It seems like every single comic ever produced has been reprinted in the last decade, but there are still a lot of great books out there that are unavailable to the masses. Today, I'm featuring one that is just begging to be given the Showcase Presents treatment. Over the years, The
Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog has become somewhat of a punchline to a joke - as the snarksters of fandom like to point and laugh at most Atom Age books. They are dead wrong - a need to open their minds to appreciate that a good comic doesn't necessarily have to be a giant Crossover Event or an ironic slice of life indie. Comics can just be good, clean fun.
From the few issues I've managed to get my hands on, I'm happy to say that these are wonderfully entertaining books. Sure, they are a bit silly but is that such a bad thing? Although Alex Toth was the initial artist on the strip, it's really Gil Kane's baby - and he does a wonderful job of adapting Robert Kanigher's and John Broome's inventive strips for the four color world. In the 1950s, DC was struggling to find its identity and experimenting with many different genres, and I think they were very successful with this fun series that lasted until the end of the decade. I want my two kids to start reading comics in a few years, and I couldn't think of a better family book than a Showcase Presents: Rex the Wonder Dog. Think about it, DC.
It seems like every single comic ever produced has been reprinted in the last decade, but there are still a lot of great books out there that are unavailable to the masses. Today, I'm featuring one that is just begging to be given the Showcase Presents treatment. Over the years, The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog has become somewhat of a punchline to a joke - as the snarksters of fandom like to point and laugh at most Atom Age books. They are dead wrong - a need to open their minds to appreciate that a good comic doesn't necessarily have to be a giant Crossover Event or an ironic slice of life indie. Comics can just be good, clean fun.
From the few issues I've managed to get my hands on, I'm happy to say that these are wonderfully entertaining books. Sure, they are a bit silly but is that such a bad thing? Although Alex Toth was the initial artist on the strip, it's really Gil Kane's baby - and he does a wonderful job of adapting Robert Kanigher's and John Broome's inventive strips for the four color world. In the 1950s, DC was struggling to find its identity and experimenting with many different genres, and I think they were very successful with this fun series that lasted until the end of the decade. I want my two kids to start reading comics in a few years, and I couldn't think of a better family book than a Showcase Presents: Rex the Wonder Dog. Think about it, DC.
2 comments:
I second this! Back issues are expensive and really hard to find in any condition.
It does seem like such a no-brainer, but DC seems to have drawn some arbitrary line in the sand about no doing pre-Silver Age Showcases. With Archives on the way out - I wonder if Rex has a chance.
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