COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK

COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK

Hello there, yet again!  Professor Mike here, going through the historic tomes of comic book past to pull out this edition of the comic book of the week.  And after much digging, I've decided to do something special over the next few editions:  focus on ONE particular character.  And not just ANY character...one who's celebrating 80 years of publication history, and one of the greatest superheroes of all time...and MY personal favorite:  The Flash.

The Flash is the major superhero created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert.  Flash was published by All-American Comics at the time (which later merged with National Publications, and eventually became DC Comics), and hit the newsstands back in January of 1940.  This year is his 80th anniversary, and the Fastest Man Alive has been around in many incarnations.  But this week...we'll focus on the first guy who raced around at super speed saving people and battling the bad guys:  Jason Peter Garrick.

FLASH COMICS #1 

COVER:  Sheldon Moldoff

WRITER: Gardner Fox

ARTIST: Harry Lampert

INKS: Harry Lampert

LETTERS: Harry Lampert

COLORS: N/A

EDITOR: M.C. Gaines

COVER DATE: January 1940

PUBLISHER: All-American Comics (later merged with National Publications, which became DC Comics)

STORY TITLE:  "Origin of the Flash" 

Cliff Cornwall:  "The Disappearing Plane"

Hawkman:  "The Origin of Hawkman"

Johnny Thunder:  "The Kidnapping of Johnny Thunder"

The Flash Picture Novelette:  "The Demon Dummy, Part 1"

The Whip:  "Origin of the Whip"

TAGLINES:  Lightning Fast Action, Mystery, and Adventure!  Introducing THE FLASH...Fastest Man Alive!

Flash Comics #1 was released in January of 1940, and was the beginning of the adventures of the Fastest Man Alive.  However, it also became the debut of several other new heroes:  FBI Agent Cliff Cornwall, Hawkman, Johnny Thunder (both of whom, along with the Flash, became founding members of the Justice Society of America), and the Whip.  While the title character of the book made his appearances, the book ended up becoming more of an anthology title along the lines of Action Comics and Detective Comics, both of which were huge selling books featuring Superman and Batman at the time.  Flash would end up getting his own solo book at one point:  All-Flash Quarterly, which was published as such, and then shortened to just All-Flash until the tail end of the 1940's, post World War II, as superheroes were becoming less popular with readers.  Flash was one of the many characters created by All-American Comics along with the Atom, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.  The editor over at All-American, M.C. Gaines, would later go on to form EC Comics, which was responsible for a lot of the horror-themed titles of the period such as Tales From the Crypt, and he was also responsible for the creation of MAD Magazine.  All-American Comics would later merge with National Publications, which was responsible for Action Comics, Detective Comics, Batman, and Superman.  With the merger, Flash and the aforementioned characters merged into what became known as the early DC Universe, and set off the Golden Age of Comics.  Flash Comics would run for 9 years, eventually ending its race with issue 104 in 1949.  Jay Garrick would continue to appear off and on in All-Star Comics periodically over the next 7 years, and we wouldn't see a new Flash series until Julis Schwartz came onto the scene in 1956.

THE STORY:  The main story is that of Jay Garrick, a college student at Midwestern University, who breathes in a experiment of "hard water" and becomes comatose.  After recovering, he finds out that he has attained the power to run at superhuman speed.  When his girlfriend, Joan Williams, informs him that her father was kidnapped by criminal scientists, Jay goes into action as The Flash, and defeats them.  Thus, a new hero is born

Cliff Cornwall's is an FBI Agent who is sent in by the U.S. Army to find a fleet of bombers that disappeared somewhere in Alaska.  

Hawkman's story is that of his origin:  Carter Hall, a museum curator who receives an Egyptian dagger from a friend.  Once he touches it, he discovers that he is the reincarnated version of Prince Khufu of Egypt, along with his wife, Shiera.  He finds his modern day love, who also has these visions, and is running from an electrical storm.  They go to a Doctor Hastor, who happens to be the reincarnation of their longtime enemy, Hath-Set, who had murdered them both back in ancient Egypt.  Carter fashions a battlesuit, and goes into action as Hawkman to defeat him.

Johnny Thunder was born on July 7, 1917 at 7 am, and was said that on his 7th birthday, he'd receive great powers.  He is kidnapped to a foreign nation, but escapes.  The cult looking for him won't find him again until he is 23 years old.  When he speaks the word "Cei-U", a mystical thunderbolt appears to grant his wishes, and it manages to save him from the cult.

The Demon Dummy is the story of ventriloquist Harry Dunstan, who is wrongly framed for murder by a corrupt cop, who wanted Harry's girlfriend Madge as his own.  While there, he had his dummy Red with him, but the dummy ended up taking on a mind of its own.  Once released, Harry was able to clear his name, but Madge had died in childbirth after marrying the corrupt cop. 

Bored and wealthy, Rodney Gaynor--along with his assistant Wing, travel to the American Southwest, and meet Marissa Dillon, daughter of a newspaper publisher, who informs him of the poor laborers in the area being abused by the law.  Inspired by a local legend, Gaynor becomes The Whip, who takes on those who prey upon the laborers.

***********************************************************************************

You got A LOT of story for 86 pages back in 1940.  This book gives us the origins of three of the founding members of the Justice Society of America, and two characters that would be a part of DC Comics lore as well.  These "80 Page Giants" would become part of the norm for DC Comics when they decided to release special editions, or, just randomly have one in one of the characters' series' run.  You can find these stories in various collections around the DC Comics' library.  If you're a historian of comics, seek it out!

Next week:  The Silver Age Begins...quickly!