SHOWCASE #38

Visible spine wear with a small tear/split at the top left edge and staple area, along with general wear along the spine. Corners show mild rounding, and there is soft cover surface wear and light creasing across the cover, particularly near the top staple. Colors remain relatively bright with no major fading, but the cover has an overall used, handled appearance consistent with a mid-grade Silver Age book; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Showcase #38 (June 1962) is the second of four Showcase try-out issues starring the Metal Men, the sentient robot team created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru that would headline its own ongoing title beginning in 1963. Doc Magnus and his responsometer-powered creations – Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin, and Platinum – had debuted the prior issue, and this installment continues DC's tryout format that had already proven successful for the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America. The Kanigher-Andru pairing, with Mike Esposito inking, gave the team its distinctive look and tone from the outset, blending science-fiction peril with soap-opera undertones in Platinum's unrequited devotion to Doc Magnus.

Demand for the issue is driven almost entirely by its place in the Metal Men's early publishing history rather than any first-appearance premium, which belongs to Showcase #37. The GoCollect population data show a well-distributed but not scarce census, with pricing that climbs steadily through the mid grades and accelerates sharply above 9.0, reflecting the difficulty of finding well-preserved early-1960s Showcase issues on cheap newsprint. Sales activity is consistent through the 3.0-9.4 range, with a pronounced value gap opening above 9.2 as surviving high-grade copies become scarce.

The book is collected primarily by Metal Men and Silver Age DC try-out completists building runs alongside Showcase #37, 39, and 40, as well as Ross Andru and Robert Kanigher fans. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade as affordable, readily available entries for readers assembling the pre-series Metal Men story arc, while CGC 9.4 and above command a real premium given the thin population at the top of the census. A theoretical 9.8 would be a condition-census-defining copy given the current absence of any submitted example at that grade.