In the latest episode of The Fred Hembeck Show, the cartoonist reflects on his first comic book encounters with Jay Garrick and the other Golden Age heroes of the Justice Society of America whilst presenting his personal recreations of some classic comic covers....Included in that landmark issue was perhaps the single most important Silver Age story of all (at least, up to that point in time, with the emergence of a certain foursome still a few months off)--the origin of The Flash. We all remember what Barry Allen was reading early on in that tale, don’t we class? Uh huh--an issue of Flash Comics! Only, not one featuring the sleek-domed red-garbed speedster we kids were familiar with during the dawning days of JFK’s administration, but rather a fellow adorned with a Mercury-styled helmet dating all the way back to midway into FDR’s White House tenure! I couldn’t help but be curious--who was this guy? Little over a month later, my question would be answered. July 20th saw the release of my second ever issue of The Flash, #123, featuring the justifiably legendary "Flash Of Two Worlds"...
2 comments:
I don't have the same reverence for that tale as some others, but I've always had a fondness for alternate versions of characters - especially The Flash (and Green Lantern).
I guess that, if it were published today, many would say that we'd be turning readers away by having them wonder why the Flash and Green Lantern in Justice League of America #209 (or thereabouts) were different than the ones they knew from Super Friends.
Personally, those kinds of things made me want to read MORE comics.
I wanted to know the whole story.
Hembeck's article is expressing much the same sentiment, and I agree. Comic book histories can be convoluted but, truth be told, its the twists, turns, and rich details of these heroic legacies that always left me curious, wanting to read more. And today more than ever it seems that no matter how much I read, I'll never cover the complete story of the DCU.
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