Issue Description

"Make Way For The Speed-Demons!"

The Flash stops a speeding car. Three men step out of the car, and challenge the Flash to a race. All are under hypnosis, and state they will die if the Flash does not race them. At the library, the Flash learns the identity of each man. The race car driver, Don Blake, the speed boat captain, Frank Hobbs, and the test pilot, John Quint. Each man holds a speed record with his chosen conveyance. The Flash meets Blake on the salt flats outside Central City. Impossibly, Blake is able to keep pace with the Flash. Spying an old prospector, dying of thirst, the Flash breaks off from the race.

Using a cactus for a drill, the Flash brings up a fountain from an underground spring. Rejoining the race, a mere second later, the Flash is beaten when Blake suddenly blows past him. Blake vanishes in a burst of light. The Flash meets Hobbs out in the Pacific Ocean. Equally impossibly, Hobbs, too is able to keep pace with the Flash. When their combined wake disrupts the launch of a polaris missile, the Flash breaks from the race to correct the missile's course. Resuming the race almost to the second he diverted, the Flash is amazed when he is beaten again. Hobbs, too, disappears in a burst of light.

Joining Quint, high in the sky, the Flash runs along ice crystals in the clouds to keep pace with Quint. Incredibly, Quint pulls ahead, capturing the Flash in his jet's slipstream. Quint puts his jet into a nosedive, pulling up at the last second, to hurl the Flash into the ground. The Flash vibrates his molecules to incorporeality, so that he passes harmlessly through the ground. Quint disappears in a burst of light, only to reappear, in a deserted concrete bunker, as Doctor Light. Doctor Light has been the Flash's true opponent in each of the three races.

Each of Doctor Light's vehicles were equipped with technology to absorb the Flash's super-speed, allowing Doctor Light to surge ahead in each race. In effect, the Flash was running against his own super-speed. Having collected the Flash's super-speed energy, Doctor Light charges up the entire structure of the bunker, and waits for the Flash to arrive. The Flash races around the bunker, until the pressurized force he's created, destroys the bunker, thwarting Doctor Light's plan to slay the Justice League of America. Unbeknownst to Doctor Light, the Flash outraced Doctor Light back to his bunker, after the final race, and learned of Doctor Light's scheme, and how best to thwart it.

"Doomsday... Minus Ten Minutes!"

The Green Lantern is attacked by an insect-like alien, Gh=Dro, while recharging his power ring. After a short battle, Gh=Dro steals the power battery, and flees into the woods. The Green Lantern pursues Gh=Dro, losing the alien in the forest. Suddenly, the Green Lantern comes across his power battery. As soon as he reaches for it, Gh=Dro ambushes him. After another short fight, the Green Lantern feigns unconsciousness. Gh=Dro picks up the Green Lantern, but as soon as the pair are close enough to the power battery, the Green Lantern dives for it. After recharging his ring, the Green Lantern blasts Gh=Dro. The alien insect rises up into the sky, eventually reaching escape velocity. With it's propulsion belt fully charged, Gh=Dro heads for home.

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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