Chris and Reggie's TOTAL PACKAGE - DC Comics' 1980's PSAs!

Chris and Reggie's TOTAL PACKAGE

DC Comics' 1980's PSAs!

(00:00:00) Chris is on Infinite Earths, Episode 20

New Teen Titans Drug-Awareness Special #2 (1983)

(01:10:40) Cosmic Treadmill, Episode 35

New Teen Titans Drug-Awareness Specials & History

(02:59:45) Cosmic Treadmill, Episode 107

American Honda & Supergirl Teach us how to Buckle Up!

Total Running Time: 4 Hours, 32 Minutes, 29 Seconds

Gather 'round gang, it's time to learn about being a responsible citizen!

Today's TOTAL PACKAGE revisits the times Reggie and I discussed the Public Service Announcement specials released by DC Comics during the first-half of the 1980s, chock full of Gestalty goodness - and in our own inimitable style!

In addition to the Cosmic Treadmill episodes, and in the interest of completionism, I have also included an episode of the old Chris is on Infinite Earths show, where I spend an hour blabbing about psychological addiction and how one of these comics actually realizes that it's a thing that exists!

I hope you enjoy!

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Blog-Posts Covering Each Issue Discussed!

New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (the first one)

New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (the second one)

New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (the third one)

American Honda Presents DC Comics' Supergirl (the first one)

American Honda Presents DC Comics' Supergirl (the second one)

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New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special #3 (1983)

New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (1983)
"Problem Child"
Story - Marv Wolfman
Script - Joey Cavalieri
Pencils - Adrian Gonzales
Inks - Joe Giella & R. Villigran
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Dave Manak
Special Thanks - Joyce Nalepka & Stephen Jacobs

Well, it's been a long time coming... but I finally came across the final New Teen Titans Andtidrug PSA comic.  Last year we discussed the first (and I thought only) one, as well as the shocking second one!  Let's get right down to rounding out this trilogy!

Just keep in mind, like I said last time, these aren't numbered.  I'm listing this as "#3" just for my own sanity when it comes to cataloging.  This one is courtesy of the IBM Corporation.

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We open with a Lois Lane-emceed assembly at an unnamed... high school... maybe junior high school... dunno, the kids look pretty young.  Anyhoo, the assembly is to discuss the fight... against drugs.  She introduces the Teen Titans... and the Protector.  So, again... Pro is an associate of the team rather than a member... although, later on they will refer to him as "leader".  It should come as no surprise that during this very event there are several youngsters outside the auditorium toking up... this ain't just weed tho... this crop's been dusted, ya feel me?  Um, it's angel dust... that's what's in the pot.  

Bad boy Jesse got the stash from his big brother Dave. Knowing that assembly is going to be... ya know, pretty lame... he inhales a few times, then heads in to the auditorium... where he almost immediately starts heckling the super-powered teen-agers on stage.  Like a true hero he lays down a few "choice" one-liners, then when confronted his eyes well up and he charges out of the building.

The Titans give chase... which is to say, they abandon the assembly event.  Okay, it's just Changeling that follows... anyhoo, Jesse runs all the way through town... through a field... and to the very edge of a cliff that overlooks the water.  Just how long has be been running?  Knowing he's got the kid cornered, Changeling, who up until now has taken the form of a bird... transforms into a rhino.  Yeah, Gar... that's really the way to let a kid know you're not there to hurt him...

Back at the school, the Titans chat with Jesse's parents.  They tell the teens that Jesse looks up to his older brother David... who "was always a bit of a rebel".  These parents seem completely clueless on how to deal with their own kid(s)... lucky for us, the conversation is interrupted when Raven is overcome by her empathic powers.  She begins to feel Jesse's emotions, and understands that she needs to be with him immediately.

Back at the cliffside, Gar is pleading with Jesse to let him be of service... keeping in mind that he is still currently in the form of a large horned beast.  Jesse, who is hopped up on angel dust and fear at this point begins to stagger... and he falls off the cliff.  Fortunately (?), Raven's soulself is close enough to rescue him from his plummet.  She absorbs the boy into herself... causing him to settle his tea kettle just a bit, at which point we get to see him have a "chat" with his "brother".

