Man, Does DC Showcase Presents Ever SUCK!

[sterlingcomics]

Joe, you're going to die of a heart attack. Learn to enjoy something. Tis better to enjoy it half-assed than not at all.

[Prince Namor]

If someone actually was an Editor in charge of such a project, you'd think they'd notice that and decide to include it instead of just throwing it together.

It can be done if someone there a) cares, b) understands the material or c) has a brain.

[sterlingcomics]

They probably got an intern on crack doing the books. Whatya going to do?

[sakaridis]

This is only one story, though. And it really doesn't subtract anything important from the main Bat-stories in the following issues.

 

Hey, you said they were "completely unrelated" and I posted some pages that tossed that argument down the drain, and I could do the same with the sequence where Robin leaves for college within the Batman story (it's a very important part of the SA/BA Batman break) and then it totally leaves that part of the story out.

 

There are also many instances like I posted above, where Batman is writing a note to Robin about his exploits and vice versa, but I thought people might have actually read these books and not wrongly assume this was an "isolated incident".

I have read the books. Many times, actually, as I've had most of the issues in my collection for years. But thanks for caring.

 

OK, so there might be two or three instances where they're vaaaaaguely related. Do they really take anything away from the actual act of reading and enjoying the main Bat-stories? Is it really that big a deal that you feel the need to have a hissy fit about?

 

Do you mean to tell me that you honestly feel that you've been deprived of some important piece of Bat-continuity in not having read the Robin back-ups from Detective?

 

My argument, by the way (the one you feel you've "tossed down the drain") was two-fold. One, that this is an isolated incident (wanna call it a "rare occurrence", or an "infrequent situation", be my guest) and two, that it really doesn't subtract anything important from the main Bat-stories.

 

Even if you feel that you've crushed the first part, the second one remains intact, as anyone who's actually read the stories already knows.

 

And I'm done with this topic.

[Demo-migration]

The art on those Robin stories was usually better than the art on the Batman stories. Gil Kane inked by Murphy Anderson? Yes please!

[joe_collector]

The art on those Robin stories was usually better than the art on the Batman stories. Gil Kane inked by Murphy Anderson? Yes please!

 

I know and the non-Adams Batman stories are freaking horrible and even the Adams ones have terrible stories. Other than the ManBat issues this Showcase Batman issue was pure garbage and it's no coincidence that these skyrocketed with CGC and their sealed tombs.

 

From some of the covers, you'd think the comics were great, but then you open them up and BLEH! Like really bad stuff with Batman acting like he's 65 years old in some issue ("that run across the room tired me out" - after which he gets beat up by thugs).

 

The main reasons I bought this was because of the "Robin Goes To College" backup stories and the MaBats, and again, ROBIN GOES TO COLLEGE is PROMINENTLY displayed/mentioned on the back cover as a content description. Too bad it was only 2 panels worth !

 

 

[sakaridis]

The art on those Robin stories was usually better than the art on the Batman stories. Gil Kane inked by Murphy Anderson? Yes please!

 

I know and the non-Adams Batman stories are freaking horrible and even the Adams ones have terrible stories. Other than the ManBat issues this Showcase Batman issue was pure garbage and it's no coincidence that these skyrocketed with CGC and their sealed tombs.

 

From some of the covers, you'd think the comics were great, but then you open them up and BLEH! Like really bad stuff with Batman acting like he's 65 years old in some issue ("that run across the room tired me out" - after which he gets beat up by thugs).

 

The main reasons I bought this was because of the "Robin Goes To College" backup stories and the MaBats, and again, ROBIN GOES TO COLLEGE is PROMINENTLY displayed/mentioned on the back cover as a content description. Too bad it was only 2 panels worth !

 

JC, I feel like I should apologize, as I didn't catch that bit when I read your initial post. With that under consideration, then yes, you definitely have every right to feel cheated.

 

(Maybe I should try reading more carefully. )

[joe_collector]

No problem, and I think the worst part of this is the heavily-edited Batman/TEC volume has totally soured me on the entire Showcase series and will probably hold me back from reading some good material.

 

In case I change my mind, are there any other similar books (like Batman or Superman) that hack the original issue up into parts for the reprints and I should steer away from? And I'm not referring to extra reprints, but deleted original material that has a definite tie to the title character.

 

For example, I saw one that was Showcase Green Lantern - how does that handle the Green Arrow team-up issues? Lois Lane/Jimmy Olsen backups in Superman/WF, etc.?

[sakaridis]

I'm fairly certain that most of the back up stories are cut out from all the main characters Showcases. I've checked some of the Superman ones and they don't have any of the Supergirl, Bizarro, or Legion back ups that were in the original issues.

 

So, with your criteria in mind, I don't think these reprint volumes are the best choice.

 

(The Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories, though, are reprinted properly in the 4th GL Showcase Presents.)

 

I don't know if you wanna try any DCs outside the superhero genre, but for me the best Showcase Presents volumes are for titles like Strange Adventures, Tales Of The Unexpected, House Of Secrets/Mystery and some of the war books.

 

To be honest, I don't really like the superhero ones, because I find it very difficult to read superhero stories in black & white, so I prefer to hunt down the original issues.

[NewWorldOrder]

So after buying almost the complete Marvel Essentials collection I decided to expand into the DC Showcase Presents by getting a few for Christmas. Bronze Age Batman, Justice League, Superman, etc.

 

But man, do they suck.

 

I am accustomed to reprinting entire issues, at least those that are new content, but the DC versions just take small snippets out of each issue that deal with the main character and delete everything else. WTF?

 

I could even understand if the content was offbeat or totally unrelated to the subject matter, but I bought one Batman/TEC collection with the express intent of re-reading some of those Robin Goes to College segments... which naturally were totally deleted. We get the "Next up, Robin Goes to College" plug at the end of the Batman story, then it's on the next issue.

 

And they even mention "Robin Goes to College" right on the back of the book! Talk about a punch to the gut.

 

This sucks hard and I feel like I wasted money on a pile of heavily edited junk. There's no flow, no nostalgia, no nothing, just a few pages of clipped-out stories from an issue and nothing else. Just pure garbage.

 

Hey I am just happy you are posting again.

 

We need to start a controversial thread that peaks your interests to post.

[joe_collector]

To be honest, I don't really like the superhero ones, because I find it very difficult to read superhero stories in black & white, so I prefer to hunt down the original issues.

 

I don't find the Marvel's that bad because the flow well and for the most part (other than the dual-books like Subby, IM, DS, Shield), include all the original material of a given issue. I was surprised to read an Iron Man Essentials that included an Ant Man backup story in it.

 

The biggest problem with the Batman/Superman issues is that they don't flow very well. They switch between Batman and TEC, which makes you want to read issues by 2's just so it makes sense, and the cut-out second-lead stories like Robin lead to an even more stilted read.

 

For example, you can have a Batman story where he's investigating a murder of a doctor, which was to continue in the next issue, but then pops up a TEC story about car race with a Robin lead-in that is cut out, which is followed by the next part of the Batman story about the doctor's murder.

 

It's like that old Jim Croce song.... these Showcases "looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone."

[sakaridis]

Yeah, that must be a bit disorienting. It'll obviously get better in the volumes reprinting the early 80s issues, when the two Bat titles were keeping a consistent continuity (like a bi-weekly title).