"Showcase Presents" Proposals

[Loren]

Since announcing the "Showcase Presents" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showcase_presents) program last summer, DC has announced 17 volumes in the line, and released 9. Just last week, they announced five volumes that are due later this year.

Naturally, there are series and characters that we'd like to see get the Showcase treatment. We toss out suggestions of what we're hoping for in DC's next announcement, but since it will probably be several months before we get that next batch, I thought it would be fun for us to do a little more than toss out names, and actually construct our hypothetical volumes. To determine what issues would go in a volume, and to put a cover with it. I tried this over on the DC Board, and I thought this board might have some fun with it too.

The basics are pretty, well, basic. A Showcase volume tends to be about 540-560 pages, and that includes the intro pages and reprinted interior covers. Consult www.dcuguide.com or www.comics.org for appearances, page counts and covers. And while I've disagreed with a couple of DC's cover choices (Haunted Tank should've used this one (http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=16613&zoom=4)), the cover should be a fairly decent representation of the character.

I'll start off with three proposed volumes. The first is one that's been proposed a lot:

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/681/showcasejl13rx.jpg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS JUSTICE LEAGUE VOL. 1 TP
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Kevin Maguire
Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6 and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #7-24.
560 pgs, B&W, $16.99 US

Next, my April Fool's Day joke (http://comicfacts.blogspot.com/2006/04/finally.html):

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7500/showcasepresentsambushbug28rf.jpg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS AMBUSH BUG VOL. 1 TP
Written by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming and Paul Kupperberg
Art by Keith Giffen and Bob Oksner
The Bug is Back in this comprehensive volume, collecting stories from DC COMICS PRESENTS #52, 59, and 81; SUPERGIRL (Vol. 1) #16; ACTION COMICS #560, 563, and 565; AMBUSH BUG #1-4; AMBUSH BUG STOCKING STUFFER #1; SON OF AMBUSH BUG #1-6; and SECRET ORIGINS #48! Also included is the full run of another Giffen master of mirth, THE HECKLER #1-6!
560 pg, B&W, $16.99 US

(I'd like to include the Nothing Special, but it muddies up the page count.)

And finally, a volume that's more likely to actually see print, despite being more obscure (and having a rather ugly title logo):

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8725/showcaseriphunter6gd.jpg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS RIP HUNTER...TIME MASTER VOL. 1 TP
Collects SHOWCASE PRESENTS #21, 21, 25, and 26 and RIP HUNTER...TIME MASTER #1-17.

So let's see some other proposed volumes. Who knows, maybe somebody at DC's reading?

[Ironluke5]

If they printed all three (which they might not do in the case of Justice League if they can't pay the royalties) I would buy.

C'mon, who doesn't want to see a Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug.

I want my Ambush Bug

[Adem]

Fun idea, Loren. I've never heard of the time master series though. I find it funny that the cover for the Showcase Presents:Ambush Bug says ALL IN FULL COLOR.False advertisement! :D

[spideyrules99]

I want a JSA and Wonder Woman Showcase.

[Slam_Bradley]

I'd buy the Rip Hunter and Ambush Bug books. I already have the JLA in floppies.

I'd guess that Rip Hunter is one we may actually see eventually. And I can't wait.

[Loren]

Some number-crunching showed me that all the Martian Manhunter backups from 'Tec and House of Mystery could fit into two Showcase volumes.

I'd have made a cover for Volume 1, but it looks like J'onn didn't appear on any covers of any issues contained therein. I'm not sure what they'll do, so I just have the contents:

SHOWCASE PRESENTS MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL. 1 TP
Collects stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #225-306.

On the other hand, I don't think you can do better than this cover (J'onn's first in HoM) for Volume 2. Still, J'onn didn't have a logo that I know of, so I used the modern one:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9544/showcasejonn1vd.jpg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL. 2 TP
Collects stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #307-326 and HOUSE OF MYSTERY #143-173.

That's my favorite Showcase cover that I've made so far.

[Captain Jim]

J'onn didn't have a logo that I know of...

Sure he did. This was his logo in HOM:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/pages/41060355406.155.P1.GIF

And this is his logo from the Detective days:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/pages/24038627564.301.P3.GIF

[glue]

I would buy that Martian Manhuter without question. There's also a good chance the JLA, JSA and Rip Hunter would get bought. I have no idea who Ambush Bug is. :(

[Loren]

Once again, my Silver Age ignorance is on display.

On the other hand, I wouldn't expect DC to use either of those logos on a cover today, so I'll stick by my version.

And it's funny that I'm just now seeing these comics that mention the Idol-Head of Diabolu, because I just read this article (http://www.ansible.co.uk/Ansible/plotdev.html) the other day, which has this to say about the Idol-Head:

There was only ever one plot generator among the many in DC's repertoire that ran red K close for sheer elegance (though others like Dial H for Hero proved more durable), and that's the little-remembered Idol-Head of Diabolu. The Idol-Head appeared for a couple of years as the continuity in the Martian Manhunter stories, and the way it worked was this. The Idol-Head of Diabolu was an ancient bust created by an evil sorcerer way back in the mists of flashback, and I think it got unearthed by an unfortunate archaeologist or something. Thereafter, it would drift around from owner to owner or float around in the ocean and get washed up from time to time (which was odd, since the Head was carved from stone); and every full moon the top of the head would flip open like a Terry Gilliam cartoon and a new evil would be loosed on the world. Invariably these magical banes would find themselves being tackled by the Martian Manhunter, till eventually he managed to run the Idol-Head to ground and destroy it. What I so admire about this invention is that "every full moon" corresponds almost exactly to the publishing schedule of a monthly comic book; so that you had, written into the set-up, a device that would generate a guaranteed new villain or disaster every issue while leaving the scripter total freedom to fill in the details.

