Medical Comics and Stories: drugs

Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts

Friday, August 22, 2025

NEW TEEN TITANS "Plague!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...The Teen Titans (minus Robin) assist The Protector in trying to shut down a drug dealing operation.

While interacting with tweens/teens, one of the heroes, Speedy, reveals he had been an addict, but managed, with great difficulty, to kick the habit.
But the kids' parents are still confused and disturbed...

It's not a pat ending, but it is a hopeful one!

Co-creators Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Perez (penciler) of the NEW Teen Titans ensemble* did a superb job creating a story that gets the point across without being overly "preachy", even going into establish DC canon about Speedy's drug addiction!
(*The Teen Titans were created in 1964, originally made up of adult superhero/heroines' sidekicks and had a couple of different runs ending in 1975,
In 1980, DC, following the example of Marvel's "All-New, All-Different X-Men" revamp, did a similar thing with Titans, combining already-existing characters with several new Wolfman-Perez creations, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire)

Friday, August 15, 2025

NEW TEEN TITANS "Plague!" Part 1

If You're Any Sort of Comic Book Fan, You Know this Team...

...except for the guy in the middle yelling at us!
Don't worry, we'll clear that matter up as we go along...

To Be Continued...Next Friday

Unlike a number of other "revelations" about super-heroes in public-service comics, like Captain America revealing he had asthma as a kid, Speedy's confession about being a drug addict didn't come out of nowhere!
It was already part of official DC canon, first shown over a decade earlier in DC's Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (1971)...

...written by Denny O'Neil, penciled by Neal Adams, and inked by Dick Giordano (who also inked this story).
Note: when this Titans story was published in 1983, the GL/GA story was out of print, so that's why there's no footnote about it in the tale above.
The entire GL/GA storyline from the early 1970s was reprinted in a mini series the next year.
As to who The Protector is...
Because Robin was part of the Batman licensing program which was promoting Nabisco cookies at that point in time, he couldn't be used in the Keebler cookie-sponsored comic!
The Protector ended up as the Robin-replacement in all three public service drug issues, even the ones not sponsored by Keebler!
But, DC apparently made him an official part of DC continuity with an entry in Who's Who Update '87 #4...

...and even including him on the wraparound cover (in the center on the far-left of the back)...

He's cameoed in several stories over the years, always in the background.
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Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard-Travelling Heroes Omnibus
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Friday, June 25, 2021

REX MORGAN, M.D. Exposes the TEEN-AGE DOPE SLAVES! Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

When Bruce Grayson is brought to the hospital to treat his overdose, his pusher, Manny, tries to force Dr Rex Morgan to inject the helpless dope addict with enough drugs to kill him.

Morgan manages to overpower Manny and his stooge...

This story, which appeared in Harvey Comics Library #1 (1952), was written by Nicholas Dallis, and illustrated by Marvin Bradley & Frank Edgington, the creators of the Rex Morgan MD newspaper strip.

(In fact, the story was originally published as part of the strip's continuity in newspapers all over the country before being reformatted into a comic book.)

Though meant as a cautionary tale, it was vilified by Dr Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent and lumped with horror and crime comics as one of the causes of juvenile delinquency!

Check out the