Showcase #20

Showcase #20 (1959)
by Jack Miller & Ruben Moreira
cover by Bob Brown

If there’s one thing that screams Silver Age on the cover, it’s when you see a gorilla.
But dinosaurs are a close second.

We are introduced to Rip Hunter, a scientist who has already built his second time machine.
Those are Time Spheres™, not to be confused with the Time Bubble™ used by the Legion.

On one hand, Rip is enough of a scientist that he wants actual proof.
Oh the other hand, he just lets the little brother of his assistant hang around the lab for no reason.
Also, I get that he goes by Rip because his first name is Ripley, but as far as I can tell Corky is actually named Corky.

Yep, that’s proof alright. At this point why even hang around, just get back and become the most famous person in history.

Rip’s base has just the worst security.

Too bad Rip and his colleague Jeff are too busy hanging around dinosaurs.
Pteranodons were not around 100 million years ago, evolving around 86 million years ago, but I’m not holding this against the comic since it might not have been known at the time.

They’re soon reached by Bonnie, her brother and by the mobsters holding them hostage.
Why would they take the Time Sphere™ into the past from the lab instead of stealing it!?

The plan is to dig around for gold and diamonds, without prior knowledge of WHERE to dig, while also being sure to avoid dinosaurs. Because of course a gun will take care of carnivors the size of a building.
Sounds legit.

I think you guys are seriously underselling the danger of the Time Spheres™ being so easily damageable.

The criminals soon leave but let’s face it, the dinosaurs are all this comic cares about.

Oh now I get why he calls himself Rip. It’s because his main tactic is ripping his shirt.

And it was all for nothing because the Time Sphere™ is gone anyway.

As it’s typical of this era, the various “chapters” are divided by unrelated light-hearted comics.
I never mention them because they have no impact on the story, but I did find the fact that they made them dinosaur-themed funny enough to mention.

They’re slightly different from the dinosaurs of the main story.

You might have guessed that the reason why the Time Sphere™ disappeared was that the criminals moved it. You might be surprised by how stupid this decision was, not just because of how they’re even able to move it by hand (how heavy is that thing?) but because THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE IT.
Forcing the only people who can help you get back home to risk their lives is unbelievably dangerous!

Especially since these guys are BARELY able to survive the past even when there’s no dinosaurs around!!!

Well I guess we’re living in dinosaur time now.

The only weapons Rip has are a makeshift bow and some bullets (but he lost the gun)… so he turns them into a bomb powerful enough to knock out a T-Rex.

These guys just can’t catch a break.

It’s a blessing in disguise though, because that’s the reason why they find the lost Time Sphere™.
Great idea hiding your only ticket home there, guys! Even if you don’t know it’s going to erupt, WHY RISK IT???

Rip is kind enough to want to rescue the criminals, but there’s the problem of the Time Sphere™ not having enough space.
I’m not buying that: yeah it’s not very big and it’s supposed to have four people in it instead of six, but one of them is a child… you’d be a bit tight but come on!!!

Instead he decides to send the working Time Sphere™ into the present, and use the components he recovered from it to repair the damaged one.
Uhm, why not send the time machine to the present, then take it back to the past making it reappear a second after it left!? After all, these things are so precise that the criminals reached Rip in the first place.

Apparently in dinousaur time you could just find buckets of diamonds just laying around.

Little known fact, dinosaurs loved diamonds.

Rip and Jeff decide to fight back the dinosaurs with some fire arrows…

…for SHEER DINOSAUR EPICNESS.

But during the escape the criminals lose all the loot, and that’s the end.

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Historical significance: 20,000,000 / 100,000,000
Rip Hunter is always around the DC history, but he’s rarely the main focus.

Silver Age-ness: 30,000,000 / 100,000,000
These are not even remotely the dumbest Silver Age criminals.

Does it stand the test of time? 80,000,000 / 100,000,000
A ironic category given the subject, I know. But holds up pretty well: nobody has a clear personality, both Bonnie and her brother don’t have anything to contribute, and the villain plot is idiotic… but you’d only need to make minor adjustments to make this work as a modern adventure.
Plus, who doesn’t like dinosaurs?

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How close is this to the modern character?
Rip Hunter has a lot in common with the Challengers of the Unknown: a manly man of science who solves impossible problems with science. He’s just more specialized.
That being said, while there have been fewer attempts at a revival and Rip mostly works as a supporting character rather than a protagonist, he does seem to integrate better with other eras.
Which I guess fits his theme.

Rip stars in another 3 issues of Showcase, one of which includes dinosaurs again.

That was successful enough to give him his own series in 1961, lasting 29 issues until 1965.

In issue 16, Rip and his companions… the so-called Time Masters… get their green uniforms.

After the end of their series, the Time Masters wouldn’t be seen again until 1978 on Challengers of the Unknown’s short revival.

Although he did show up in 1977 on Justice League of America #144, that’s a scene set BEFORE hist first time travel adventure.
The fact that he doesn’t participate in the action tells you how much he was forgotten, considering that issue gives lots of space to the Blackhawks and both Congorilla and Rex the Wonder Dog play a part.

We find out what happened to Rip in DC Comics Presents #37 in 1981.
The answer is just “more time travel adventures”.

He joined the Forgotten Heroes in 1984, and he plays a minor role in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986.

So before Crisis, Rip Hunter was a very minor character… which makes sense considering the three franchises that did the most time travel (Superman, Flash and the Legion) didn’t need him thanks to their own ways to travel through time.
Post-Crisis, however, time travel became MUCH less frequent, which might have been a factor for him being given the spotlight more often.

The new Rip Hunter debuts in 1987 on the pages of Booster Gold. Not the last time they’ll interact.

He starred in an 8 issue miniseries in 1990, which ends with him stranded in prehistoric times.

In the following years, his future alternate version joins the Linear Men in his Cable cosplay.
Yeah that guy with white hair and a cybernetic eye that you see hang around Waverider to be completely ineffectual? THAT’S RIP HUNTER.
Not the blond guy, that’s an alternate version of Waverider!!!

I couldn’t find the exact first appearance of THIS version of Rip Hunter. His origin is told much later (how fitting) in 1998.
Apparently those cybernetic implants are needed for time travel, even though the rest of the Linear Men don’t have them!

This particular version of Hunter dies in 2001, but given the nature of this kind of character I’m sure it’s made additional appearances.

The traditional version is back in 2005, to help the JSA have a time travel adventure.

A new version showed up in this period; you can identify him by having brown hair.
Which is weird considering this version is revealed in 2010 to be the son of Booster Gold.

As a reminder, Booster Gold is from the 25th century. He has a son who grows up in the 20th century who ends up being his mentor.
Time travel, everybody!

He’s also a major character in the CW time travel series “Legend of Tomorrow”, but from what I can tell “Rip Hunter” is just a pseudonym there (which I think it’s been done in the comics too). Although I haven’t seen a single episode so I can’t comment on this version.

Even now that time travel has returned to be frequent in DC Comics, you can rest assured that Rip Hunter will play a part whenever he’s needed.
Or he’ll be off on his own to have an absolutely bonkers solo adventure.