Raven lets Jesse out, and he's a changed man... er, boy.  At first he thinks the entire thing was a trick, but he quickly comes around.  Inside the soulself, he saw the physical manifestation of what his brother was doing to himself... he saw the ugliness and loneliness of addiction.  Jesse allows Raven to take away his feelings of pain and anxiety... and so she does.  However... in so doing, she also (somehow) draws his drug-addled perceptions into herself as well.  It is suddenly as though Raven herself... is stoned.

Raven teleports the trio back to the Titans, after which she just starts running amok due to her bad-trip.  She is flying around like a lunatic... until Starfire is able to catch her in a sort of avian headlock.  Raven slumps to the ground.  Starfire picks her up and takes her to the hospital.  At this point, Jesse embraces his parents and promises to be drug free from that point on.  He then goes the extra step and decides he's going to try to get his friends to clean up their acts as well.  C'mon pal... one step at a time.

At that very moment, his stoner friends are hanging out nearby... ya know, by the trees... where they're always hanging about.  They overhear their "hook up" turning over a new leaf... and immediately write him off as a "narc".  The scurry away like cockroaches before he can turn them all in.

Later on... the assembly continues... whaaa?  I gotta figure that these concerned parents and students have just been sitting in this auditorium while Lois Lane does her best stand-up act.  Either that or they watched her paint her nails, or take notes.  Anyhoo... we get to hear a bit from the peanut gallery.  One man talks about injuring himself while he was in the service.  He was given a drug to take away the pain... and he got hooked.  We hear from an absolute dolt of a mother who just figures that all kids do drugs these days as a "rite of passage".  Oh-ho... the Protector will now educate you... in fact, he will educate us ALL!  Get a load of this panel... it would make Chris Claremont furrow his brow and say "that's a bit much".

Elsewhere, we finally meet up with dangerous Dave.  He's trying to get an advance on his "junk" from some "big-time" pushers.  He pleads with them that he's good for it... after all, he's gotten the entire junior high hooked on the crap.  They call him a deadbeat, and tell him to hit the skids.  When he hesitates, he gets socked in the mush and thrown through a table.

Back at the school, the parents are giving the Titans some guff... claiming it to be their responsibility to keep the drugs outta their kids' bodies.  At this point, Lois pipes in... she's all... "Um, maybe you should act like parents".  Hell yeah, Lois.  Anyhoo, at this point, the Titans roll out... their destination, Dave's dilapidated digs... a shack by the cliff side.  I should mention that here Starfire asks the "leader" where they are headed... and it's Kid Flash who responds before Protector... so maybe for this mission, Wally's leading the charge...

At Dave's dump, the kids... including a heavyset kid with curly red hair (hmm, might this be our stout pal from the first Titans PSA?  Continuity, maaaaaan.), spill the beans about Jesse turning into a no good rat-fink.  Dave's all "I got dis"... and he proceeds to, ya know... run away.

Unfortunately for him, this is when the Titans arrive.  Donna lassos his car, which causes it to open like a can of tuna fish.  Dave decides to hoof it... but does so directly into Vic.  Starfire explodes a tree to let him know they mean business... and then they... let him go.  Yeah, that'll learn 'im.  Luckily, Vic had enough sense to slip a homing device on him before letting him slip.

Now... back at the schoolyard, Jesse is being held up against the tree by the tubby carrot-top... who looks a lot less tubby here.  Maybe he had cut some Hydroxycut into his last joint.  Anyhoo... he tells Jesse that if he wants to prove he's not a rat... he's gotta take a toke.  I mean, seriously now... back in high school, the 'heads didn't let anybody in on their stash... and this fool is damn near pushing it down poor Jesse's throat.  Jesse pushes the ginger away... gives a rousing speech about not having to do drugs to prove he's a "friend"... and then, and I'm not making this up... he gets a round of applause by his classmates.  Yeah... back-slash, that happened.  Oh, and of course, at this point... the red-haired boy decides he wants to get off the junk too.

Meanwhile... the Titans have tracked dungaree Dave to a warehouse.  We know it's a warehouse... because the building says "Warehouse".  Why, it's where the big-time druglords are hanging out... and dimebag Dave just led the Teen Titans right to their front door.  So, yeah... battle time.

It's a fairly pedestrian fight... which ends with the Titans saving dirty Dave.  Our titanic tale wraps up with Dave lying in a hospital bed... vowing to be clean.  Lois Lane gives us the "go home", and we are out.

