In an installment of
Point/Counterpoint that is both amusing and disquieting, Mark Engblom's
Comic Coverage imagines the tobacco industry responding to Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada's decision to ban smoking in all of the company's comic titles. That imaginary response takes the form of a retro public relations campaign starring the most unlikely of superhero smokers, Jay Garrick!
Update: Kelson Vibber has followed-up by posting panels from three separate versions of Jay Garrick's origin story.
Flash Comics #1 (1940) gave us the rousing endorsement of cigarettes seen above. In
Secret Origins #9 (1986), Jay considers that he should quit smoking as he lights up. By the time of
Flash Secret Files #1 (1997), the cigarette had been completely removed from the tale.
1 comment:
I remember reading an old Secret Origins issue that showed Jay Garrick knocking over the beaker of "Hard Water" that gave him his speed while trying to light a match (in order to smoke a cigarette). I always felt there was something wrong with that, as I had never seen Jay smoke before that (and haven't seen him smoke since), though I imagine things were different back in the Golden Age.
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