Set Description:
Synopsis: We own copies of all 64 books in this set, with a minimum grade of 8.5, consisting primarily of the Flash, Challengers of the Unknown, GL, Aquaman, Atom, Metal Men, Lois Lane, Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, Teen Titans, Tommy Tomorrow and Spectre try-out issues, most of which became their own titles. Forty of our books are highest graded examples with 22 holding that distinction alone. The highlights of the set are the first 14 issues, ten of which are highest graded (8 single highest), with single highest graded copies of the first Lois Lane (#9), first Sea Devils (#27), first Atom (#34) and first Metal Men (#37) try-out issues.
Background: Showcase was a comic anthology series, which was first published by DC Comics in March 1956. It is generally regarded as the most successful of such tryout series, having been published continuously for more than 14 years, launching numerous popular titles, while maintaining a considerable readership of its own. The series ran continuously until September 1970, suspending publication with issue #93, and then was revived for eleven issues from August 1977 to September 1978.
Showcase featured characters in either one-shot appearances or brief two or three-issue runs as a way to determine reader interest, without the financial risk of featuring untested characters in their own ongoing titles.The series featured the first appearance of several major characters including the Silver Age Flash, the Challengers of the Unknown, Space Ranger, Adam Strange, Rip Hunter, the Silver Age Green Lantern, the Sea Devils, the Silver Age Atom, the Metal Men, the Silver Age Spectre, the Inferior Five, the Creeper, Anthro, Hawk and Dove, Angel and the Ape, and Bat Lash.
In 1962, DC purchased an adaptation of the James Bond novel and film Dr. No, which had been published in British Classics Illustrated, and published it as an issue of Showcase. It was the first American comic book appearance of the character.
Showcase stood out from other tryout series in that it maintained its own readership, as readers who liked a feature would buy the series when it came out, but would often continue buying Showcase as well.
Our Collection: Prior to the last few years, we never bought any Showcase issues that were not part of another set. But as time has passed, my son and I have gained a greater appreciation for this title and began to pick up some of the one-shot Showcases, which were not associated with other titles that we collect.
2024: Well, we now have crossed the threshold of having more than half the books in this one. This set still has a very long ways to go, but it does feature 34 highest graded examples, 18 of which are single highest graded. So what we have isn’t chopped liver and since many of the high registry point books are associated with titles we have long collected, our books have sat atop the registry set standings for several years.
2025 Update: We acquired several more Showcases this past year and now have 53 of the 64 books in this set with 20 single highest graded issues. We certainly are not on the precipice of finishing it, but we can see the finish line from here. However, with 53 books, 38 of which are highest graded examples, our set still scores less than the Showcase #4 9.6 alone. Now perhaps it is more valuable than all our books, but is that all we are trying to measure here? And, if the answer there is yes, then somebody needs to do some wholesale updates to the point system because in many cases the registry points awarded are not close to last sales (both high and low with all the price declines since 2021-2022).
I realize I am beating a dead horse here, but if CGC is going to score and rank sets, we really need some percentage of completion factor, otherwise the rankings are really a joke. I am not saying our books should rank ahead of several complete sets, in fact, I would have zero issue with Roulette44 or Sam I Am being first in this title, I just don’t think one book should place a set higher than all of ours. If we are going to score sets, we need a better system. Is anybody there, does anybody care, does anybody care, does anybody see what I see (John Adams 1776) ?
It’s certainly not that important an issue in the big scheme of things, but if we are going to do this, let’s fix it please. Otherwise, let’s dump all the registry points and set rankings and make the registry for display only, which is OK by me too. At any rate, in our personal effort to make sure the top ranked sets are actually the best ones. We have decided to keep all of our incomplete sets obscured so that we don’t pick up the annual banners year after year for sets that are not worthy of any recognition. I know in some cases there are no completed sets, but I don’t think any incomplete set should be recognized anyway.
2026: LOL, I guess I went a little crazy with our 2025 Update above, but since I doubt anyone actually reads these things anyway, except for me, and at times even I get bored, I think I will just leave it. The news is that I am happy to report that, after a number of private purchases from collectors exiting this title, we finally completed this shorter set in February 2026. It took a few months more to finish the longer Showcase #1-#104 set, but both are now done. Hallelujah!
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| Slot: |
Showcase 1 |
| Item: |
Showcase 1 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3999501009
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Owner Comments
Showcase #1 from early 1956 started the run of a magazine that introduced the Silver Age Flash, Challengers of the Unknown, Adam Strange, Green Lantern, Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, Aquaman, Atom, Metal Men, Spectre and several other characters who went on to success with their own titles. As such, it represents an important moment in Silver Age comic history and may be undervalued by the collecting community. The issue itself features the first appearance of Fireman Farrell. Obviously, from a content standpoint, the book is not nearly as significant as what’s to come, but it did start it all.
