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Joe Staton's art was horrible; the only reason I can think for him being so popular at DC at that time was that he always got books in on schedule.

I remember thinking that the first sign of impending trouble in the comics industry of the early 90s was when Joe Staton illustrated a prestige format miniseries (I think it was Guy Gardner); if they were selling prestige format with art that bad, they didn't care about their customers.

If I'm right (I may be wrong), I'm sure there was a Batman one and possibly even a supes one. I'm sure I remember seeing some Bogdanove (sp?) art in one of these. It might not have been for AIDS though, I'm not sure. Many years!

There was a Teen Titans one, too, I think.

I seem to remember the Green Lantern one having John Stewart rather than Hal Jordan as the GL.

"I don't want to attend any more funerals!"

Yeah, you're SOL there, Bea...

Who did the artwork on the first PSA. It looks like Rick Burchett, but . . . I don't think so.

I just saw the GL one last night while re-reading a Knightquest story. Justice League Task Force or Catwoman or Batman. I wondered what process the artist used to come up with the gay couple. "Umm, one has to have a thin mustache and a vest, and the other should be wearing a casual suit."

It's also amazing how little we knew back then compared to now. Ignorance was kind of bliss-ey.

Is that Niles Caulder chasing that gay couple?

It would seem strange if DC didn't use the big three in these PSAs.

I remember there being one focusing on Robin (maybe with the Titans). I'll have to go through my old 1990s DC Comics to see if I can come across it. And didn't Wonder Woman or Barbara Gordon do one?

Hey, you didn't show the one with Death and John Constantine! That one was GREAT! I think that Kent Williams did the art.

"Hey, you didn’t show the one with Death and John Constantine! That one was GREAT! I think that Kent Williams did the art."

I believe Dave McKean did the art for that one.

I not a fan of that Charest strip - I suppose it dates from the period where everybody was obliged to draw like Jim Lee - I love his online spacegirl strip though.

http://groups.msn.com/travischarest/spacegirlcomic.msnw

You can certainly see the French influence.

Every PSA should end with a bitchin' slam dunk.

Why bother getting a tagline almost right? ("Flash facts," not "fast facts.")

When I clicked on the "read on," I was really hoping for some mockery of the Death/ Constantine piece of earnestness.

"Only you can help us slam dunk AIDS!"

-The Flash

I friggin' love that Travis Charest Flash, I just love that it's the clear cut example of the Nineties mentality of deliberately not understanding the character at all. Yeah, that's what I think of when I think of the Flash - thick necked, gassed up like a pro wrestler, scowling and utterly humorless like the Punisher.

@ Atom Hotep:

I agree man. Ain't no more hillarious subject matter for our favorite Scarlet Jester to tickle a few ribs with then AIDS.

Ok. Global Warming. But AIDS is a close second.

Wocka, wocka. It's a real knee slapper. Maybe even a gut buster.

The *really* hilarious part is that from the dialogue, the Flash is actually trying to be decent and friendly. Clearly the 90's anti-hero scowl was some sort of artistic reflex, rather like St. Vitus' dance.

Yeah - Travis Charest is an excellent artist now but that is some really terrible art. It looks like Rob Leifeld art!

And it was Dave McKean who did the "Death Talks About Life" strip, but it was Dave McKean on a really bad day - the art in that strip was terrible too.

I seem to remember the Green Lantern one having John Stewart rather than Hal Jordan as the GL.

Your memory does not deceive you.

"@ Atom Hotep:

I agree man. Ain’t no more hillarious subject matter for our favorite Scarlet Jester to tickle a few ribs with then AIDS.

Ok. Global Warming. But AIDS is a close second.

Wocka, wocka. It’s a real knee slapper. Maybe even a gut buster. "

And why wouldn't it be? The only thing more mawkish and disingenuous than an ill-concieved PSA is a comic book PSA where you imagine Green Lantern flying in for four panels to stop some sort of marauding gaybash mob, wag his finger and cluck his tongue and say "hey folks, gay people are kind of all right, it's not right to hit them" and then fly off to fight some aliens or whatever. I don't know how you can take The Flash reluctantly doing community service seriously.

Don't get me wrong, comics can address real world issues, but this is the wrong way. Our Worlds At War was the wrong way. Golden Age Superman throwing a wife beating jerk into a wall and turning his insides to jelly is the right way!

