10 Most Important SA DCs

[jkc313]

"Jimmy Olsen"

 

Being that Jimmy Olsen is a pre-code book, I am sure that most people do not consider it silver age. With that said, if we loosly definded the silver age as including JO 1, my top ten would be:

 

Showcase 4

Adventure 247

Jimmy Olsen 1 (20 year run)

Lois Lane 1 (137 issue run)

Sugar and Spike 1 (long run)

Showcase 6

Flash 123

B&B 28

Action 252

Our Army at War 81/83 (mega long run on Rock)

 

Honorary mentions:

 

Showcase 17,22 and 34

B&B 34

Detective 225

 

Now some people will say Jimmy , S&S and 'TEC 225 are not silver age. I don't want to get into that debate either, but I think these books were importatnt and are still highly sought after by collectors, and they came out around the time of the silver age. Isn't it silly to say Superboy 51 is atom age, but 52 is silver age, Superman 108 is not silver age but 109 is? Bah!

 

While I disagree with this list, I like it as it shows how divergent we are on the "importance" of DC Silver. My list was an "importance" not a personal favorite except for the SHowcase 60. If I were to include personal favorites I'd add sugar & Spike but,to me, a long run in and of itself doesn't make it important or even collectible. See any Archie title or Casper or most Harveys. I LIKE all of them but that doesn't make them important. If forced to bump Showcase 60, I'd probably add B&B 34. The reason I included Flash 105 is that was the first title DC decided to take a chance with in it's own magazine which was HUGE!! It started the run of first issues. Hulk 102 isn't anywhere in this league. It's just a continuation of another title. You have to remember that the comic book market was "iffy" in the late 50's and early 60's. DC didn't even want to label Flash #1 for fear no one would buy it. JLA #1 doesn't even have a number on it's cover. It's hard to understand given the #1 mania that we have faced since the 80's but DC viewed a #1 on the cover as the kiss of death. Aquaman #1 is another that doesn't carry a number on it's cover. You all know how I feel about Adventure 247. I wouldn't include Jimmy Olsen #1 or Lois Lane #1 for the same reason as Sugar & Spike. I'd put Showcase 9 in before either of these first issues. I'd also note that all these books are desirab le and collectible. I just don't think they are as important as the others.

keith

[Aman619]

the #1 phobia was attributable (as legend has it) to the magazine distributors and newsstands reluctance to carry a title with no built in readership. It was thought (or true) that they would not sell. But any higher number indicated an ongoing readership for the title.

[jkc313]

the #1 phobia was attributable (as legend has it) to the magazine distributors and newsstands reluctance to carry a title with no built in readership. It was thought (or true) that they would not sell. But any higher number indicated an ongoing readership for the title.

 

That's absolutely correct which makes DC's gamble with Flash 105 all the more important. How do the rest feel about Showcase #6? I grew up with The Challengers and would love to collect them again but was in a minority when I was a kid and I think the title nor particularly important

[Aman619]

Challengers suck. When I read the Secret Origins annual and read them for the first time, all I could say was Whaaaaa?

 

Historically, essentially they were like any other DC like My Greatest Adventure, but with a recurring cast of characters. Stories were same monsters etc in the beginning. And they had no powers..

[burntboy]

Challengers suck. When I read the Secret Origins annual and read them for the first time, all I could say was Whaaaaa?

 

Historically, essentially they were like any other DC like My Greatest Adventure, but with a recurring cast of characters. Stories were same monsters etc in the beginning. And they had no powers..

 

how dare you?!?!?!?!

 

the first Hero team of the Silver Age.

 

the first heroes to get their own book. (sidekicks don't count).

 

King Kirby artwork on the initial issues.

 

the FF actually ripped off the challengers to a degree (but you knew that).

 

i always felt that so much more could have been done with them, but they were DC creations of the late fifties and early sixties, afterall.....................

[Moondog]

jkc313:

 

Your analogy is a strong one. Not unlike AF 15 and Spider-man 1. Both belong on top Marvel SA lists.

 

--Gary

[tth2]

Sgt Rock was a continuous headline act for over 3 decades.

 

Why was? New Sgt Rock by Kubert in store within a week. Sgt Rock is still a headline for DC.

I thought the title died out sometime in the 1980s. But, if it continued longer or still runs today, that just further reinforces the importance of this book.

[tth2]

Tim....you start off very well but mate you have to find a place for B&B #54. Considering the longevity of the team and the fact that kids today know of them but wouldn't have any clue as to Hawkman, Sgt Rock, COTU etc etc

 

and let's face it this is how Robin learnt to be a man and not just a lurker in the corner.

Yeah, what can I say, I'm a "bit" biased against post-1964 books. But it would definitely be in my Top 20 somewhere!

[tth2]

The reason I included Flash 105 is that was the first title DC decided to take a chance with in it's own magazine which was HUGE!! It started the run of first issues. Hulk 102 isn't anywhere in this league. It's just a continuation of another title. You have to remember that the comic book market was "iffy" in the late 50's and early 60's. DC didn't even want to label Flash #1 for fear no one would buy it. JLA #1 doesn't even have a number on it's cover. It's hard to understand given the #1 mania that we have faced since the 80's but DC viewed a #1 on the cover as the kiss of death. Aquaman #1 is another that doesn't carry a number on it's cover. You all know how I feel about Adventure 247. I wouldn't include Jimmy Olsen #1 or Lois Lane #1 for the same reason as Sugar & Spike. I'd put Showcase 9 in before either of these first issues. I'd also note that all these books are desirab le and collectible. I just don't think they are as important as the others.

keith

Great discussion in this thread and thanks to everyone for their contributions!

 

Great points above, I totally agree with Dr. Keith that the importance of Flash 105 all comes from context. Flash 105 was breaking major new ground for a SA character. By the time Hulk 102 rolled around, SA characters having their own title was old hat, whereas it was a big deal in 1959. For the same reason, Superman #1 ranks high on everyone's list of most important GA books, even though it wasn't a first appearance.

 

It's very interesting that with the exception of Action 252 (and arguably Adventure 247), very little case is being made for any Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman books. Was it because absolutely nothing groundbreaking happened in these titles during this period because these titles were still gripped by their post-1940s inertia, or that because they were the Big 3 with uninterrupted histories, DC was simply institutionally incapable of breaking new ground with these characters for fear of ruining a well-established formula, or both?

[rob_react]

the first Hero team of the Silver Age.

 

the first heroes to get their own book. (sidekicks don't count).

 

King Kirby artwork on the initial issues.

 

the FF actually ripped off the challengers to a degree (but you knew that).

 

The latter is why I especially like it for this list.

 

I'm also partial to early Showcases.

[Mushroom]

It's very interesting that with the exception of Action 252 (and arguably Adventure 247), very little case is being made for any Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman books. Was it because absolutely nothing groundbreaking happened in these titles during this period because these titles were still gripped by their post-1940s inertia, or that because they were the Big 3 with uninterrupted histories, DC was simply institutionally incapable of breaking new ground with these characters for fear of ruining a well-established formula, or both?

 

Speaking on behalf of the bat's....the SA was a period of goofiness. Space creatures, improbable story lines and very little connectivity (although I personally like these books). Most of the major SA events revolved more around the re-introduction of GA villians #155 Penguin, #171 Riddler and you can't really classify them as SA milestones. Even when they did invent a new villian #181 Poison Ivy or even the scarecrow these characters were minor at the time and paled into insignificance with the Joker. The Bat received no serious shakeup until the 70's and beyond through people like Adams and Miller.

[Sal]

"Jimmy Olsen"

 

Being that Jimmy Olsen is a pre-code book, I am sure that most people do not consider it silver age. With that said, if we loosly definded the silver age as including JO 1, my top ten would be:

 

Showcase 4

Adventure 247

Jimmy Olsen 1 (20 year run)

Lois Lane 1 (137 issue run)

Sugar and Spike 1 (long run)

Showcase 6

Flash 123

B&B 28

Action 252

Our Army at War 81/83 (mega long run on Rock)

 

Honorary mentions:

 

Showcase 17,22 and 34

B&B 34

Detective 225

 

Now some people will say Jimmy , S&S and 'TEC 225 are not silver age. I don't want to get into that debate either, but I think these books were importatnt and are still highly sought after by collectors, and they came out around the time of the silver age. Isn't it silly to say Superboy 51 is atom age, but 52 is silver age, Superman 108 is not silver age but 109 is? Bah!

 

While I disagree with this list, I like it as it shows how divergent we are on the "importance" of DC Silver. My list was an "importance" not a personal favorite except for the SHowcase 60. If I were to include personal favorites I'd add sugar & Spike but,to me, a long run in and of itself doesn't make it important or even collectible. See any Archie title or Casper or most Harveys. I LIKE all of them but that doesn't make them important. If forced to bump Showcase 60, I'd probably add B&B 34. The reason I included Flash 105 is that was the first title DC decided to take a chance with in it's own magazine which was HUGE!! It started the run of first issues. Hulk 102 isn't anywhere in this league. It's just a continuation of another title. You have to remember that the comic book market was "iffy" in the late 50's and early 60's. DC didn't even want to label Flash #1 for fear no one would buy it. JLA #1 doesn't even have a number on it's cover. It's hard to understand given the #1 mania that we have faced since the 80's but DC viewed a #1 on the cover as the kiss of death. Aquaman #1 is another that doesn't carry a number on it's cover. You all know how I feel about Adventure 247. I wouldn't include Jimmy Olsen #1 or Lois Lane #1 for the same reason as Sugar & Spike. I'd put Showcase 9 in before either of these first issues. I'd also note that all these books are desirab le and collectible. I just don't think they are as important as the others.

keith

 

all excellent points, but i'm still thinking Flash 105 is outside of the top ten. by the time 105 was released, Showcase had already had 4 issues featuring the Flash. they had to know it was going to sell. they continued the numbering from the old Flash series, so it couldn't have been that much of a stretch with respect to the "#1" aspect.

 

i just think that giving a supporting, female character her own "tryout" in the single most important SA DC series is worthy of a top ten. it just feels as though DC was really trying something different here. Lois Lane is no Jimmy Olsen. she's designed to appeal to female readers, admittedly a larger percentage of the reading population in the early SA than nowadays, iirc. plus, this tryout is different from the other "girl-oriented" books of the time, because it's firmly rooted in the DC mythos, not some "reality-based" book like Millie or the like.

 

and i would say Showcase 22 is definitely up there as well, seeing as it's the second costumed superhero book in the run that isn't a "Sci Fi" oriented character. it's the second level of DC pulling away from the Atomic Age's prediliction for "reality based" or Sci Fi based books.

 

all this being said, i wasn't even born yet when any of these books came out, so this is all said from perhaps a revisionist standpoint

[Silver]

"Jimmy Olsen"

 

Being that Jimmy Olsen is a pre-code book, I am sure that most people do not consider it silver age. With that said, if we loosly definded the silver age as including JO 1, my top ten would be:

 

Showcase 4

Adventure 247

Jimmy Olsen 1 (20 year run)

Lois Lane 1 (137 issue run)

Sugar and Spike 1 (long run)

Showcase 6

Flash 123

B&B 28

Action 252

Our Army at War 81/83 (mega long run on Rock)

 

Honorary mentions:

 

Showcase 17,22 and 34

B&B 34

Detective 225

 

Now some people will say Jimmy , S&S and 'TEC 225 are not silver age. I don't want to get into that debate either, but I think these books were importatnt and are still highly sought after by collectors, and they came out around the time of the silver age. Isn't it silly to say Superboy 51 is atom age, but 52 is silver age, Superman 108 is not silver age but 109 is? Bah!

 

While I disagree with this list, I like it as it shows how divergent we are on the "importance" of DC Silver. My list was an "importance" not a personal favorite except for the SHowcase 60. If I were to include personal favorites I'd add sugar & Spike but,to me, a long run in and of itself doesn't make it important or even collectible. See any Archie title or Casper or most Harveys. I LIKE all of them but that doesn't make them important. If forced to bump Showcase 60, I'd probably add B&B 34. The reason I included Flash 105 is that was the first title DC decided to take a chance with in it's own magazine which was HUGE!! It started the run of first issues. Hulk 102 isn't anywhere in this league. It's just a continuation of another title. You have to remember that the comic book market was "iffy" in the late 50's and early 60's. DC didn't even want to label Flash #1 for fear no one would buy it. JLA #1 doesn't even have a number on it's cover. It's hard to understand given the #1 mania that we have faced since the 80's but DC viewed a #1 on the cover as the kiss of death. Aquaman #1 is another that doesn't carry a number on it's cover. You all know how I feel about Adventure 247. I wouldn't include Jimmy Olsen #1 or Lois Lane #1 for the same reason as Sugar & Spike. I'd put Showcase 9 in before either of these first issues. I'd also note that all these books are desirab le and collectible. I just don't think they are as important as the others.

keith

 

 

I was being somewhat lighthearted in my selection, but I wasn't just picking personal favorites. I will elaborate on some of my selections:

 

Jimmy Olsen #1 is the first Superman title that isn't about Superman himself (like Superboy is) It is the branching out and the start of the "Superman family". Due to the popularity of the TV show at the time, the folks at DC were adding another title. This title had a 163 issue run, and the was followed up by Superman Family until issue 222 in 1982, in which Jimmy continued to appear. A 28 year run and being a character universally recognized by almost anyone comic collector or not makes this an important issue.

