By John Broome, Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2297-0
The second Flash triggered the Silver Age of comics and, for the first ten years or so, in terms of creative quality and sheer originality it was always the book to watch. Following his debut in Showcase #4 (October 1956) police scientist Barry Allen – transformed by an accidental lightning strike and chemical bath into a human thunderbolt of unparalleled velocity and ingenuity – was characteristically slow in winning his own title but finally after three more trial issues finally stood on his own wing-tipped feet in The Flash #105 (February-March 1959). He never looked back and by the time of this third collection’s contents – issues #141-161of his own hard-won title the Scarlet Speedster was an undisputed icon of the apparently unstoppable Silver Age of superheroes.
The comic-book had gelled into a comfortable pattern of two short tales per issue leavened with semi-regular book-length thrillers. This delightful black and white recollection begins with a perfect example of the former from Flash #141 (December 1963). The majority of adventures were still produced by globetrotting scripter John Broome and the increasingly stylised and innovative art-team of Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella, and ‘Mystery of the Flash’s Third Identity’ saw them at their very best in a wittily absorbing super-villain yarn featuring the Top.
In another clever piece of internal comicbook logic, Broome posited that Flash’s foes looked so good because of they had their own underworld bespoke tailor – and armourer. This tale introduced Paul Gambi (an editorial in-joke acknowledging the dedicated contributions of über-fan and letter-writer Paul Gambaccini), setting the Monarch of Motion on the tailor’s tail in an enticing piece of fluff that was neatly balanced by ‘Slowdown in Time’, a canny, enthralling science fiction lesson in relativity featuring that most literal absent-minded professor Ira West, Barry’s prospective father-in- law and a genius who had casually deduced the true identity of the Flash…
Gardner Fox scripted the mile-a-minute romp ‘Perilous Pursuit of the Trickster!’ whilst Broome blended legal loopholes and alien invasions to perplex the Scarlet Speedster with the ‘Puzzle of the Phantom Plunderers!’ before issue #143 featured another full-length team-up with the Emerald Gladiator in ‘Trail of the False Green Lanterns!’ – scripted by the ever-entrancing Fox who herein introduced future-gazing arch-foe Thomas Oscar Morrow.
The next two issues were all-Fox affairs: the eerie ‘Menace of the Man-Missile!’ pitting the Sultan of Speed against a shape-shifting atomic felon whilst plucky protégé Kid Flash solo-starred in the human interest parable ‘Lesson for a Star Athlete!’ before super-villainy returned in Flash #145 where ‘The Weather Wizard Blows Up a Storm!’ and the normally stoic, stolid hero briefly had his head turned by ‘The Girl From the Super-Fast Dimension!’
Broome scripted the wacky romp ‘The Mirror Master’s Master Stroke!’ and Frank Giacoia briefly bolstered the regular art team for Fox’s terrific terror tale ‘Fatal Fingers of the Flash!’ the kind of “high concept, big science†yarn that especially captivated kids in the age of space races and burgeoning technology – and still enthrals today. Issue #147 was a feature length clash with two (or was it three?) of the Scarlet Speedster’s greatest foes. John Broome scripted the fascinating ‘Our Enemy, the Flash!’ which saw schizophrenic Al Desmond attempting to reform and relinquish both his Dr. Alchemy and Mr. Element personas; only to be forcibly compelled to commit further crimes by the ruthless 25th century sociopath Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash!