This book is extremely rare in high grade, as our 8.5 is one of the two highest graded copies ever certified by CGC. It also emanates from the Bethlehem Collection, a massive collection of 18,000 comic books that was assembled by Stanley Pachon in Bethlehem, PA, and stretched from 1950 into the Silver Age. It contained many popular 50's runs and a score of Marvel and DC keys. After Pachon passed away, the collection was sold to Joe Rainone and Phil Weiss in 1990. The Bethlehems were one of the first pedigreed collections to contain Silver Age books, and many are easily identifiable by a store stamp found on the back covers. In our case, the back cover has both a Bethlehem store stamp and a date stamp of Jan 5 1956.
We acquired this book from Metropolis Comics in January 2025 shortly after acquiring single highest graded copies of Issues #2 and #3. The book had been listed on their Exchange for a number of months and we got a slightly better deal because of it. It admittedly was not a book that initially interested us, but when we made the decision to try to complete a high-grade Showcase run it was the best option around-who knows when the Newsboy 9.0 will resurface again, if ever? It gives us nice examples of nine of the first ten Showcase issues, now we just need a #5.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 2 |
| Item: |
Showcase 2 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4493133003
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Owner Comments
Issue #2 from 1956 features the Kings of the Wild. Our 9.0 comes from the Henry Morrison Collection and is the single highest graded copy of this issue in existence. We acquired the book from the 1/9/2025 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 3 |
| Item: |
Showcase 3 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4493133004
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Owner Comments
Issue 33 from 1956 features the Forgmen. Our 9.2 comes from the Henry Morrison Collection and is the single highest graded copy in the census. We acquired the book from the 1/9/2025 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 4 |
| Item: |
Showcase 4 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1032387001
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Owner Comments
This is the biggie and probably one of the more rapidly appreciating books in the comic book world. It features the introduction of Barry Allen, the Flash, and Central City.
The book contains two stories: “The Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt” and “The Man Who Broke The Time Barrier”.
The first story introduces readers to Barry Allen, a police scientist who is doused with chemicals that are struck by lightning. Barry soon finds that he has been endowed with super-speed and creates a costume which contracts and hides in his ring). He takes on the name of his favorite comic book character: The Flash.
In his first mission as the Flash, Barry goes after the criminal known as the Turtle Man, dubbed the world's slowest man. The Turtle Man tries to rob a bank. However, he is ultimately thwarted by the Flash, despite the fact that his super-speed often worked against him going after the plodding Turtle Man. Ultimately, the Flash captures his opponent and turns him over to the police.
In ‘The Man Who Broke The Time Barrier”, Central City is hit with a number of strange crimes where a series of items begins vanishing from people's possessions. Barry Allen becomes involved as the Flash when a beaker he's experimenting with vanishes as well. Tracking down the culprit puts Barry up against Mazdan, a criminal from the future who was supposed to be sent to the 50th Century to serve his sentence on a desolate Earth but was sent to the past by mistake instead.
Able to avoid Mazdan's weapon, Flash captures the crook. However, he manages to break out of prison using his superior scientific knowledge. Catching up with Mazdan again, the Flash tries to capture him again but stops when Mazdan petitions the Flash to allow him to return to his own time. Instead of allowing him to go in his own time capsule, the Flash instead breaks the time barrier by running at super speed, turning Mazdan over to the authorities in the future. Mazdan is sent to the correct era to serve out his punishment. The Flash then returns to his own time and resumes his civilian life once more.
This copy is a very clean 9.2, one of the top 5 graded overall and certainly the best we can afford in today's market. We acquired the book from Vintage Comics, who is an old friend and knew I wanted a better copy. He bought the book raw and I received it directly from CGC. It is thus one of the few books in our collection, which has never been owned by anyone else as a graded book. As an aside, I really wish I had done an all-cash deal and not traded by Nick Cage copy as part of the transaction, which because of the appreciation of this book would be more valuable today than the 9.2 was when I bought it. But I have never been that smart LOL.
2024 Update: Of course, the big Flash news over the last year was that the 9.6 copy of this issue sold not once but twice. The first sale was a private brokered one for about $1.5 million. The buyer then flipped the book at auction for a loss of roughly $700,000 ($900,000 sales price). Obviously, it was not a wise investment, but the owner was reportedly a whale who had bought every major key in sight and then flipped them all. He undoubtedly lost more than he made, but I am told that he is so rich that it was all immaterial.
