Preliminary notes on a Showcase Presents retrospective

 So, as DC prepares to launch their latest reprint initiative, the DC Finest line, in a few weeks, I thought I'd look back a bit on one of their previous lines, the Showcase Presents line of black&white reprints, mostly in the 500+ page range, which launched in September 2005 with great fanfare, ran well for several  years and then limped across the finish line just over ten years later in January 2016, with 124 books to its credit.  What does that look like?  Something like this:

Well, actually, kind of 125, but we'll get to the hidden book later.  And in another sense, 123 books, but we'll also get to the apocryphal book later.  But for the sake of clarity we'll say 124 books in 125 months.  That makes it sound like a book a month, but that's deceptive.  The last book came out almost a year after the penultimate book, and there were other gaps, while at the peak they were pumping out two a month.

In those 124 books, DC reprinted over 60 thousand pages of comics from their history (and some other histories).  A significant number of those pages were never previously reprinted, and while some of those have subsequently seen colour reprints there are still thousands of pages which have only seen this single reprint.  Hopefully that'll change with this new DC Finest line, but it'll take a while.

While there are some anomalies, mostly reprints of reprints, the bulk of this line reprints material from about 1954 to 1980.  That seems to be the era where DC's library of source material which needs minimal restoration is strongest (with some holes) and their contractually obligated royalties are the lowest.  So it pretty much covers the commonly understood Silver Age (which begins with JIMMY OLSEN #1 in 1954.  The OUR ARMY AT WAR volume reprinting stories from 1952 to 1953 is the only book which completely pre-dates that) and continues to what some call the Bronze Age.  Less than a dozen books have reprints only from the 1980s, with the latest reprints being from 1988, except for a few later AMBUSH BUG stories, because the Bug cannot be contained.

The 124 books were in 67 different series, so each series averaged less than two books.  38 of the books were standalones, with no follow-up volume (sometimes because the one book essentially exhausted the material). On the other end, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and BATMAN tied for the most volumes, with six each. 

I was an early adopter of the line, on the record as being excited about it from the first announcement, and often mentioning new releases back when I used to post here more.  For a good while I was all-in, but then as they began releasing them more frequently became more selective, and also started to miss some interesting ones as trips to the comic shop became less frequent. Two years ago I had 89 of the books and decided to actively look for them, and with a lot of help from some friends just got the last one I needed a few weeks ago.  And what does that look like?

For the record, book 124 was CAPTAIN CARROT.  Which, oddly, I probably would have bought on release if I saw a copy.

(if you're in the Toronto area and want to follow where I lead, grasshopper, well first off, don't.  That photo could be captioned "Bob's Folly".  But if you do, start with BMV Books, especially the Bloor location, then check The Big Island, and then contact me, I can tell you a few other places to check).

Anyway, this post might end up being a standalone, or it might be the start of a series about the Showcase Presents line.  if it does continue, some possible topics:

A comparison with Marvel's analogous ESSENTIAL line, aka "DC Rules, Marvel Drools".  I mean, not really, but in form if not content DC's the clear winner here.

Showcase Antecedents, a look at previous DC reprints, especially black and white reprints, including the ill-advised greying of the Fourth World.

Ghostcases, the announced Showcases we didn't see. Hint, we could have gotten a lot more Ditko...

Showcases I'd have liked to see, aka 124 books and not one is SUGAR & SPIKE? How does that make sense?

What's with those three weird skinny books in the photo?  And why didn't we see more of those?

What is that mysterious 125th Showcase book I alluded to?

And what do I mean by an apocryphal book?  Are there really only 123 books in the Showcase canon?

The Making of Bob's Folly, more details than any sane person could want about my personal descent into insanity called completing the run.

The inevitable errata, a list of errors of commission and omission which continue to vex me.

Highlights from every book.  

Lists of material still only available in a modern edition in these books.

And much more.  Or, again, maybe none of that, and this is it.

El Cuarto Mundo de los Nuevos Dioses

I can't believe I've never posted about this before...

So, cast your mind back to 1971.  Jack Kirby, one year into his contract with DC, things still going well, unencumbered by the weight of some of his past employers/partners/editors, now for the most part having his work inked and lettered locally by Mike Royer, much more faithfully embellishing his work than many other prior inkers.

(this relative utopia wouldn't last, of course. Comics, kid, they'll break your heart)

So in that atmosphere, Kirby creates "The Pact" for NEW GODS #7, a bold flashback story which crystalizes some things from the past year of stories in this and the companion series in the Fourth World (MISTER MIRACLE, FOREVER PEOPLE and JIMMY OLSEN).  Some respectable people would tell you that this is the best of over 2000 comic stories Kirby created in his 76 years on this world. I would tell you it's in the top five.

Kirby knew that he was on to something, and back in the early 1970s was already talking about re-packaging the material from the original disposable periodical format into more permanent editions. As with most things, it took a while for the publisher to catch on, and inexplicably it would take then 13 years to reprint "The Pact" the first time (albeit in another periodical format), and another 14 years to reprint it again (this time in a proper book, although black and white with unnecessary grey tones) and 10 more to finally get it right...

