Incredible book. I fear it won't get the kind of numbers I think it deserves, but it will still be interesting to see what it does sell for when the smoke clears.
Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages.
Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages. Surely the best Silver Age comic book Heritage has ever offered at auction, this copy is a serious contender for the most desirable copy of any Silver Age comic. If you leave Marvel aside and consider only DC books, we will commit to saying that there's nothing to top this.
In terms of historical significance, few books can hold a candle to Showcase #4 — it introduced a new superhero at a time when only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman had their own titles (and not a single superhero was being published at Atlas/Marvel after that firm's failed revival attempt a couple of years previously). As Paul Kupperberg noted, "frankly, anything would have been a welcome relief from the tedium of the day, when Superman was pitted against gangsters in suits and Batman fought aliens in outer space."
Though all of the creators involved (editor Julius Schwartz, writer Robert Kanigher, penciler Carmine Infantino, and inker Joe Kubert) had worked on the Golden Age Flash Comics title in some capacity, it was agreed to create a new Flash character rather than attempting a revival… and the target audience for comics was too young to remember the older series anyway. Even a reference to the old series showing a copy of Flash Comics #13 went over readers' heads — Gary Carter noted that that panel was "the first time I ever saw the Golden Age Flash as a child. At the time though, I had no idea it was a 'real' comic book, so to speak."
The new Flash, Barry Allen, not only had a sleek look unlike any costume seen in the Golden Age, the art style was exciting and new, courtesy of Carmine Infantino. The character was a hit, and three more Showcase appearances and his own series would soon follow.
A beautifully unblemished copy front and back, as are the others in this amazing run.
By Speed Reading: Retro Reviews, Doug Hazlewood, TV Shows and More « Speed Force March 10, 2009 - 8:05 pm
[…] Heritage Auctions will be selling a CGC 9.6 copy of Showcase #4, the comic that rebooted the Flash as Barry Allen, launching the Silver Age (via It's all Just Comics) […]