But what all those purchases and sales will mean to the market long-term is hard to know? Will they tend to chase the silly investor money out of the market, which would mean a big downtick for the major keys? Stay tuned……
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| Slot: |
Showcase 5 |
| Item: |
Showcase 5 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4401468002
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Owner Comments
Showcase #5 features three stories, the Human Eel, the Two Faces of Mr X and the Greatest Villain of All Time. Our WP 9.4 was just graded in 2024 and is one of two copies topping the census. We coveted this book for some time and after much negotiation finally reached a deal in July 2025 with Nick at CBA. When neither patty is that happy with the deal, it’s probably fair.
The good thing about this one is that it gives us copies of the first ten issues with eight highest graded examples and five single highest graded. Sure, the Showcase #4 9.6 would still outscore our entire set, but we are slowly making progress on this set and now have 53 of the 64 books in the shorter Showcase Set (#1-#64).
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| Slot: |
Showcase 6 |
| Item: |
Showcase 6 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4524810001
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Owner Comments
Issue #6 from 1957 features the Origin and first appearance of the Challengers of the Unknown (Rocky Davis, Prof Haley, Red Ryan & Ace Morgan). Our 9.0 is tied for highest graded with four other books. We acquired the book in an effort to complete a mini-Showcase run of Issues #4-14 in the 4/4/2024 Heritage Auction.*
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| Slot: |
Showcase 7 |
| Item: |
Showcase 7 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4364134011
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Owner Comments
Issue #7 features the second appearance by the Challengers of the Unknown and appearances by June Robbins and ULTIVAC. Our 9.4 is the single highest graded copy in the census. We acquired the book from the 4/6/2024 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 8 |
| Item: |
Showcase 8 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1198563002
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Owner Comments
Showcase #8 represents the second try-out issue of the SA Flash. It is unique in that regard, in that almost all try-out issue of superheroes run consecutively. Notably one of the two stories in the book introduces the DC world to Captain Cold, alias Len Snart, who will be a recurring Flash villain.
Len Snart was a down on his luck guy until one day, after reading a newspaper story that theorized that a cyclotron could possibly stop the Flash, Snart breaks into a science lab and uses the Cyclotron on a weapon of his own devising. Mostly by accident, Snart creates a freezing weapon that leads to the birth of his costumed identity: Captain Cold.
As Cold, Snart hopes to use his cold gun (and its abilities to create mirages) against the Flash and defeat the worlds fastest man. Going up against the Flash, Captain Cold's weapon works at first disorientating the Flash. However, Flash figures out the truth behind Cold's powers and is able to stop him by spinning him around at super speed, and turns him over to the police.
This copy is highest graded and one of only two 9.2s. It probably the toughest book in the whole run as the next best copies are 8.0s. The book was purchased from CL in a brokered transaction in 2014. It wasn’t cheap LOL.
2024 Update: A lot has changed since I wrote the description above as now there are two 9.0s in the census. The other 9.2 also came to auction and sold for just slightly more than I paid for my 9.2. So I guess one can opine, based on that sale, that these books have been pretty much trading water value-wise. But then again, there is the recent Showcase #4 9.6 sale to consider-actually two sales. Does it reset the whole market?
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| Slot: |
Showcase 9 |
| Item: |
Showcase 9 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0000902002
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Owner Comments
It’s not one of my favorite covers by any means, but Showcase #9 is the first Lois Lane tryout issue, featuring appearances by Superman and Lana Lang. As such it perennially ranks as one of the top 50 Silver Age Keys. Our 9.2 is the single highest graded copy in the census and has been for many years, since it was first graded in 2002. We acquired the book in January 2024 from another private collector.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 10 |
| Item: |
Showcase 10 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0710525009
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Owner Comments
Issue #10 is the second Lois Lane try-out issue and my favorite of the two Lois Lane Showcases. Our 9.4 comes from the Newsboy Collection and was acquired from a private collector in the same transaction with the Showcase #9 9.2. The book is the single highest graded example in the census with no 9.2s.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 11 |
| Item: |
Showcase 11 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0018765015
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Owner Comments
Issue #11 features the third appearance of the Challengers of the Unknown after an absence of three issues. Our 9.0 is tied for fourth highest graded trailing a single 9.2, 9.4 and 9.8. We acquired the book from the 4/23/2026 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 12 |
| Item: |
Showcase 12 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4700575002
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Owner Comments
Issue #12 features the fourth and final appearance of the Challengers of the Unknown in Showcase. Our 9.6 is the single highest graded copy ever certified by CGC with just one 9.4 and no 9.2s. We acquired the book in a private transaction in 2026.**
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| Slot: |
Showcase 13 |
| Item: |
Showcase 13 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4068910015
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Owner Comments
This time there was a gap of four issue until Flash makes another appearance in Showcase #13. It seemed the Flash was going to make annual appearances, as Showcase #4 was published in 1956, Showcase #8 in 1957, and Showcase #13 in 1958. Obviously DC was not yet fully committed to SA superheroes.
