Cover: Gil Kane & Joe Giella

Showcase #23

Nov 1959 · DC · 0.10 USD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

About this Issue

Showcase #23 is the second chapter in one of the Silver Age's most consequential three-issue tryout runs, confirming that Hal Jordan's reinvention of Green Lantern had enough story engine to sustain an ongoing world. The issue quietly lays two pieces of mythology that would define the character for decades: it marks the first time Green Lantern's space sector designation (2814) is named on the page, and it stages Hal's first summons through his Power Battery from the unseen Guardians of the Universe — a cosmic chain of command that writer John Broome and editor Julius Schwartz would fully unveil only after the character earned his own title. The parallel romantic comedy of Hal unable to date Carol Ferris because she is both his boss and infatuated with his alter ego established the dual-identity tension that would fuel the book for years. Taken together with Showcase #22 and #24, this issue proved that the science-fiction superhero formula Schwartz had been refining since The Flash's revival could carry a franchise.

Contains 3 stories

Summons from Space!

12.67 pp · Superhero

Green Lantern [Hal Jordan] (brief origin)Carol Ferrisa Venusian pterodactylVenusians

Untitled Non-Fiction story

1 pp · Non-Fiction

AndromedaPoseidonPerseus

The Invisible Destroyer!

11.67 pp · Superhero

Green Lantern [Hal Jordan]The Phantom Destroyer [aka The Invisible Destroyer] (introduction, villain)Carol FerrisDr. Phillips

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $227

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $14,715*

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $3,237*

CGC 9.0 · 2 in census $3,017

CGC 8.5 · 3 in census $2,235

CGC 8.0 · 12 in census $1,542

CGC 7.5 · 13 in census $1,347

Show all 20 grades ▾

CGC 7.0 · 17 in census $1,072

CGC 6.5 · 29 in census $754

CGC 6.0 · 35 in census $493

CGC 5.5 · 35 in census $468

CGC 5.0 · 47 in census $419

CGC 4.5 · 60 in census $400

CGC 4.0 · 53 in census $346

CGC 3.5 · 47 in census $307

CGC 3.0 · 47 in census $196

CGC 2.5 · 34 in census $196

CGC 2.0 · 18 in census $158

CGC 1.5 · 9 in census $125

CGC 1.0 · 3 in census $99*

CGC 0.5 · 4 in census $95*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

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

More listings for this title

VG $375 VG $480 CGC 6 $539.99 CGC 5 $625 CGC 5.5 $635 CGC 5.5 $650 CGC 5.5 $699 CGC 7 $1495

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 13 total · seen 73 days ago

Read it digitally

DC Universe Infinite DC’s subscription reader ▸ Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Editor Julius Schwartz had already demonstrated that updating a Golden Age hero with a clean science-fiction premise could re-energize superhero comics when he relaunched The Flash in Showcase #4 (1956); he applied the same philosophy to Green Lantern, enlisting writer John Broome — a veteran pulp science-fiction author whose agent had been Schwartz himself — and artist Gil Kane to build the new mythology from scratch. Schwartz and Broome jointly conceived the supporting architecture of the Green Lantern universe, including the Guardians and the Corps, before a single issue went to press, which is why elements like the Guardians' first summons appear as early as issue #23 even though the characters themselves are not shown until the solo series. Kane designed Hal Jordan's look loosely after actor Paul Newman, a former neighbor, giving the character the clean-cut, non-caped visual identity that separated him from the Golden Age aesthetic. Schwartz moved quickly enough with Green Lantern that, unlike the strategy used with The Flash, he did not wait for sales numbers before committing to a solo title — a confidence borne out when Green Lantern #1 launched in 1960.

Trivia · 8 facts

Second appearance of Silver Age Green Lantern Hal Jordan (first appearance was Showcase #22, 1959).
Second appearance of Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan's employer and love interest, whose refusal to date an employee while pining for Green Lantern establishes the series' central romantic irony.
First appearance of the Invisible Destroyer — a being of anti-matter energy generated from the subconscious mind of physicist Dr. Martin Phillips, who also makes his debut here.
First appearance of Green Lantern's space-sector designation 2814 anywhere on the printed page, a numbering system that became a cornerstone of Green Lantern Corps mythology.
First time Hal Jordan receives a summons from his Power Battery on behalf of the Guardians of the Universe, though the Guardians themselves remain unseen until Green Lantern Vol. 2 #1.
Contains two complete stories: 'Summons from Space!' (13 pages, pencils/inks: Gil Kane/Joe Giella, letters: Joe Letterese) and 'The Invisible Destroyer!' (12 pages, letters: Gaspar Saladino); both written by John Broome, edited by Julius Schwartz.
Cover dated November–December 1959; on-sale date November 10, 1959; published by National Comics Publications (DC Comics); 36 pages; original cover price 10 cents.
Reprinted in multiple collected editions including Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 1 (2005, black and white), The Green Lantern Chronicles Vol. 1 (2009), The Green Lantern Archives Vol. 1, and Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1.