Daily Planet was a promotional page appearing in DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 publications from 1976–1981. The Daily Planet contained previews of upcoming stories, as well as recurring features like "The Answer Man", where DC writer/editor Bob Rozakis

Bob Rozakis

Robert "Bob" Rozakis is a comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man".-Biography:...

 would answer questions sent in by readers, and a comic strip by cartoonist Fred Hembeck

Fred Hembeck

Fred Hembeck is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are always drawn with curlicues at the elbows and knees...

 which poked fun at DC characters. Edited by Rozakis, the Daily Planet was set in the format of a page from the fictional Metropolis

Metropolis (comics)

Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....

 newspaper where Clark Kent

Clark Kent

Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....

 worked.

Publication history

The Daily Planet first appeared in House of Secrets #141, cover-dated May 1976. (The volume numbers started at 76, to correspond with the debut year 1976.) Each week a new issue of the Planet appeared in select issues of DC's lineup. As time went on, new material and features were added, including puzzles, crosswords, and trivia.

Beginning in 1980, the Daily Planet was rotated with its sister publication, the Feature Page, which often featured an expanded "Answer Man" column and "DC Profiles" of company creators. In 1981, the Planet was moved exclusively to DC Dollar Comics

Dollar Comics

Dollar Comics was a line of DC Comics comic book publications issued from 1977 to 1983. They included the titles Superman Family, House of Mystery, G.I. Combat, World's Finest Comics, Batman Family, and Adventure Comics; as well as the series of specials with the umbrella title of DC Special Series...

 Superman Family

Superman Family

Superman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1974 to 1982 featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Superman comics...

and World's Finest Comics

World's Finest Comics

World's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...

. With only seven issues produced in 1981, the Daily Planet feature was discontinued after the December 1981 issue (DC cover date March 1982). The "Direct Currents" section was continued sporadically on some comics' letters pages

Comic book letter column

A comic book letter column is a section of a comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns , letter pages, letters of comment , or simply letters to the editor...

.

212 editions of the Daily Planet were produced from 1976–1981.

Successors

In 1983, DC instituted a monthly column much more in the vein of Marvel's "Bullpen Bulletins

Bullpen Bulletins

"Bullpen Bulletins" was the news and information page that appeared in most regular monthly comic books from Marvel Comics...

." Titled "Meanwhile...", it was written by DC Executive Editor Dick Giordano

Dick Giordano

Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...

 for most of its history, which ran into the early 1990s. Unlike "Bullpen Bulletins," which was characterized by an ironic, over-hyped tone, Giordano's columns "were written in a relatively sober, absolutely friendly voice, like a friend of your father's you particularly liked and didn't mind sitting down to listen to." Giordano closed each "Meanwhile..." column with the characteristic words, "Thank you and good afternoon."

As the "Meanwhile..." column started to peter out, it was succeeded by a similar page called "DCI with Johnny DC

Johnny DC

Johnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears.-History:...

". The Johnny DC column featured miscellaneous DC news items, often spotlighting certain books or creators, and also included a partial checklist of current DC titles.

Recurring features

• "The Answer Man" — Rozakis answering reader-submitted questions ranging from basic trivia to obscure facts about DC characters.
  • "What It's Worth?" — Short-lived "sub-feature" created in response to frequent inquiries about the value of back issues.
• "Hembeck
  Fred Hembeck
  Fred Hembeck is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are always drawn with curlicues at the elbows and knees...
  
  " — Three-panel strip that ran from 1978 until the Daily Planet's demise in 1981.
• "Direct Currents" — Checklist of DC comics on sale that week.

Quotes

Writer Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...

:

External links

• Daily Planet pages archive — Daily Planet scans
• The Hembeck Files — Digitally recolored archive of Hembeck's Daily Planet strips
• Voiles, Mike. "Daily Planet Remembered". Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics.