HOW DO YOU NOT GET THE FLASH?!
by Dave Goode
Some time back some fan-boy friends of mine and I were talking
about the Silver Age of Comics and the consensus that it began with DC
Comics' Showcase No.4 (Oct.1956) and the introduction of the 2nd Flash
in a story written by Robert Kanigher, illustrated by Carmine
Infantino (pencils) and Joe Kubert (inks) and edited by Julius
Schwartz. An actor friend of mine was with us and couldn't understand
why the Silver Age would begin with the Flash. We gave him the short
version. And he seemed to grudgingly accept it. Grudgingly. Another time
my friends and I were making how lame is Aquaman? jokes. And my actor
friend interjected "you know the Flash is pretty lame too". My fellow
fan-boys turned and looked at my friend like he had two heads. He had
this insane idea that all the Flash could do was run fast. As if all he
knew the character from was the Super Friends cartoons (more likely THE SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE (1967) which featured Flash cartoons-editor)
About a week
later I lent him a copy of Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane No.74 (May
1967). If you're a Silver Age DC Comics fan you know why. And my friend
got a better understanding of what the Flash could do. I still can't
understand why he never got the Flash to begin with. He epitomized a
childhood fantasy. When you were a kid you imagined being the strongest
kid on the block or the fastest.
And speaking of being the fastest kid on the block. Do you remember
the Silver Age Quicksilver from Marvel Comics and how he compared to
the Flash? That's right. He didn't. He still doesn't. Marvel maniacs
like to say how Quicksilver can run at Mach 10. Guess what? That makes
him about 165 times slower than the Flash. In the Silver Age Quicksilver
was often described as moving as fast as an "express train". The Silver
Age Flash once ran around the Earth 8 times in the space of a second.
As Muhammad Ali would say "no contest". Look at how the young Muhammad
Ali defeated his opponents with hand and foot speed. Now imagine if he
was 165 times faster than that.
Back in the Silver Age fan-boys quite often cast teen heartthrob Tab Hunter as the "Fastest Man Alive" in an imaginary Flash or Justice League movie. As for his girl friend Iris West I thought either Natalie Wood or Jill St.John. With possibly Tim Considine as Wally "Kid Flash" West.
ITEM: JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN!! IT'S MONSTER MAGAZINE ISSUE NUMBER 2! OUR CREATURE CREATURE FEATURE WITH BUTCH PATRICK, DR. PAUL BEARER, AND RICOU BROWNING! Remember the Creature this Halloween along with Spider Island Slim Carody, Joseph I. Cosby, Dave Goode, David Walker, Johann Schmidt, Will Keppel, and Vance Capley. With a "fang"tastic Creature cover by artist Ricky Blalock! You can read more here:
No comments:
Post a Comment