Showcase #37
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeShowcase #37 marks the Silver Age debut of the Metal Men, one of DC's most distinctive and enduring team concepts — six sentient robots whose personalities, powers, and emotional lives are each keyed to their constituent elements. The issue introduced a genuinely novel storytelling conceit: heroes who died in their very first outing, setting up a recurring cycle of sacrifice and resurrection that would define the series for years. Its blend of pop-science education (each robot recites its atomic number and properties in battle), campy humor, and genuine pathos stood apart from any superhero team on the market at the time, and the series that followed became notable for its serialized, ongoing storylines — unusual for mainstream comics of that era.
In "The Flaming Doom!" from Showcase #37 (1962), the Metal Men face their most terrifying foe yet in a high-stakes battle that pushes them to their limits. Written by Robert Kanigher and brought to life by Ross Andru’s dynamic art and Mike Esposito’s sharp inks, this gripping tale sees the team—Lead, Gold, Iron, Mercury, and Platinum—rally against a monstrous, eye-beam-wielding creature in a desperate defense of Earth. Cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito captures the intensity of the clash, setting the stage for a story that ends not in victory, but in sacrifice.
In a forgotten age, a manta ray forged by a radioactive storm was frozen in ice—now it’s awakened, soaring over modern cities with deadly laser eyes. When it begins destroying landmarks from the coast to New York, the Joint Chiefs summon Dr. Will Magnus, who, with a dancing platinum robot by his side, assembles five new allies: Gold, Lead, Iron, Mercury, and Tin. The Metal Men are ready—now they must face the flaming doom from the sky.
In "Part II: The Metal Men vs The Flaming Doom!" from Showcase #37 (1962), the Metal Men face a terrifying flying manta creature above a bridge, with Tina determined to prove she’s not just an observer. When Doc tries to keep her safe, she spins him into a cocoon until he agrees—only to rush into danger when Tin, believing he’s failed, throws himself into the manta’s deadly eye beams.
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The entire issue was produced under emergency conditions: writer-editor Robert Kanigher was handed a last-minute scheduling gap at DC's tryout anthology Showcase on a Friday, wrote the script over the weekend, and delivered it to penciler Ross Andru the following Monday. Andru drew the full 25-page story in four days, and inker Mike Esposito completed his work shortly after — the whole issue reportedly came together in roughly ten days. Kanigher left the character design largely to Andru and Esposito, giving them considerable latitude over the robots' visual identities under his editorial supervision. The characters were not intended to return after this single story — in fact, all six Metal Men perish at the issue's conclusion — but unexpectedly strong reader response prompted DC to bring them back in three more consecutive Showcase issues (#38–40) before launching their own title.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Metal Men (Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin, and Platinum/Tina) — all six robots debut simultaneously in this issue.
- First appearance of Dr. William 'Will' Magnus, the eccentric roboticist who creates the Metal Men using his invention the Responsometer, a device that imbues each metal with a distinct sentient personality mirroring its elemental properties.
- First appearance of supporting character Col. Henry Casper (spelled 'Caspar' in this issue), the military liaison who recruits Magnus.
- The lead story is titled 'The Flaming Doom!' (25 pages), written and edited by Robert Kanigher, penciled by Ross Andru, and inked by Mike Esposito — the same creative trio who would go on to produce the first 29 issues of the ongoing Metal Men series.
- The plot pits the freshly created Metal Men against a prehistoric, radioactive manta-ray creature thawed from a glacier; all six robots are destroyed defeating it, so the story was originally conceived as a self-contained one-off with no planned sequels.
- The entire issue — script, pencils, and inks — was completed in approximately ten days after a scheduling emergency left DC's Showcase without a story.
- Showcase #37 has been reprinted multiple times: in The Metal Men Archives Vol. 1 (DC, 2006, full-color hardcover), Showcase Presents: Metal Men Vol. 1 (DC, 2007, black-and-white paperback collecting Showcase #37–40, Brave and the Bold #55, and Metal Men #1–16), and The Best of DC #34, as well as The Flash #214.
- The Metal Men's debut in this issue launched a franchise that ran to Metal Men #41 (1969) in its original volume, spawned multiple revival series and miniseries through the 2000s, and extended to animated appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and DC Nation Shorts.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Metal Men #29 (1967), Mars-serien [Metall-klanen] #7 (1968), The Flash #214 (1972), The Best of DC #34 (1983), The Metal Men Archives #1 (2006), Showcase Presents: Metal Men #1 (2007), Marvila, la Mujer Maravilla #114, Super Comics #12
Key issues in Showcase
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