Comments on: DC Books for January/February

By: Anthony D.

Anthony D. — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 20:26:43 +0000

I own some of the Showcase volumes as well, and find the stories entertaining, though admit I read through the Green Lantern, Superman and Justice League volumes faster than the Batman volume. Still, would rather spend money on a pile of old stories like these and read them a bit at a time than on the likes of “Infinite Crisis”…

Re: Supergirl and Lois Lane volumes: Given the Superman volume doesn’t include any of the Supergirl-featuring stories in it, I have to assume Kara’s going to get her own Showcase volume at some point. As for Lois Lane, guessing she’ll be stuck sharing space/co-billing with Jimmy Olsen under the “Superman Family” banner (since the Jimmy Olsen stories started several years before Lois got her own title, that’s why there weren’t many Lois stories in the first “Superman Family” volume, though a future volume 2 should see the earliest “Lois Lane” title stories…).

By: Chris Galdieri

Chris Galdieri — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 13:46:25 +0000

In the case of much of what the Showcase volumes have reprinted, I think it’s more a case of “this is the only format these stories are ever going to be profitable in.” I thought Green Lantern held up pretty well in the format, though, because there was a bit more soap opera and continuing mysteries to give the stories issue-to-issue flow than, say, Elongated Man.

Hmm. Does the B&W phonebook format work better for Marvel because those stories were more serial in nature?

By: Dan Coyle

Dan Coyle — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 23:00:22 +0000

What makes Superman Family work is the sheer insanity of Superman’s relationship with his “friends”.

By: David Oakes

David Oakes — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 22:35:16 +0000

Oh, and for everyone in the “TPBs are the wave of the future, because they are the best format to tell a story” camp, I hope that the SHOWCASE volumes proves that some stories are better served in small doses.

(And let’s not make the argument “best format for *good* stories, that’s not the point. Though I wonder if it would be easier to read an entire SHOWCASE if it reprinted, say, a year’s - a month’s even - worth of stories from across a whole line of titles. Equivalent to the CrossGen magazines. Probably not, since it’s hard to read HOUSE OF MYSTERY for too long, and they are more different than they are similar. I think the storytelling style simply has changed, and most of us couldn’t sit through the average movie from 1968 without looking at our watch either.)

By: David Oakes

David Oakes — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 22:28:55 +0000

James,

My brother has my copy, but I thought that the FLASH story that introduced Ralph was reprinted in the trade. It’s not a long courtship, but we at least see a few panels of “Hey, who is that”, “I want to marry you” - in fact, Ralph comes off as something of a golddigger! - and I think even a seperate honeymoon story. I don’t recall the actual wedding ever being show, come to think of it.

(According to comics.org, it was FLASH #119, reprinted in #209, which I may in fact own, and may be where I am remebering it from. And in case you are ever on Jeopardy!, “What is Sue Dearborn?” is the question to “Elongated Man’s Wife’s maiden name.”)

By: Rob Staeger

Rob Staeger — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 18:36:18 +0000

The Showcase volumes are slow going for me. I keep a few on the shelf and randomly pick up a story whenever the mood strikes me. I’ve got the Jonah Hex, Metamorpho, Elongated Man and The Haunted Tank volumes, but I never read more than a couple stories in a row. I plan on finishing one before I pick up my next, just so I don’t slow them all down too much… althought the House of Mystery edition is tempting.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:50:23 +0000

Oh BTW, one thing that kind of had me scratching my head. Did no one ever write a story about how Ralph and Sue met, got married etc?

By: James Schee

James Schee — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:48:16 +0000

It took me about a month to get through the EM Showcase reading about 2 stories a night. It was easier than some of the others, I still haven’t been able to finish the Justice League one, but I too wished Sue had a bigger role.

Though I do remember two fun moments for her, like when she was interested in a mystery and Ralph wasn’t. Plus the birthday surprise where it was Ralph that got “knocked out by harmless electricity”, which was a reverse of the way things usually went in that time. (I’m looking at you oh poor Lois.:) )

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:24:57 +0000

Chris: The Infantino art led to a great conversation between me and KC, about how he was viewed artistically. I found it a little rough at times, myself, but definitely energetic, as you say.

Dan: Come to think of it, I liked Superman Family best too.

By: Dan Coyle

Dan Coyle — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:56:07 +0000

And we are getting an S and V trade, ironically when S and V are now practically regulars in the IDW book. Repetition is a big problem in the Showcase books, even non-superhero books like Haunted Tank become a trial to get through. The strongest for me have been the Jonah Hex and Superman Family volumes.

By: Bill Angus

Bill Angus — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 19:38:38 +0000

I’m just going from memory here… but it seems to me that the Sachs & Violens thing was part of the deal to get Fallen Angel over to IDW. I think DC wanted to publish a S&V trade, and the made it a condition of releasing Fallen Angel.

By: Ralf Haring

Ralf Haring — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 18:32:42 +0000

While new Fallen Angel collections probably make sense purely economically - IDW did all the heavy lifting to keep the property around, as you say - I’d imagine in some way they might also serve to re-establish trust between David and DC. He’s not the biggest draw in the world, but he’s had enough staying power that they’ll likely want to work with him in the future. His last few DC efforts didn’t exactly seem to end harmoniously - Fallen Angel, Supergirl, Young Justice. They are also republishing his and Perez’ Sachs & Violens, and that seemed to come out of nowhere as well. Or I could be wrong and it’s all just based on the economics.

By: Chris Galdieri

Chris Galdieri — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:54:15 +0000

I loved the Elongated Man Showcase for the black-and-white art which finally made me really ppreciate how good Carmine Infantino is. Some of the early solo stories where he inks himself are particularly striking — there’s a wonderful loose, energetic sketchy feel to them that made me stop and stare at the pages.

A Supergirl Showcase, especially, seems like a no-brainer, given how hard DC is pushing the new version.