December 6, 2010
Today’s guest post is by KC Flash.
For my first EVER comic review, I wanted to start with the comic that began my love for Flash comics so many years ago. What was it in my first comic that made me want to follow the Flash for over thirty years? Would it still “hold up,” so to speak?
The first Flash comic I remember purchasing was Flash #268. If you just look at the cover, you will discover three characters fighting over a Golden Age comic, Flash Comics #26. The cover blurbs state that this is “the comic book that holds the world’s greatest secret!” In the bottom left corner, the cover asks the question, “What amazing secret does a golden age comic hold that causes three heroes to fight for its possession?”
At first, you may be thinking that since this was a December release, that the heroes were still fighting over a “Black Friday” sale at their local comic book store. ☺ However, as you read the story you discover that “The Riddle of the Runaway Comic” is actually a crime mystery story. The story involves Barney Sands, who is a twelve-year-old comic book collector, the Flash and a gang of criminals.
A gang of criminals has “obtained” a secret spray, Formula XCV. This formula, after being sprayed on an object, allows the object to reappear at a different location. The criminals obviously want the formula for devious reasons. As the story states, “Just imagine how this formula could revolutionize crime! Squirt the invisible spray over a priceless painting or jewelry exhibit while no one’s looking and then retreat to your hideout—concentrate—and the priceless item materializes in your hands!” Yes, friends, XCV takes all the risks out of stealing!” The only problem is that the original scientist, the “late” Professor Phillip Denton was able to only effectively use the spray on one object, his son’s copy of Flash #26. Whenever someone concentrates on the book, the book magically appears. Enter our criminals dressed as Wildcat and the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott.
Without going into further details, I must say it was quite a treat to go back and reexamine this book. My interest in the history of the Golden Age began in this book. By reading this book, you will also get to see Barry Allen’s comic book collection. As Barry Allen states after finding Barney Sands’ comic book in his own collection, “Its one of the few Flashes that have eluded me –even when I managed to get rarer ones.” Just think about how much fun it would be to go over to Mr. Allen’s to share collecting tips.
Now that I think about it, Golden Age Flash Archives ends at Flash #24. So, yes, I am still searching for a reader copy of Flash #26 after 30 years. Hmm…Maybe, just maybe, if I think about it hard enough?
KCFLASH
Covers c/o the Grand Comics Database.
October 3, 2010
Some linkblogging for the weekend.
September 6, 2010
That’s some impressive depth of field Wonder Woman is setting up in that shot. No wonder she needs a tripod! (Actually, that would be a seriously old camera for 1947, wouldn’t it?)
Instead of crime-fighting action, Comic Cavalcade‘s covers in the 1940s featured Wonder Woman, the Flash and Green Lantern hanging out together and having fun. Or occasionally doing something more serious, like collecting papers for a wartime recycling drive.
(Comic Cavalcade #21 cover from the Grand Comics Database.)
June 14, 2010
I wrote on a Golden-Age Flash comic book the other day.
Not much. Just two numbers, three letters, and a couple of short strikethrough lines.
But you know, it took effort to bring myself to do it!
I’ve been collecting comics since I was around seven years old. I’m 34 now. And while I’ve never been the type to freak out when opening an action figure package, or even opening the covers of a comic book, I’ve always* tried to take care of my comics. Not as an investment — I have no illusions there. Just because I want to make them last.
So what happened? How did someone from the bag-and-board set come to actually put pen to paper and write on a collector’s item nearly twice his own age?
It had already been written on…and it was wrong.
Last week I won an auction on eBay for a coverless copy of what had been identified as Flash Comics #72 (June 1946). Based on the stories, it was actually Flash Comics #74 (August 1946). No big deal — I didn’t have either of them to start with, so it was something new either way. The problem is that a previous owner had actually written the wrong issue number and date in the corner of the splash page. (Interestingly, they had written the right cover date first, then crossed it out when they concluded it was actually #72 instead.)