Well, hold on, let's qualify "right".  Because if you've only read one of the reprints of the story DC has done (at least nine to date), you've never quite read it as intended. Let's take a look at one panel, first as it left Mike Royer's table in mid-1971 (courtesy of the 2014 "Artist's Edition" of the work), second as it appeared in stores just before Christmas of 1971 and finally as it has appeared in DC's reprints:

Okay, something's not right there. If you don't see it right away, look closely at every word. And punctuation mark.  

Let's look at another panel later on:

There are a few more (including one sound effect missing completely), but obviously back in 1984 DC found their film library came up a bit short on some pages of "The Pact" and had to resort to using pages that had been touched up for a translation of the story, into a language which doesn't use the letter "W" as much as Kirby liked and used inverted exclamation points.  I'm guessing Spanish.

Which, y'know, "by demons driven" and all that, if that's what they had to work with in 1984, okay.  I'd still happily mock it, but, okay.  But after a while, on a story they've thought was worth reprinting nine times, in some of their deluxiest formats for serious money?  And when the original artwork is right there (the printed "Artist's Edition" is probably already better than their existing source material, I'm sure the editor of it can supply an even better copy, and can certainly point them to the current whereabouts of the artwork)?

And yes, it's minor, these examples aren't up to "..and meet the sun." territory or other egregious and inexplicably persistent reprint errors.

But...

Well, there's this:

And that I do not forgive. This bugs me.  Every time I see it, it bugs me more.  Presumably the finger wrote "La Fuente" or somesuch in 1984, and someone had to restore it to "The Source".  And it's just not right.  He is Izaya the Inheritor, and this should not be his inheritance in a pivotal moment in Jack Kirby's best story.  And yes, I'm admitting it, his best story, I just said "top five" to be contrary.

Come on, fix this, make it look like Kirby intended, as it left Royer's hand.  Royer never splotches up the trademark cosmic dots like that.  This is a hand of flame writing, it should be bold and definitive, not that... thing. Leave the "W"s turned to "V"s, leave the inverted punctuation, the missing sound effect, but the 10th time you reprint this, DC, please look in your heart and fix this.

_______________

Adenda Especial

here are some other panels in the issue that are affected by this error (not meant to be comprehensive)

Bernie Mireault, R.I.P.

Was sorry to hear about the recent passing of Bernie Mireault, a great cartoonist best know for his creations THE JAM and MACKENZIE QUEEN, a significant contribution to Matt Wagner's GRENDEL, some assorted work with Michael Allred and many scattered bits of short comics work.

Four collections of his JAM related work and short stories are available in freshly produced print-on-demand copies from About Comics, details here.

Here's a sampling of his work.  More on them will be added below.

 

If you or anyone you know is showing signs of self-harm, there is help.

This is from the story "The Tragic Though Amusing History of Clay Face II", SECRET ORIGINS #44 [1989], written by Dan Raspler, inked by Denis Rodier. A loose re-telling of the silver age origin of the Batman villain with four very different versions (probably even more now).  Very entertaining version of Batman.  Apparently done as a rush job to replace a Mike Mignola drawn story which was either rejected or lost, depending on who you ask.

From THE TRUE NORTH [1988], a benefit comic for comic facing censorship comes this page from a two page story by Mireault, inked by frequent collaborator Joe Matt.  Nice experimental playful use of the comics form in a very funny story.  He did, however, eventually work for Marvel.  Not a lot, and mostly for imprints, not Marvel proper, and mostly colouring.  But there it is...

This cover for AMAZING HEROES #131 [1987] features a Grendel illustration by Mireault, inset with a Steve Rude image of another character who shared a publisher with Grendel.  Mireault had a long association with Matt Wagner and Grendel, working as an artist, inker or colourist on many of the major stories.  He also was cast as a character, "Kirby Hero", in Wagner's Mage series, alongside Joe Matt as "Joe Phat".  More Grendel later.

From TROLLORDS #15 [1988], the long-running series created by Scott Beaderstadt and Paul Fricke. Many issues of the series featured other independent comics creators taking a back-up story, this time it was Mireault with writer Mark Shainblum doing "Death and Taxes Take a Holiday", a nice story consistent with the series but very much in Mireault's style.  

Mireault contributed to a few of Jim Ottaviani's comics about science and scientists, including the framing sequences in FALLOUT [2001], a biography of Robert Oppenheimer.  Fascinating story, someone should make a movie based on it...

Somehow the censorship problem wasn't solved in 1988, so Mireault was back in THE TRUE NORTH II [1991], this time with "Benefit", a very frantic tale of rock and roll in Montreal written and inked by Rick Trembles. And thus the problem of censorship was solved once and for all... what do you mean you have some bad news for me?

For Michael T. Gilbert's MR. MONSTER PRESENTS (CRACK-A-BOOM!) #3 [1997] Mireault draws a long 12-page ghost story, "Asphalt Tomb", written by Scott Deschaine and layouts by Deschaine and Gilbert.  A very chilly story with some interesting visual flourishes.

