Showcase Presents: Metal Men, Vol. 1

Showcase Presents: Metal Men #1

by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, Mike Espisito

This value-priced collection includes over 500 pages of classic comics Wonder Woman launched into the Silver Age of Comics with these tales, in which the Amazon Princess battled colorful new foes including alien dinosaurs, amoeba men, and other threats, with the mysterious Merman at her side, along with her teenaged sidekick, Wonder Girl

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics

528 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2007

About the author

See also as Bob Kanigher

One of the most prolific writers in comics, particularly in the Silver Age. He took over scripting duties on Wonder Woman after William Moulton Marston's death, and handled the character's transition from the Golden to the Silver Age. He also created Barry Allen, the second Flash, for editor Julius Schwartz's superhero revival of 1956, as well as writing and editing DC's pioneering war titles.
His creations include Sgt. Rock, the Unknown Soldier, Barry Allen, Ragman, the Losers, Black Canary, the Metal Men, Poison Ivy, Enemy Ace, the Suicide Squad, and Rex the Wonder Dog.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always one of my favorite teams back as a young comic reader but then i was always a science nerd. Fantastic collection of some of my favorite Silver Age Reads. Very recommended

[Jedi Master Nate Lightray · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really hard to review these old collections, because I love them for my own reasons. However, this one really suffers from a "lather, rinse, and repeat" formula that is almost painful at times. This story follows Tin, Mercury, Platinum, and three other metals with no personality whatsoever as they unite with Doc Magnus to fight the forces of, um, random things. Platinum will swoon "like a woman" over Doc, Mercury will lose his cool, Tin will realize he cannot do anything useful, and the other three Metal Men will fix everything in what feels like every... single... issue... I think there are other collections that are far more solid. Each individual issue works. Just reading them all at once is a bit rough. I cannot suggest this to anyone but the most diehard, loyal comic fans.

[Mark Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints of the original Silver Age Metal Men comics. I wanted to love these but the writing was a little too simple, definitely a product of its time. I prefer whats been done with the Metal Men since.

[Michael Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful old Silver Age comic from the 1960's that I only vaguely remembered reading once at my best friend's house. I thoroughly enjoyed the simple and somewhat campy stories where the humor was not always intentional, but always endearing.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most fun series I had the pleasure to read in recent times, beautifully drawn by the criminally underrated and overlooked Ross Andru. It could have scored a perfect rating if it wasn't for two problems, namely the pointless nature of the sexism towards Platinum (the only one that, incredibly enough, seems endowed with strategic intelligence, I love her) and the fact that, as an hardcore Golden Age Wonder Woman fan, I don't understand why the hell this man was ever allowed to touch the character in any way. In regards to the first element, I usually don't complain about sexism during the Silver Age because I perfectly know what period we're talking about and I don't have problems with it, but the thing is that even Kanigher makes fun of his own sexism. Sexism that, at some points, is FAR harsher than the one from people from this same era like Gardner Fox and it's also completely out of place in regards to what happens in the comic. So, what was the point of it from the beginning? it's nonsensical. The second element might not seem important, since we're talking about two different series with different characters...yet Kanigher not only recycles scenes and plot points from his later Golden Age-Silver Age WW run (the guy was not exactly known as a person with original and incredible ideas) but he also clearly suggests in one story that he hated the whole concept behind the character. How in the hell DC left him handling a character he hated for thirty years is completely beyond me. Provided his gender ideas were opposite to the original creator's ones. That said, a really fun romp that I'm glad I've read with this lucky find of a (as of now) pricey Showcase Presents. I hope to find the following volume in the series too sooner or later.