Showcase 14 (May-June 1958)

Once again, neither Flash story is particularly impressive, though Infantino (inked both stories by Frank Giacoia) creates some neat-looking space ships in the first one. The second has some great art for maybe three pages, then the quality falls off a lot.

The stories themselves read fast and don’t have much personality or thought. For example, in John Broome’s story, Dr. Alchemy turns lead into gold… then proceeds to rob a bank for money. Doesn’t make any sense.

That story also has Infantino resolving the big action in a small panel, which is boring. At least in the first story–written by Robert Kanigher–Infantino gives the finale the appropriate scale.

There’s also more of Iris thinking about Barry Allen being super-lame. It’s almost like Lois Lane is dating Clark Kent and constantly berating him. Of course, Barry’s barely a character, so who cares?

Still, it’s been worse….

Showcase 13 (March-April 1958)

What a bad issue for Flash.

Joe Giella’s inks on Infantino don’t have any perspective. Faces are flat, even with features implying depth. Then, on the second story, Frank Giacoia’s inks give everything a sketchy look. Neither story looks like each other, much less the standard Infantino.

Robert Kanigher writes the first story, with Barry headed around the world to solve crises while still needing to make a date with Iris. Iris is mean to Barry, he’s a doofus and all of his rescues involve beautiful women who complement Flash. The action seems more like Superman: The Movie.

The second story has Flash fighting Mr. Element. Writer John Broome is big on fantastic events, but Infantino gives them tiny panels. Iris is still mean to Barry here, even if he’s a little less of a doofus.

The issue doesn’t impress, not for art, certainly not for writing. It’s rather tiresome.

Showcase 8 (May-June 1957)

Unfortunately, this issue does not feature the Flash fighting a giant finger. Instead, he fights some evil triplets and then Captain Cold (in different stories). The first story–written by Robert Kanigher–is better. Barry has to figure different things out in order to defeat the bad guys and Kanigher does show some of Barry’s character. There’s also a lot of Iris (as comic relief) in the story.

For the Captain Cold story, John Broome spends more time on Len Snart’s origin than he spends on any personality for Barry. Worse is Broome’s “science,” which gives Captain Cold a hallucination-making device. It’s really dumb.

The art, from Infantino (inked by Frank Giacoia), has its highs and mediocre points. It never goes bad. Infantino occasionally comes up with some beautifully composed panels; they aren’t constant but they’re enough to make for engaging art.

The issue’s okay; Broome drags it down.

Showcase 4 (September-October 1956)

It’s hard to say who’s more enthusiastic about The Flash–Robert Kanigher or John Broome. Kanigher does the origin, Broome does the second adventure. Broome tackles time travel… Kanigher has Flash in a speedboat. I guess Broome wins.

Both have Carmine Infantino (inked by Joe Kubert) on art. Infantino doesn’t quite know how to tell a superhero story in this issue. His panels are all matter-of-fact and he doesn’t dynamically compose them. Flash in the speedboat is beyond silly.

But Kanigher and Broome–while writing a boring character in Barry Allen–manage to still write a compelling one. The stories’ villains are goofy; Barry’s excitement at his new abilities make up for them.

I don’t think I’ve ever read these stories before. They’re extremely influential, not just for DC, but also for Marvel (particularly Stan Lee’s Spider-Man origin).

The stories are guardedly ambitious, especially the Broome one.

Showcase 3 (July-August 1956)

There’s not much to this issue besides Russ Heath’s fantastic artwork. Robert Kanigher’s script is pedestrian and predictable (for the most part).

It’s the story of a new frogman during World War II. The protagonist is short, which leads to teasing (even in the Navy). The teasing is aggravated by the protagonist’s ability to lip read. It’s a nonsense detail Kanigher uses to pad out the story, which is told in three parts.

For a while, during the first chapter, it seems like the story might have some factual basis or some interesting information about the Navy Underwater Demolition Teams. But then there’s a shark attack and all reality goes out the window.

Worse, Kanigher continues the bullying against the protagonist after he saves his antagonists’ lives (from the shark). The antagonists don’t even acknowledge the protagonist’s heroism. It’s painfully obvious Kanigher is padding.

But there’s some great Heath art.

Showcase 2 (May-June 1956)

Good grief. I thought I was going to be able to talk seriously about this comic, starting with the story of a young Native American lad whose spirit animal keeps saving his butt, then through the story of a misunderstood youth and his mutt… but the final story is about a circus bear who escapes.

Now, the circus bear knows he has it pretty good at the circus, he just wants adventure. So the story–which, sadly, does not have an author credit–proposes the idea circuses (in the fifties) treated animals well. It’s also this Disney-like look at animals, which talk and think. It’s incredible. Russ Heath’s art is pretty charming, actually.

The Joe Kubert art on the Native American kid story is okay, some great vistas, but Ross Andru and Mike Esposito bore on the orphaned kid one.

This comic’s glorious nuts (and completely unaware of it).