 

Sugar and Spike #1. Who else was doing anything even remotely like Sugar and Spike? The run lasted for about 14 years over 98 issues. It was written and drawn by the same person for the entire run, and is one of very few comic titles that actually reads as good today as it did when the issues were new. If a high grade Sugar and Spike #1 (8.5 or better) hit the market, it could possibly go for more that similarly graded issues of many of the books we have seen on the top ten list. (only 2 on census, highest in 5.0)

 

Lois Lane #1 versus Showcase 9. I am just not a big Showcase 9/10 fan, even though I am a huge silver age Superman fan. It is overpriced and less important (in my opinion) that her first issue which started a 137 issue run lasting 15 years of the most recognized non super female character in comics. Just because she was the first character in a showcase tryout to get her own title doesn't make the Showcase issues any more desirable. I am with the folks that cite Showcase 6 as a important book. Keep in mind that Lois had alot of appearances and stories in Action and Superman, I don't think Showcase 9/10 broke any new ground like Showcase 4 and 6 did.

 

To not add Action 252 would be a real oversight I think. Supergirl has over 45 years of DC history, and it started with this book.

 

Think about this, outside of comic collectors, would most people recognize the names of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Supergirl? I think so. You would definitely start losing people on Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-2, Adam Strange, etc. I don't think universal recognition is a sole factor to being important, but it should be taken into consideration.

[john72tex]

The reason I included Flash 105 is that was the first title DC decided to take a chance with in it's own magazine which was HUGE!! It started the run of first issues. Hulk 102 isn't anywhere in this league. It's just a continuation of another title. You have to remember that the comic book market was "iffy" in the late 50's and early 60's. DC didn't even want to label Flash #1 for fear no one would buy it. JLA #1 doesn't even have a number on it's cover. It's hard to understand given the #1 mania that we have faced since the 80's but DC viewed a #1 on the cover as the kiss of death. Aquaman #1 is another that doesn't carry a number on it's cover. You all know how I feel about Adventure 247. I wouldn't include Jimmy Olsen #1 or Lois Lane #1 for the same reason as Sugar & Spike. I'd put Showcase 9 in before either of these first issues. I'd also note that all these books are desirab le and collectible. I just don't think they are as important as the others.

keith

Great discussion in this thread and thanks to everyone for their contributions!

 

Great points above, I totally agree with Dr. Keith that the importance of Flash 105 all comes from context. Flash 105 was breaking major new ground for a SA character. By the time Hulk 102 rolled around, SA characters having their own title was old hat, whereas it was a big deal in 1959. For the same reason, Superman #1 ranks high on everyone's list of most important GA books, even though it wasn't a first appearance.

 

It's very interesting that with the exception of Action 252 (and arguably Adventure 247), very little case is being made for any Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman books. Was it because absolutely nothing groundbreaking happened in these titles during this period because these titles were still gripped by their post-1940s inertia, or that because they were the Big 3 with uninterrupted histories, DC was simply institutionally incapable of breaking new ground with these characters for fear of ruining a well-established formula, or both?

 

Well you could argue for Detective 327 and Batman 164, since it marked the "New Look" Batman. I would put these two in the 11-20 range though.

[Aman619]

I was gonna add Tec327 too. That would be the most important SA Batbook. kinda weak compared to the other SA candidates, but for Bat/Supes, that would be the one.

[ronm3-migration]

Sorry but Adventure 247 doesnt belong on that list. I love the Legion but they are not that important. I think Showcase 9 is much more important.

[rob_react]

Sorry but Adventure 247 doesnt belong on that list. I love the Legion but they are not that important. I think Showcase 9 is much more important.

 

Explain.

[FlyingDonut]

Mine, for what its worth.

 

1. Showcase 4

2. Brave and the Bold 28

3. Flash 123

4. Flash 105

5. Adventure 247

6. Action 252

7. Showcase 9

8. Showcase 22

9. Our Army At War 81/83 (whatever is the "first" Sgt. Rock)

10. Detective 327

[Sal]

i'd like to see people's "second ten" as that list would be more highly contentious, and engender a lot of nice discussion

[Silver]

i'd like to see people's "second ten" as that list would be more highly contentious, and engender a lot of nice discussion

 

Since my initial list is a bit unorthadox, my 2nd ten may be as well...here goes:

 

 

Showcase 1, 17, 22 and 34

B&B 1, 34, 54

Detective 225

Superboy 68 (First Bizarro)

Superman Annual 1 (First DC Annual)