Issue Description

Gail Manners, daughter of world famous scientist-explorer, Doctor Robert Manners, lies in a coma. Gail had been suffering headaches, brought on by premonitions. After predicting the collapse of a local discotheque, Gail collapsed. Kid Flash rushed Gail to the hospital. Kid Flash, as Wally West, waits for news on Gail's condition, at the hospital. Doctor Manners inquires as to Kid Flash's whereabouts. Doctor Manners has a theory regarding his daughter's coma, but needs Kid Flash's help to test said theory.

Though too late to prevent a car collision with a fuel truck, the Flash rescues both drivers before they can come to any harm. The Flash generates a powerful updraft to carry the flames away from the wreckage, then creates a vacuum to extinguish them. The Flash is just about to stamp out the pools of flaming oil, on the street, when Kid Flash beats him to it. The two converse at super-human speed, as Kid Flash brings the Flash up to date on the Manners situation.

Years ago, the Manners, along with the Flash, Kid Flash, and Picture News reporter, Iris West, had been on an expedition to South America. Inexplicably, the violent tremors of an earthquake hurled the expedition party back in time. Gail Manners psychic abilities began to manifest, shorty after returning to the present. Doctor Manners believes that by returning to the exact location of his previous expedition, as well as traveling back into the past, a solution to his daughter's coma can be found.

The Flash agrees to accompany Kid Flash. Upon reaching the South American coastline, the Flash uses his cosmic treadmill to transport their entire ship, and all it's crew, back into the prehistoric past. Almost immediately, the ship is attacked by an Alzadasaurus. While Kid Flash pummels the creature's head, the Flash kicks up a powerful undertow that pushes the creature back out to sea. Kid Flash is thrown into the seabed, when the dinosaur dives beneath the waves.

Noticing that Kid Flash is nowhere to be seen, the Flash dives back below the surface, and digs Kid Flash out of the mire. Back on board the ship, the group is relieved to see Gail come out of her coma. The Flash and Kid Flash do some scouting. During their travels through the primeval landscape, they bear witness to several species of dinosaurs, employing advanced problem solving techniques, to better their lives. When the two heroes pause to discuss the situation, they're ambushed by Gryk-5, a reptilian alien.

Gryk-5 attempts to vaporize the Scarlet Speedsters, but they merely vibrate their molecules into intangibility, and slip beneath the ground. Coming up behind Gryk-5, the Flash and Kid Flash spin him around at high velocity. Gryk-5 teleports out of the speedsters' grip. Searching in ever widening circles, the Scarlet Speedsters track Gryk-5 back to the aliens' base camp, hidden within a dormant volcano. Using their Remma device, the aliens are boosting the dinosaurs' natural evolutionary growth, so that they remain the dominant species of the Earth.

While the Flash distracts the aliens into attacking him, Kid Flash runs around the volcano, generating enough vibratory force to cause an eruption. The explosive release of magma destroys the Remma device. The aliens depart the Earth in failure. Gail speculates that the radiation, given off by the Remma device, endowed her with psychic abilities, while also being responsible for her coma. With the mystery solved, the Flash uses his cosmic treadmill to return everyone to the present.

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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