Showcase presents
Encyclopedia
Showcase Presents is a line of black-and-white
paperback
book
s published by DC Comics
at an average rate of two per month. Created to effectively be DC's version of Marvel Comics
' Essential Marvel volumes, each book includes over 500 pages of reprints, primarily from the Silver Age
. Like the Essential line, a Showcase Presents volume carries the suggested retail price of US$16.99 (increased to $17.99 in September 2009) and is usually devoted to one character, "reprint[ing] all of their adventures in sequential order via cover date," or occasionally to a specific title rather than individual. The reprint line started in October 2005 with the releases of Showcase Presents: Green Lantern
, Vol. 1 and Showcase Presents: Superman
, Vol. 1, both offered at the lower introductory retail price of US$9.99.
" comes from a 1956–1970 DC anthology
series often used to try out new characters. Showcase featured the first appearance
s of the Silver Age
Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
, and the Atom (Ray Palmer), among other characters. That series was revived briefly in 1977–1978 and its name was used again in 1984–1985 (for New Talent Showcase and Talent Showcase) and 1993–1996 (for 12-issue anthologies, Showcase '93 et al.). The title was also used to reintroduce characters in the Action Comics Weekly series in 1988.
DC stories, specifically — according to then-collected editions editor Bob Greenberger — "the rich era from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s," which is widely regarded as "one of DC's most fertile and creative periods."
Greenberger noted that DC's collections department had already determined when Superman's Silver Age began for the purposes of the Man of Tomorrow Archive editions. Greenberger further clarified that the Showcase Presents volumes were specifically targeted — in the short term, at least — on the Silver Age, writing, "the Golden Age
is not currently in ou[r] plans. The Modern is a fuzzier dividing line and again, should the line be wildly successful, we can figure this out."
DC's Showcase volumes complement their Archive Editions
, which reprint in more expensive, color hardback volumes, (primarily) Golden Age comics, although some Archives have presented Silver and Modern Age comics as well.
Six months prior to the debut of the Showcase volumes, DC also began to reprint Golden Age stories (initially only for Batman
and Superman) previously presented in Archive format in more affordable color paperbacks, such as the Batman... and Superman Chronicles titles. While the Archives tend to focus on specific comics titles (e.g., largely separate volumes for stories presented in the pages of Batman
and Detective Comics
), the Chronicles and Showcase volumes take a more chronological approach, mingling the titles to present the stories in (roughly) the order they were initially printed.
to maintain a traditional look and feel as well as to help keep the collections affordable."
The books are assembled largely from DC's extensive film archive (believed largely complete from the mid-1950s onward), with little need for extensive restoration. Occasionally, by virtue of the age of some of the film, Greenberger noted that, "Sometimes you find scratches that need cleaning," and even "[i]n some cases, you find odd missing pages." Other titles (such as the Teen Titans volumes) that had previously seen print in DC's Archives line have even had the preliminary work done, leaving the Showcase columns with "nice, clean film or digital files to work from." According to the production staff, "[They scan] in the photostats made from the film and then [scan] in the stats. Then, on screen, [they clean] up scratches or blotches, correcting some punctuation and the usual work required to ready older stories for new readers."
The book design was by "Louis Prandi, one of our fine art directors," intended to be "faithful to the Showcase titles that have come before this as well as versatile for the wide range of genres [DC] hopes to present" in the Showcase format.
As explained by Greenberger, "DC pays a royalty based on a percentage of the cover price to writers, pencillers, and inkers to all material published prior to 1976 and after 1997. For the period in between, the vouchers that were in use called for a set reprint fee to be paid. In some cases, the amount of contractually obligated reprint fees makes the budget for a proposed collection unprofitable."
In effect, this meant that the low retail price of the Showcase volumes could not easily cover the contractually-required reprint fee that any republication would require. However, as Greenberger goes on to note, although this procluded some volumes from being produced under such contractually-stipulated guidelines, since not reprinting issues necessarily results in no reprint fee or royalty payments, in most cases DC will be able to negotiate with "the talent involved to waive the reprint fee in lieu of the standard royalty arrangement," since "[i]f the parties agree, then everyone benefits." Thus, as with pre-1976 comics, royalty payments based on sales, rather than a flat single fee, can easily be factored into the cost-structures of the Showcase volumes.
Affected volumes included the solicited Suicide Squad, Captain Carrot, The Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights, The Secret Society of Super Villains, and Jonah Hex, Vol. 2, as well as the not-officially-solicited but announced Who's Who in the DC Universe.
In April 2008, Paul Levitz
referred to such contractual issues in a post on his Newsarama
blog
, writing (emphasis added):
He goes on to note specifically that, "This is the situation that’s limited our ability to [produce] a few Showcase projects we planned last year, and we’ve successfully amended many of the relevant agreements since, so hopefully some of those projects will see the light of day."
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
at an average rate of two per month. Created to effectively be DC's version of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Essential Marvel volumes, each book includes over 500 pages of reprints, primarily from the Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
. Like the Essential line, a Showcase Presents volume carries the suggested retail price of US$16.99 (increased to $17.99 in September 2009) and is usually devoted to one character, "reprint[ing] all of their adventures in sequential order via cover date," or occasionally to a specific title rather than individual. The reprint line started in October 2005 with the releases of Showcase Presents: Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Vol. 1 and Showcase Presents: Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Vol. 1, both offered at the lower introductory retail price of US$9.99.