As in Showcase #4 and #8, this issue contains two stories: “Around the World in 80 Minutes” and “Master of the Elements”. In the first story, after taking Iris on a date to see the film "Around the World in 80 Days", Iris muses how long it would take Flash to run around the world before reminding Barry that they have a date and he shouldn't be late.The next day Flash races to Paris to stop the Black Cat from blowing up the Eiffel Tower, travels to Egypt to saves Princess Tara from El Claw, stops an avalanche near Mt. Everest, and stops a pirate submarine. After recovering the crew targeted by the pirate sub, they tell him it's Tuesday. Fearing he's late for his date (Which was for Monday evening) Flash races back to the States and changes into Barry Allen, and finds to his relief that it's still Monday on his side of the world and he's just in time for his date with Iris.
The second story introduces us to Mr Element, a scientist with a bipolar personality. Interestingly, he discovered the Philosopher’s Stone many years before JK Rowland. Needless to say, Flash still always wins.
Our 9.4 comes from the Newsboy Collection and is currently the single highest graded example in the census, a distinction which it has held for well over a decade. We had known about it for at least 10 years when we lost it in a Heritage Auction to a collector in Europe. We finally got a second shot at it in the 9/9/2021 Heritage Auction, which was where we acquired it. We paid more than we wanted for sure, but it raised the floor of this set from 8.5 to 9.2.*
2023 Update: Now this one really hurt. After finally acquiring a book we had coveted for more than a decade, our 9.4, which was two grades above the next copy, has been unseated by a 9.6. That one certainly came out of nowhere. If there was ever something that could make me quit collecting comics, this one is probably it.
2024 Update: The OW 9.6 copy of this issue is still on the market as of December 2024 at roughly twice what we paid for our WP 9.4 above. Pricing books like this is extremely difficult, as there are so few of them. Is a 9.6 coming in on top of a 9.4 worth twice what the 9.4 was worth or does the 9.4 lose half of its value since it has lost its single highest graded status? Because WP books are at such a premium, I tend to think that the relationship should be closer than it is now. Assuming the overall market for these books remains constant, I do think the 9.6 is worth more than the 9.4 was, but I also think the 9.4 loses some value since it is no longer getting that single highest graded premium. My best guess is that my book lost about 25-30% of its value and that the 9.6 should be roughly double that, maybe a little less because of PQ. If I am right, then the 9.6 is priced about 35% over market, in which case it may be available for awhile unless the price is reduced or they send it to auction. But in cases like this, fair market value can be determined by one buyer’s willingness to pay whatever for a unique book, who knows? I will add that the asking price of the Showcase #13 9.6 is also almost twice the auction price paid this month for the Flash #110 9.8, which is a key issue since it introduces Wally West as Kid Flash. That book is not only single highest graded, but there are no 9.4s either. I think a case could be made that the Flash #110 9.8 should be worth more than the Showcase #13 9.6.
2026 Update: The Showcase #13 9.6 is still available and the ask has come down by $20,000. I still think it is much too high and obviously everyone else agrees, I just know that I am not willing to make the trade at this time at that price. After all, I still have three Flash Showcase graded 9.2, so it would not raise the overall floor to our set.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 14 |
| Item: |
Showcase 14 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2085687003
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Owner Comments
Flash’s appearance in Showcase #14 is notable in that it is the time that there is no break between Flash issues and the last Flash Showcase appearance.
In the feature story, “Giants in the Time World”, a new jet is captured by a UFO during a test run. Witnessing the abduction on his wrist watch, Barry changes into the Flash and chases after the ship aboard a rocket, but the ship disappears. Realizing that it must have traveled through time, Flash speeds through the time barrier and ends up in a strange world where the people start out small but grow in to giants. Told that he is in the fourth-dimension, the giants tell the Flash that they intend to invade the Earth and take it over. Braking free of the hour-glass they have imprisoned him in, the Flash saves Iris and destroys the giant's invasion fleet with speed-vibrations, before returning himself and Iris to their own dimension.
Our 9.2 is the single highest graded copy example in the census. We acquired the book from a private collector in Canada in August 2022. To finance that acquisition, we sold our 9.0 copy of this issue at Auction.
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| Slot: |
Showcase 15 |
| Item: |
Showcase 15 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4493133001
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Owner Comments
Showcase #15 features the first appearance of the Space Ranger. Our 9.0 comes from the Henry Morrison Collection and is the sole 9.0 trailing a single 9.2, thus making it one of the top two copies in existence. We acquired the book from the 1/9/2025 Heritage Auction.
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