Issue Description

All across the world, atomic energy ceases to exist. Wally West joins his mentor, police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, in Central City. Incredibly, Allen has invented a time machine. Using his "cosmic treadmill", Allen, as the Flash traveled into the future. In the year 2287, the Flash finds humanity on the verge of being wiped out by alien invaders. Moving faster than the eye can see, the Flash learns that the aliens, known as the Dokris, have sent a radiation absorbing "hive" back into Earth's distant past. With the hive rendering all atomic elements inert, mankind can never develop atomic energy, or atomic weapons.

Without their atomic weapons, the humans of the future have no way of defending themselves from the Dokris. The Flash sends West, as Kid Flash, back to the year 100,842,246 B.C. Kid Flash's mission is to find the Dokris hive, and destroy it. Meanwhile, the Flash returns to the year 2287 to aid humanity against the Dokris. Upon arriving in the past, Kid Flash encounters a giant, web-spinning ant, which has entangled a human-headed bird. Kid Flash frees the strange bird-creature, then tangles the ant up in it's own web. Kid Flash begins his hunt for the hive. Suddenly, Kid Flash is attacked by a giant bee, which stings him, and carries him into the sky.

Spying a nest of the bird-creatures, Kid Flash begins vibrating at super-human speed, to drive the bee lower. As Kid Flash had hoped, the bird-creatures come to his rescue. Despite the language barrier, Kid Flash is able to convey to the bird-creatures how important it is to him to find the hive. Flying off in multiple directions, the bird-creatures join the search. Kid Flash is just about to join the hunt, when the delayed effects of the bee's stinger paralyzes him. In the year 2287, the Dokris have ferreted out the location of a large concentration of humans. The Flash tracks the humans to an abandoned series of caves, once known as "Colossal Caverns".

The Flash convinces the men hiding there that soon their weapons will be functional again. The Flash lures the Dokris hunters into an old monorail tunnel, then seals them inside. One Dokris hunter comes up from the rear and floors the Flash with a radiation blast. After telepathically probing the Flash's mind, the Dokris leader, Mynher, offers the Flash the opportunity to join the invaders. When the Flash refuses, he is imprisoned in a cell, one which continues to bombard him with the enervating radiation. The Flash keeps pulling the trigger on an atomic pistol, anticipating the moment when Kid Flash completes his assignment.

At last, the atomic pistol discharges, blowing a large hole in the cell wall. It takes every last shred of strength the Flash has left to stagger out of the cell. Once free of the radiation field, the Flash's super-speed returns. A power he puts to good use, battling against the Dokris. Joined by the human resistance fighters, now armed with fully functional atomic pistols, the Flash is able to drive the Dokris off Earth. Returning to the present, the Flash learns the details of Kid Flash's mission. Having discovered the hive, the bird-creatures provided an antidote to the bee's paralytic stinger. Once back on his feet, Kid Flash destroyed the Dokris hive, restoring atomic energy across history. The crisis past, the Flash and Kid Flash, as Allen and West, meet up with reporter Iris West, for dinner.

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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