Cover: Joe Kubert

Showcase #82

May 1969 · DC · 0.12 USD

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“Some Forbidden Fate”

★ 1st appearance — Nightmaster

About this Issue

Showcase #82 marks DC Comics' deliberate, self-aware entry into the late-1960s sword-and-sorcery revival, arriving roughly a year before Marvel's Conan the Barbarian debut — making it an early signal that mainstream superhero publishers were ready to absorb the booming literary fantasy genre. The issue introduced Nightmaster (Jim Rook), one of the medium's first rock-musician-turned-fantasy-hero hybrids, fusing late-60s counterculture identity with Tolkien-and-Moorcock-style world-building in a way that felt genuinely novel for a DC anthology. Although the three-issue tryout didn't generate enough reader demand for an ongoing series in 1969, the characters and concepts proved durable enough to anchor DC's magical-hero ecosystem decades later, feeding directly into the Shadowpact team and the Oblivion Bar, a location that has recurred across major DC events through the 2010s. The issue also stands as a snapshot of the Showcase series functioning exactly as intended — a low-risk testing ground where DC could probe reader appetite for genres outside the superhero mainstream at the cusp of the Bronze Age.

In "Some Forbidden Fate," Jim is pulled from his world into a mystical realm where an ancient lineage is his only hope. The dying king reveals Jim is the last descendant of a legendary warrior and begs him to wield his ancestor’s sword against the forces that hold Jim’s girlfriend captive. With his only way home tied to a battle he never wanted, Jim must confront a destiny he didn’t choose—written by Denny O'Neil, illustrated with striking detail by Jerry Grandenetti, and brought to life on the cover by Joe Kubert.

writer Denny O'Neil · artist Jerry Grandenetti · inker Dick Giordano · letterer Shelly Leferman · cover Joe Kubert

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VG) $6

CGC 9.8 · 1 in census $784*

CGC 9.6 · 7 in census $244*

CGC 9.4 · 15 in census $125

CGC 9.2 · 9 in census $73*

CGC 9.0 · 10 in census $67

CGC 8.5 · 9 in census $38

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CGC 8.0 · 8 in census $26*

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $24

CGC 7.0 · 5 in census $20

CGC 6.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Writer Denny O'Neil crafted Nightmaster as a synthesis of the fantasy literature he admired, and he laid out his sources openly inside the issue itself in an editorial column titled 'Take That, You Hideous Magician You!' — citing the interdimensional travel of John Carter, the sword-and-sorcery of Conan, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and Michael Moorcock's Elric saga, while noting that the rock-star angle of Jim Rook was drawn from the spirit of The Beatles and The Doors. The art assignment for issue #82 had an unusual behind-the-scenes story: a young Bernie Wrightson — who had been introduced to DC editors through Frank Frazetta — was originally tapped to illustrate the debut, but after completing roughly seven pages it was determined he wasn't yet ready for the assignment, and the veteran Jerry Grandenetti (inked by Dick Giordano) stepped in to complete the issue; the cover was provided by Joe Kubert. Wrightson did return to draw the subsequent two issues, Showcase #83 and #84, marking the Nightmaster arc as his first work on a continuing DC character at the very start of his career.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance and origin of Nightmaster (Jim Rook), a rock singer transported to the extradimensional realm of Myrra, where he discovers he is a descendant of the warrior Nacht and claims the enchanted Sword of Night.
First appearance of supporting characters: Janet Jones (Rook's girlfriend), Boz, King Zolto, Nacht (in flashback), Brom (in flashback), Farben (in flashback), and the Ice Witch.
First appearance of Oblivion Inc., the mysterious Manhattan bookstore that serves as the portal to Myrra — a location later reimagined as the Oblivion Bar, headquarters of the Shadowpact team in the 2000s.
Written by Denny O'Neil; interior art by Jerry Grandenetti (pencils) and Dick Giordano (inks); cover art by Joe Kubert.
Bernie Wrightson was originally assigned to draw this debut issue but was replaced after completing approximately seven pages; he returned to illustrate the two follow-up issues, Showcase #83 (June 1969) and #84 (August 1969), making this arc one of his earliest professional DC credits.
O'Neil documented his literary inspirations in an in-issue editorial, explicitly referencing Conan the Barbarian, Lord of the Rings, the Elric saga (especially Stormbringer), Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, John Carter, and the science fiction of Samuel R. Delany and Roger Zelazny.
The cover date is May 1969; the DC Database records the actual on-sale (newsstand) date as March 13, 1969.
After the three-issue Showcase tryout, Nightmaster lay dormant for over two decades before resurfacing in Animal Man #25 (July 1990) and The Books of Magic #3 (1991), and later becoming a founding member of the Shadowpact in Day of Vengeance #1 (2005).