Issue Description

Mirror Master steals Flash's legs—and his super speed!

The Mirror Master's Master Stroke!

Police Forensics Scientist Barry Allen has just completed Professor Dobill's Success Course. Allen's girlfriend, Picture News Reporter Iris West, meets him, on graduation day, to make plans for lunch. West makes it clear she'll be satisfied by nothing less than Allen graduating at the top of his class. Allen's mind, however, is focused more on the recent news of the Mirror Master's escape from prison. Unbeknownst to Allen, the Mirror Master is actually one of his classmates, in Dobill's success course.

Using Dobill's guiding principles of success, the Mirror Master has been enjoying his most successful crime spree ever. Unable to contain himself any longer, the Mirror Master uses the mirrors in his special glasses to place the entire class in a trance. Moving to the front of the room, the Mirror Master addresses the class, boasting of the details of his latest crime. Interrupted mid-robbery by a night watchman, the Mirror Master dodged the guard's gunfire, before subduing him with a mirror weapon.

Encountering the Flash during the getaway, the Mirror Master unveiled his newest mirror weapon. After a blinding flash, the Mirror Master's legs were, inexplicably, swapped with the Flash's. Now able to run at super-speed, the Mirror Master fled. Running along on his hands, the Flash is able to catch up with the Mirror Master, and surround him in a super-speed generated whirlwind. The Mirror Master makes a break for it, then doubles back and clocks the Flash, knocking him out.

Another blinding flash from his mirror weapon, restores the Mirror Master's legs to him. Finished boasting of his criminal prowess, the Mirror Master retakes his seat, and releases the class from their trance. Very quickly, Dobill, Allen, and the rest of the class, realize they've experienced an entire hour of lost time. Allen takes note that the classmate sitting on his left, really the Mirror Master, has an empty ashtray at his desk. The ashtray on Dobill's desk has four cigarette butts extinguished in it, the exact number Allen's classmate usually smokes during class.

Studying his classmate's face, Allen sees through his disguise, and recognizes him as the Mirror Master. Moving faster than the eye can see, Allen uses the Mirror Master's glasses to put the class back in a trance. Quickly dodging the Mirror Master's attack, Allen punches the Mirror Master into unconsciousness. For solving the mystery of the classes' trance, and capturing the notorious Mirror Master, Dobill graduates Allen at the top of his class. A fact West takes great delight in, during their lunch date.

Fatal Fingers Of The Flash!

Using his Cosmic Treadmill, the Flash journey's into the far future, to the day the Earth died. The Flash finds the Earth a barren wasteland, devoid of life. His scientific curiosity draws him to several pools of liquid metal. Removing his gloves, the Flash finds the metal to have the feel and consistency of Mercury. As the sun begins to nova, the Flash takes several photographs. Relaxing his inner vibrations, the Flash returns to the present.

As Police Forensics Scientist Barry Allen, the Flash had been dining with his girlfriend, Picture News Reporter, Iris West. It was there that West revealed that she had written an article on the end of the world, after interviewing astronomer Coblentz Stanton. Professor Stanton had determined the exact moment the Earth's sun would go nova, destroying the world. Allen offered West the Flash's aid, in getting pictures of the Earth's last moments.

Upon returning to the present, the Flash finds his gloves disintegrating. Touching a table in his laboratory causes it to decay in a matter of seconds. The Flash experiments with several objects, and gets the same results. Coming into contact with the pool of liquid metal, has given him the uncontrollable power to rapidly age anything he touches. En route to find help for his condition, the Flash encounters a police chase.

The Flash runs down the criminal's car, and slaps all four wheels. The tires become brittle, and shatter. When the first crook exits the car, the Flash slams him back with a super-speed generated blast of compressed air. Still moving at extreme velocity, the Flash heats the air enough to melt the asphalt around the second crook's feet, then rapidly cools it, adhering his shoes to the road.

The Flash takes out the final crook by running around a pear tree at super-speed, and drawing the pears into his wake. Charging the last crook standing, the Flash drops down low, allowing the pears to rush past him at high velocity, and batter the crook into unconsciousness. Crossing a bridge, the Flash spies two young boys struggling in the river's rapids.

The Flash dives in, and has the boys grab his legs, as he swims them back to shore. After chastising the boys for not wearing life jackets, the Flash finally makes it to the research institute. The scientists there are baffled by the Flash's condition. Acting as if the Flash had been poisoned, the scientists have the Flash decay a bag of oats, then consume them. The decaying oats create an aging anti-toxin in the Flash's bloodstream, curing him of his rapid aging touch. In gratitude for procuring the photographs for her, West offers to take the Flash to 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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