American Update: Showcase Flash – Second, Third and Fourth Appearances of the Scarlet Speedster
*DC: Among the rarer Silver Age treasures are the pre-distribution, early appearances of Flash in the DC try-out title Showcase. We don’t have issue #4, his first appearance, but we do have the second, third and fourth ever appearances of the Vizier of Velocity for your delectation! Showcase #8, the second Flash appearance, also features the debut of his arch-nemesis, Captain Cold; this copy is FA/GD, generally sound but with one slender triangular piece (just over 3 & a quarter inches in length, about 1/3 rd of an inch at deepest point) missing from the upper cover edge. A small piece of the missing piece is tucked inside the front cover. Issue #13, the Flash’s third appearance and the premiere appearance of the nefarious Mr. Element, may be charitably described as ‘well-read’; PR, all pages intact and readable, but with an extremely faded cover, some edge wear to interior pages, small pieces missing from cover at lower left and right corners and mid-right edge, and a detached cover taped back on. With issue #14, Mr. Element was back post-makeover as Dr. Alchemy, commencing a lengthy criminal career in his new guise. This copy is an apparent GD, but does have unusually heavy colour touches throughout the cover – though, to be fair, these are not immediately obtrusive to the naked eye. The early appearances of the Flash are almost never seen in the UK – seldom, worldwide – and while we have of course have taken the low-to-mid grades of these items into account, they have also been priced with consideration of their extreme rarity: #8 FA/GD £475; #13 PR £75 and #14 App. GD £140. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD