Showcase #4

Let me begin by saying I am astounded, flabbergasted and bamboozled (glad we did introductions!). I mean, not a single soul has reviewed the first appearance of Barry Allen also known as The (second) Flash! Why is that? He’s been such an important part of DC, so it’s surprising that I am the first. To right this injustice to this iconic character, I have decided I will review the silver age appearances of this character starting with this comic (I have digital copies of all of those comics). So, without further ado, let us begin at the beginning (a very good place to start)!

The Origin

Anyone who can look up Barry Allen on Wikipedia knows the story shown in this comic. A mysterious bolt of lightening which is traveling faster than the speed of sound hits a police officer by the name of Barry Allen and, mixing with some chemicals, makes him the Fastest Man Alive!

The Writing

I am impressed. I’m not crazy about older comic, because they have this cheesy feel to them. I guess I’m more used to the modern age of comics with its writing styles and such, so I normally avoid the older comics (and I think most people do the same). However, this is actually well written. Sure, there are some spots which are a little peculiar, but aren’t most comics like that? Both stories are well thought out and fairly enjoyable (if you ignore the peculiar parts).

The first story

This comic is divided into two stories. The first gives us Barry’s origin story. The beginning has him figuring out his new-found powers. It’s actually quite clever visually what they chose him to do to discover his speed. First, he tries to catch a cab, but he runs faster than the vehicle. Then at a diner, a clumsy waitress nearly spills a plate full of food, but Barry reaches and puts them back on the plate which surprises the exhausted waitress. Even later, he meets Iris and saves her from a bullet which could have killed her shot by the antagonist of this story. The villain, who is also this version of the flash’s very first rogue, is Turtle. If Barry Allen is the Fastest Man Alive, then the Turtle is the Slowest Man on Earth. Of course, the only slow thing about him is his speech, because he is able to think of ways to outwit his opponent. Too bad that didn’t work out.

The Second Story

The second story is about a thief who had been exiled from the future and somehow ended up in the past (or Barry’s present...time travel is confusing!). He had been sentenced in that distant time to the 50 century, but his capsule went back in time rather than forward in time, so now he terrorized Central city with his magnetic stick which he used to steal items. I really like the concept of this story. I mean, the idea of a society sending a criminal into a desolate future earth is enjoyable to say the least. Although I am not crazy about how it is presented (Mazdan—the thief—‘s flashback, which tells of how he got to this time, has this awkward introduction), I like still the concept.

The First Flash

Now, this is not the first flash, of course. Jay Garrick reserves that honor, and they play homage to him at some points in the first story. This year (2011), we have been talking about DC’s reboot (they call it a New 52, but same difference) and how it is such a unique strategy it is to draw more people into comics. However, that was not the first time DC did a reboot (and no, I am not talking about the whole Crisis thing). The very first reboot Dc did was in the 1950’s and this was one of those reboots. Jay’s series Flash Comics was canceled in 1949 and the Justice Society’s appearances in All Star Comics were ended with issue #57 in 1951 (though that particular series would be revived in 1976). Therefore, it would be 5 whole years until 1956 when the whole concept of Flash would be revamped and made new again. Sure, this New 52 was a large revamp with lots of series being canceled and renumbered back to #1, but it didn’t effect all the superheroes. In fact, most are fairly the same (please don't argue with me on this fact, I know there are exceptions). The 50s revamp took the superheroes and sent them into another universe and made new versions of these heroes. Very drastically different. Here, Jay is a comic book character, though I am sure everyone knows the story of how these alternate reality characters met (or know the cover from Justice League).

Conclusion

This is a very interesting comic. I know it won’t be as iconic as Detective Comics 27 or Action Comics #1 (the old one, of course) or Detective comics #140 (sorry, a Riddler joke), but I still think this a great issue to be remembered and respected more. I hope that more people will read this comic (I’m sure there are reprints somewhere in those Flash omnibus volumes) and get into flash. So, if you ignore the whole different style of writing than most of us are used to and enjoy the story, I think you might enjoy it. So, that's it. Done! reviews of the next issues coming soon!