From December, 1999 to December, 2000 DC Comics reprinted 62 books from their archives celebrating a long, rich history of publishing. The comics came out at least once a week - and fans were treated to a cornucopia of material from some of the greatest publishing houses in comics' history (all of which DC had acquired over the years). Besides DC books, key issues from Fawcett, Quality, All-American, EC, Charlton and even Wildstorm were featured. On their website, DC offered fans a chance to vote on upcoming issues being reprinted. (Fans were given a one-in-five choice. The only complaint ever was that the other four books were not reprinted.)

For Golden Age fans, perhaps most significant was the books that had never been reprinted in any form (or extremely whittled-down form) since first publishing: DETECTIVE COMICS #1, MILITARY COMICS, MORE FUN COMICS and several others. At $2-4 a pop, these were extremely well-produced, inexpensive facsimiles of impossible-to-find books (impossible, at least, for less than $5-30K).

The selection was eclectic. Alongside obvious choices - ACTION #1, DETECTIVE #27 - were JIMMY OLSEN, MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE, PLOP and GEN13. And there were misfires. You can still find a copy of the original WILDC.A.T.S. #1 cheaper than buying the reprint. Did we really need a new copy of KINGDOM COME, already? And, of course, the JLA made many many many appearances. Omissions-wise, they could've pulled much more Quality, Fawcett and Charlton material. And from DC themselves where were the Doom Patrol? Sugar & Spike? The Silver-Age Teen Titans? Where were the Inferior 5?! But these were exceptions. At even 62 issues, clearly, you couldn't make everyone happy.

Surprisingly, the entire series received little fan press, especially considering the number of never-before-reprinted books.

But we're here to remedy that. Beginning this week, PopImage will be taking a wide-eyed look at the entire Millenium series, starting with an assortment of Golden Age books - as well as one of our PI First Impressions - Millenium Style.

Some Brief Notes about the Reviewing Process

Interestingly, this project absolutely polarized our earstwhile reviewers (esp. the Golden Age books). As you'll see, the bizarre emotional effects a handful of semi-historical super-hero comics had on our boys went from gushing, blissful nostalgia - to serious, unfettered hatred. Thoughtful, intelligent reviewers all - reviewing books extremely similar in terms of art, story and historical significance - and within one column we go from "...most of all these stories are fun!" to "...a tedious read through some of the stupidest, ugliest, most bizarre romance stories ever told."

Clearly, some reviewers (myself included) were excited about these books before actually even reading them. Some welcomed the charm of bygone days, while others had none of it, preferring today's more (?) evolved standards. Ultimately what these reviews remind us is - to some Ditko and Kirby are "evocative" and "dynamic" - to others they're "guys who can't draw."

Who says PopImage doesn't celebrate diversity?

First Impressions
- by Raymond Padillo and Adam Ford

Adventure #61
- By Gregory Dickens

More Fun #73
- By Brian J. Domingos

More Fun #101
- By Alex Bernstein

Police Comics #1
- By Adam Ford

The Spirit #1
- By Paul Hanna

Superboy #1
- By Brian J. Domingos

Young Romance #1
- By Christopher Butcher