And sure enough, after looking at some covers, it looks like the Idol-Head was a thorn in J'onn's side on a monthly basis.

[dan bailey]

i've been agitating -- ok, that's too strong a verb, really ... i've been wistfully wishing -- for nearly a year now for a tomahawk showcase. that yearning, of course, remains unrequited.

cave carson would be grand, as would the other possibilities outlined above. i'll cogitate on the subject further. i've mentioned in at least one other thread that it'd be great to have the inferior five reprinted, but off the top of my head i dunno what else could be combined with that very short run -- 3 showcases (the actual comic, of course, not the dc answer to essentials) & 10 subsequent ishes of the characters' own title -- to flesh out a full-fledged showcase presents.

dial h for hero didn't last long enough in house of mystery (18 issues, i think) to fill a volume, either. i've acquired all of those, but sockamgee! the rest of the world deserves exposure to such quintessential silver-agedness, too.

sugar & spike is another one that quite a few people here have called for. i don't believe i ever picked up an issue back in the day, but i'd certainly buy a reprint volume.

other obvious ones (that afaik haven't already appeared in archives volumes, a la enemy ace, sgt rock, the lsh, etc) -- well, obvious to me, anyway -- include "the war that time forgot" & ... uh ... i'll have to go consult the gcd to see how many ishes the respective likes of hunter's hellcats, gunner & the sarge, mme marie & capt storm ran. maybe some or all could be combined into a sort of war miscellany.

i don't suppose we're ever likely to see a volume consolidating various short-lived series from the mid-to-late '60s like capt atom, bat lash, anthro, hawk & the dove, secret six &/or various original-showcase strips that went nowhere, like jonny double, dolphin, b'wana beast, jason's quest, etc. *choke*

[Aaron King]

other obvious ones (that afaik haven't already appeared in archives volumes, a la enemy ace, sgt rock, the lsh, etc)...

Has DC stated somewhere that they're trying not to cover the same material they've covered in their Archives? I'm really itching for a Doom Patrol Showcase and I think Bruno Premiani's art would look spectacular in black and white, so I'm hoping the powers that be will let the world's strangest heroes out of their stuffy hardcover Archives.

[Slam_Bradley]

Has DC stated somewhere that they're trying not to cover the same material they've covered in their Archives? I'm really itching for a Doom Patrol Showcase and I think Bruno Premiani's art would look spectacular in black and white, so I'm hoping the powers that be will let the world's strangest heroes out of their stuffy hardcover Archives.


They not only haven't stated it, but they've already duplicated. The Superman vols. and the announced Batman volume duplicate material from the Man of Twomorrow and the Dynamic Duo Archives.

[dan bailey]

oh, i wasn't intending to imply that archives publication precludes a showcase appearance, just expressing an especially heartfelt desire to see reprints of comics that i couldn't acquire in archives format on the extreme off chance that i won the lottery (an even less likely prospect since alabama doesn't have a lottery).

i was sort of under the impression that a doom patrol showcase had been announced. probably i'm thinking about challengers of the unknown instead.

& before i forget -- metal men would be another very welcome addition to the line.

[Perry Holley]

I'm really itching for a Doom Patrol Showcase and I think Bruno Premiani's art would look spectacular in black and white, so I'm hoping the powers that be will let the world's strangest heroes out of their stuffy hardcover Archives.Seconded.

How long did the original Doom Patrol run? Would it fit in one volume?

[dan bailey]

How long did the original Doom Patrol run? Would it fit in one volume?

not quite (depending on backup features) -- the final 5 ishes of my greatest adventure plus 36 ishes of dp.

[Captain Jim]

Once again, my Silver Age ignorance is on display.

On the other hand, I wouldn't expect DC to use either of those logos on a cover today, so I'll stick by my version.

I actually don't think the HOM logo was too bad. The original Detective version certainly was strange though. No idea why "Jones" is so much larger than "John." In any case, this gave me the opportunity to illustrate a point I made awhile ago about "John Jones" being the key character during the Detective run.

[Loren]

Some good suggestions. Doom Patrol sounds like it might fill two volumes well. I expect it and Metal Men will both be collected eventually.

But I'd like to suggest a more obscure Showcase, and one that would fit nicely into a single volume:

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9996/showcaseplop0cs.jpg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: PLOP! VOL. 1 TP
Collects PLOP! #1-24.

It's not the greatest cover material, but most Plop! covers were just too gross.

[Kan-Man]

Is it too redundant to suggest a Showcase of the original Showcase series?

Forgive me if this has been mentioned before, I haven't been following all of the Showcase threads.

[Slam_Bradley]

Is it too redundant to suggest a Showcase of the original Showcase series?

Forgive me if this has been mentioned before, I haven't been following all of the Showcase threads.


I think it would be a great idea for the one-shots and short series that appeared there.

[Lone Ranger]

With the passing of Alex Toth - this one would be appropriate:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/CBR/shjt-1.jpg

[Loren]

Given my complaint about the solicited cover for Haunted Tank (http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=5101), I'm relieved to see that DC actually used a different cover for the final product:

http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/3535/feb0602750td.jpg

That's not bad at all. It's drawn by Russ Heath, but I glanced over the cover databases, and I can't find this cover. Is it original?

[dan bailey]

It's drawn by Russ Heath, but I glanced over the cover databases, and I can't find this cover. Is it original?

i'm pretty sure it is. haven't all the showcase covers been (albeit based on old covers from the series in queston)? going by his work on "legend," "caper" & a "conan" ish from last year, i'd say heath is still at the height of his remarkable powers (just like the similarly vintage john severin, whose "punisher: the tyger" one-shot i picked up today).