DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #13 is an issue of the series DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1981.
Synopsis for "The Great Super-Star Game"
This story is reprinted from DC Super-Stars #10.
After a domestic fight, the Huntress and Sportsmaster accept to make a deal: She will organize a team of heroes and Sportsmaster will organize a team of villains, in order to play baseball. If the villians win, she must continue in her crime career; if the heroes win, she will become a hero instead.
Appearing in "The Great Super-Star Game"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Amazo
- Chronos
- Doctor Polaris
- Felix Faust
- The Huntress (Final appearance)
- The Joker
- Lex Luthor
- Matter Master
- The Sportsmaster (Final appearance)
- Tattooed Man
- Weather Wizard
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Synopsis for "The Challenge of the Faceless Five!"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #4.
Five neighborhood boys grow up playing basketball together. They each develop their own unique skills that allow them to excel at the game and they become unbeatable through high school and college. They are so good that they become overconfident and smug. Immediately after their last college game, their coach senses a feeling of doom. He takes a walk and stops at a nearby carnival where he sees a fortune telling booth. He stops to see Fiona the fortune teller who seems to know that he coaches the most extraordinary team of all time. She foretells that the five boys will move beyond basketball and master other sports. They will also take on far more deadlier challenges. They’ll be sworn in as the United Nations Emergency Task Force whose most important assignment will be to stop invading aliens and overpower them. The fortune teller reveals that the five boys will tackle their mission with overconfidence and conceit. This will result in the failure of their task and the aliens will overwhelm mankind and enslave them. Humans will turn into faceless creatures, helpless against their alien invaders all because of the missions failure. The coach is distraught by what he has just been told. He stands to leave when suddenly a team of faceless basketball players appear. The coach arranges for the faceless figures to play a midnight game of basketball against his undefeatables. The game progresses and the faceless players start to slowly take the advantage. The five unbeatable boys are amazed at the skill that the faceless players posses, they have never played against such a great team. In the end, the unbeatable five lose by a point as they realize that they were overconfident. The faceless players suddenly disappear leaving the five boys puzzled by what happened. The coach then reveals in his thoughts that Fiona sent the team back to the future. The faceless players were actually their own sons to be. The coach hopes that this strange defeat will cause the boys to be more cautious when their fateful day arrives. Only time will tell.
Appearing in "The Challenge of the Faceless Five!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "The Man with the Golden Gloves"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #4.
Battling Bill Huncher dominates the boxing ring but his 12 year old son Johnny worries that his fathers luck will come to an end and he will be badly hurt. Huncher is confidant that he will continue to win without getting hurt. He attempts to give his son a good luck charm that he received from the boys late mother but Johnny declares that he is cutting loose and walks away. The boy walks down a dark alley where he is attacked by the fighter that his father had just defeated in a boxing match. Bill Huncher arrives to rescue his son from his attackers but he is suddenly stabbed by a knife in the back. As he lays dying, Huncher pulls out his lucky charm and gives it to his son. Fast forward to the future and Johnny is grown up with a career in law enforcement. He is assigned to infiltrate and break up a betting ring that has been fixing boxing matches. Johnny enters a candy store that serves as a front for the gamblers and successfully apprehends the suspects. He renders the mob helpless in their ability to fix future fights. Johnny returns to his apartment where he begins to pack his belongings in anticipation of a move to a new house. As he rummages through his possessions, he encounters his fathers lucky charm that he gave him before his death. The charm feels warm and tingly as he holds it in his hand. As Johnny holds the charm, an intruder opens the apartment door and knocks him out. Johnny awakens in a boxing ring with a man named Stosh Lansen standing over him. Lansen introduces himself and reveals that it was his gambling operation that Johnny put out of business that night. He further reveals that it was he that attacked Johnny all those year ago and it was his father that had flattened his nose in the ensuing fight. Lansen reveals that Johnny will now have to take on two fighters armed with spiked gloves while Johnny has his hands weighted down with 50lb weights. The thugs go to work and Johnny is knocked down. All of a sudden the weights on his hands disappear and are replaced by golden gloves similar to the ones on his lucky charm. He easily defeats his captors just in time as the weights reappear back on his hands. He then notices that his lucky charm is mysteriously strapped to his wrist.
Appearing in "The Man with the Golden Gloves"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for "Volley of Death"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #2.