Name
The name "ShowcaseShowcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
" comes from a 1956–1970 DC anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
series often used to try out new characters. Showcase featured the first appearance
First appearance
In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first occurrence to feature a fictional character.-Monetary value of first appearance issues:...
s of the Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
, and the Atom (Ray Palmer), among other characters. That series was revived briefly in 1977–1978 and its name was used again in 1984–1985 (for New Talent Showcase and Talent Showcase) and 1993–1996 (for 12-issue anthologies, Showcase '93 et al.). The title was also used to reintroduce characters in the Action Comics Weekly series in 1988.
Focus and other collections
The Showcase Presents line is designed primarily to focus on the Silver AgeSilver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
DC stories, specifically — according to then-collected editions editor Bob Greenberger — "the rich era from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s," which is widely regarded as "one of DC's most fertile and creative periods."
Greenberger noted that DC's collections department had already determined when Superman's Silver Age began for the purposes of the Man of Tomorrow Archive editions. Greenberger further clarified that the Showcase Presents volumes were specifically targeted — in the short term, at least — on the Silver Age, writing, "the Golden Age
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
is not currently in ou[r] plans. The Modern is a fuzzier dividing line and again, should the line be wildly successful, we can figure this out."
DC's Showcase volumes complement their Archive Editions
DC Archive Editions
DC Archive Editions, collect early, sometimes rare, comic books published by DC and other publishers into a permanent hardcover series. With more than 100 titles, this series began in 1989 with Superman Archives Vol. 1...
, which reprint in more expensive, color hardback volumes, (primarily) Golden Age comics, although some Archives have presented Silver and Modern Age comics as well.
Six months prior to the debut of the Showcase volumes, DC also began to reprint Golden Age stories (initially only for Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Superman) previously presented in Archive format in more affordable color paperbacks, such as the Batman... and Superman Chronicles titles. While the Archives tend to focus on specific comics titles (e.g., largely separate volumes for stories presented in the pages of Batman
Batman (comic book)
Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...
and Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
), the Chronicles and Showcase volumes take a more chronological approach, mingling the titles to present the stories in (roughly) the order they were initially printed.
Production
In contrast to the higher-quality and more expensive paperstock used for both the Archives and Chronicles volumes, the Showcase Presents books are, according to Greenberger, presented on "newsprintNewsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...
to maintain a traditional look and feel as well as to help keep the collections affordable."
The books are assembled largely from DC's extensive film archive (believed largely complete from the mid-1950s onward), with little need for extensive restoration. Occasionally, by virtue of the age of some of the film, Greenberger noted that, "Sometimes you find scratches that need cleaning," and even "[i]n some cases, you find odd missing pages." Other titles (such as the Teen Titans volumes) that had previously seen print in DC's Archives line have even had the preliminary work done, leaving the Showcase columns with "nice, clean film or digital files to work from." According to the production staff, "[They scan] in the photostats made from the film and then [scan] in the stats. Then, on screen, [they clean] up scratches or blotches, correcting some punctuation and the usual work required to ready older stories for new readers."
The book design was by "Louis Prandi, one of our fine art directors," intended to be "faithful to the Showcase titles that have come before this as well as versatile for the wide range of genres [DC] hopes to present" in the Showcase format.
Possible reprint exceptions
Initially, Showcase Presents volumes were limited to a specific time period (roughly 1955–1975), limited not just by the Silver Age scope and availability of film, but by differences in contracts signed between creators and DC between the years 1976 and 1997.As explained by Greenberger, "DC pays a royalty based on a percentage of the cover price to writers, pencillers, and inkers to all material published prior to 1976 and after 1997. For the period in between, the vouchers that were in use called for a set reprint fee to be paid. In some cases, the amount of contractually obligated reprint fees makes the budget for a proposed collection unprofitable."
In effect, this meant that the low retail price of the Showcase volumes could not easily cover the contractually-required reprint fee that any republication would require. However, as Greenberger goes on to note, although this procluded some volumes from being produced under such contractually-stipulated guidelines, since not reprinting issues necessarily results in no reprint fee or royalty payments, in most cases DC will be able to negotiate with "the talent involved to waive the reprint fee in lieu of the standard royalty arrangement," since "[i]f the parties agree, then everyone benefits." Thus, as with pre-1976 comics, royalty payments based on sales, rather than a flat single fee, can easily be factored into the cost-structures of the Showcase volumes.
Affected volumes included the solicited Suicide Squad, Captain Carrot, The Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights, The Secret Society of Super Villains, and Jonah Hex, Vol. 2, as well as the not-officially-solicited but announced Who's Who in the DC Universe.
In April 2008, Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
referred to such contractual issues in a post on his Newsarama
Newsarama
Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, writing (emphasis added):
He goes on to note specifically that, "This is the situation that’s limited our ability to [produce] a few Showcase projects we planned last year, and we’ve successfully amended many of the relevant agreements since, so hopefully some of those projects will see the light of day."