Issue Description

"Flash--This Is Your Death!"

Police receive word that a bomb may have been planted on a transport carrying Captain Boomerang. The notorious criminal is placed in a holding cell, while the transport is checked out. Police forensic scientist, Barry Allen, advises the officers not to remove Captain Boomerang's straitjacket, earning the villain's ire. As part of his escape plan, Captain Boomerang had seeded every jail cell in Central City with a hidden boomerang. Now, he uses that boomerang to cut himself free of his restraints, and don his criminal costume. Under cover of smoke, Captain Boomerang flees the station.

Before he leaves, though, he takes time out to attack Allen. The moment the boomerang strikes Allen, the police scientist disappears. Unbeknownst to Captain Boomerang, Allen is, secretly, the Flash, and uses his super-speed to escape injury. Allen, as the Flash, confronts Captain Boomerang outside the police station. The Flash generates hurricane force winds that blow Captain Boomerang along in front of him. Angling his body into the shape of a boomerang, Captain Boomerang becomes aerodynamic and is launched into the sky by the Flash's gale force winds.

Upon his return, Captain Boomerang slams into the Flash, knocking him unconscious. Captain Boomerang's father, the small time crook, "Aussie Green", joins his son to witness the Flash's demise. Frozen rigid with paralysis, the Flash is bent into the shape of a boomerang, then launched into a nightmarish dimension. The Flash merely waits to boomerang back to Captain Boomerang, easily navigating the horrors of the terrifying dimension without incident. At the sight of his foe, Captain Boomerang grabs his father and launches himself into the sky. The Flash generates a water spout, at super-human speed, and brings the two crooks back down to the ground, then carries them to jail.

"My Ring... My Enemy!"

Having rescued a young cliff climber from certain death, the Green Lantern harshly chastises the woman for ever having left the kitchen. After recharging his ring, the Green Lantern violently kicks his power battery away in disgust. Spying a helicopter in distress, the Green Lantern uses his power ring to bring it down safely. As soon as the rangers have exited the craft to thank the Green Lantern, the Emerald Gladiator belts one of them, and criticizes them for taking flight without properly checking the vehicle. The Green Lantern is informed that a family of campers are trapped within a forest fire.

Upon arriving on the scene, the Green Lantern finds a group of rangers standing around a disabled armored car, it's occupants unconscious. Belittling the rangers' competency, the Green Lantern begins a sweep of the forest. He quickly runs across a small prop plane being consumed by the flames. The Green Lantern next encounters a group of men, who clearly don't want his assistance in escaping the fire. It turns out the men are carrying stolen diamonds, and are the likely suspects in the armored car robbery.

After turning the thieves over to the rangers, the Green Lantern gets into an altercation with a ranger, for mouthing off to him. The Green Lantern savagely beats the ranger, nearly killing him. A moment of clarity washes over the Green Lantern, and he realizes that every time he uses his ring, he is compelled to do violence. Possibly the after effect of his exposure to a recent energy phenomena. Unfortunately, the family of campers is still lost in the forest fire, and the Green Lantern's power ring is the only possible way to rescue them.

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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