Len Ashton finds himself in an incredible tennis match against an opponent by the name of Roy using a live grenade as the ball. The two opponents struggle to keep the grenade in play knowing that it will explode if their continuous volley is not successful. Ashton glances to his right and notices that his guardian professor Malden is looking on. He also notices Roy’s adopted father Doctor Alphos on the left side of the court. Ashton then recalls how his guardian first came to the county orphanage and selected him for adoption over all the other kids. The professor trained him day and night to be the perfect tennis champion. Roys father did the same thing with his son. They challenged each other to see who could develop the perfect tennis player. Now the two men find themselves in this bizarre death match struggling to stay alive. Their volley continues for hours and it seems that Roy is determined to finish off Ashton. Ashton takes the advantage and lobs the grenade directly at his opponent. There is a huge explosion and Roy is seen lying on the court in pieces. Apparently Ashton had been playing against a robot this whole time. His guardian was pitting him against a machine to see who would survive. Ashton finally reveals that he know that Roy was a machine because he had not grown any razor stubble and he did not sweat.
Appearing in "Volley of Death"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "A Tall Tale of Ten Pins"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #1.
Rip Van Wynne is a teenage boy that struggles with bowling skills in front of his friends who take delight in making fun of him. Even his date Amy can bowl better. The discouraged boy walks home one night. He wanders by the Hudson River into the beautiful countryside and he notices a sign on a tree which indicates that this was the site of Washington Irving’s famous tale of Rip Van Winkle. He is then overtaken by a sudden storm and he realizes that he is lost. He tries to make a run for the river to find his bearings but he trips and falls down a gulley. As his body comes to a rest he is suddenly faced with an oncoming bowling ball that is about to strike his face but mysteriously comes to a jolting halt. The boy looks up and is surprised to see a collection of small bearded men playing a game of bowling. The men welcome the chance to converse with their young visitor. One of them introduces himself as Captain Henry Hudson, the man who navigated the Hudson river hundreds of year ago. The strange little men further explain that they get together every twenty years to celebrate Captain Hudsons achievement by playing a game of skittles ninepins. The boy then reveals that his name Is Rip Van Wynne. The little men grow excited when they speculate that the boy might be a descendent of their old friend Rip Van Winkle. They offer Rip any assistance that he might need and the boy immediately asks them to teach him how to bowl. They give him hours of instruction until the boy develops a good amount of skill. They then tell Rip that he has done a good job but that he must never bowl a perfect game since that would be a sign of vanity. The boy leaves and goes on his way when he suddenly runs into a low hanging branch and he is knocked out. He awakes to find himself surrounded by his friends who had been out looking for him. They inform him that he probably got knocked out by the low hanging branch and Rip assumes that his experiences had all been nothing but a dream. The group of friends then spot the sign by the tree stating that this was the site of Rip Van Winkles famous tale. Rip immediately takes off and tries his luck at the bowling alley. He is amazed at his bowling skills and is well on his way to bowling a perfect game. On his last throw, the bowling ball heads straight for the pins but is suddenly deflected by Captain Hudson who kicks the ball to one side and then disappears. As he departs, the captain proclaims that Rip Van Wynne is guilty of Vanity. The moral of the story being that if you grow too big for your boots then a kick in the right place sometimes helps.
Appearing in "A Tall Tale of Ten Pins"
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Synopsis for "Man Who Leaped Over the Earth!"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #3.
The scene opens on Bentley Stadium in the year 3100 AD where athletes are training for the forthcoming Interplanetary Olympics. The focus is on a young time vaulter by the name of Ralston York who is about to vault back into time. Instead of pole vaulting over a bar, athletes in this time jump into a time spiral to see how far back in time they can jump. York is able to jump back a record setting 1000 years to 1973. Upon landing he is supposed to automatically return back to his century but York has jumped so far back that he is now out of range for his technology to return him back to his timeframe. He materializes in the middle of a busy traffic filled street in New York City. A boy on a bicycle by the name of Benjamin Bentley almost runs into him and gets knocked down. As he picks up his bike, York introduces himself to the boy using the best dialect he can muster for this timeframe. He explains that he is from the future and asks the boys help in locating a powerful radio transmitter. The boy agrees to help York but wants a reward. He points to the top of the Empire State building and explains that it has a transmitter on the top floor that transmits across three states. York uses his vault to leap to the top much to the amazement of onlookers. He reaches the transmitter and is able to contact operators in his time that make adjustments to return York back to the future. York must return to the point where he materialized to complete his return. Young Benjamin Bentley senses that something is going on and he rushes down the road on his bicycle to meet up with the vaulter from the future. He arrives just in time to see the vaulter disappearing but before he leaves, the vaulter tosses the boy a metal card as a reward for his help. The card turns out to be an Olympic identification card that identifies Benjamin Bentley as the founding president of the Interplanetary Olympics in the year 1992.
Appearing in "Man Who Leaped Over the Earth!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Hockey-Mask of Death!"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #5.