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Well... it seems as though our Teen Titans PSA's have fallen to the law of diminishing returns... this one wasn't so hot.  When comparing that to what came before, that's really saying something.  This entire issue feels like a slapped together "gotta fulfill the contract" affair... and the only thing that it offers that the previous two didn't was the younger sibling emulating the older one... though, we kinda had that in the first one with Anina's dead brother... but still...

It feels like this one wasn't taken as seriously as the other two... Marv Wolfman didn't do the scripting, and Gonzales, while talented, isn't a George Perez nor a Ross Andru.  I think I might have a thing where if I see Joey Cavalieri's name in the credits, I think it's a book that DC doesn't care much about... or is limping into its cancellation.  It seems like he did a lot of "final issues".  Kind of like a Ben Raab for the 1980's.  And of course, I mean no offense to either man... just my observations, with perhaps just a freckle of pith.

So, this entire issue is framed by an event being emceed by Lois Lane... which, is all well and good... but, it just seems as though these assemblies are just taking place constantly in whatever town this story takes place in.  What's worse... the parents are portrayed as absolute boobs.  "Well, duhhhh... we thought dat all da kids did da drugs!"  It isn't until Protector "educates" them that they realize that they can positively affect the lives of their children.  Well, gee thanks Pro!  It feels like this story is trying to have it both ways... we're seeing that parents should talk to their kids... a staple of early Teen Titans tales... while at the same time promoting that there is a need for a team of superheroes to impart such wisdom on the parents!

We get that witty for all the wrong reasons scene where Jesse tells off the drug pushers at the school yard, and is then regaled with actual applause from his classmates!  I mean, there are whole subreddits dedicated to mocking "totally $100% true" stories which "totally happened" that end just like that.  It's a missed opportunity in my opinion... it could have been handled with a measure of subtlety that would have made it seem more realistic.  I mean, let's face it... as neat as it would be for a kid to get a round of applause for "just saying no", that's not likely to happen in the real world.

Otherwise... it was just a sub-par issue of New Teen Titans.  Thankfully that makes it still quite a bit better than it could have been.  Like I said in the past two PSA reviews... could've been better... but, damn sure could've been a ton worse as well!  The story flows... decently... I mean, there's a purpose... and a resolution.  The dialogue is... clearly not Marv... and the art is serviceable.  Not Perez, not Andru... not other Titan legends Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (praise be his yadda yadda), nor Eduardo Barreto either... but, serviceable.

Despite my misgivings, and opinion that this was mostly a missed opportunity... I would still recommend nabbing it if you come across it at a decent price.  I was able to procure it for a shiny quarter... though probably would've paid up to a few bucks just for the novelty of the thing.  For fans of the New Teen Titans of this era, just think of it as a "missing chapter" that occurs while Robin is away working with Batman.  Give it a shot.

Well, we're three DC in the 80's PSA comics down... only one left to find!  One'a these trips I'm bound to find that issue where Supergirl teaches us how to drive safely!

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New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special #2 (1983)

New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (1983)
"Battle!"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Ross Andru
Inker - Joe Giella
Letterer - Ben Oda
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Dave Manak
Special Thanks - Bruce Miller & Stephen Jacobs
Cover Price: $1.00

There's another one???

Here in Phoenix, we have a number of comic shops.  Perhaps we are a bit lucky, as many of these shops offer whole discount areas (even suites) in which all of their overstock is sold at a buck or less.  Too often this is where the shop owners attempt to unload the 1,000 copies of whichever Marvel Star Wars book they overbought in order to procure that one bright shiny variant cover (that is still sitting on a shelf at a mid-three-figure price point), however, there are times when you strike gold... at least insofar as "something interesting".

Yesterday I found myself with some time to kill in a neck of the woods I don't get to all that often.  Figured I'd pop in to the buck-n-below shop and see if I couldn't fill in some holes.  While combing through the "T" books, I found no less than twenty copies of the New Titans drug PSA I discussed last week... however, about halfway through the pile I came across this one.

Initially, I figured... like everything else in the shop, it was just a variant cover.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Ernie the Keebler Elf was nowhere to be found here.  Curious, I opened it up, only to find a completely new (to me) story inside.  "There's another one?" I thought to myself, though I'll concede I may have said it out loud...

Well, as it turns out, there are another TWO (three in total) New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Specials.  None of them bear an issue number, however, for the sake of assuaging any confusion I will list this as "#2".  The first was sponsored by Keebler, this one was sponsored by the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA), and the third (which I now must track down) by IBM.  I guess I didn't realize how big a push this promotion was given.  Upon doing some further research, I was able to come across a 1984 commercial that covers the concept as well.