These do some public good, so I don't think it's fair to dismiss them as awful (aside from the depiction of the gay couple, which is pretty bad). They address some common misconceptions, present a few facts, and give a way to learn more information. Hopefully some kids were at least made curious about the science of AIDS through these. It's a problem that these PSAs don't mention sex, however. If you can't catch HIV from sharing a soda or "casual contact," how do you get it? OK, it's my problem, but what's the solution? These aren't great, but they're better than nothing.

Patient Boy:

As Loren said above, there is a John Stewart one. You can see DC's thinking... the one person in the DCU who defends gay people from mobs turns out to be a madman, which kind of undermines the message.

I was reading these comics at the time, when I would have been 9 or 10. It might just be me, but I thought they were stupid as hell and cloying back then. It always felt like being talked down to.

Hey, Joe Staton's a great artist, Mr. StopsAtGreen. And yeah, I remember that GL one starring John Stewart.

And yeah, these are cheesy, but they were surely for kids or people who didn't know any better. At least DC was trying.

I would love to see the death/constantine one.

Death? Constantine? EXPLAIN

Is it just me or is the gay guy on the right in the Green Lantern ad dressed like Napoleon Dynamite?

Although I've never seen it, I think I can see where a Constantine/AIDS crossover can involve Death.

At the very least it'll lead to a lot of blood coughing, broth drinking, and robe wearing. Maybe a Robert Reed cameo?

Here's the Death/Constantine PSA:

"Death Talks About Life"

As good as this one is, something seems strangely anachronistic about Death's phrasing on page 3: "Most scientists believe that AIDS is caused by, or at least linked to, a virus they call HIV..."

Man, that is pretty well done. It's kind of a shame that the only way that would get published in DC is under Vertigo. I am not the biggest Gaiman fan, but this Gaiman I like.

That was really well done. I haven't seen that one since it came out.

Kudos to Gaiman and McKean!

Why bother getting a tagline almost right? (”Flash facts,” not “fast facts.”)

Do whatnow?

As good as this one is, something seems strangely anachronistic about Death's phrasing on page 3: "Most scientists believe that AIDS is caused by, or at least linked to, a virus they call HIV..."

While today, we know AIDS is a result of not praying enough.

aside from the depiction of the gay couple, which is pretty bad

It is a hateful, hateful stereotype that all gay men are good looking and dress themselves well, and Staton was just trying to show some equality.

Seriously, the guy on the right looks like the son of Harpo Marx and The Joker...

Why is Valerie Cooper yelling at Beetle and Booster?

(I know, I read the article, I just thought it was a funny scenario...)

These actually seem less ham fisted than a Green Arrow side kick having HIV.

Sharing a soda won't give you AIDS but it might give you a lot of other (albeit much less deadly) illnesses. I think Jack was right not to want to share. It's basic cleanliness. Next thing you know, Martian Manhunter will encourage kids to wander blindfolded onto a busy expressway, because that doesn't give you AIDS either. Aquaman will encourage kids to not wear seat belts, because not wearing a seat belt doesn't cause AIDS. Et cetera.

Wow. I can't believe I actually remember all of those. I feel old.

“Most scientists believe that AIDS is caused by, or at least linked to, a virus they call HIV…”

Somehow I envision a PSA on global warming that starts off "Most scientists believe the earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago or possibly 6,000 years ago if they live in midwestern or southern portions of the United States."

These just remind me of the old Hostess Cup Cake ads where the woman with the giant hair dryer takes down the Human Torch.

"AIDS - it's the Hostess Twinkies of the '90s."

Wow, that would be a really bad slogan...

Found a Titans one in Batman 489 this morning with nice artwork by Tom Grummett, looks like. Also, the superman one was for flood relief, not AIDS, I was mistaken. Would you like some scans if I can find the hosting space?

Found a Titans one in Batman 489 this morning with nice artwork by Tom Grummett, looks like.

This one?

Joe Staton is the type of artist that is really good for certain characters and types of stories--but not so good for others.

I think he is a great choice for Guy Gardner, and also I loved his work on the old Huntress series. But a lot of that seems to be retconned--subtly anyways--but I still consider it retconned.

I'm a fan of Staton too. It would have helped it he had a better inker.

But even so all of these things look pretty rushed. It's hard to believe DC took these PSAs very seriously if they couldn't even bother putting their A-team on them.