Flash Comics

Flash Comics was a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Although the name of the comic book was Flash Comics, the Flash was only one of many different series featured in the magazine.

Flash Comics
FllashComics GA 1
Cover to Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Art by Sheldon Moldoff.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleMonthly:
#1–64, #70–104
Bimonthly:
#65–69
FormatOngoing series
Publication dateJanuary 1940 –
February 1949
No. of issues104
Creative team
Written byGardner Fox, Robert Kanigher
Artist(s)Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Harry Lampert, Dennis Neville

Publication history

The series debuted with a January 1940 cover date[1] and the first issue featured the first appearances of the Golden Age versions of the Flash,[2] Hawkman,[3] and Johnny Thunder.[4] The Flash was later given a solo comic book series, All-Flash which ran for 32 issues between Summer 1941 to January 1948.[5]

Artist Joe Kubert's long association with the Hawkman character began with the story "The Painter and the $100,000" in Flash Comics #62 (Feb. 1945).[6] The Monocle was introduced in #64 as a new foe for Hawkman.[7]

Carmine Infantino's first published work for DC was "The Black Canary", a six-page Johnny Thunder story in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) that introduced the superheroine the Black Canary.[8] Writer Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert created the Thorn in issue #89 (November 1947).[9]

Flash Comics was cancelled in 1949 with issue #104.[1] When DC Comics gave the Silver Age Flash, his own comic book series, it received the old numbering of Flash Comics starting at issue #105.[10]

Features

Features published in Flash Comics include:

  • The Flash - issues #1–104
  • Hawkman - issues #1–104
  • Johnny Thunder - issues #1–91
  • The Whip - issues #1–55[11]
  • Cliff Cornwall - issues #1–19
  • Ghost Patrol - issues #29–104[12]
  • Black Canary - issues #92–104[13]

Collected editions

  • Golden Age Flash Archives -
    • Vol. 1 collects the "Flash" stories from Flash Comics #1–17, 224 pages, September 1999, ISBN 978-1563895067
    • Vol. 2 collects the "Flash" stories from Flash Comics #18–24, 224 pages, February 2006, ISBN 978-1401207847
  • The Flash Archives Vol. 1 includes the "Flash" story from Flash Comics #104, 224 pages, May 1998, ISBN 978-1563891397
  • Golden Age Hawkman Archives Vol. 1 collects the "Hawkman" stories from Flash Comics #1–22, 224 pages, February 2006, ISBN 978-1401204181
  • JSA All-Stars Archives Volume 1 includes the "Johnny Thunder" stories from Flash Comics #1–4, 256 pages, October 2007, ISBN 978-1401214722
  • Black Canary Archives collects the "Johnny Thunder" stories from Flash Comics #86–91 and the "Black Canary" stories from Flash Comics #92–104, 224 pages, December 2000, ISBN 978-1563897344

References

  1. ^ a b Flash Comics at the Grand Comics Database
  2. ^ Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1940s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. DC shattered the sound barrier with the debut of the Flash, a blindingly fast mystery man written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Harry Lampert.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "In the same issue [#1] Gardner Fox wrote the first story featuring Hawkman...in a story drawn by Dennis Neville."
  4. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "Flash Comics scored a third hit with Johnny Thunder, star of a humorous feature about a boy raised in the distant land of Badhnisia and blessed with the ability to raise an all-powerful, genie-like Thunderbolt."
  5. ^ All-Flash at the Grand Comics Database
  6. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "Artist Joe Kubert began his most memorable work on the gravity-defying superhero Hawkman in this issue..."The Painter and the $100,000" written by Gardner Fox marked the start of a long and fruitful run between illustrator and character."
  7. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "This issue saw writer Gardner Fox and illustrator Joe Kubert present the Monocle...He became representative of the 'gimmick villain', a staple of the super hero genre."
  8. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, pp. 55–56: "Debuting as a supporting character in a six-page Johnny Thunder feature written by Robert Kanigher and penciled by Carmine Infantino, Dinah Drake [the Black Canary] was originally presented as a villain...The Black Canary's introduction in August [1947]'s Flash Comics #86 represented [Infantino's] first published work for DC."
  9. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 57: "Writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert presented a female twist on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the Thorn."
  10. ^ Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93: "In March 1959, The Flash was back, care of writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. The series continued the numbering from Flash Comics and gave Barry Allen his own title. Issue #105 also debuted the Mirror Master."
  11. ^ Markstein, Don (2011). "The Whip". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. [The Whip] took to the road in Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940), the same issue that introduced The Flash and Hawkman to the comics-reading public...His series ended in Flash Comics #55 (July, 1944).
  12. ^ Markstein, Don (2010). "The Ghost Patrol". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Fred, Pedro and Slim achieved their ghosthood in All-American Publications' Flash Comics #29 (May, 1942). The story was written by Ted Udall (an assistant editor to Sheldon Mayer) and Emmanuel Demby (who has few if any other credits in comics). It was drawn by Frank Harry ('Little Boy Blue'), who continued to draw the feature through most of its run.
  13. ^ Markstein, Don (2006). "The Black Canary". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014.