For this issue, Titan's legend Marv Wolfman stay on, however Ross Andru (who I remember for his work on Amazing Spider-Man) takes over the art chores.  Can Marv keep up his normal Titanic level of quality under the watchful eye of the National Soft Drink Association?  Let's find out...

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This issue opens with the Titans and Protector (they are rather straightforward during this issue in stating that Protector is not a Titan, just an associate) following up on a tip... staking out a drug-drop, seemingly a continuation of the previous Drug Awareness issue.  They're at a small amusement park, and it is clearly after hours.  Once they witness the drop the team springs into action.

This time the Titans team features Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Raven, Starfire, and Changeling with Kid Flash taking the place of Speedy as the auxiliary member.  The team makes short work of the drug pushers, with Protector acting especially brutal in the beating he dishes out... throwing a couple of thugs through a plate-glass window.

Jeez Pro, what the hell?

After a brief chat with authorities, Protector asks Kid Flash for a private chat.  Ya see, Pro's cousin Ted Hart has recently moved to Wally's hometown of Blue Valley.  Teddy's a recovering addict, who very nearly let his drug abuse cost him his life.  Protector asks that Kid Flash maybe keep an eye on him, just in case he needs a hand-up, or a shoulder to lean on.  Wally, being the swell cat he is, says he doesn't mind playing babysitter to a perfect stranger...

... and so, the next day Wally heads to the Hart house and introduces himself to Ted.  They walk together to Ted's school, and on the way he confides in Wally in regard to just how far gone he was before he fully embraced his recovery.  When they arrive, Wally introduces Ted to a girl called Amy King.  As they become acquainted they overhear a nearby couple arguing about one members frequent drug-use.  Confident Teddy's in good hands, Wally excuses himself so that he can make it to his own school.

We follow Ted as he navigates his way through the apparently drug-dealer riddled hallways of (what I assume is) Blue Valley High.  Here Ted speaks with Brian, the fellow who was part of the earlier argumentative couple.  He's a drug-user who offers Ted a good time... Ted tells him flat-out that he's clean, and Brian appears to be cool with it.

Brian's just happy he doesn't have to share... for now.

They pass the cliche drug-dealer, leather and shades clad Adam who is conducting "business" before class.  Adam's main squeeze is the girl with the coral colored haired, whose name is... well, Coral.  She's upset that Adam isn't all that fun anymore... being all high and stuff.  As Ted passes, she makes eyes at him.  In class, Ted is the perfect student... attentive, and intelligent.  As he and Amy leave class together, the scowling Coral looks on.

The next several pages feature vignettes of the next several weeks.  Ted and Amy grow closer by the day, and the Titans are keeping the streets clean from would-be drug-dealing scums.  For all of their progress, the team is still unaware just who is behind the shipments.

Time passes, until one fine day... Ted is leaving school for the day and notices that his buddy Brian is hanging around bad-boy drug-dealer Adam.  He's looking to buy a "gram of snow".  Shortly, Brian and Ted are lounging on a hill.  Bri is partaking as Ted's just enjoying the beautiful day, when they are approached by the covetous Coral.

She's got herself some dope that's laced with angel dust... she doesn't screw around, does she?  She offers a toke to Teddy, who refuses until she questions his manhood.  He ultimately gives in and sucks it down.  In the distance, Adam is looking on... not sure if he's upset his girl's gone, or happy he's got a new customer.

Another month passes, and Ted's personality begins to change.  He snaps at his steady girl Amy, he's acting like a complete tool in class and one day he storms out of the school.  Amy, Brian, and Brian's gal Linda give chase.

The girls head over to the West house to check in with Wally.  They explain what's going on, and Wally knows he's gotta pass the info on to his buddy Jason Hart, the Protector.

Kid Flash zips across town to find the Pro facilitating a Parent/Child Drug-Support Group.  Wally sits in and waits, observing a tiny little fella discuss his past drug indiscretions... which clearly stunted the poor boy's growth.  I mean, this kid is itsy-bitsy!

I can fit five of this stone-cold junkie in my pocket

After the meeting Kid Flash spills the beans, and the two head out to confront the terrifying teen, the scary sophomore, the leather lothario... Adam, who as it just so happens was in the middle of conducting business with our boys Ted and Brian.