By this time it was clear that the biggest draw to the Flash was his mind-boggling array of costumed foes, as evidenced by Broome’s Captain Boomerang tale ‘The Day Flash Went into Orbit!’, but as the writer proved with his second tale in this issue creative heart and soul still counted for much. ‘The Doorway to the Unknown!’ is the moving story of an embezzler who returns from the grave to prevent his brother paying for his crimes: a ghost story from a time when such tales were all but banned and a pithy human drama that deservedly won the Academy of Comic Book Arts Alley Award for Best Short Story of the year. It still brings a worthy tear to my eyes…
Broome also scripted #149’s alien invasion thriller starring the Vizier of Velocity and his speedy sidekick ‘The Flash’s Sensational Risk!’ whilst Fox penned the Murphy Anderson inked ‘Robberies by Magic!’ which featured another return engagement for futuristic magician Abra Kadabra, before going on to produce #150’s lead tale ‘Captain Cold’s Polar Perils!’ Giella returned for Fox’s second yarn, another science mystery ‘The Touch-and-Steal Bandits!’
Flash #151 was another sterling team-up epic. Fox once more teamed his 1940’s (or retroactively, Earth-2) creation the original Flash with his contemporary counterpart, this time in a spectacular battle against the black-hearted Shade ‘Invader From the Dark Dimension’, whilst #152’s double-header consisted of ‘The Trickster’s Toy Thefts’ (Fox, Infantino & Anderson) and the Broome scripted light-hearted thriller ‘The Case of the Explosive Vegetables!’ – another engaging comedy of errors starring Barry Allen’s father-in-law to be.
Flash #153 saw Broome reprise the much lauded ‘Our Enemy, the Flash!’ in ‘The Mightiest Punch of All Time!’ as the villainous Zoom once more attempted to corrupt the reformed Al Desmond and the next issue saw Fox’s medical mystery ‘The Day Flash Ran Away with Himself!’ and Broome’s old fashioned crime caper ‘Gangster Masquerade!’ which brought back thespian Dexter Myles and made him custodian of the increasingly important Central City landmark the Flash Museum.
It had to happen and it finally did in Flash #155: Broome teamed six of the Rogue’s Gallery into ‘The Gauntlet of Super-Villains!’, a bombastic fights ‘n’ tights extravaganza, but one with a hidden twist and a mystery foe concealed in the wings, whilst the following issue was an equally engrossing invasion saga with the Flash a hunted man: ‘The Super-Hero Who Betrayed the World!’ also courtesy of Broome, Infantino & Giella.
Fox wrote both stories in #157; ‘Who Stole the Flash’s Super-Speed?’ (a return visit for Doralla, – Girl from the Super-Fast Dimension) and another tussle with the nefarious Top in ‘The Day Flash Aged 100 Years!’ as well as those of #158: a rather ridiculous alien encounter ‘Battle Against the Breakaway Bandit!’ and the far more appetising thriller ‘The One-Man Justice League!’ wherein the Flash defeated the plans of JLA nemesis Professor Ivo without even noticing…
The cover of Flash #159 features his empty uniform and a note saying the hero was quitting, a tale entitled ‘The Flash’s Final Fling!’ written by Gardner Fox, and guest-starring Kid Flash and Earth-2 hero Dr. Mid-Nite. At that time, editors and creative staff usually designed covers that would grab potential readers’ attention and then produced stories to fit. With this issue Schwartz tried something truly novel and commissioned Robert Kanigher (first scripter of the new Scarlet Speedster in Showcase #4) to write a different tale to explain the same eye-catching visual.
‘Big Blast in Rocket City!’ – scripted by John Broome – filled out #159 with one more Professor West light espionage thriller and as Flash #160, which cover appears next was an 80-Page Giant reprint edition, issue #161 concludes this magnificent third collection. The first story is where that novel experiment in cover appeal culminates in Kanigher’s gritty, terse and uniquely emotional interpretation – ‘The Case of the Curious Costume’ before the high-octane entertainment ends with Fox, Infantino & Giella’s Mirror Master mystery ‘The Mirror with 20-20 Vision!’
These tales were crucial to the development of modern comics and more importantly, they are brilliant, awe-inspiring, beautifully realised thrillers that amuse, amaze and enthral both new readers and old lags. This lovely compendium is another must-read item for anybody in love with the world of words-in-pictures.
© 1963-1966, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.