Popular Post MrBedrock Posted February 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2023 hchill25, sfcityduck, Phill the Governor and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave2739 Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 That is a gorgeous Silver Age book right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frisco Larson Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Most people consider this the start of the Silver Age although I'm not certain who made that declaration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share Posted February 8, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 3:33 PM, Frisco Larson said: Most people consider this the start of the Silver Age although I'm not certain who made that declaration. It is one of the first major books to introduce a new character after the Comics Code (Detective 225 and The Avenger 1 being the others). It revives a golden age character and leads indirectly, or directly, to Brave and the Bold 28, which leads to Fantastic Four 1. And it has always been mentioned as a special event by comic collectors from that time. Dave2739 and KCOComics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicjack Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) Crazy how stuff exists in that condition what a book for the Flash collector Silver all the way for me Edited February 8, 2023 by comicjack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Straw-Man Posted February 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2023 is that considered a desirable grade for this book? silverseeker, badback83, comic_memories and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frisco Larson Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 3:40 PM, MrBedrock said: It is one of the first major books to introduce a new character after the Comics Code (Detective 225 and The Avenger 1 being the others). It revives a golden age character and leads indirectly, or directly, to Brave and the Bold 28, which leads to Fantastic Four 1. And it has always been mentioned as a special event by comic collectors from that time. Oh, I understand it being selected as the start of the Silver Age, it's just that it happened before I was involved in the back issue market, so I was unaware if it was Overstreet or a group of established dealers and collectors who deemed it such. SO Ricky, when you fired up the time machine, didja have time to drive your old white pick up on your trip or didja just have to grab the book and scoot? MrBedrock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze johnny Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 4:40 PM, MrBedrock said: It is one of the first major books to introduce a new character after the Comics Code (Detective 225 and The Avenger 1 being the others). It revives a golden age character and leads indirectly, or directly, to Brave and the Bold 28, which leads to Fantastic Four 1. And it has always been mentioned as a special event by comic collectors from that time. I don’t see Showcase 4 as the introduction of a new character. Rather, it’s the introduction of a revamped Flash and his new alter ego, Barry Allen. The DC Silver Age (1956-1961) is defined by the reintroduction of Golden Age superheroes that includes the Green Lantern, Atom, and the newest version of the Justice Society of America in Brave and the Bold 28. It’s also important to point out that the DC Silver Age is also a time when Kirby introduced the Challengers of the Unknown, which is the first original creation of that era and is a greater influence on his Fantastic Four than the Justice League (Society) of America. We would see Marvel’s version of the Justice League of America when the Avengers appeared in their own mag in 1963. Credit for the Silver Age also goes to the Superman “family” book that Lois Lane, who along with the Challies, is the first to get their own titles in the DC Silver Age. Can’t forget the Legion of Superheroes in Adventure Comics 247 and their later role in the Adventure Comics run that kicked off with issue 300. Can’t leave out another significant part of the DC Silver Age: Big 5 War Books. Led by Sgt. Rock, the character driven big 5 war books were vastly superior to the war titles of the Golden and Atomic Ages. Our Army at War 83 is the Action Comics 1 of the war genre. Kanigher, Kubert, Heath, Grandinetti, and the rest of the 5 Five war comics team at DC took the war genre to its greatest heights. Can’t forget the great DC Sci Fi creations that followed the Challies - Adam Strange, Space Ranger, and Rip Hunter. Showcase 17 is Overstreet’s most valuable Science Fiction comic book for any age. These are pure Silver Age superhero and hero books As for Martian Manhunter, I personally like him but he was a new character, who couldn’t carry his own weight in a Silver Age anthology series. The ability of a character was the true test of whether they were a significant Silver Age creation and the Manhunter from Mars wasn’t one of them. One last thing to mention about the dawn of the Silver Age in 1956 is that Atlas tried to bring back the Timely superheroes when Young Men 24 hit the newsstands in the mid-1950s and they failed to gain any traction. The Timely failure was another reminder that the characters that fought to save the world against tyranny during the “Good War” saw their demise coincide with the end of the war. America had newfound postwar fears and cultural interests in a new Atomic Age. The comic book saw the rise and dominance of the crime, romance, horror, and Sci Fi that reached its apex with EC Comics - comic books that were nothing like the superhero comics of the Second World War. The era of McCarthyism and rise of World Communism during the early 1950s further contributed to the fear many Americans had at the time. Comics themselves were under attack when Wertheimer attributed juvenile delinquency to them. Kefauver would later challenge Gaines to explain the cover of Crime Suspenstories 22 and the end result was an industry that agreed to self-censorship. EC Comics ended its comic book publishing with exception to Mad Magazine. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman continued to regularly appear in comic books through the 1950s and then Julius Schwartz and the team at DC decided to make their own new universe that began in 1956. Stan and Jack would take it to a whole new level in 1961. KirbyJack and PopKulture 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfcityduck Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 1:24 PM, MrBedrock said: An easy call: Silver. But what about this (not mine)?: New superhero, CCA stamp, written by Gardner Fox, MR. Ayers art. MrBedrock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo_7071 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 10:11 PM, sfcityduck said: An easy call: Silver. But what about this (not mine)?: New superhero, CCA stamp, written by Gardner Fox, MR. Ayers art. Atom Age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted February 9, 2023 Author Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 9:11 PM, sfcityduck said: An easy call: Silver. But what about this (not mine)?: New superhero, CCA stamp, written by Gardner Fox, MR. Ayers art. I love that book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverseeker Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 1:24 PM, MrBedrock said: It's posts like this that make me think the boards need to add a "jaw dropping" reaction... For now, I guess this is all we have... Beautiful book! MrBedrock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Pontoon Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 I started collecting funnybooks in the mid-70s and even back then Showcase #4 was touted and accepted as the start of the Silver Age. I wouldn't bother to get into an argument about it, but it's never felt like a Silver Age book to me. Is the storytelling that much different from other DC Atom Age or even '60s books? DC didn't really begin to shift away from their typical style until the late '60s. Even Kirby's DC stuff from that period is a little ho-hum to me. I get that there's generally predecessors and books that lead up to others but for me the Silver Age begins with Fantastic Four #1. KirbyJack, MrBedrock and namisgr 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted February 11, 2023 Author Share Posted February 11, 2023 On 2/11/2023 at 9:50 AM, MR. Pontoon said: I started collecting funnybooks in the mid-70s and even back then Showcase #4 was touted and accepted as the start of the Silver Age. I wouldn't bother to get into an argument about it, but it's never felt like a Silver Age book to me. Is the storytelling that much different from other DC Atom Age or even '60s books? DC didn't really begin to shift away from their typical style until the late '60s. Even Kirby's DC stuff from that period is a little ho-hum to me. I get that there's generally predecessors and books that lead up to others but for me the Silver Age begins with Fantastic Four #1. I tend to agree with you. Since I was a kid I always thought FF #1 was the most important book of the silver age and was the start of everything that came after. But the older collectors I knew always pointed to Showcase 4 as the book that changed things for them. I guess it boils down to ones age and perspective. Fantastic Four #1 for me! Phill the Governor, ThothAmon and KirbyJack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulksdaddy1 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDarkseid1 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Yeah this is a nutty book. I sometimes feel like SC4 should be at least a little closer to AF15. Barry Allen Flash just isn’t there though, not even close to Spider-Man level popularity. Regardless, unbelievable copy and best of luck. MrBedrock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirbyJack Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 On 2/8/2023 at 5:42 PM, Straw-Man said: is that considered a desirable grade for this book? Yeah, that's decent for a Showcase 4. It's weird, but every copy ever printed seems to have white pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze johnny Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 (edited) On 2/8/2023 at 4:24 PM, MrBedrock said: Is that your book because it’s an awesome edition to your amazing collection! Edited February 12, 2023 by bronze johnny ThothAmon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namisgr Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) It's the Newsboy copy, from an incredible run of early Showcase issues brought to market by Motor City. Edited February 13, 2023 by namisgr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 On 2/12/2023 at 10:32 AM, bronze johnny said: Is that your book because it’s an awesome edition to your amazing collection! We have it on consignment. I haven't listed on the web-site yet. bronze johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
