What Superheroes Were Doing During Super Bowl 1
The first Super Bowl took place on January 15, 1967, pitting the champions of the established [...]
The first Super Bowl took place on January 15, 1967, pitting the champions of the established National Football League against its counterparts in the significantly younger American Football League. While professional football predated the first Super Bowl by over fifty years, the first Super Bowl gave America its first “undisputed” world champion since the AFL’s founding in 1960. The Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers decimated the upstart Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, thus confirming the NFL’s dominance in the eyes of many. Even after the NFL and AFL merged permanently in 1970, the Super Bowl lived on as the marquee event of professional football.
Of course, pro football wasn’t the only thing changing during the 1960s. In January 1967, the Silver Age of comics was firmly underway. Marvel had already cycled through two rosters of Avengers, while DC’s Justice League of America was nearing the end of its stay at Happy Harbor while slowly expanding its roster. To celebrate the Super Bowl’s 50th anniversary, here’s some of the highlights from the world of superheroes from January 1967.
[Note: All of the comics mentioned have a cover date of March 1967. During the 1960s and 1970s, comics usually had a cover date of two months after when they were shipped to stores. So, comics with a cover date of “Jan 1967” usually appeared on newsstands in November 1966. Likewise, comics with a cover date of March 1967 were actually the newest comics on the stand in January 1967.]
The Shocker First Appears (Amazing Spider-Man #46)
Although he's become something of a joke character in recent years, the Shocker's first appearance set him up as a dangerous threat for Spider-Man. After developing a set of superpowered gauntlets, the Shocker broke out of prison and began committing bank robberies. When an injured Spider-Man tried to stop the Shocker mid-robbery, the new supervillain quickly overpowered him with his specialized "vibro-blasts". After noticing that Shocker's gauntlets had thumb triggers, Spider-Man webbed the Shocker's thumbs during their next encounter, preventing the villain from using his gauntlets and turning him into a normal dude with a very punchable face.
prevnextHercules (Unofficially) Joins the Avengers (Avengers #38)
With the departure of Thor and Iron Man from the team, the Avengers were missing a real powerhouse on their roster. While Stan Lee wouldn't allow Avengers writer Roy Thomas to bring back Thor, Lee suggested Thor's ally/rival Hercules as an alternative. The Avengers first encountered Hercules while the demi-god was under the thrall of the Enchantress. Although the Avengers help Hercules come to his senses, Zeus exiles him from Olympus which results in Hercules crashing on the Avengers' couch for months afterwards.
prevnextBatman Leaves Robin in a Death Trap (Detective Comics #361)
While Batman (and Superman's) adventures were shaping into more "traditional" superhero stories, there was still a remnant of the goofiness and misdirection found in superhero comics during the 1950s before the dawn of the Silver Age. For example, the cover of Detective Comics #361 showed Batman leaving Robin to fry in a glass "heat cage" while he pursued a gang of criminals. This might seem like a case of Silver Age "Superdickery", but Batman actually had a very good reason for leaving his ward inside the glass heat trap. After Robin gets caught in the trap while pursuing some gangsters, Batman discovers that the trap also contains a bomb that would be triggered if anyone tries to free it from the outside. With Batman unable to help, Robin escapes on his own, kicking out a glass wall when the glue holding it together begins to melt.
Detective Comics #361 is actually a pretty great standalone story involving Communist agents, fake furniture and the death of a minor recurring foe, and is part of a great Batman run by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino.
prevnextThe Justice League is Busy! (Justice League of America #52)
By 1967, the Justice League's roster had expanded from its original core seven heroes to include the Atom, Green Arrow and Hawkman. Many of the Justice League's adventures during that era excluded at least a few members, with explanations about how the heroes were busy with their own battles. Justice League of America #52 finally showed why some of those heroes were too busy to answer calls from the Justice League. While the rest of the Justice League was fighting the Lord of Time (shown in a past issue of the comic), Hawkman was busy saving the Martian Manhunter from a criminal who had stolen Green Lantern's power ring, the Atom traveled back in time to protect Benjamin Franklin and Batman and Superman were busy killing robots from the future.
prevnextJimmy Olsen Gets Married (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #100)
Fans of CBS's Supergirl series are familiar with Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane's complicated relationships. While Jimmy and Lucy frequently dated, Lucy often came off as…well…not a very nice person. Despite this, Lucy and Jimmy finally decided to tie the knot in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #100, although the brief marriage didn't go smoothly. The problems began when a 5th Dimensional imp named Gzptlsnz gets jealous of the happy couple and hexes them so whenever they kissed, Superman would turn into a giant mole-man. However, it's not Superman's hairy transformations that cause the pair to finally split up. When some of Jimmy's old girlfriends begin paying attention to him again, Lucy gets fed up with competing for attention and calls the marriage off. Jimmy probably should have known the marriage wouldn't last, considering he thought he was on LSD when Lucy accepted his proposal.
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