Issue Description

"Flashing Wheels!"

Police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, comes to the Roller Derby Stadium, to meet his wife, Picture News reporter, Iris West. To Allen's horror, he sees West competing in the roller derby. West is brutally throw over the rail by "Kolossal"Kate Krasher, the roller derby's newest sensation. Moments before West loses consciousness, she sees a horrific vision of Krasher, who appears alien and monstrous. West confides in Allen what she saw, but Allen brushes away West's concerns as a nightmare. As Allen leaves work, the next night, Central City's business district is struck by an earthquake.

Allen goes into action, as the Flash. One minute after the earthquake has struck, the Flash has saved countless lives. At the Science Institute, the Flash learns that the epicenter of the earthquake is directly underneath the Roller Derby Stadium. Poking around the stadium, after hours, the Flash notices that the roller skates are all giving off a feint glow of radiation. A closer look reveals alien machinery inside the skates. Krasher clubs the Flash from behind. Moments before the Flash loses consciousness, he, too, sees Krasher as an alien horror.

The Flash awakens, suspended over the stadium floor, bound tightly in what Krasher refers to as a "Strangling Sheath". Krasher confirms that she is, in fact, an alien creature, sent to Earth to destroy it. Krasher's race intends to manufacture a new world to live upon, out of the raw material of the Earth. To that end, Krasher has built a massive Energi-Coil, beneath the roller derby stadium, that stretches down into the Earth's core. Unbeknownst to the other roller derby competitors, the skates they wear are really power chargers, designed to activate the coil, with every revolution around the rink.

Vibrating at super-human speed, the Flash breaks free from the Strangling Sheath. Strapping on a pair of skates, the Flash begins racing counter-clockwise to Krasher, in the hopes of shutting down the Energi-Coil. Suddenly, Krasher reverses direction, and grabs ahold of the Flash as he races past her. When the Energi-Coil fully activates, the Flash realizes Krasher has tricked him. Throwing ten pairs of "skates" on the rink, the Flash keeps them all moving at super-human speed, in the opposite direction, to shut down the Energi-Coil. Krasher lunges for the the Flash, but trips over the speeding skates. With the Earth saved, the Flash turns Krasher over to the authorities.

"The Rival Flash!"

This story was originally published in Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949). A plot synopsis for this story can be found at the link.

"Is This Poison Legal?"

Returning to Blue Valley, after visiting friends at a Hippie commune known as "The Peace Farm", Kid Flash runs into trouble in Greenvale. Two children beg Kid Flash to aid their sick mother. Kid Flash quickly discovers that the children's mother has already died. At the mother's funeral, Jeremy, a Hippie from the Peace Farm, accuses Alex Sampson, the local grocer, of murder. Jeremy believes the chemicals Sampson uses at his chicken farms are poisoning the people of Greenvale. Jeremy breaks into one of Sampson's chicken farms, in search of evidence of Sampson's wrongdoing.

Sampson tries to gun Jeremy down, but Kid Flash rescues him, and spirits him away. Kid Flash has Jeremy, and the Peace Farm Hippies, park trucks in front of Sampson's grocery store. Then they begin to hand out food. Sampson orders the sheriff to arrest them, but the sheriff can't take legal action until Sampson's grocery actually opens for the day. While Sampson is distracted by the Hippies, Kid Flash brings a State Inspector down to investigate Sampson's chicken farms. Finding evidence of wrongdoing, the State Inspector places Sampson under arrest.

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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