D.C. Showcase Presents..

[DavidXBrunt]

They say genius' steal ideas wholesale so whoever came up with the idea for D.C.'s new Showcase range of books is clearly some kind of genius. Taking their cue from Marvels ever popular and rapidly expanding 'Essential' range these are phone book size, dirt cheap, black and white reprint collections.

I've bought the majority of the available books and I have to say that they're great value for money and great fun. The reproduction is for the most part perfectly acceptable and if you can get over the lack of colour you're in for a treat. D.C. should be congratulated for a couple of their changes to their graphic novel output in recent months and this line deserves to be a success.

A tenner these days will get you what? Half a dozen modern comics if you're lucky. With these you get hours of reading and even those stories that have dated have taken on an innovent charm rather than become unreadably old fashioned. As you can tell I'm won over by these books. Anyone else got any comments?

For those interested - The first two in the range were released at a special price of ?7 per book, which gets you 500 pages of Silver Age goodness. The first book 'Superman' reprints his adventures from the dawn of the Silver Age (roughly 1958) and features the first appearances of Braniac, Kandor City, and Supergirl, as well as tussles with Lex Luthor and other notable foes. The second book 'Green Lantern' has Hal Jordans origin story and introduces Sinestro, Hector Hammond, Star Saphire, and the Green Lantern Corps.

Other volumes released so far, at the regular price of ?11 include the incredibly violent and rather gripping 'Jonah Hex', the fun, funny, and funky 'Metamorpho' which takes it's cues as much from contemporary T.V. as comics, 'Justice League of America', the very silly 'Green Arrow', with future volumes to star the 'Teen Titans', Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen in 'The Superman Family', Len Weins influential 'House of Mystery' and, er, 'The Haunted Tank'.

[DavidXBrunt]

The guy behind the counter in 'Travelling Man' said 'Oh, good choice!' when he saw that I had this title in my purchases on Wednesday. I was left rather stumped for how to reply to this. Do I thank him for the compliment, ask him why he liked it, tell him I've heard good reviews? In the end I just raised my eyebrows non-commitally.

Back in Leigh, with a fry up in 'Georges Meet and Eat Cafe' I read that days haul and after the latest Fables (I love that book) I started this one.

Like Loveless I'm not sure what to make of it. There's nothing wrong with it per se, just wasn't sure if it was strictly to my taste. I'll be sticking around for the first arc and then make a decision.

For those who don't know, and why would you be reading this thread if you didn't, it's the story of an ex-con starting work for a vermin killing and nfestation destroying Extermination company. In the first issue we learn a bit about the central character, his family and background, and his colleagues. There's a bit too much straining for depth and eccentricity but it's entertaining enough. I just wonder whether this series has legs, particularly as they seem to be heading into B-Movie territory straight from the off.

That said it's nice to see Vertigo finally free of the trap it fell into years ago of trying to recreate Moore and Gaimans best work with other writers. Titles such as Fables, Y the last Man, Loveless, and this book are a million miles away from the Gothfest of the late nineties early noughties and we're all the better for it.

[Megadeth]

I'm still slowly making my way through the Green Lantern one (been reading it for a few months along with my weekly haul) and it really is great and for ?6.99 it was amazing value.

[DavidXBrunt]

There's now a vertable raft of these excellent publications to empty your money and eat your free time. I'm currently working through 5 books at once, reading a story at a time.

Challengers of the Unknown is the greatest Irwin Allen series never made. 4 brave men living on borrowed time live to challenge...the unknown. Free from the super hero form these are tales of uncanny monsters, strange aliens, and mysterious beards and all the more fun for the lack of nefarious capes.

The Phantom Stranger (incorporating Doctor 13) is another example of genre tweaking with the emphasis here on the uncanny. Doctor 13 is a pipe-smoking one man Scooby Gang foiling paranormal shysters and the Phantom...well...he's a spooky kooky sort with a self acknowledged air of mystery. It's a miracle he's not started a sentence "Whoooooo! I'm enigmatic I am! Whooooo!" so far.

Brave and the Bold Team Ups will be familiar to most. Reprinted by Titan, and more recently Panini Batman meets a whole host of characters who need sales boosting publicity for their flagging titles. Thrill to the Metal Men! Metamorpho! Dead Man! This contains one of my favourite characters Bork.

Aquaman - silly sixties nonsense with a salty aftertaste this isn't going to win him anymore fans but if you want to see what he was up to before he became all adolescently broody here's your chance.

Shazam! is a frustrating one. The covers reprinted mention that the issues initially contained archive reprints but this volume is purely the newly originated material. That said it's Denny O'Neil and Elliot Maggin - two solid writers - and C.C.Beck - much under rated - and it's often very funny. The idea of Mister Mind having been sent to the Electric Chair has had me chucking innapropriatley all day.

Upcoming releases that I, at least, am gagging for include The Flash, The Atom, further volumes of House of Mystery, Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman, as well as...and this has got me very excited indeed...The War That Time Forgot!

[The Monarch]

I have the elongated man one.

[johnnystress]

I got the House of Secrets one- great stuff- good price too

[Byron Virgo]

Why is it 'Len Wein's House of Mystery'? The title was established long before Len came on the scene, and it was EC's Joe Orlando who really rejeuvenated and popularised both HoM and sister title House of Secrets when he came aboard as editor in the late sixties, introducing creators like Neal Adams and Bernie Wrightson, who'd previously made their names working on Warren's horror books.

Does the Phantom Stranger book collect the original Carmine Infantino series from the 1950's?

Anyone know if they have/are planning on issuing a collection of the 1970's Fleischer/Aparo Spectre stories (also edited by Joe Orlando)?

I'm told The Haunted Tank is quite good fun, apparently.

[DavidXBrunt]

Erm...thinking back...I probably put Len Wein because the book starts with his run, or when he started to be predominant on the comic.

Phantom Stranger starts with the Showcase Pilot and then runs for 500 pages.

Haunted Tank is fantastic but better in small doses.

No sign of an Aparo Spectre book yet, though a normal, colour collection is still available. There's a Hawkman coming though.

[Byron Virgo]

Ah, so it's the 70's Phantom Stranger reboot stuff then.

I don't know if Len Wein became predominant in HoM - he wrote a hell of a lot of stuff, but so did Roy Thomas, Bruce Jones and Orlando's pet writer Michael Fleischer. To be fair though, Wein's work probablt is the most memorable, at least historically.

Didn't know they'd collected the Aparo Spectre stuff - is that from Adventure Comics in the 70's?

[DavidXBrunt]

Yep, it's the very good 70's Spectre strips.

As for Wein, well it was nearly 12 months ago and I can't think why I specified him. Probably his stories stood out for me at the time and were most associated with the title in my mind. Looking at the credits he's not the most prolific creator. It was the day after a nightshift so I'd not slept...

[DavidXBrunt]

I owe Aquaman an apology. I also owe Togo and all Aquamans other aquatic friends an apology. Before this morning I'd only scratched the surface of this collection and the stories I picked at random were all ones I was familiar with.

I've ploughed through a good portion of the comic now and...wow. This is what comics are about. The sea creatures teaming up to create a living operating theatre, menacing fish from the future, people in hats and twinsets dropping everything to watch a show put on by sea life and assuming it's natural for sea life to put on shows in the first place, villains who confess to their crimes at the slightest trick - and hang around for hours to allow Aquaman to trick them. Pure, simple, fun. With a hint of tuna.