand Comics Database
27. List of DC Comics containing the Masters of the Universe insert at the Grand Comics Database
28. DC Comics Presents #53 and The New Teen Titans #27 at the Grand Comics Database
29. The Legion of Super-Heroes #298 at the Grand Comics Database
30. The Brave and the Bold #200 at the Grand Comics Database
31. The Fury of Firestorm #24 at the Grand Comics Database
32. List of DC Comics containing the Flash Force 2000 insert at the Grand Comics Database
33. List of DC Comics containing the M.A.S.K. insert at the Grand Comics Database

Notes

1. "Dial 'H' for Hero" appeared in Adventure Comics rather than in its own title.
2. Masters of the Universe, Atari Force, and M.A.S.K. were licensed properties.
3. Flash Force 2000 was an advertising promotion for a Matchbox toyline rather than a preview of an upcoming DC Comics series. It is included here for completeness of the subject.

External links

• Daily Planet volume 80 issue #22 (October 1980) house advertisement for The New Teen Titans insert preview at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• Daily Planet volume 80 issue #26 (November 1980) house advertisement for "Dial 'H' For Hero insert preview at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• DC Bonus Books (including the insert previews) at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• "Insert Preview Here: DC Showcase, 80s Style". Blinded Me With Comics. May 1, 2009. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011.