Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Vol. 1
Green Lantern is a perfect subject for DC's budget-priced Showcase Presents series because the hero made his first appearance inShowcasein July 1959. Volume 1 collects his first three appearances inShowcase(22-24) as well as the first 17 issues of his own book. alternating between one and two stories per issue.  Hotshot test pilot Hal Jordan is selected by a dying alien as one who is both honest and without fear, thus deserving of wearing the power ring that enables the wearer to fight crime and injustice.  In these issues, we meet Hal's boss and love interest, Carol Ferris, who Lois Lane-like only has an eye for his alter ego, Green Lantern; Hal's mechanic and confidant, Thomas "Pieface" Kalmaku; the all-powerful Guardians of the Universe, the source of the ring's energy; renegade Green Lantern Sinestro; the weaponers of Qward; and neighboring GL Tomar Re. Stories are by John Broome, with art by Gil Kane and Joe Giella, plus a few contributions by JLA stalwarts Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson.  While the Showcase Presents' black-and-white format is a reasonable tradeoff for this much material (526 pages) at this low price (under $10, even cheaper than most Showcase volumes), it turns out to be a significant disadvantage for GL, considering how often the plots rely on the use of green and especially yellow.--David Horiuchi