Cover: Mike Sekowsky & Joe Giella

Showcase #21

Jul 1959 · DC · 0.10 USD

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“The Secret of the Lost Continent”

About this Issue

Showcase #21 (cover-dated July 1959) marks the second outing for Rip Hunter and his quartet of time-traveling companions — a pivotal encore that helped confirm the concept had legs and put DC firmly in the business of science-adventure chrono-fiction during the Silver Age. The issue's multi-chapter Atlantis quest, 'Secret of the Lost Continent,' pushed the team's formula beyond simple dinosaur-era thrills into a tapestry of ancient history, myth, and speculative prehistory, showing readers and editors alike that the format could sustain serialized storytelling across multiple eras within a single story. That momentum, built across Showcase #20 and #21, directly convinced DC to greenlight a dedicated ongoing series, Rip Hunter…Time Master, which launched in 1961 and ran for 29 issues — making these two Showcase try-outs among the most productive auditions in the title's history.

In "The Secret of the Lost Continent," Rip and his crew travel back to 700 BC in search of a fabled island, guided by a mysterious tablet. When they reach Aeaea, they’re confronted by Circe and her so-called "centaurs"—a deception that reveals her people’s secret. With the help of a daring invention powered by the Time Sphere, the crew outwits Cretan invaders, only to uncover a carved map that may hold the truth behind Atlantis’s fall. Written by Jack Miller and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky with inks by Joe Giella, this issue features a striking cover by Sekowsky and Giella.

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writer Jack Miller · artist Mike Sekowsky · inker Joe Giella · cover Mike Sekowsky, Joe Giella

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VG $49.99 GD $69 VG $81 VERY GOOD $96 VG $140 VG $171.47 CGC 4 $250 CGC 7.5 $472.21

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History

Rip Hunter and his crew were conceived by writer Jack Miller and artist Ruben Moreira, with editor Jack Schiff shepherding the concept through DC's Showcase try-out anthology — Schiff later recalled that he and Miller had 'lots of fun' developing the feature. The team's design was openly indebted to Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown, which had debuted in 1957 and demonstrated that a non-powered adventure quartet could carry its own book; Rip Hunter transplanted that ensemble formula into a time-travel framework. For the second outing in Showcase #21, penciling duties shifted to Mike Sekowsky with inks by Joe Giella, giving the issue a somewhat different visual texture from Ruben Moreira's debut installment.

Trivia · 8 facts

Showcase #21 carries a cover date of July 1959 and went on sale approximately May 26, 1959, per League of Comic Geeks catalog data.
The issue's lead story is 'Secret of the Lost Continent,' written by Jack Miller and drawn by Mike Sekowsky (pencils) and Joe Giella (inks).
This is the second appearance of Rip Hunter, Jeff Smith, Bonnie Baxter, and Corky Baxter — all four characters debuted together in Showcase #20 (May 1959), created by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira.
The story sends the Time Masters on a multi-chapter hunt for Atlantis, beginning with a trip to meet Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and tracing clues progressively further back to 14,000 B.C.
Rip Hunter received two additional Showcase appearances (issues #25 and #26) after this issue, after which DC launched the dedicated ongoing series Rip Hunter…Time Master, which ran for 29 issues from 1961 to 1965.
The Rip Hunter concept was directly inspired by the commercial success of the Challengers of the Unknown — DC replicated the non-powered adventure-quartet model and added a time-travel premise.
The full Silver Age run anchored by Showcase #20–21 and #25–26 was collected in Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter, Time Master Vol. 1 (DC Comics, 2012), a black-and-white trade paperback also reprinting the first 15 issues of the ongoing series.
Rip Hunter later became a fixture in DC universe-wide continuity, playing roles in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 1990 Time Masters limited series, the Booster Gold ongoing, and the Arrowverse television series Legends of Tomorrow (portrayed by Arthur Darvill).

Cast · 6 characters

Bonnie Baxter Buzzy Brown Corky Baxter Doctor Rocket Jeff Smith Rip Hunter

Full credits

writer Jack Miller

artist Mike Sekowsky

inker Joe Giella

cover pencils Mike Sekowsky

cover inks Joe Giella

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers

▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers

Alexander points the crew to the island of Aeaea, where the tablet came from. They journey. They journey there in 700 BC. Rip and Jeff fall into a pit trap. Circe and her "centaurs" warn them off. But Bonnie and Corky find the "centaurs" wear horse frames covered with skins. Circe is a pretend sorceress to protect her people. Cretan warships arrive. Rip's crew build a dragon lifted by the Time Sphere that breathes acetylene fire, and frighten away the Cretans. Circe points out a carved map and the year Atlantis sank. Bonnie is jealous of Circe's gratitude toward Rip.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).