Issue Description

Sinestro's arrival on Earth cause the Green Lantern's power battery to discharge a yellow energy blast, while the Green Lantern is recharging his ring, rendering him unconscious. In Central City, Sinestro seeks out Paul Gambi, the tailor for the Flash's Rogues' Gallery. After stealing one of the Weather Wizard's costumes, Sinestro erases Gambi's knowledge of Sinestro's presence, and departs. Aware that Sinestro is on Earth, the Guardians Of The Universe attempt to contact the Green Lantern, who is still unconscious. In Central City, the Flash responds to the strange phenomena of every car's exhaust, in the city, coalescing into a smog screen. The Flash discovers that the culprit is the Weather Wizard, who has created cover for a robbery.

The Flash quickly disperses the smog, only to be distracted by the sudden appearance of the Weather Wizard's spare costume. Taking advantage of the moment, the Weather Wizard shapes the smog into a snake, which begins choking and crushing the life out of the Flash. By the time the Flash has dispersed the "smog snake", the Weather Wizard has escaped. Sinestro makes contact with the fleeing Weather Wizard, and carries him away to safety. Upon recovery, the Green Lantern quickly determines that Sinestro is on Earth, and tracks him down to Central City. In exchange for creating an impenetrable cloud cover over the Earth, to conceal his actions from the Guardian's scrutiny, Sinestro offers to aid the Weather Wizard in killing the Flash.

In pursuit of the Weather Wizard, the Flash encounters a passenger helicopter in distress. Generating a super-speed powered updraft of air, the Flash gets the helicopter's rotor blades spinning again, only to see them completely fly off. The Green Lantern arrives, just in the nick of time, to make the save. Sinestro launches the Weather Wizard's atmos-diffuser into orbit. The device collects, and projects, a shield of cosmic dust around the Earth, blocking it from the Guardian's view. True to his word, Sinestro uses his ring to handicap the Flash. The Flash tracks down the Weather Wizard's hidden lair, a cabin in the woods. The second the Flash enters the cabin, the Weather Wizard destroys the cabin, with the force of a tornado.

Having vibrated himself into the ground at the last second, the Flash escapes unscathed. The Flash is just about to take down the Weather Wizard, when he is distracted by several trees suddenly launching themselves into the air. The Weather Wizard takes advantage of that moment, by transforming himself into a cloud, and fleeing. Coming across the flying trees, the Green Lantern uses his ring to convert them into sawdust. The Flash closes on the Weather Wizard, only to be frozen in his tracks. Vibrating his molecules at super-speed, the Flash thaws himself out. As he does so, a huge mountain suddenly springs up, jeopardizing a city bus. With some assistance from the Green Lantern, the Flash is able to get the bus to safety.

The Weather Wizard hits the Flash with a lightning bolt. The instant it hits, the mountain crumbles. The Green Lantern notices a disguised Sinestro among the bus passengers, and takes him out. The Flash escapes the collapse of the mountain, while also apprehending the Weather Wizard. The Green Lantern learns that Sinestro has connected the Flash's heart to the core of the Earth. Whenever the Flash's heart rate speeds up, from his super-speed running, catastrophic effects follow in his wake. Had the Weather Wizard succeeded in killing the Flash, the world would have been destroyed when the Flash' heart stopped. The Green Lantern severs the Flash's link to the planet, then removes the Weather Wizard's screen around the Earth.

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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