DC Special Series #1 is an issue of the series DC Special Series (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1977. It was published on June 16, 1977.
Synopsis for "Five Star Super-Hero Spectacular"
One-page summary of the stories in this issue.
Appearing in "Five Star Super-Hero Spectacular"
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Synopsis for Flash: "Flash Facts: How to Prevent a Flash"
In the instant before he saves his lab assistant from being struck by chemicals knocked over by a lightning bolt, Barry Allen imagines what it would be like if she became Ms. Flash.
Appearing in Flash: "Flash Facts: How to Prevent a Flash"
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- Flash
- Patty Spivot/"Ms. Flash" (First appearance)
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Synopsis for Green Lantern: "He Who Slaughters!"
A misunderstanding pits Green Lantern and an ancient alien against each other while a black hole threatens Oa.
Appearing in Green Lantern: "He Who Slaughters!"
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- alien (Dies)
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Synopsis for Aquaman: "A King Without a Sea!"
Omar Pairut, an Iranian, wishes to make the Persian Empire a reality again, and sets out to do so by taking on the power of the Sun Stone from the days of Alexander the Great, transforming him into the fire-blasting Sunburst. Aquaman encounters Sunburst and is initially defeated and left stranded in the Iranian desert. He manages to locate enough water to sustain him until he can get to the city of Bakushi, where he confronts Sunburst again and defeats him by reflecting his power back at him with a mirror.
Appearing in Aquaman: "A King Without a Sea!"
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Synopsis for Atom: "The Telephone Tangle"
The Atom takes a Time Pool trip back to 1876 to discover why a prototype telephone created by Alexander Graham Bell appears to be a phony.
Appearing in Atom: "The Telephone Tangle"
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Synopsis for Batman: "The Dead on Arrival Conspiracy"
Batman thwarts an attempted theft of a letter from a post office, but the two thieves escape via an anti-gravity ray. The letter is addressed to Bruce Wayne and comes from Jason Burr, who asks for the help of Wayne's friend, the Batman, and explains that the letter will only reach Wayne in the event of Burr's death. Burr explains the origin of his evil twin brother Kobra, who is the master of a cobra-worshiping cult which seeks to rule the world. Kobra, who feels what his brother feels (and vice versa) through "physical telepathy," has recently kidnapped Burr's beloved, Melissa McNeil. The letter also mentions Kobra's "raising the dead."
Accordingly, Batman and Alfred travel by Batjet to the Swiss Alps, to investigate Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pit, which may be Kobra's tool. Once there, Batman fights his way past cobra-cultists, but is finally snared and is handcuffed with Burr to a device which is slowly lowering them into the Lazarus Pit. Kobra, who confronts them with the zombie-like Melissa McNeil, reveals to them that he has modified the Lazarus Pit so that it kills, but instantly restores its victims to life as his slaves, as he has already done with Melissa. Through the Pit, he hopes to convert the leaders of the world to his pawns.
A "neural neutralizer" temporarily is canceling the physical telepathy between him and Burr. Batman breaks himself and Burr free of the device, captures Kobra, and uses him to have himself, Burr, and Melissa freed from the cultists. But Kobra has Melissa stab Burr to death, and escapes Batman via an anti-gravity beam. Batman vows that the Justice League will smash Kobra's empire, and that he himself will bring Kobra to justice.
Appearing in Batman: "The Dead on Arrival Conspiracy"
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- Alfred Pennyworth
- Jason Burr (apparently killed by Melissa McNeil's corpse mind-controlled by Kobra) (Apparent Death)
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- Melissa McNeil (Appears only as a corpse)
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Notes
- As it is explained in this issue's editorial the Batman vs. Kobra story was planned for Kobra #8, but the series was cancelled before the story was plotted. The story was reworked into this issue's The Dead on Arrival Conspiracy.
- "Flash Facts: How to Prevent a Flash" is reprinted in The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told.
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