Tag Archives: Death of Iris Allen

The Greatest Flash/Barry Allen Stories Ever Told

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The results are in! Comics Should Be Good has posted the top ten greatest Barry Allen stories ever told, as chosen by the blog’s readers.

The breakdown is interesting:

  • 6 Silver-Age stories
  • 2 Bronze-Age stories (one of which is the Death of Iris Allen storyline which Greg has heavily annotated here)
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • 1 Secret Origins tale

Both the Flash’s origin tale and his death make the list…and the Secret Origins story retells both (and links them together)!

The writer breakdown is also interesting, especially when compared with the more focused results of the Wally West poll last year:

  • 3 John Broome
  • 2 Gardner Fox
  • 2 Cary Bates
  • 1 Robert Kanigher
  • 1 Marv Wolfman
  • 1 Robert Loren Fleming

Also neat: “Flash of Two Worlds” made both this list and the greatest Gardner Fox stories list a few weeks ago!

Annotations: Flash #284, “Run, Flash…Run for Your Life!”

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Welcome to the final installment in our 15-part series of annotations on “The Death Of Iris Allen”!  Halved by our two-part interview with author Cary Bates, previous issues can be found here!  Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post.

UP TO SPEED:  Trapped aboard a runaway time-machine with the murderous Professor Zoom, Flash has chosen to take on the flow of time himself in a desperate attempt to avoid certain doom…

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Annotations: Flash #283, “Flashback”

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We’re back with our look at the “Death of Iris Allen” story from the 1979-1980 issues of Flash!  This issue marks the penultimate chapter of a year’s worth of Flash stories by writer Cary Bates that changed the core of the title and the future of DC Comics’ super-speedster.  Links to research and artwork are included throughout this post.  For previous weeks, click here!

UP TO SPEED:  Flash has been lured into the future with the false hope of discovering his wife’s killer.  Masquerading as Flash in the present, Professor Zoom incarcerates Chief Paulson for his role in the confiscated heroin smuggling operation that has made Barry Allen a moving target.  Zoom also clashes with, and easily defeats, Green Lantern.  On his return trip, Flash materializes onto an exploding Cosmic Treadmill…

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Annotations: Flash #282, “Mishmash!!”

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We’re back with our series of notes and commentary on Cary Bates‘ “Death of Iris Allen” story from 1979-1980!  We’re leading up to the release of Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash, due in stores August 9th.  Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post.  For previous issues, click here!

UP TO SPEED: Iris Allen’s killer remains at large.  Professor Zoom has returned.  As he dispatches Flash, Zoom reveals that he knows the killer’s identity…

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Annotations: Flash #281, “Deadly Games!”

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Welcome back to our series of Flash annotations, focusing on Cary Bates’ “Death of Iris Allen” story.  This issue begins the third act of this arc, a key stretch of issues that would further redefine Flash and his relationship with his archenemy, Professor Zoom.  Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post.  For previous issues, click here!

UP TO SPEED: The psychic monstrosity known as Clive Yorkin is no more, buried alive during last issue’s climactic confrontation with Flash.  However, any peace of mind Barry Allen drew from Yorkin’s demise was shattered by a phone call from Detective Frank Curtis: Allen’s friend, fellow cop, and fellow target of heroin smugglers…

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Annotations: Flash #280, “The Wrong Man!”

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We’re back with the latest in our analysis of Cary Bates’ Flash comics, leading up to Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash.  This week, we look at one of the biggest plot twists in the Death of Iris Allen arc.  Links to research and artwork art included throughout this post.  For a look as past weeks/issues, click here!


UP TO SPEED: Last week, Flash was almost killed by the psychic freak known as Clive Yorkin.  Yorkin is the man Flash holds responsible for the death of his wife Iris (issue #275).  Meanwhile, Barry Allen and Det. Frank Curtis continued to descend into the underworld in search of answers to the mysteries of Barry’s drugging (also #275) and the heroin smuggling plot discovered at police HQ (issues 270-275).  After surviving a bomb blast that destroyed his attacker, Barry took off to reign in Yorkin once and for all.  Unknown to the Scarlet Speedster, the psychic teen known as Melanie is also on the trail…

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