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DC Comics Launches "Showcase" Anthology For Magazine Stands

Published Mon, 19 Jun 2017 11:00:08 -0500

Last updated Mon, 19 Jun 2017 12:25:40 -0500

As spotted by a reader in Walmart this weekend, a new product is being sold on their magazine racks. DC's Showcase Magazine features reprints of five recent DC Comics — a total of 126 pages — for $9.98. The first issue comes with a number of card covers and reprints Batman Rebirth #1, Wonder Woman #1, Batman & Robin #30, Justice League #1 and Batman #13.

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 titles.

The series saw the first appearances of 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 Inferior Five, the Creeper, Anthro, the Hawk and Dove, Angel and the Ape, Bat Lash, and the revival of the Spectre.

These days, the title is mainly used for the twice-monthly black and white collections of classic archive DC Comics work. But with this new magazine in Walmart, DC has found another use for the title.

This kind of model is common in Europe, where publishers such as Panini and Titan Magazines repackage existing comic books into these kind of anthologies, but the US market has been resistant.

Could this, via Walmart, be the shape of things to come?

Described as having a Wizard vibe, this is likely a new project from Mike Cotton and other ex-Wizard employees now at DC Comics, who were working on the Direct Currents magazine for DC Comics that seemed well received by fans, but was abandoned before its second issue.

The magazine includes five variant cover editions, and you can grab the Wonder Woman-themed one on eBay for $39.99.