Beeg Jacques works as a lumberjack in the Canadian Northwest. He is working alongside another lumberjack that suddenly makes fun of Beeg Jacques father for beheading his partner long ago. Beeg Jacques is offended and murders his fellow lumberjack stuffing his body into a hollow tree. He returns back to camp where the topic of conversation is the big hockey game that will be held the next morning between competing camps. Beeg Jacques feels confident about his hockey skills and predicts an easy win over his opponents. The hockey game commences and Beeg Jacques demonstrates his abilities to the fullest. As the game continues the goalie from the opposing team is injured and cannot continue. A mysterious player then appears volunteering to take the injured players place. He towers over everyone else and wears an intimidating skull mask. The opposing team agrees to let him play and the game continues. The mysterious player is successful in stopping Beeg Jacques anytime that he attempts to score. Jacques attempts to score again and again but is unsuccessful. The mysterious player then announces that the game will now really begin as a bolt of lighting comes down and breaks off a chunk of ice leaving Jacques and the mysterious player isolated by themselves. The masked player reveals that they will now finish a contest that began years ago. Their chunk of ice is heading downriver straight for a treacherous waterfall. The masked player then announces that they will commence a game of hockey and if Beeg Jacques can score then his life will be spared. Jacques tries in desperation to get the puck past the masked player but is unsuccessful. Jacques severs his opponents head with his hockey stick but the head jumps and begins to talk. He says he cannot be beheaded since he has no head to lose. They both plunge over the waterfall to their deaths. The beheaded skull is last seen mentioning that his vengeance is complete. It reveals that Jacques Le Duc was the son of the partner who murdered him. The mysterious player can now rest in peace.
Appearing in "Hockey-Mask of Death!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Warrior of the Weightless World"
This story is reprinted from The Brave and the Bold #49.
Cray Duncan is considered to be the best Spaceball player In the year 2169. He dominates the game which is a mix of basketball and Billiards. The game is played under weightless conditions inside a plastoid rectangle. Even though he is the best player, Duncan longs to retire from the game to pursue a medical career. One day, war is declared against the Creon Empire for placing nuclear weapons on Pluto. Cray Duncan volunteers for military service in hopes of getting assigned to a hospital unit. To his dismay he is assigned to play spaceball to entertain the troops. His hopes of a medical career are dashed. Cray then learns about a weightless world named Zuuni which the enemy uses to repair rockets. Duncan gets the idea to land on the planet with a small party and cripple the enemys repair factory. He gets permission from the military to take command of the secret mission dubbed Operation Knockout. Duncan chooses to take along two of his former spaceball teammates since they have the skills necessary to operate in a weightless environment. They land on the planet and successfully take out the repair station. The enemy is crippled and they sue for peace. The war ends a month later as a result of Crays daring mission. He then becomes Spaceballs biggest fan, attending games frequently as its number one fan.
Appearing in "Warrior of the Weightless World"
Featured Characters:
- Cray Duncan
Supporting Characters:
- Greg Willis (Single appearance)
- Neil Larkin (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- The Creon Empire (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Ronny Pierce (Single appearance)
- General Byles (Single appearance)
Locations:
- 22nd Century
- Earth
- Planet Zuuni (Destroyed)
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- Stealth Rocket
Synopsis for "Gridiron Knightmare!"
This story is reprinted from Strange Sports Stories #3.
A football coach at Coldstream University is charged with putting together a winning football team. The only problem is that the University is known more for academics than for athletic ability. The Students there seem more interested in books than in playing sports. The setting then changes to 1400 years in the past where King Arthur is becoming bored with the athletic games of his time. Merlin the Magician has organized jousts, hand to hand combats and other tests of skill but the king is still not interested. Arthur orders Merlin to invent a new game so the great wizard uses his magic to search the future for promising contests of skill to appease the king. Back in the future, the Coldstream knights are about to play their first football game against the football powerhouse Midwest Maulers. They are confident but badly outmatched. Merlin is then able to witness the game through his crystal ball and materializes in the present time of 1973 to view the game for himself. He notices that the Knights are badly outmatched and decides to help them with a little sorcery. To their opponents, the Knights appear to be surrounded by suits of armor. No one in the stands can see the armor including the knights themselves but they start to sense an aura of confidence. The game progresses and the Knights take the advantage running over the Maulers. Merlin disappears back to his own time while the Knights go on to defeat the Maulers 56-28. The setting changes once more 14 centuries in the past where we find Merlin introducing the game of football to the king. The armored knights kick off only to puncture the pigskin football with their armored pointy boots. Merlin groans knowing he must go back to the crystal ball in search of another game.
Appearing in "Gridiron Knightmare!"
- Appearances not yet listed