Anthro 1 page 13 by Howie Post

In 1968, DC launched a handful of new titles most of which I loved, e.g., Bat Lash, Creeper, Hawk and Dove, and Anthro. Most had their first appearance in Showcase with their own series kicking off immediately after.

Anthro was written and drawn by Howie Post.

This period of creativity was as great in my opinion as that at the beginning of the Showcase run (Flash, GA, JLA, Lois, etc.). Of course, my opinion matters not (though all of these echo through the DC universe still), it's sales that matter and the books that spun off from Showcase to feature these characters were gone in a few issues (6 or 7 usually). I was very disappointed.

When I started collecting comic art, Anthro (along with The Creeper, Bat Lash, and Dolphin) was a target, but there wasn't much art on the market.

I didn't realize that Howie Post was still alive so commissioning him didn't happen. When I heard of his passing, I kicked myself for the missed opportunity.

Lately though, something has changed. Anthro 1 came up for auction as a complete book and I've seen pages from the Showcase issue and issue 5 as well. I bought a page that I like from Book 1.

On this page, Anthro is helping Embra, a girl that he'd met a few pages earlier, when he hears his younger brother scream. He unceremoniously drops Embra and charges down hill to his brother's rescue - halting suddenly when he realizes what his brother is facing!

I love the dialog, the body language, the expressions, and overall style. Howie Post is a little recognized master at creating good comics.

Anthro was hardly the first book or last book to feature a young "first human" - Kubert's Tor and Jeff Smith's Tuki jump to mind, but it was a solid book that I really appreciated. Wish it was collected. Sigh ...