Sure, I hate writing on collectibles. But I also hate leaving errors uncorrected. (Just look at this poll on correcting typos that I ran a few weeks ago.) Finally, I decided that if I ever forgot that it wasn’t really #72, or if it ended up in someone else’s collection, it would be better not to have the wrong information there. And as far as selling it goes, as long as I kept the writing small, it couldn’t be worse than what was already there.
Even so, it was a tougher decision than it really should have been. Margin annotations on newsprint should not be a big deal!
*OK, always since I realized that 7-year-old me was making a mistake trying to create his own collected editions of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew by binding them together with the only tool I had that was suitable: scotch tape. Apparently I wanted to be a trade reader before there were any trades around to read.
June 1, 2010
The Grand Comics Database needs better scans of the original Flash Comics. In particular, the following two covers are marked as needing replacement:
That said, there are quite a few others that are either low-quality scans or scans of badly deteriorated comics. If you have any copies of Flash Comics or All-Flash in decent condition, I’m sure they’d appreciate it if you’d help them out by improving their cover database!
Most of my own Golden Age collection is coverless, or in poor enough condition that it wouldn’t be worth contributing, though I was able to submit a few of the later All-Flash covers.
I actually have a copy of that Flash Comics Miniature Edition, and considered sending a scan, until I pulled it out of the box and saw what condition it was in:
As you can see, it’s in worse shape than the one they’ve got! This isn’t terribly surprising. One of the previous owners of this copy wrote a note on the back of the board:
Wheaties giveaway, 1946. All known copies were taped to Wheaties boxes and are never found in mint condition.
Yeah, that might cause a problem…
It makes me wonder what the print run was on books like this. How many copies were taped to cereal boxes and shipped to markets nationwide? How many were removed carefully, and how many were summarily ripped from the packaging? How many were treasured, and how many discarded?
Oh, yeah, you’re probably wondering: Who’s that pointy-headed guy on the cover? That’s Dmane, a one-shot villain (as so many of them were those days) billed as “The Criminal From Tomorrow,” who used futuristic technology to perform miraculous feats in the present day. (Sound familiar?) It’s also an early case in which Jay Garrick travels through time under his own power with perfect accuracy.
May 31, 2010
More linkblogging! Here are some (mostly) non-Flash-related posts on general comics, fandom, and online community issues.
Orbital Vector analyzes an aspect of super-speed that’s usually glossed over: Just How Old is the Flash, subjectively? (via dhusk’s comment on the Flashes’ experience post)
Techland has eight questions for comics creators to consider before putting a book on the market. (via @SpeedsterSite)
Multiversity Comics looks at some of the pros and cons of waiting for the trade.
Comic Vine has 5 Things to be Aware of When Buying Back Issues.
What do websites with open comments do when they realize that people are jerks? Reining in Nasty Comments. (via @ThisIsTrue) I’m reminded of Penny Arcade’s expression of the Greater Internet ****wad Theory (NSFW language): Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total ****wad.
Poll: You find a typo in one of your old blog/LiveJournal/etc. posts. Do you fix it?
Technologizer tracks down the origin of the term Fanboy (via The Beat)
High Five Comics considers The Problem with Madame Lady Girl-Woman.
In the 1940s, Crash Comics introduced a super-hero named Blue Streak. He was a “skilled fighter.” With that name, how did they not make him a speedster?
There have been a lot of articles on the battle for the future of Comic-Con International, but one question jumped out at me in this one at Deadline Hollywood: Jeff Katz asks, “Are you a fan show with trade elements, or are you a trade show that lets in fans…or is there a happy medium?”
May 7, 2010
Some linkblogging from the past couple of weeks:
Flashy Links
Newsarama interviews Francis Manapul on his work on The Flash.
Comics Bulletin presents the Top 10 Flash Deaths in order of how long they lasted.
A reader at Silver Age Comics discovers that Flash Comics #13 is different on Earth-One.
