Flash Comics
From Hey Kids Comics
| Flash Comics | |
|---|---|
|
250x450px Cover to Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940) Art by Sheldon Moldoff. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule |
Monthly: #1–64, #70–104 Bimonthly: #65–69 |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date |
January 1940 – February 1949 |
| Number of issues | 104 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Gardner Fox, Robert Kanigher |
| Artist(s) | Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Harry Lampert, Dennis Neville |
Flash Comics was a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodicals (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Although the name of the comic book was Flash Comics, the Flash was only one of many different series featured in the magazine.
Publication history[edit | edit source]
The series debuted with a January 1940 cover date[1] and the first issue featured the first appearances of the Golden Age versions of the Flash,[2] Hawkman,[3] and Johnny Thunder.[4] The Flash was later given a solo comic book series, All-Flash which ran for 32 issues between Summer 1941 to January 1948.[5]
Artist Joe Kubert's long association with the Hawkman character began with the story "The Painter and the $100,000" in Flash Comics #62 (Feb. 1945).[6] The Monocle was introduced in #64 as a new foe for Hawkman.[7]
Carmine Infantino's first published work for DC was "The Black Canary", a six-page Johnny Thunder story in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) that introduced the superheroine the Black Canary.[8] Writer Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert created the Thorn in issue #89 (November 1947).[9]
Flash Comics was cancelled in 1949 with issue #104.[1] When DC Comics gave the Silver Age Flash, his own comic book series, it received the old numbering of Flash Comics starting at issue #105.[10]
Features[edit | edit source]
Features published in Flash Comics include:
- The Flash - issues #1–104
- Hawkman - issues #1–104
- Johnny Thunder - issues #1–91
- The Whip - issues #1–55[11]
- Cliff Cornwall - issues #1–19
- Ghost Patrol - issues #29–104[12]
- Black Canary - issues #92–104[13]
Collected editions[edit | edit source]
- Golden Age Flash Archives -
- Vol. 1 collects the "Flash" stories from Flash Comics #1–17, 224 pages, September 1999, 978-1563895067
- Vol. 2 collects the "Flash" stories from Flash Comics #18–24, 224 pages, February 2006, 978-1401207847
- The Flash Archives Vol. 1 includes the "Flash" story from Flash Comics #104, 224 pages, May 1998, 978-1563891397
- Golden Age Hawkman Archives Vol. 1 collects the "Hawkman" stories from Flash Comics #1–22, 224 pages, February 2006, 978-1401204181
- JSA All-Stars Archives Volume 1 includes the "Johnny Thunder" stories from Flash Comics #1–4, 256 pages, October 2007, 978-1401214722
- Black Canary Archives collects the "Johnny Thunder" stories from Flash Comics #86–91 and the "Black Canary" stories from Flash Comics #92–104, 224 pages, December 2000, 978-1563897344
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Flash Comics at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1940s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
DC shattered the sound barrier with the debut of the Flash, a blindingly fast mystery man written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Harry Lampert.
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "In the same issue [#1] Gardner Fox wrote the first story featuring Hawkman...in a story drawn by Dennis Neville."
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "Flash Comics scored a third hit with Johnny Thunder, star of a humorous feature about a boy raised in the distant land of Badhnisia and blessed with the ability to raise an all-powerful, genie-like Thunderbolt."
- ↑ All-Flash at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "Artist Joe Kubert began his most memorable work on the gravity-defying superhero Hawkman in this issue..."The Painter and the $100,000" written by Gardner Fox marked the start of a long and fruitful run between illustrator and character."
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "This issue saw writer Gardner Fox and illustrator Joe Kubert present the Monocle...He became representative of the 'gimmick villain', a staple of the super hero genre."
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, pp. 55–56: "Debuting as a supporting character in a six-page Johnny Thunder feature written by Robert Kanigher and penciled by Carmine Infantino, Dinah Drake [the Black Canary] was originally presented as a villain...The Black Canary's introduction in August [1947]'s Flash Comics #86 represented [Infantino's] first published work for DC."
- ↑ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 57: "Writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert presented a female twist on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the Thorn."
- ↑ Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93: "In March 1959, The Flash was back, care of writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. The series continued the numbering from Flash Comics and gave Barry Allen his own title. Issue #105 also debuted the Mirror Master."
- ↑ Markstein, Don (2011). "The Whip". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015.
[The Whip] took to the road in Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940), the same issue that introduced The Flash and Hawkman to the comics-reading public...His series ended in Flash Comics #55 (July, 1944).
- ↑ Markstein, Don (2010). "The Ghost Patrol". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015.
Fred, Pedro and Slim achieved their ghosthood in All-American Publications' Flash Comics #29 (May, 1942). The story was written by Ted Udall (an assistant editor to Sheldon Mayer) and Emmanuel Demby (who has few if any other credits in comics). It was drawn by Frank Harry ('Little Boy Blue'), who continued to draw the feature through most of its run.
- ↑ Markstein, Don (2006). "The Black Canary". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Flash Comics at the Comic Book DB
- Flash Comics at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
(Appears in flashback and main story)
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