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It’s time for yet another Chronicles and this time we’re featuring the Silver Age Flash! If you’re new to the Chronicles series, DC wisely decided to collect the earliest issues of their big heroes in chronological order. Previous entries included Superman, Batman and Silver Age Green Lantern and it is a really cool thing to read these old stories in order. I guess Barry Allen is the most important Flash right now in DC so he’s the logical next choice to make his Chronicle Debut. Robert Kanigher writes the intro story of all the Showcase issues, while John Broome wrote all the rest. Carmine Infantino covered all art duties for these stories.
-Showcase #4- This comic ushered in the Silver Age of Comics. This was the first time a character had been reimagined, as there was a Golden Age Flash that was popular in the 30’s and 40’s. This had a cover date of October 1956. There are two stories here, the first one being 12 pages and the second one being 10. The first story gives a really brief origin story (struck by lightening and doused with chemicals, giving him his power) before the Flash takes on the Turtle, the slowest criminal. The villain is about as terrifying as you’d imagine. The second story features a time traveler getting shot into the future as punishment but he ends up in the past instead. Flash catches the guy and runs fast enough to break the time barrier and return the criminal back to where he belongs. As first appearances go I’ve seen worse. It shows what the Flash does, run very fast, and how he can stop villains that way.
-Showcase #8- I guess Flash wasn’t a recurring character in Showcase, as his next appearance came 8 months later in June of 1957. The intro story shows Flash dealing with a trio of magicians that he handles in short order. The second story debuts a true all-time great Flash rogue; Captain Cold. He calls Flash his nemesis right away despite the two never having met before. Cold uses his cold gun to illicit hallucinations which I don’t really understand. His theory is that if heat can cause you to go crazy, so can cold. Flash stops him by running around him real quickly. Through four stories we’ve seen some pretty one-dimensional work from Flash.
-Showcase #13- The first story was a fun one where Flash runs around the world in 80 minutes, stopping all sorts of problems but getting home before his date with Iris. The second story shows the Flash taking on a man who has mastered the elements and the world is his if he can get rid of the Flash. Why not just move to a different town? The first one was a genuinely fun tale, though the second issue featured a pretty weak villain.
-Showcase #14- The Flash finds himself stopping evil-doers from another dimension who grow from Lilliputians to giants in seconds and want to take over the world! Luckily the fastest man alive is there to run by them and cause their UFO’s to explode (really!) and run back to our dimension. The second story features the return of Elemental Man! Only now he is called Dr. Alchemy! He’s no less lame and he’s handled in short order by the Flash.
-The Flash #105- The Flash finally runs into his own solo title, though it picked up from #104 of Flash, which originally ended in February of 1949. It’s amazing how back then they’d let 10 years pass and still retain the original numbering while now they run a title for 16 issues before starting a new #1. We start this off with a thud as some diamond dude from an ancient time makes his way back to present Luckily Flash is able to subdue him with a single punch. Flash’s origin is represented here for new readers to the book. The second story introduced The Mirror Master, one of Flash’s most prominent enemies. His powers aren’t as well-defined here, as he just makes mirror images of things and Flash deduces he can stop him by turning off the lights. He’d get much more fearsome in the years to come.
-The Flash #106- Two Flash Rogue’s make their first appearance here. First is Gorilla Grodd, who uses his mind control powers to try and take over the Gorilla World from Solovar. Flash runs around Grodd and gets him to lose his mind powers, though that’s not the last of him. We end this collection with the Pied Piper, who uses his pipe to cause a tsunami to get the Flash but the Flash knocks him out with his super-speed.
-The Bottom Line- I really enjoyed reading this collection. Let’s be honest, the stories are pretty one dimensional (Flash uses his speed and nothing else to defeat his villains) and although some of the villains are very weak there are characters here that are still giving Flash trouble to this day which shows how great these characters were. I think I really enjoyed this more than any of the Superman and Batman Chronicles. The fact that they are a series of 12-15 page stories makes them easy to get through but not short enough to make them seem rushed. The art was very good for an early Silver Age book and for $15 this is an easy recommendation.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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