Issue Description

"A Slight Touch Of Death!"

The Flash and Captain Invincible are falling to their deaths. Captain Invincible frantically slaps the Flash, mid-fall, to rouse him from his unconscious state. With less than a second before impact, the Flash slings Captain Invincible's cape around a flag pole, stopping their descent. The Flash races Captain Invincible to a secluded location, so that they may speak privately. Despite Captain Invincible's demonstration of his "cardio power", the Flash asks him to leave the apprehension of the Eradicator to the Flash. In a cave on the outskirts of Central City,Senator Creed Phillips tells Fiona Webb how he became the Eradicator.

Phillips' tough stance on crime garnered the attention of the underworld, which opted to assassinate Phillips. After abducting Phillips, his body was thrown into a hole, filled with stolen plutonium. Instead of killing Phillips, the plutonium endowed him with horrific power, while also raising a new personality culled from Phillips' subconscious. Creed's subconscious personality became the murderous vigilante, the Eradicator. The Flash continues to scour the city for any trace of Phillips, or his hostage, Fiona Webb. The Eradicator sends a package, for the Flash, to Central City police headquarters.

Police Captain, Darryl Frye, opens the package, then heads out to confront the Eradicator, as Captain Invincible. An explosion, generated by jewel thieves, imperils the lives of innocent bystanders, from the threat of falling glass. The Flash rescues the civilians, while continuing his search for Phillips. On Oa, the Guardians of the Universe dispatch a Green Lantern to Earth, to deliver urgent news to the Flash. Captain Invincible confronts the Eradicator. Captain Invincible's high intensity energy weapon proves futile against the Eradicator.

The Flash discovers the opened package, sent to him, by the Eradicator. The Eradicator seemingly disintegrates Captain Invincible. In reality, moving far faster than the naked eye can see, the Flash wrenched Captain Invincible out of the Eradicator's grasp, and also out of his costume. The Flash then filled the empty costume with super-fine dust, to create the illusion that Captain Invincible had been killed by the Eradicator. The effort has left the Flash too weak to immediately engage the Eradicator. Frye agrees to stay out of the coming fight. Green Lantern, Tomar Re, arrives on Earth with the Guardian's message for the Flash.

"Turnabout Is Deadly Play!"

Thanks to the regenerative effects of Professor Yatz's serum, the Creeper has survived a volley of point blank machine gun fire. After dragging himself out of the Charles River, the Creeper, as television news anchorman, Jack Ryder, returns to work. Ryder makes note of his boss, H.J. Hannigan, having a heated discussion with an elderly doctor. Ryder, as the Creeper, returns $20,000.00 to a Doctor Baker. The Creeper mistakenly believes the money was taken from Baker in return for mob "protection". In reality, the money was to be paid to Baker, for signing blank prescriptions. Baker contacts the mob boss, Wesley Winterborn III, to relay the Creeper's involvement.

Before the Creeper's investigation can reach Winterborn III, a hit is put out on Baker. The Creeper arrives too late to prevent the assassination attempt on Baker. The doctor, however, survives. The Creeper learns of the doctor's involvement with the mob. For failing to kill Baker, Winterborn III puts out a contract to asssassinate Tom "Thumbs" Tamblin. The Creeper prevents Tamblin's execution, then turns Tamblin over to the police. The officers, however, are working for Winterborn III. As soon as the Creeper has departed, the officers execute Tamblin. The Creeper, as Ryder, reports on Baker's connection to the mob, as well as Tamblin's execution. Hannigan's son is arrested, for trying to fill one of the fraudulent prescriptions.

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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