Issue Description

Captain Cold breaks out of jail and proposes to Iris West--after turning everyone in the city into frozen statues!

The Big Freeze!

Reporter Iris West and her boyfriend, police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, are en route to a parole board hearing. Allen waits out in the car, giving him the chance to change into his Flash costume. Moving at super-speed, the Flash reaches the parole board, before West. The Flash, and West, are both there to offer testimony to bar the release of inmate Leonard Snart, the notorious Captain Cold. The Flash's testimony sways the board, who deny Snart an early release. The Flash tells West that he has business with a few other inmates, then quickly doffs his costume and returns to the car, where West finds Allen waiting for her. His parole denied, Snart moves forward with his plan for escape.

Using a tiny refrigeration device, cobbled together during his long months of incarceration, Snart freezes the bars on the window. Brittle from the cold, the bars are easily shattered. Snart is spotted crossing the prison yard, but quickly freezes the two penal officers solid. Luring the Flash out of state with a phony report of his whereabouts, Snart, as Captain Cold, calls on West. Captain Cold professes his love for West, then proposes marriage. When West refuses, Captain Cold activates a pulse device on his belt that freezes every living thing in Central City. West is given an ultimatum. Marry Captain Cold, or else Central City will stay frozen forever.

The Flash returns, and manages to gain entry through the ice sheaf covering Central City, by vibrating like a drill. Captain Cold ices up the road in front of the Flash, to buy himself time to mount a better offensive. Suddenly, the Flash sees a giant insect looming before him. Remembering Captain Cold's ability to cast illusions, the Flash races right through the horrific mirage. A massive flow of ice closes on the Flash. Believing it to be another illusory attack, the Flash runs right into it, encasing himself in ice. Vibrating at super-speed, the Flash is able to dig a channel out in the ice, and escape. Before Captain Cold can mount another attack, the Flash buffets him with high-velocity winds, rendering Captain Cold unconscious. Reversing the thermometer-like controls on Captain Cold's belt instantly thaws out Central City.

King Of The Beatniks!

Schoolteacher Linda Grant informs Principal Mason that she falsely accused honor student, James King, of cheating. By the time Grant realizes her mistake, King has runaway from home. Calling on King's friend, Wally West, Grant inquires as to King's whereabouts. West doesn't know, but he intends to find out, as Kid Flash. Recalling that King had a cousin, Paul, in York City, Kid Flash begins his search there. While scouring the city, Kid Flash spies a window washer falling from his scaffolding. Kid Flash empties a moving truck of it's blankets, and piles them underneath the window washer, breaking his fall.

Kid Flash locates King in a rundown tenement building, being held against his will. It turns out that King's cousin, Paul, is the self-styled "King of The Beatniks". Paul, and his associates are really a gang of thieves, masquerading as beatniks, to throw the police off their trail. When King refuses to join his cousin in criminal activities, the boy is locked up in their abode. Moving so fast he is invisible to the naked eye, Kid Flash eavesdrops on the Beatniks to learn their plans. Kid Flash follows the Beatniks out to Brown's Furs. Still moving too fast to be seen, Kid Flash returns the stolen furs back to the warehouse, as fast as the thieves can load them into their truck.

Kid Flash, though, is felled when one of the thieves accidentally swings open the warehouse door. Knocked unconscious by the heavy door, Kid Flash instantly revives at the sound of gunfire. So fast is Kid Flash, he is able to dodge the gunshot that jarred him back to consciousness. Trapping the Beatniks in his super-speed wake, Kid Flash marches them all to jail. King returns to Blue Valley, where Grant publicly apologizes to him for accusing him of cheating. King wins the track meet for Blue Valley, a feat West takes pride in, for getting King back to Blue Valley in time to compete.

The Flash (1959)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

The Flash Volume 1, (continued from Flash Comics).

