Showcase Presents or DC Archives

[Perseus]

Which format for the older titles do you guys prefer? I just started getting the Showcase Presents (Phantom Stranger, House of Secrets) books and I like them alot. However, which ones would you guys rather have in color though?

[comicm]

I only get the archives for certain things like Kamandi. I prefer the archives to get the hardcover/color format. For older comics I prefer to get the monthly format unless cost prohibitive.

[Darth Kramer]

I prefer the format of the Archives, but love the price on the Showcase, so I find myself getting many, many more Showcases than Archives.

[Fnord Serious]

I prefer the format of the Archives, but love the price on the Showcase, so I find myself getting many, many more Showcases than Archives.

Same here. If I was made of money, I'd have a shelf full of Archives. But you can't beat the price point on the Showcase volumes. As an added bonus, a lot of that classic art looks great in black & white.

[JohnMayo]

When the Archives first started out, I was getting a lot of them. But then I realized that a single archive was costing about as much as all of the comics I was buying that week. (Comics were cheaper back then.) So I stopped getting the Archives.

I've been getting a lot of the Showcases. I probably have the majority of them. While I'd prefer trades that were in color, you can't beat the price of the Showcases.

[Koete]

I tend to pick up the Golden Age Archives of content that isn't reprinted in the Chronicles line and then Showcase for the Silver Age material.

[Perseus]

I'm really wanting to get the Challengers of the Unknown, Adam Strange, Haunted Tank, and others in Showcases.

Archives I want are like All Star Squad (JSA), Golden Age Spectre, G.A. Sandman, S.A. Flash, and S.A. Green Lantern.

I was gonna get Supergirl in Showcase form. Has anyone read the older Supergirl stories? I like her presently, but I wanted to check out some older stuff on her.

[BobBretall]

Given that the "Archives" line is pretty much defunct at this point, I'd say Showcase is one of the main options now, though if it comes down to color vs. B&W, I'm sure DC will be doing more things like the DC Omnibus line and other HC volumes with key material in color, just not necessarily all in sequential order.

Archives was always a MUCH higher priced option, printing 10 issues for ~$50 as opposed to the 25-30 issues for $17 in the showcase.

That being said, for me, the Super-Hero stories come off a lot better in color. I don't mind the War/Western/Mystery/Suspense stuff in B&W at all.

[zack kruse]

I prefer the format of the Archives, but love the price on the Showcase, so I find myself getting many, many more Showcases than Archives.

That's me all over.

Plus, the big bonus to the Showcases (as well as the Marvel Essentials) is that they make those old stories really accessible to a much broader audience, largely because of the price point

[HassanT]

For DC Comics, I prefer Showcase instead of Archives. For Marvel, I prefer the Masterworks over Essentials. Why? Well, even though I am a hardcore DC fan, I don't think their older material is as good as the Marvel stuff. I want to still read it, but generally, I go for the cheap route for DC. For Marvel, it is the opposite. I really like their older stuff so I prefer to read it in color.

There are some exceptions to this rule. I prefer the Justice League of America in color so I have 3 of their Archives.

I had slowed down my purchases of these type of collections because I have so much that I haven't even read yet.

[Fnord Serious]

...I had slowed down my purchases of these type of collections because I have so much that I haven't even read yet.

Indeed, it is quite easy to get in over your head when purchasing Showcases and Essentials. The high page count combined with the wordy Silver and Bronze age storytelling results in a lot of reading time to finish off a single volume. Great value for the money.

[laseraw]

... I just started getting the Showcase Presents (Phantom Stranger, House of Secrets) books and I like them alot. However, which ones would you guys rather have in color though?

i read the phantom stranger and found it very interesting; quite a prompt character change there on those first issues, loved the dr. 13 dynamic, even if it was a bit repetitive...

That being said, for me, the Super-Hero stories come off a lot better in color. I don't mind the War/Western/Mystery/Suspense stuff in B&W at all.

i love the showcases.
i love the format and i love black and white artwork.

however, as Bob mentions, its not suitable for all books or for all runs...
for instance, the phantom stranger looked beautiful on b&w as did the house of secrets, sgt. rock, the flash, wonder woman and many others that have a consistently heavy or solid ink work.

but i recently received the booster gold showcase and saw that the thinner lines suffer from the whitening process the drawings go through to separate it from the color; loosing strength in general and appearing to have an overly saturated look.
this may become a problem as newer runs get printed in this format, unless the figure a less destructive method to process the artwork from color back to b&w.

another solution for this is to maintain the color, but that would probably affect the cost of the book.
the kirby 4th world omnibus were beautifully restored, in my opinion, and printed on a similar paper as the showcases, maintaining a closer "feel" to the originals, than the bright glossy paper of other archives provide.
but these are priced $49.99, being HCs, versus the $16.99 of SC showcases.

showcases are certainly a great resource to have at hand.
their point, i think, is to be cheap and available, and to provide accessibility to some of the great background the DCU has.

i do wonder how profitable they really are for DC... meaning, do people buy these and actually read them? (beyond old timers, enthusiasts and collectors)
i do buy most of them, so do some LCS friends, but i dont see many other people get them and it doesn't seem like something you just pick up and start reading...

[Squire]

I prefer the Archives over the Showcases. I got a few the silverage superhero showcases, but I’m not a big fan of DC’s storytelling style from that era. I’d get about half way though, loose interest then never get back to them. So the Archives, although much more expensive, are just the right amount of issues for me.

More than these though I find myself buy the Superman/Batman in the 50’s, 60’s, etc and “the greatest stories ever told” trades for old stories.

I might check out a couple of those horror Showcases though.