These are some exciting additions to the SP line, and some of what we've been requesting for years.
Hoy
Showcase Presents Showcase Vol. 1
May 29, 2012
544 pages
$19.99
Making its debut in 1956, SHOWCASE was the place where DC tried out new characters and concepts. Now, DC reprints the entire series from the beginning for the very first time, including the smash successes of Green Lantern, The Flash and Lois Lane in her own solo series, to more obscure tales of Fire Fighters, Kings of the Wild, and The Space Ranger. This volume collects SHOWCASE #1-21.
Showcase Presents Tales of the Unexpected Vol. 1
June 26, 2012
512 pages
$19.99
For the first time, DC Comics collects the series TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, featuring tales of the weird and mysterious. Originally published in the late 1950s, these stories feature work by some of DC's top talents of the era, and include stories like:
- "The Secret of Cell Sixteen"
- "The Gorilla Who Saved The World"
- "The Man Nobody Could See"
- "The House Where Dreams Come True"
Showcase Presents Sea Devils Vol. 1
July 24, 2012
512 pages
$19.99
The Sea Devils are a team of underwater adventurers who battle strange creatures beneath the waves, including The Octopus- Man, the Vengeful Undersea Ghost, The Flame-Headed Watchman and more.
These stories are best remembered for the spectacular art of Russ Heath, artist on numerous war comics. Collects SHOWCASE #27-29 and SEA DEVILS #1-16.
Showcase Presents Rip Hunter, Time Master Vol. 1
August 28, 2012
512 pages
$19.99
Rip Hunter and his band of time-travelling adventurers traverse the ages, delving into the distant past and future to fight strange creatures! In these stories, collected here for the very first time, the Time Masters meet Circe, an island of dinosaurs, "The Bird-Men of 2,000 B.C.," "The Menace of the Mongol Magician."
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Despite having little experience with either, I'll probably pick both of these up. What can I say, I'm the sort of sucker that these things are made for.
I'm the same, Randy. I've never read a single Sea Devils story and only a few scattered reprints of the early Showcase issues.
Unless they sneak one in during June, I'm surprised there's no new edition of Showcase Presents Superman or Superman Family. Isn't the new movie supposed to be out next summer? Marvel shovels out the tie-in books whenever a movie is coming out.
Hoy
I'm surprised myself Hoy. It seems like a long time since we've had either a Superman or Superman Family Showcase. Maybe they just aren't selling well--although it seems we're getting plenty of Batman and Wonder Woman.
I'm more stoked about Showcase than I am about Sea Devils. With the Sea Devils I fear a lot of sameness in the stories. I could of course be wrong.
I'm happy about the Sea Devils as I liked the few stories that I read of them with great Irv Novick art. But I think a Rip Hunter volume would be an easier sell as the character was still around prior to the DCnU.
Going on the assumption that the Showcase volume is going to cover #1 through #24, the first "problem" is that a lot of them have already been reprinted, some several times. The Flash (#4, 8, 13, 14), the Challengers of the Unknown (#6, 7, 11, 12), Lois Lane (#9, 10), Adam Strange (#17, 18, 19) and Green Lantern (#22, 23, 24) all have been republished relatively recently in their own Archive, Showcase Presents and Chronicles series.
The only other super-hero/adventure entries of note are Space Ranger (#15-16) and the aforementioned Rip Hunter--Time Master (#20-21). Are they incentive enough for a longtime buyer (like myself) to spend another $20 on? At least I got time to think about it.
To be complete, #1 had Fire Fighters featuring Fireman Farrell who made a cameo in Showcase #100, #2's Kings of the Wild (animal stories), #3 focused on The Frogmen (I'm assuming WWII divers) and #5 starred Manhunters (presumbly police stories). Actually the early Showcase was similar in theme to The Wonderful World of Disney, even with the Flash revisiting past successes. The Challs were adventurers and Lois was for the girls to enjoy!
They may not even include the Green Lantern issues if they want them to start Volume 2 but then Volume 1 has even less star power!
Only have one issue of the Sea Devils, and it was pretty good so I will probably buy that volume.
But I would love more information before I make a final decision on the Showcase Presents: Showcase volume, especially in light of the possiblity that the stories that have already been reprinted as part of other character's volumes won't be reprinted again.
Besides, do we even have any guarantee that it will reprint from issue 1 on? What if DC decides to reprint the mid-1970s revival of the original title, issues 94-107? Only the Power Girl mini from that era has been reprinted anywhere else.
After all, the recent All Star Comics volume actually reprinted the mid-1970s revival and NOT the Golden Age series. :-(
Thanks for finding these, Hoy!
I've read a lot of Sea Devils issues, but I've missed a lot of the early ones, so that definitely will be a book for me. They aren't exceptional stories, but they're different from anything else they've done. I agree that SD is an interesting choice and that Rip Hunter would seem more natural. Hopefully, he'll be coming soon.
Maybe they will only reprint the Showcase issues that have not been reprinted elsewhere, running the cover and the contents, as they do when they come to a Giant reprint issue in some of these books. It would be a shame to make people buy so many pages they already have in a similar format just to be consistent. Taking them out would make the book more attractive and maybe draw more attention to their other books for someone not familiar with them (whoever that may be).
-- MSA
TOTU started in 1956 as a sort-of science fiction title that was not edited by Julius Schwartz. GCD lists Whitney Elsworth as the editor, but he was in Hollywood working on Adventures of Superman at the time, so it was someone else in reality. There's some Jack Kirby art in these somewhere that recently was reprinted in the first Jack Kirby Omnibus. Space Ranger didn't show up until #40, so we won't see him for a while, unless he gets his own SP later on.
I'm kind of surprised DC followed up SP Strange Adventures from a couple of years ago with this instead of SP Mystery in Space.
I'm also surprised they didn't follow up with their apparently successful string of mystery title reprints like House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Witching Hour and Ghosts by starting with the stories from #105 in 1968, when it became just "The Unexpected" and featured regular mystery stories.
Hoy
Amazon has added possible covers and book descriptions, so I copied and pasted them for our discussion.
SP Showcase will begin at the beginning, so we'll get reprints of many stories that have shown up in previous SP collections (Flash, Challengers of the Unknown, Lois Lane, Adam Strange), but many that have not (Fire Fighters, Kings of the Wild, Manhunters, Space Ranger, and Rip Hunter).
DC science fiction from the 1950s is always fun, so I expect SP Tales of the Unexpected to be worth reading.
As the Amazon copy says, Russ Heath art makes Sea Devils interesting.
And, finally, we get SP Rip Hunter, Time Master. It's about time!
Hoy
I'm going to need more room on my bookcases!
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