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Starring Barry Allen as the Flash and Wally West as Kid Flash. After 4 try-out issues of "Show case" - the first being #4, which is widely accepted as being the comic that launched the Silver Age - the Flash returned to star in his own title with #105 in 1959. The numbering of the title continued from the Golden Age "Flash Comics," which had come to an end as Super Heroes went out of fashion in the early 1950's. When Police scientist Barry Allen was doused with a variety of chemicals along with a bolt of lightning, the accident endowed him with Super Speed, and he donned the famous red Flash uniform we are all familiar with. Barry was seeing reporter Iris Allen, and to ensure he kept his identity as the Flash a secret from his girlfriend, he always turned up late for their dates. During his Showcase appearances, the Flash had battled the first of what was to become his rogues gallery when he clashed with Captain Cold, and his range of costumed opponents was about expand almost as rapidly as his uniform expanded from his ring when it came into contact with air. In his opening issue, the Flash battled the Mirror Master, and in the following issue, readers were introduced to Gorilla Grodd, Solovar, and the inhabitants of Gorilla City in a trilogy of tales that ran through issues #106 - 108. Also starring in #106 was another costumed villain, the Pied Piper. The Mirror Master obviously proved a hit with fans as he was back in #109 for a re-match and in #110 the Flash encountered the Weather Wizard for the first time. The Trickster brought his tricks to Central City in Flash #113, while Captain Cold returned in #114 and another Captain - this time Captain Boomerang debuted in #117.

However, it wasn't just super villains the Flash was encountering in the early issues of his own series. In #110, Kid Flash made his debut, when Wally West was caught in a freak duplicate of the accident that had given Barry his super speed. Wally's original costume was a duplicate of Barry's (only smaller of course) but sidekicks were "in" at the time and Wally would often feature in back up stories in the Flash as well as sometimes teaming up with his mentor - such as in #120. Later (#135) Wally would receive his more familiar yellow and red costume, which would serve him for the best part of two decades. Shortly after the introduction of Kid Flash, the Flash encountered Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man in #112. At first, Barry thought the Elongated Man was a criminal, but by the end of the lead story in this issue, Ralph was exonerated, and the two men became firm friends. Editor Julius Schwartz was developing a number of friendships across the books he edited and chief among them was a friendship between Green Lantern and the Flash. The two first teamed up in Green Lantern #13 and the friendship was cemented during several shared adventures including the ones in Flash #131 and #143.

The most far reaching team -up of Barry's career was to come about in the classic Flash #123, "Flash of Two Worlds" in which the Scarlet Speedster met his "hero" Jay Garrick, the original Flash from the Golden Age of comics, and the concept of Earth Two was launched. Subsequent team ups between the two Flashes included the reintroduction of the Justice Society of America in #137's "Vengeance of the Immortal Villain," as the heroes pitted their wits against Vandal Savage. In the meantime, the villains just kept coming, as Abra Kadabra - a magician from the future made his debut in #128, Heat Wave made things hot for the Flash in #140, and the Top put him in a spin in # 141. However, it was the introduction of Eobard Thawne - the Reverse Flash (or Professor Zoom) in #140 that would have the most far reaching and long lasting effect upon Barry Allen's future.

When Barry and Iris finally got around to tying the knot, (#165), the Reverse Flash tried to take his place at the altar. Although Barry foiled his arch -foe on this occasion, history would repeat itself later in the series. After the death of Iris (accidentally shot at a costume ball), Barry was about to get re-married. Thawne was about to kill his fiance, but in order to prevent that happening, Barry snapped the neck of his enemy - an event which led to the two-year plus "Trial of the Flash," which concluded the series and led to the seeming demise of Barry Allen in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

With science-based stories by the likes of Gardner Fox, John Broome, and Robert Kanigher, and the sleek angular artistic lines provided by Carmine Infantino, the Flash became one of the most popular and attractive books in the DC line throughout the Silver Age and indeed its impressive 246 issue run. The series ended with issue 350 and was continued a little more over a year into The Flash Volume 2.

Collected EditionsFlash Archives Vol. 1 (#105-108)Flash Omnibus (#105-132)Showcase Presents: The Flash vol. 1 (#105-111)Flash Archives Vol. 2 (#109-116)Flash Archives Vol. 3 (#117-124)Showcase Presents: The Flash vol. 2 (#120-140)Flash Archives Vol. 4 (#125-132)Flash Archives Vol. 5 (#133-141)Showcase Presents: The Flash vol. 3 (#141-161)Flash Archives Vol. 6 (#142-150)Showcase Presents: The Flash vol. 4 (#162-184)Absolute Green Lantern/Green Arrow (#217-219 & 226)Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash (#323-7, 329-336, 340-350)

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