Issue Description

Featuring the first appearance of the Top! Fashion designer Anton Previn gives Iris a makeover while Flash battles a new villain.

Beware The Atomic Grenade!

Arriving in Central City, world famous fashion designer, Anton Previn. contacts his old friend, police forensics scientist, Barry Allen. After Allen secures Previn's latest designs, in a safe at police headquarters, the two men spend the day together, rekindling their friendship. Allen is excited to introduce Previn to his girlfriend, reporter Iris West. Before Allen gets the chance to introduce Previn, West tells Allen about Central City's newest super-criminal, the Top. After robbing the Wimbell's Department Store payroll, the Top had found himself being pursued by a crowd of law-abiding citizens. Hurling a top that entangled his pursuers with confetti-like steel streamers, the Top escaped.

After Allen introduces Previn to West, Allen decides to go after the Top, as the Flash. West and Previn become fast friends. Previn even offers to give West a makeover, to make her more desirable to Allen. Intercepting a police radio bulletin, the Flash races to the site of a robbery in progress. A robbery being pulled off by the Top. The Flash hangs back to allow Central City's Police Department to arrest the Top. The Top covers his escape with a top-shaped smoke grenade. The Flash races through the smoke, but the Top is ready for him. Spinning at incredible velocity, the Top proves impossible to grab. When the Flash tries, he is flung down, hard, to the ground.

With the Flash unconscious, the Top makes good his escape. Back in his secret lair, the Top reflects on his origin. As a young boy, Roscoe Dillon discovered some wooden tops, in an old box, tucked away in the attic. Dillon became fascinated by tops, eschewing all other activities in favor of spinning tops. As an adult, Dillon drifted into a life of crime. After his second arrest, Dillon decided to seek out a new modus operandi. Returning to his boyhood obsession, Dillon began researching tops. After learning how to spin as fast as a top, Dillon found that, inexplicably, the high velocity spinning expanded his intellect. After the success of his smaller crimes, the Top decides to go for his big score.

Interrupting the television and radio broadcasts across the entire world, the Top threatens to destroy half the planet, with an atomic grenade top, unless his is recognized as the sole ruler of the Earth. Vibrating at super-human speed, the Flash tracks the Top's broadcast frequency back to his secret lair. The Top incapacitates the Flash with a bolo top. The Top spins his atomic grenade, giving the world a mere 10 hours to comply with his demands. The Flash awakes to find himself trapped inside the atomic grenade, pinned to it's walls by centrifugal force. Vibrating his molecules into intangibility, the Flash escapes from within the top.

To keep the top from slowing down, the Flash races around it at super-speed. Increasing his speed, the Flash builds up a mass of compressed air beneath the top, ultimately launching it into orbit. The Flash catches up with the Top on the northern coast of Africa. The Flash upends the Top, and spins him so fast that he begins to drill down into the Earth. After hitting oil, the Top is thrown back to the surface, The Flash carries the Top back to Central City, and jail. West unveils her new look to Allen, who is struck speechless by her beauty. Misinterpreting his silence for disapproval, West resumes her former hair style, and overall look.

The Face Behind The Mask!

Pop idol Silver Mask is mobbed by his adoring fans, at a train station in Blue Valley. Kid Flash comes to his rescue, and whisks the teen heartthrob to his hotel. The two teens are exchanging autographs, when Silver Mask's manager, Harry, enters the room. All at once, Silver Mask's mood seems to change. Though Kid Flash departs, he is troubled by Silver Mask's seeming fear of his manager. Harry tells Silver Mask that he's planning a robbery, Silver Mask threatens to go to the police, but Harry pulls a gun on him. Harry reminds Silver Mask that they are both members of the criminal gang, the Zulu Kings.

Though Silver Mask had joined their ranks reluctantly, once in there was no getting out. Silver Mask thought he had escaped the Zulu Kings, when he began his career as a pop singer. Harry, though, had pulled a heist in a club Silver Mask was performing in. Harry saw Silver Mask's unveiled face, and recognized him as Eddie Fisher, a fellow Zulu King. From that moment onward, Harry blackmailed his way into becoming Silver Mask's manager. In the hopes that some one will come to his aid, Silver Mask changes the lyrics of one of his songs, and emphasizes certain key words while singing it.

Kid Flash, as Wally West, is in the audience, and picks up on the lyric alteration. At home, West decodes Silver Mask's secret plea. West races out to help Silver Mask, as Kid Flash. Silver Mask is set to perform at the estate of the very wealthy Mrs. Carter Wright. Harry has called in the other Zulu Kings to serve as Silver Mask's band, and to assist with the robbery. The moment the Zulu Kings make their move, Kid Flash arrives. Dodging a hail of bullets, the Fastest Boy On Earth quickly takes down the gang. Silver Mask comes clean about his criminal past, and learns that his fans love him all the same.

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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