American Comics Update: Showcase #55 & #56 – Doctor Fate and Hourman Return to the Silver Age
*DC: Well, technically they returned, along with other Justice Society members, in Justice League of America #21, but this was the first time since the Golden Age that readers had had a chance to see these heroes as more than faces in a super-crowd, and with the talents of editor Julius Schwartz, scripter Gardner Fox and illustrator Murphy Anderson, you know you’re in for a treat. In #55, with the villainous Solomon Grundy and guest-hero Green Lantern (Alan Scott), this was a truly epic battle, as the supernatural Doctor Fate and the super-scientist Hourman joined forces against an eldritch menace which threatened to overwhelm them both! In #56, the super-team supreme came up against the Psycho-Pirate, whom readers will remember, if not from the Golden Age, then for his major role in Crisis On Infinite Earths. Comics as they should be! From an original owner collection and new to the marketplace.
PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#55 VG+ p £110 Pence stamped. Lustrous and glossy colour cover with the deep purple background colour that DC purveyed so well. Some handling wear and spine ticks, plus a short 2 cm crease at spine which barely breaks colour. Tight, firm staples and lovely supple white to off-white pages.
#56 VG + p £70 Pence stamped. Lustrous and glossy colour cover. Minor edge and corner wear; short and narrow colour-breaking creases at top and bottom right corners (1 at each). Tight, firm staples and lovely supple white to off-white pages.