The Flash #150

The Flash tests the limits of his speed and unleashes an unforeseen menace.

Captain Cold's Polar Perils!

Police Forensics Scientist, Barry Allen, is personally selected to escort the Maharanee of Jodapur around Central City. This detail doesn't sit well with Allen's girlfriend, Picture News Reporter, Iris West. In love with the Maharanee, the notorious Captain Cold sets out to win her heart. Allen is sent to the Horvath Jewel Salon to collect the Maharanee's royal jewels. Allen finds the salon surrounded by icicles. Allen takes action, as the Flash. Vibrating at super-speed, the Flash storms the salon, melting his way through the ice barrier.

Captain Cold uses his cold gun to, inexplicably, liquefy the oxygen in the salon, causing the Flash to drown. Moving at super-speed, the Flash evaporates the water into steam. The Flash fans the steam throughout the salon, melting all the ice, which floors Captain Cold in a torrent of rushing water. As the melting ice begins to fall from the ceiling, it collapses on the Flash, knocking him cold. Gathering the royal jewels, Captain Cold makes good his escape.

When the Flash, as Allen, returns to the Maharanee to report the theft of the jewels, he is stunned to find her adorned with them. Captain Cold has sent the jewels to her, with the expectation of receiving a reward. Allen escorts the Maharanee to the Grand Ball, only to see her suddenly vanish into thin air. In truth, the Maharanee has been kidnapped by Captain Cold, posing as Allen. Captain Cold brings the Maharanee to the Central City Sports Arena, where he bids her to take the throne he has created for her.

Using his Cold Gun, Captain Cold creates a spectacle for the Maharanee's entertainment. Realizing that Captain Cold created an illusion of the Maharanee, Allen gets after him, as the Flash. The Flash storms the arena. Captain Cold defends himself with a Cold Gun generated Frost Giant, coupled with a Northern Lights-like electrical field. Vibrating faster then the speed of light, the Flash escapes Captain Cold's ersatz Aurora Borealis, as well as the grip of the Frost Giant.

Caught in the Cold Gun's sights, the Flash moves so fast that while Captain Cold is firing on his after-image, the Flash is actually behind his foe, beating him into unconsciousness. With Captain Cold turned over to the authorities, the Flash offers to escort the Maharanee to the Grand Ball. After taking a few turns on the dance floor, the Flash "departs" so that, as Allen, he may dance with his fiance, West.

The Touch And Steal Bandits!

The Flash attempts to discover his top speed. Circling the Earth 75 times in one second, the Flash attains a velocity ten times the speed of light. Though potentially able to go even faster, muscle fatigue forces him to decrease his velocity. At work the next day, the Flash, as police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, notices a strange ringing in his ears. The ringing persists, until Allen realizes that he is actually reading the minds of the men around him. Of particular note, are the thoughts of two criminals planning a caper. Allen, as the Flash, easily thwarts their crime.

At police headquarters, the Flash notices that he can no longer read the minds of the two criminals. His telepathic powers seem fine in every other respect. The next morning, the Flash, as Allen, learns that the two crooks escaped police custody. Apparently, they were able to telekinetically draw their guns to them, then forced the guard, at gunpoint, to release them. Somehow, the Flash passed on psychic abilities to the two crooks, when he captured them. On their houseboat hideaway, the two crooks attempt to telekinetically draw money and jewelry to them, to no avail.

They quickly determine that they can only move objects that they have already touched. Over the next several days, the criminal pair visit several jewelry stores, and art gallerys, laying hands on everything they desire. Soon, precious objects can be seen floating through the streets of Central City, as they are drawn to the crooks' hands. The Flash follows a necklace to the crook's lair. Upon boarding the boat, the Flash is bombarded by a swarm of pots and pans. Capturing the cookware in the wake of his super-speed, the Flash tows it along behind him, to pelt the crooks.

As he closes on them, a door suddenly slams in his face, causing the Flash to take the hit from the cookware. The Flash vibrates his way through the door, only to be enveloped in a rug. Suddenly, a davenport collides with the Flash. Stunned, the Flash is drawn into a chair, which then rockets towards the ceiling. Vibrating his molecules into intangibility, the Flash passes harmlessly through the ceiling, then doubles back into the room. After beating the two crooks into unconsciousness, the Flash races around the world in reverse to build up enough negative energy to counter his psychic abilities. Grounding himself on the crooks, the Flash erases their telekinetic abilities, as well as his own telepathic ones.