Showcase #21
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeShowcase #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.
In "The Secret of the Lost Continent," Rip and Bonnie race against time to decode an ancient tablet linked to Atlantis, following its clues to Alexandria in 331 BC. With Alexander the Great facing a crushing Persian army and their lives hanging in the balance, a mysterious "great metal bird" — the Time Sphere — changes everything. As the fate of an empire hangs in the balance, Rip’s desperate gamble may just unlock the next piece of the puzzle.
In "Chapter 2: The Forbidden Island" from Showcase #21 (1959), Alexander guides the crew to the legendary isle of Aeaea, where the tablet originated—transporting them back to 700 BC. When Rip and Jeff fall into a pit trap, they're confronted by Circe and her mysterious "centaurs," only to discover the creatures are men in horse-like frames. As Cretan warships approach, the crew devises a daring defense using a dragon powered by the Time Sphere, while Bonnie grapples with jealousy over Circe's gratitude toward Rip.
In "Chapter 3: The Doomed Continent" from Showcase #21 (1959), Rip Hunter and his crew arrive in Atlantis in 14,000 BC—only to find it’s actually a stranded futuristic space city. With orange aliens firing ray guns and a looming earthquake threatening the doomed continent, the crew must navigate a desperate race to save a colony trapped by a tyrant, while the fate of Atlantis and a lost alien race hangs in the balance.
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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).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Strange Adventures #24 (1952)
Reprinted in Big Boss #68 (1962), Blackhawk #207 (1965), Colossal Comic #36 (1966), Historias Fantásticas #169 (1967), Big Boss #35 (1978), The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 #[nn] (1993), Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter, Time Master #1 (2012), Showcase Presents: Showcase #1 (2012)
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