Set Description:
Synopsis: This is a set of 49 books composed primarily of Superhero try-out issues.
Background: Showcase was a comic anthology series, which was first published by DC Comics in March 1956. It is generally regarded as the most successful of such tryout series, having been published continuously for more than 14 years, launching numerous popular titles, while maintaining a considerable readership of its own. The series ran continuously until September 1970, suspending publication with issue #93, and then was revived for eleven issues from August 1977 to September 1978.
Showcase featured characters in either one-shot appearances or brief two- or three-issue runs as a way to determine reader interest, without the financial risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing titles.The series featured the first appearance of several major characters including the Silver Age Flash, the Challengers of the Unknown, Space Ranger, Adam Strange, Rip Hunter, the Silver Age Green Lantern, the Sea Devils, the Silver Age Atom, the Metal Men, the Inferior Five, the Creeper, Anthro, Hawk and Dove, Angel and the Ape, the Silver Age Spectre, and Bat Lash.
In 1962, DC purchased an adaptation of the James Bond novel and film Dr. No, which had been published in British Classics Illustrated, and published it as an issue of Showcase. It was the first American comic book appearance of the character.
Showcase stood out from other tryout series in that it maintained its own readership, as readers who liked a feature would buy the series when it came out, but would often continue buying Showcase as well.
Our Collection: While we have never specifically targeted this title, our Showcase sets do contain some of our most valuable DC comics, which explains why we have topped the Resgistry in multiple Showcase subsets for many years. Still, I think the far better sets are several ranked below us where collectors have accumulated examples of most, if not all, of the books. Again, if CGC is going to score sets, it really needs to refine its scoring system by introducing some percentage of completion factor, which rewards collectors for completing sets. I am really embarrassed to top the census in sets like this where we are so far from competing them.
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