Probably Mireault's most widely read work was "When Is A Door", the 10-page not-really-origin of the Batman villain Riddler from SECRET ORIGINS SPECIAL #1 [1989], written by Neil Gaiman, inked by Matt Wagner and coloured by Joe Matt.  A brilliant little story told with style, using the classic gimmicks from Batman creator Bill Finger stories of giant props to great effect. 

A nice playful image of Mireault's Jam from AMAZING HEROES SWIMSUIT SPECIAL '91 [1991], showing off his skill at portraying the urban landscape of Montreal that featured in the series.

One of Mireault's solo art jobs with writer Matt Wagner on Wagner's signature character Grendel, as reprinted in GRENDEL OMNIBUS #1 [2012] (originally published in 1998).  Entertaining story about Hunter Rose, the one true Grendel.

Another science non-fiction collaboration with Jim Ottaviani, this one some vignettes on the life of Richard Feynman in his days on the Manhattan Project published as TWO-FISTED SCIENCE - SAFECRACKER [1997], also included in TWO-FISTED SCIENCE [1997].  This is where I first heard of Feynman, and inspired me to read several of his books, which ended up being very helpful to me at that point in my life. 

Doug Murray wrote this anthology series of tales of winners of the Medal of Honor.  For MEDAL OF HONOR #3 [1994] Mireault draws "The Andrews Raid", a daring 1862 operation during the Slaveholders' Rebellion which resulted in the awarding of the very first Medals of Honor by Abraham Lincoln.  Very energetic telling of the story (which was also dramatized as film THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE [1956]).

MACKENZIE QUEEN was Mireault's first solo book from 1985, running for five issues and telling a really bizarre story of aliens, super-powers and monsters.  Hard to describe, but well worth seeking out, with all of the trademark dynamics, experimentation and humanity that would figure into all of Mireault's subsequent work.

Like this classic bit from THE JAM - SUPER COOL COLOR INJECTED TURBO ADVENTURE #1 [1988], which is just packed with weird concepts and manic energy.

Mireault was an early contributor to Stephen Bissette's horror anthology TABOO, featured in the first three issues with stories like "Cable" in TABOO #1 [1988] really setting the stage for what the book was aspiring to.

"Too Many Santas" is a nice little story that appeared in COMICO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL #1 [1988], with various seasonal stories written by Doug Wheeler.  Memorable even in a book with a Dave Stevens cover and Al Williamson inking Steve Rude inside.

Dr. Robot was a dialogue-free back-up feature in Michael Allred's MADMAN, collected with a new story in DR. ROBOT SPECIAL #1 [2000].  A delight, with Mireault's skill at expressions, body language and sound effects combining with his distinctive colours to tell some fun stories.

Speaking of Allred's Madman, you can't go wrong by seeking out the two issue MADMAN / THE JAM series from 1998.  The two off-beat heroes blend perfectly in the story called "House of Escher", and you can guess what that entails.  I believe reprinted in various Madman collections, most recent MADMAN LIBRARY EDITION #2 [2022].

Steve Moncuse was another 1980s indy creator who invited others to play in his sandbox in back-ups, called "Fish Shticks", so FISH POLICE #12 [1988] features a 4-page back-up written by Moncuse and everything elsed by Mireault.  A lot of fun.

Back to horror with Stephen Bissette's TABOO #3 [1989] and the story "Poker Face", which is really grisly and not for the faint of heart after this page.  But worth it.

And to take us out, CRITTERS #50 [1990] has another Canadian comics mainstay, Ty Templeton, telling an autobiographical story (except, presumably, for the part where the characters are bears.  But hey, stranger things are true) about fast food and rules.  Templeton writes, does layouts and inks while Mireault draws the thing. A very memorable and funny story I think about almost every time I'm in a drive-thru.

More later, specifically about THE JAM and TO GET HER, but the subject matter of the latter is a bit too hard to really absorb right now.

The Power Of Shazam One Million [1998] (Random Comics Theatre)

Random Comics Theatre

The Power Of Shazam One Million [1998]

This is a one-shot published between #43 and #44 of Jerry Ordway's 1995 to 1999 THE POWER OF SHAZAM series, published to tie in with a DC crossover that deals with characters in the 853rd Century. It's by the regular team of the series at the time, Jerry Ordway writing, pencilling and doing the cover (over a poorly aged computer art background) and Dick Giordano inking.

I'm pretty unfamiliar with the crossover except for a handful of  issues of other series I read, and I only recently got the other issues of this series around this issue and haven't read most of them yet, so a lot of it isn't something I can follow, but Ordway does a pretty decent job of making it as clear as possible. Suffice to say the story involves the far future, about one million months from now, and the return of various heroes in different forms.

The art is much more interesting than the writing.  Ordway had launched this run with a painted "graphic novel" in 1994, but had mostly just written (and painted the covers) for the subsequent on-going series.  He returned to the art for this last half-year of the series, and really just has one of those timeless styles, with classic elements but still feeling modern in the 1990s and not looking dated at all almost three decades later.  This particular story premise also gives him a chance to do some design work on the one-off characters and future architecture and technology.

Mildly recommended more as a diversionary part of the entertaining full series than as a standalone.