External links

1940 in comics

Notable events of 1940 in comics. See also List of years in comics.

All-Flash

All-Flash, originally published as All-Flash Quarterly, was a comic book magazine series published by All-American Publications and later National Periodicals (DC Comics). The series was the first solo feature given to the comic book character The Flash, who also appeared in the anthologies Flash Comics, All-Star Comics, and Comic Cavalcade. The book ran for 32 issues from 1941 to 1947. The series was originally published on a quarterly basis before changing over to a bi-monthly schedule with issue #6. Each issue regularly contained several stories featuring The Flash, as well as minor back-up features like Hop Harrigan, Butch McLobster, The Super Mobster, and Fat and Slat by cartoonist Ed Wheelan and, in later issues, Ton-O-Fun by Flash co-creator Harry Lampert.

Central City Police Department

The Central City Police Department (CCPD) is a fictional police department servicing Central City, as depicted in comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those tied into the Flash books.

Flash (Jay Garrick)

Jay Garrick is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first superhero known as the Flash. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. He first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940).

After a bizarre laboratory accident, he acquired the ability to move at superhuman speed, and chose to fight crime as a costumed vigilante, calling himself "the Flash". Jay Garrick has made numerous appearances in other media, including his live-action debut as a cameo in Smallville, played by Billy Mitchell, and in The Flash, portrayed by John Wesley Shipp.

Flash (comics)

The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (cover date January 1940/release month November 1939). Nicknamed the "Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run, move, and think extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.

Thus far, at least four different characters—each of whom somehow gained the power of "the speed force"—have assumed the mantle of the Flash in DC's history: college athlete Jay Garrick (1940–1951, 1961–2011, 2017–present), forensic scientist Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Barry's nephew Wally West (1986–2011, 2016–present), and Barry's grandson Bart Allen (2006–2007). Each incarnation of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

The Flash is one of DC Comics' most popular characters and has been integral to the publisher's many reality-changing "crisis" storylines over the years. The original meeting of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Silver Age Flash Barry Allen in "Flash of Two Worlds" (1961) introduced the Multiverse storytelling concept to DC readers, which would become the basis for many DC stories in the years to come.

Like his Justice League colleagues Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the Flash has a distinctive cast of adversaries, including the various Rogues (unique among DC supervillains for their code of honor) and the various psychopathic "speedsters" who go by the names Reverse-Flash or Zoom. Other supporting characters in Flash stories include Barry's wife Iris West, Wally's wife Linda Park, Bart's girlfriend Valerie Perez, friendly fellow speedster Max Mercury, and Central City police department members David Singh and Patty Spivot.

A staple of the comic book DC Universe, the Flash has been adapted to numerous DC films, video games, animated series, and live-action television shows. In live action, Barry Allen has been portrayed by Rod Haase for the 1979 television special Legends of the Superheroes, John Wesley Shipp in the 1990 The Flash series and Grant Gustin in the 2014 The Flash series, and by Ezra Miller in the DC Extended Universe series of films, beginning with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Shipp also portrays a version of Jay Garrick in the 2014 The Flash series. The various incarnations of the Flash also feature in animated series such as Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice, as well as the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.

Flash of Two Worlds

"Flash of Two Worlds!" is a landmark comic book story that was published in The Flash #123 (Sept. 1961). It introduces Earth-Two, and more generally the concept of the multiverse, to DC Comics. The story was written by Gardner Fox under the editorial guidance of Julius Schwartz (whose subsequent autobiography was titled Man of Two Worlds), and illustrated by Carmine Infantino. In 2009, DC Comics released a new digitally remastered graphic novel collection, DC Comics Classics Library: The Flash of Two Worlds. It features the classic flagship story and other subsequent Pre-Crisis Flash material.

Keystone City

Keystone City is a fictional city in the DC Comics Universe. Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West. Keystone City first appeared in the 1940s in the original Flash Comics series.

Within the comics, Keystone has been described as being "the blue collar capital of the United States" and a center of industry.

Tornado Twins

The Tornado Twins are superheroes in the DC Comics Universe. The twins are Don Allen and Dawn Allen, the children of Barry Allen (the second Flash) and Iris West-Allen. They first appeared in Adventure Comics #373 (October 1968).

Wallace West (DC Comics)

Wallace West is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Wally West, as part of DC's The New 52 relaunch, the comic DC Rebirth #1 later established that he is, in fact, a new character of the same name, being Wally's cousin, both named after their great-grandfather. To avoid confusion, the character was renamed in later comics as Wallace West.

XS (comics)

XS (Jenni Ognats) is a fictional character in the future of the DC Comics universe. A member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, she is the granddaughter of Barry Allen (the second superhero known as the Flash), and first cousin of Bart Allen (the second speedster identified as Kid Flash).

The character made her live-action debut on The CW television series The Flash, played by Jessica Parker Kennedy.

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