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 for me 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... (see here)

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? (see here)

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

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. (see here)

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.