Issue Description

The Charge Of The Electric Gang!

Racing into a bank robbery in progress, the Flash is startled to find the tellers, guards, and customers all paralyzed. The Flash is confronted by a trio of bank robbers, all of whom seem to be composed of living electricity. Maneuvering around their electrical barrage, the Flash divests the Electric Gang of their stolen loot. After a second electrical assault fails, the Electric Gang completely converts their bodies into pure electricity, and escapes through the phone lines. The bank security guard mentions a prior encounter the Flash had with the Electric Gang. The Flash has no recollection of it. Unnoticed by the Flash, as he speaks with the guard, Samuel Scudder, the notorious Mirror Master, enters the bank to make a, legal, withdrawal. The Flash, as police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, meets his wife, Picture News Reporter, Iris West, for lunch.

West confirms that Allen did, indeed, lose a battle to the Electric Gang several days ago. After West leaves for work, Allen spies her riding in the back of a taxi cab. Allen follows, as the Flash. Moving faster than the eye can see, the Flash tails West to the Central City Medical Center. Unbeknownst to either the Flash, or West, the clouds above them mask the arrival of the Weather Wizard. Conferring with a doctor, the Flash learns that the Electric Gang powers themselves with the natural electrical aura of their victims. The sudden absorption of the body's natural electric charge temporarily paralyzes the body. West's investigative research into the Electric Gang's robberies has led to a connection to the Ace Floor Cleaning Company. Their company provided floor cleaning services to each of the crime scenes the day prior to the Electric Gang's robberies.

West surreptitiously watches the cleaning crew do the floors at the Soames Stamp Store. With her attention riveted on the cleaning crew she suspects to be the Electric Gang, West completely misses the figure of Captain Boomerang, as he bounds across the rooftops. Moving so fast as to be invisible, the Flash continues to stalk West. Wondering why she would keep her visit to the doctor a secret from him, the Flash determines that West must be pregnant. West returns to the Soames Stamp Store, just in time to encounter the Electric Gang, mid-robbery. With a single step, West short-circuits the Electric Gang, revealing them to, in fact, be the Ace Floor Cleaning Company crew. Still carrying enough of charge to be threat, the Electric Gang fire on West. The Flash rescues West.

Moving so fast his feet never actually touch the floor, the Flash is immune to the Electric Gang's charge. They themselves, however, are not, as the Flash proves by re-directing their charge back into them. West learned that, as the Ace Floor Cleaning Company crew, the Electric Gang laid down a special chemical coating on the floors, which allowed them to absorb their victim's body electricity. West began visiting a doctor, to receive special shock treatments, that would allow her to negate the Electric Gang's electrical fields. West actually revealed all of this to the Flash before but, as with his first encounter with the Electric Gang, the Flash has no recollection of any of it. Meanwhile, in a warehouse across the street, the Mirror Master, the Weather Wizard and Captain Boomerang, are joined by their fellow Rogues, Captain Cold, Heat Wave and the Trickster. The Rogues' Gallery has come together to mourn the death of one of their own.

"All Creatures Great And Small!"

Having thwarted the schemes of the Ravagers of Olys four times, the Green Lantern pursues them to Earth. One of the Ravagers leaves their ship, outfitted with a jet pack. As the Ravager flies low over a hidden valley in India, he releases a cloud of dust. The Green Lantern attacks the Ravager of Olys. After a savage fist fight, the Green Lantern mercilessly beats the Ravage of Olys into unconsciousness. Standing victorious over his opponent, the Green Lantern is attacked by a giant fly. Using his power ring, the Green Lantern creates an energy construct of a spider, to deal with the fly. After recharging his ring, the Green Lantern investigates the effects of the Ravager's dust on the valley.

The Green Lantern sees a monstrous flea menacing a miniaturized elephant, and a mammoth tick terrorizing a tiny tiger. After rescuing the imperiled animals, the Green Lantern seals off the valley, to keep the monstrous insects from escaping. Using his power ring, the Green Lantern triggers a torrential downpour. With the rain washing the dust away, the effects on the valley's inhabitants are reversed. The Green Lantern blasts the jet pack off the Ravager, as he attempts to flee back into space. With the Ravager his prisoner, the Green Lantern forces his alien foe to reveal their next target. The Ravager of Olys proclaims that mankind, itself, is their next target.

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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