Issue Description

"Collision Course With Disaster!"

While the Flash and Kid Flash exercise at super-human speed, Picture News reporter, Iris West, expresses her concerns for her houseguest, Stacy Conwell. At that moment, Conwell, as if in a trance, bears witness to a traffic accident, in Central City. The Flash, in his guise as police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, sees a photograph of Conwell, at the scene of the accident. Returning home, Allen speaks with West, who has recovered torn pages from Conwell's diary, from the trash. In the hopes of discerning the whole story, West has sent Kid Flash off after the trash collector, to retrieve any more pages from the diary. Kid Flash catches up with the truck, after it has deposited it's load in the incinerator.

At super-human speed, Kid Flash sifts through Central City's garbage, inside the incinerator, retrieving the diary pages before they are destroyed. From her writings, it appears Conwell is being haunted by the ghost of her sister, Sarah, who died in an automobile collision. Keeping a watchful eye on Conwell, the Flash and Kid Flash follow her to the scene of another automobile accident. Thanks to the presence of the Scarlet Speedsters, disaster is averted on the interstate, though Kid Flash sprains his ankle. The Flash, as Allen, reveals to Conwell that she isn't being haunted by a her sister's ghost. It is, in fact, Conwell herself who has been sleepwalking to all these accident scenes. Under hypnosis, Conwell reveals that she saw an alien ship crash, in the woods.

The ship broadcast a distress signal directly into Conwell's brain. Ever since that moment, Conwell gained a precognitive ability to predict vehicular accidents, as well as a compulsion to bear witness to them. Allen, as the Flash, investigates the alien crash site. The Flash, too, receives the alien distress signal, and immediately races off to Canada. There, the Flash uses his super-human speed to generate enough heat friction to de-ice a runway, allowing a small plane to land safely. Returning to the alien crash site, the Flash receives the distress signal again. Realizing that the robot craft itself is about to explode, the Flash buries it deep beneath the ground, rendering it's detonation harmless. The automated distress signal goes silent in Conwell's brain, returning her to normal.

"The Floods Will Come!"

Having thwarted two of the six "Holy" tasks of the Ravagers of Olys, the Green Lantern departs the Vivarium, intent on stopping a third. One of the Vivarium's inhabitants, an alien creature known as an "Ayrie" travels with the Green Lantern. Though the tiny creature is incapable of speech, the Green Lantern, nonetheless, welcomes the company. The Green Lantern dubs the creature "Itty". Spying a comet about to impact with the Vivarium, the Green Lantern deflects it with his power ring. After recharging his power ring, the Green Lantern tracks the Ravagers of Olys to the planet, Archos.

With a ravager ship already in orbit over the planet, the Green Lantern investigates what new peril the Ravagers have instigated. On the planet's surface, the Green Lantern sees a massive tidal wave crashing down on the primitive inhabitants of Archos. The Green Lantern bars the wave with a power ring constructed dam of Archos soil. Quickly, the Green Lantern determines that the water level of Archos is rapidly rising, threatening the entire planet's population. The Green Lantern boards the Ravager's ship, to confront his foes. A blue-ape like creature closes on the Green Lantern.

The Green Lantern is just about to blast his adversary with a power ring beam, Itty encircles his ring. Itty attracts the Green Lantern's eye to a projector. Realizing the creature is a hologram, the Green Lantern walks through it, discovering a large mirror behind it. Had the Green Lantern unleashed the full force of his power beam, it's energy would have been redirected back at him. The Green Lantern realizes the robot ship is controlling the comet that nearly hit the Vivarium. The same comet that has created the cataclysm on Archos. Using the Olys mirror to repel the lingering comet trail encircling Archos, the Green Lantern restores the planet to normal.

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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