And The Flash, beginning in Showcase in 1956, met with indifferent results at first. It wasn't until 1958 that things began to take off for the DC revival.

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I would argue that the Flash did quite well but that DC, probably number one or two** of the comic publishing firms didn't NEED to change or add anything. They were conservative because they could afford to be.

The cause for the introduction of the Flash was the BI-MONTHLY title, Showcase. The various editors of DC rotated on that book to introduce new concepts. Flash shows up under Julie Swartz's turn in Showcase #4 (10/56) , does well, and so Julie does him again in #8 (6/57).
Again he sells well and is given back to back slots in Showcase 13 and 14 (April and June, 1958). The sales are great and Flash Comics returns with #105 (2/59) --just about long enough for the final sales to come in and for the go ahead given on the revival.

IT wasn't that the new DC superhero did indifferently -- why try him again if he had been disappointing -- rather, it was the system that kept the Flash from showing his success quicker.

If Showcase had been a monthy and Julie had been allowed to put out three or four monthly Flash books in 1956 we might well have had the full flowering of the silver age three years sooner. But DC didn't work that way. Three books of untried material could lay one big egg and they wouldn't know until the third issue was already prepared and on the stands. They'd lose a lot more money that way. By rotating editors and giving them a chance to produce the editor's choice for a new feature, the risks were much smaller. By scheduling the editor's turns four issues apart, they would KNOW the sales of the previous attempt when the next turn came.

**(Dell had Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Donald Duck both of which likely outsold Superman or anything else of the period. Indeed, its likely WDC&S is the all time sales champ in the industry.)



A. Leedom, President, Red Raven Revival Society and former Space Ranger advocate for Jack Schiff -- forgive me, fandom.

"Nobody dies forever, this is Marvel!"