You’ve probably read about the thief who took Free Comic Book Day a bit too literally and tried to steal a $150 X-Men Omnibus…and was foiled by Spider-Man, two Jedi, and the Flash.
Speaking of FCBD, Chris Samnee has posted a FCBD sketch gallery featuring both Flash and Quicksilver.
Super Heroes
Comics Worth Reading’s Johanna Draper Carlson has some ideas for how to make super-hero comics interesting again
4thLetter’s David Brothers encourages you to focus on the stories, not the canon. Don’t buy something you don’t like just because it’s “important,” and don’t pass up other good stuff because it’s not.
Comics Alliance has a thought-provoking article on the racial implications of running legacies backward.
Grumpy Old Fan ponders the role of secret identities in DC comics from the Silver Age through the present.
Once Upon a Geek also reviews the DC Fandex guide (my review went up on Monday).
Comics in General
Westfield Comics’ KC Carlson explains how to meet artists without being talked about afterward, and offers suggestions for convention behavior.
LIFE has a photo gallery of people reading classic comic books from the Golden Age through the 1980s, including a boy reading Flash Comics in 1949. Nitpick: By 1949, the feature wasn’t about a “college student” with super-speed. Jay Garrick graduated during his origin story. (Link via Xian)
Collected Editions considers an increasingly common problem: the trade you want is out of print.
Multiversity Comics analyzes the impact of the shift from $2.99 comics to $3.99.
April 2, 2010
Some Friday morning linkblogging…
Once Upon a Geek presents the Justice League #1 cover redone with action figures
Newsarama writes about the Secret Origins of Geoff Johns and Kevin Feige in the office of Richard Donner.
Commentary
Abbracadabbling looks at the long road to a Flash movie.
Comics Should Be Good contends that Kurt Buseik unwittingly ruined DC/Marvel super-hero comics.
Living Between Wednesdays is annoyed by a revelation in Green Lantern #52 that doesn’t line up with current scientific cosmology…or even the rest of DC’s space mythology.
Top Cow’s Filip Sablik talks about Information Overload at Newsarama — a topic which Geoff Johns ahs brought up on several occasions when talking about his new approach to the Flash.
Humor
This noscans_daily Macro Monday thread includes some funny Flash Rogues captions. (For those who aren’t on LiveJournal, the “Adult Content Warning” is a blanket one for the group. Last I looked, this thread was still work-safe.)
Despair, Inc. has a new Flash shirt (link via @SpeedsterSite) that reminds me of a certain Fred Hembeck comic strip from a while back.
And on a similar, but more canon note, What Were They Thinking?! presents the Flash vs. Captain Pantsless.
Update: An April Fool’s joke from Screen Rant: Michael Cera cast as the Flash.
March 15, 2010
It’s not a million, but a near-mint copy of Flash Comics #1 recently sold for $450,000 on Heritage Auctions. This 1940 comic book features the first appearances of both the Flash and Hawkman, and lesser-known characters Johnny Thunder and the Whip. This “finest known copy” of the issue previously changed hands for $273,125 in January 2006 and was ranked the fifth most expensive comic book in 2008. The new buyer placed an anonymous offer through the Heritage Auctions website.
This comic book is part of the remarkably well-preserved Mile High Collection. In August 2008, HA pulled in $553,583 for issues #2-24 and #60 from the same set.
They’ve also got a copy in Fine/Very Fine condition that’s asking a mere $12,500
If you’re like me, half a million — or even $12,500! — is a bit out of your price range. 
I mean, I spent four years looking for a copy of Flash Comics #33 that I could get for around fifty bucks!
Not to worry: the budget reader can pick up the first Flash and Hawkman stories for a lot less in the Golden Age Flash Archives, Vol. 1
and Golden Age Hawkman Archives, Vol. 1
. The issue has also been reprinted in full at least twice, in 1975′s “Famous First Edition” series and again in a 2000 “Millennium Edition.”
March 12, 2010
Read on for the original explanation of the Shade’s powers of darkness: Read the rest of this entry »
