Elson's Presents Super Heroes Comics #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeElson's Presents Super Heroes Comics #3 is a snapshot of DC's early-1980s transition between the newsstand and direct-market eras, repackaging three complete January 1981 DC issues under a retail-exclusive cover for Elson's Gift and News shops — the kind of travel-hub outlet where many readers first encountered superhero comics. Its most consequential component is the full reprint of New Teen Titans #3, which contains the debut of the Fearsome Five (Doctor Light, Psimon, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Shimmer) and the first physical appearance of Titans Tower — two pillars of the Wolfman/Pérez run that would define DC's character-driven storytelling through the 1980s. The Wonder Woman #275 segment is equally notable as the second full appearance of Debbi Domaine as the new Cheetah, the Kobra-brainwashed eco-terrorist who replaced the Golden Age Priscilla Rich. Together, these stories make the issue an unintentional anthology of some of the most formative Bronze Age character introductions DC published in a single month.
In "The Fearsome Five!", the Teen Titans face their most dangerous threat yet when a new villainous team—formed by Dr. Light—launches a surprise assault. As Starfire shares memories of her past with the team, Raven warns of a dire need to confront the Justice League, but first, they must survive the Fearsome Five’s brutal attack. George Pérez and Marv Wolfman deliver a gripping tale with dynamic art by Pérez and Frank Chiaramonte, and a striking cover by Dick Giordano.
In a gripping tale from *Elson's Presents Super Heroes Comics #3*, Starfire opens up about her past to the Titans, forging deeper bonds among them. When Raven warns that they must confront the Justice League to stop Trigon, their moment of unity is shattered by an unexpected assault—Dr. Light’s newly assembled Fearsome Five.
In "Claws of the Cheetah," Wonder Woman races to save lives after a dam disaster, only to face a new and dangerous adversary: the Cheetah, whose radical eco-terrorist ideology demands the end of humanity. The story pits heroism against extremism in a high-stakes clash of ideals, as Wonder Woman must stop a threat that’s as much a philosophy as it is a physical danger.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
In 1981, DC Comics packaged overrun or returned copies of its January 1981 newsstand titles into digest-style anthologies bearing retailer-specific covers for Elson's Gift and News shops, which operated primarily in hotels and transportation hubs. According to DC veteran Paul Levitz, the interior pages were composed of deliberate print overruns rather than stripped and rebound unsold copies. The series ran to six issues, each sharing the same cover design (with José Luis García-López art on the back-cover house ad) but varying only in background color and interior comic selection. A parallel five-issue series was simultaneously produced for Lionel Playworld toy stores using the same cover template with a swapped logo.
Trivia · 8 facts
- The issue repackages three complete DC comics from January 1981: New Teen Titans #3, Secrets of the Haunted House #32, and Wonder Woman #275.
- New Teen Titans #3 ('The Fearsome Five!') is the first appearance of the Fearsome Five — Doctor Light, Psimon, Gizmo, Mammoth, and Shimmer — created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
- New Teen Titans #3 also marks the first physical appearance of Titans Tower, the team's T-shaped headquarters on a New York island, as distinct from Robin's earlier dream-sequence glimpse in DC Comics Presents #26.
- Psimon, Gizmo, Mammoth, and Shimmer (Selinda Flinders/Baran Flinders) all make their first appearances within the reprinted New Teen Titans #3 story.
- Wonder Woman #275 ('Claws of the Cheetah!'), written by Gerry Conway with art by José Delbo and Dave Hunt, features the early appearances of Debbi Domaine as the second Cheetah — a character introduced one issue earlier in Wonder Woman #274 and brainwashed into villainy by Kobra.
- The interior pages were printed with their original advertisements intact, fueling collector debate about whether these constitute true reprints or deliberate overrun copies of the original print runs.
- The entire six-issue Elson's series shares a single cover design by the same DC production team, differentiated only by background color; the only unique content across all issues is the back-cover ad illustrated by José Luis García-López.
- New Teen Titans #3 has since been collected in the New Teen Titans Archives Vol. 1 (1999), multiple New Teen Titans Omnibus editions (2011, 2017), and a DC trade paperback series beginning in 2014.
Cast · 40 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Elson's Presents Super Heroes Comics #1 (1981), Secrets of Haunted House #32 (1981), The New Teen Titans #3 (1981), Wonder Woman #275 (1981)
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