Issue Description

"The Slowest Man On Earth"

While serving his wife, Picture News reporter, Iris West, breakfast in bed, police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, begins shaking uncontrollably. Allen decides to investigate his inexplicable condition, as the Flash. Simultaneously, in Blue Valley, Wally West also begins shaking uncontrollably. He too, decides to investigate his condition, as Kid Flash. Their speed-sensitive bodies caught in a vibration-stream, the Scarlet Speedsters trace the energy signature back to a strange device, planted in a remote field. Arriving at virtually the same instant, from different directions, the Scarlet Speedsters collide into one another. Upon recovery, though, only the Flash remains. At that moment, the Turtle contemplates the plan he's set in motion.

Using his centrifugal booster, the Turtle intends to speed up the rotation of the Earth, reversing his chronically slow metabolism. The moment the Flash touches the centrifugal booster, it sinks into the ground. The Flash suddenly vanishes, revealing Kid Flash in his place. Kid Flash races to Central City, to consult with the Flash. En route, he encounters an impossible tidal wave, jeopardizing the town of Bergville. Borrowing a shovel from a nearby hardware store, Kid Flash hastily erects a wall to dam the wave. Seconds after Kid Flash arrives at the Allen household, he vanishes, only to have the Flash suddenly reappear. A news bulletin reveals world wide catastrophes, occurring on account of the planet's accelerated rotation.

The Flash races to the arctic to slow down the encroachment of a glacier. Once more, the Flash disappears, leaving Kid Flash in his place. Finally realizing that their molecules were fused together, when they crashed into one another, the Scarlet Speedsters separate themselves. Returning to the site where they discovered the centrifugal booster, the Scarlet Speedsters quickly unearth it. Then, they destroy the device. Meanwhile, having regained his normal metabolism, the Turtle robs a bank. When the Scarlet Speedsters close on him, the Turtle protects himself by hiding within his shell. Racing around the Turtle, the Flash is surprised when the shell's aerodynamic design launches it into the air. The Flash hurls Kid Flash at the Turtle, bringing the villain down.

Duel For A Death-List!

Hal Jordan is en route to Arizona, in pursuit of a potential job prospect, when he spies the flash of an explosion. After charging his power ring, Jordan investigates, as the Green Lantern. At the site of an unfinished skyscraper, the Green Lantern discovers a dying alien. The alien passes the Green Lantern a list, before being gunned down. The Green Lantern engages the alien's murderer. Each time the Green Lantern lashes out with his power beam, the killer teleports away, while simultaneously blasting the Green Lantern. The Green Lantern places the murder victim in a protective force field, in Earth's orbit.

The Green Lantern then beams the skyscraper into orbit as well. Having eliminated the needed mass for the murderer's teleportation device to home in on, the killer is left with no means of transportation. The Green Lantern mercilessly beats the alien killer down with his bare hands. Defeated, the alien killer commits suicide. Having translated the list, Green Lantern is disturbed to discover that it is a list of five names, all marked for death. Four of the names have been crossed off. The remaining name on the list, is the Green Lantern's own.

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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