Yup Brian... the cops.  The brightly colored cops.

The geeks flee as the Protector swoops in (on a line that's affixed to.., well, your guess is as good as mine) and dropkicks Adam.  The two fools run directly into the path of an oncoming truck, and if not for the presence of the Titans, would have been so much roadkill.  Pro goes into lecture mode and tries level with the jerks, but they blow him off.

Protector trying out for a Twizzler's gig.

Later on at the Hart house, Teddy is confronted by his worried parents.  They see that he's slipped back into his old ways and want to assure him that he has their complete support in his recovery.  Teddy knows that parents just don't understand... so he shoves his dad out of the way and leaves home.

Ted intends to bury his troubles (and his head) in the bosom of cordial Coral, only he overhears her telling Adam that she was just using him to make her inattentive jerk-man jealous.

That's cold, Coral...

This is too much for Ted to process.  He barges into the boys room to find Brian about to do a line.  Ted's got lust in his eyes for that smattering of snow, and the two tussle until it's scattered all over the filthy, disgusting, brutal bathroom floor.  The fiends don't seem to care as they press their faces to the ground and snort up just as much as they can.  How gross is that?  I don't even like the soles of my shoes touching the floor in a public toilet.  There'd have to be quite a bit of money on the table to get my face anywhere near the floor.

Not satisfied with their foul feast, the boys beeline it to their main man Adam... only problem is, they don't got the green to buy the green.  Adam tosses them an aged and nasty looking joint, that probably consists of whatever Adam skimmed out of the cat pan this morning.

The pair of clowns realize they need money, and they need it quick.  That night, they plan to hold up a local convenience store.  Unfortunately for them, these geeks (literally) brought a knife to a gun fight.  They attempt to shake down proprietor Sam Waterman with a lousy little knife.  Sam ain't amused... he blows a hole in Brian's gut without a second thought.  Ted, being the man that he is... runs like a chicken, ultimately collapsing outside of Amy's house (I'm sure her parents loved that!).

Back with the Titans (remember them?), the team is watching yet another drug drop.  Whodathunk Blue Valley was such a hotbed for drugs?  The team, once again, makes short work of the pushers.  Raven suddenly feels the pain of another, and teleports to Brian's side as he's being loaded into an ambulance.

Later on at the hospital, Teddy and Brian are sharing a room and pledge to get their heads right.  They are joined not only by the Titans, but by their respective parents and significant others as well.  Ted promises that from this point on he'll be a hero by staying drug free.  The Titans walk straight off the panel, satisfied with a job well done.

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Hmm...

Well, um... I'm kind of at a loss here.  On one hand... it was a good (if not a tad overbearing) story, on the other... where were the Teen Titans?  It feels as though they hardly appear in this book, and when they do... all they're doing is watching a drug-drop and beating up a bunch of thugs.  Considering just what this book is, I suppose I really can't complain too much.  It definitely could have been far worse.  For what it was, I guess I enjoyed it well enough.  Marv Wolfman is always a treat to read, and the Ross Andru art was very nice as well.

While I would have preferred Perez (say that a bunch'a times fast), Ross Andru certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve.  Of particular note, I really enjoyed the changes in Teddy's face as he spiraled deeper into his addiction.  Andru made him appear more and more haggard the farther gone he'd become.  Certainly a welcome bit of detail.  On the other hand, I think Donna Troy had about a half-dozen different haircuts during her very brief appearances in this issue.  In one panel it's down to her waist, in the very next it's barely touching her shoulders.

Having some experience in addiction treatment and group-facilitation, I'd have to say Marv clearly did his research in crafting this tale.  While it may all appear very cliche... and it is, it's become that way for a reason.  I especially enjoyed Protector's discussion on the psychological aspects of addiction.  It's a very powerful (and comparably ignored... or at least downplayed) piece of the addiction puzzle.  I was pleased to see it mentioned here.

I guess to sum up... this was fine.  I must admit that I enjoyed the first (Keebler) Drug Awareness Special far more... although I can't really put my finger on why.  I'd honestly recommend this simply  for its novelty value.  While it feels like a very 1980's piece, if we were to add some smartphones and contemporary fashions, it could just as easily be made current.  There is a timelessness in stories of this type, and while it may seem passe or trite in 2016, it's still all too relevant.

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