Frequency Bimonthly First issue July/August 1974 | Final issue— Number April 197817 | |
Editor Carl Gafford #1Allan Asherman #2-7Bob Rozakis #8Neal Pozner #9Paul Levitz #10-14, Special Edition #1Cary Burkett #15-17 Categories DC Comics news and publicity | ||
The Amazing World of DC Comics was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with occasional strips and comics features, Amazing World offered a great deal of insight into Bronze Age DC corporate and creative culture.
Contents
The bulk of the issues were edited by Allan Asherman and later by Paul Levitz and then Cary Burkett; individual issues were edited by Carl Gafford, Bob Rozakis, and Neal Pozner.
Contributors included Burkett, Ramona Fradon, Jack C. Harris, Nestor Redondo, Steve Skeates, Michael Uslan, Wally Wood, and Mark Gruenwald (in one of his few credits outside of Marvel Comics).
Publication history
DC production manager Sol Harrison conceived of the idea of a DC "pro-zine," and assigned Bob Rozakis — who got his start in the industry through his many letters to comic book letter columns — to oversee its development. In addition to editing, Rozakis wrote for the publication and oversaw the letters page. Amazing World was co-edited by a group of fellow young fans-turned-DC Comics editorial employees that Rozakis termed the "Junior Woodchucks." Carl Gafford was a key contributor to the zine, doing editing, writing, production work and color separations.
Cost for a single issue subscription was US $1.50.
Contents
Amazing World occasionally featured previously unpublished stories and artwork, including:
The premiere issue contained the following features:
Issue #7 promoted The Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, by Gerry Conway and Nestor Redondo, a four-part King Arthur treasury edition series that was never published.
Issue #14 (March 1977) stated that Clark Kent's hometown of Smallville was in Maryland. Some years later, the Maryland location was supported in the actual comics with a map of Smallville and the surrounding area that was published in New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), which situated Smallville a few miles west of a large bay very similar to Delaware Bay. (The same map placed Metropolis and Gotham City on the east and west sides of the bay — thus placing Gotham in New Jersey.)
In addition to the 17 regular issues, in 1976 DC published an Amazing World of DC Comics Special Edition in conjunction with the Super DC Con '76 comic book convention, held February 27–29, 1976, at the Americana Hotel, in New York City.
Character contest
The Amazing World of DC Comics sponsored character-design contests that resulted in three winners:
All three characters appeared in DC continuity as Legion Academy students in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2, #272 (Feb. 1981).