Jay Garrick first picked up the hat of the Flash in
Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940) by
Gardner Fox and
Harry Lampert...and that series lasted 104 issues, as well as spinning off into All-Flash comics (starting with
All-Flash Quarterly #1 in Summer of 1941, which lasted 32 issues), as well as appearing in
All-Star Comics with the Justice Society of America (and in Comic Cavalcade with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman), all in the Golden Age...
...so, how do you find those Golden Age tales now?
Flash Comics
Jay first appeared in
Flash Comics, so that's where we'll start running...with
Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940) with "The Origin of the Flash" by
Gardner Fox and
Harry Lampert, this is where college student Jay Garrick accidentally inhales some "hard water" and wakes up out of a coma with the ability to move and think at super-speed! Later, Jay moves to New York, being an assistant professor, and taking up the mantle of the Flash to save the life of the father of his girlfriend, Joan Williams, from Sieur Satan and his Faultless Four!
This tale has been reprinted many times, first in
The Great Comic Book Heroes of 1965, then in the
Famous First Edition F-8 of August-September, 1975, in the
Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes of 1976 (in both hardcover and soft cover), in the
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told (hardcover in 1991 and softcover in 1992), in the
Millennium Edition: Flash Comics #1 of September, 2000, and in the
Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years of 2015.
Flash's next solo reprint from
Flash Comics is from
Flash Comics #66 (August-September, 1945), with "The Flash and the Black Widow" by
Robert Bloch and
Everett Hibbard, with Jay, Joan and the Three Dimwits (Winky, Blinky and Noddy) facing off against Princess Helene and her transforming formula.
This tale is reprinted in the
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told hardcover of 1991, and in the
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told soft cover of 1992, both having covers by
Carmine Infantino (who would be better known for his art with Barry Allen Flash!).
These two
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told collections also have the next Flash Comics story, that of
Flash Comics #86 (August, 1947) with Jay and Joan facing dinosaurs in the "Stone Age Menace" by
Robert Kanigher,
Lee Elias and
Joe Kubert.
This story was also reprinted in the
Flash: Greatest Stories Ever Told tradepaperback of 2007, with an
Alex Ross cover (though, again, the focus is on Barry Allen Flash, there are a couple of Jay stories in there!).
Flash Comics #90 (December, 1947) is the next
Flash Comics issue to be reprinted, with the story of "Nine Empty Uniforms" by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, where the Flash helps a baseball team, the Bobtails, who are on a losing steak, and defeat a gambler who was betting against them (though this wasn't
THE Gambler, a Green Lantern foe...).
This tale was reprinted in the
80-Page Giant #4 (October, 1964), under a cover by
Carmine Infantino and
Murphy Anderson, with a collection of odd Barry Allen Flash stories!
Dig the expressions on Barry Allen's face!
Flash Comics #94 (April, 1948) is the next treat reprinted, featuring the tale of Dr. Maria Flura, who ended up waking up on death's row....with no idea how she got there, being convicted of the murder of Professor Lexon! All this in the tale "The Images of Doom", by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, in a follow up to her appearance in
All-Flash Comics #31.
This tale found itself reprinted in
Flash #232 (March-April, 1974) under a
Nick Cardy cover (who drew a lot of covers that reprinted Golden Age DC tales)...
...and along with a couple of Barry Allen team-up stories, featured
a Golden Age Johnny Quick story!
The last of the Flash Comics stories to be found alone is the last published solo Golden Age Flash story,
Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949) with "The Rival Flash" by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, with Flash facing a foe who was his rival...and had super-speed equal to the Flash's own! Nothing worse than
a villainous speedster...
This tale has been reprinted many times, starting with
Flash #211 (December, 1971) under a cover by
Irv Novick and
Dick Giordano, in the
Flash Archives #1 of 1996 (which then reprints Barry Allen's earliest appearances including all 4 of his Showcase appearances), in the
Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told tradepaperback of 2007 and in the
Flash Omnibus #1 of 2014.
All-Flash
Flash's solo title ended up producing a few reprints.... starting with
All-Flash #13 (Winter, 1943) by
Gardner Fox and
Everett Hibbard and the "Campaign Against The Flash", with Jay, Joan the Three Dimwits dealing with Flash being labeled a criminal, and a new hero rising, called Muscleman...all while having to deal with the mobster, Dapper Don Dolan.
This story was reprinted in the
100-Page Super-Spectacular DC-22 of November, 1973 under a cover by
Nick Cardy, and also has a Golden Age Johnny Quick reprint...
...as well as a story involving the change of Kid Flash's costume and another with Captain Cold and the Elongated Man!
Next up is a great Jay Flash reprint from
All-Flash #14 (Spring, 1944) with "The Rise and Fall of the Norman Empire" by
Gardner Fox and
Everett Hibbard. Norman Empire is a card shark, that forces Deuces Wilde (a friend of the Flash) to play for a lady's life!
This story was reprinted in the
Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told hardcover of 1990, which featured a stunning cover by
Jerry Ordway, and many Golden Age stories that were, well, just great, and featured a few other JSAers like Hawkman,
Wildcat, Sandman, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman,
Black Canary and the Spectre as well!
Sadly, only this Flash tale has been reprinted from this issue (the other features Flash foe,
the Thinker, and hasn't been reprinted).
All-Flash #22 (April-May, 1946) had two stories redone, one "Deal Me From The Bottom" by
Gardner Fox and
Martin Naydel, with Jay dealing with Deuces Wilde and his exploiting a boy who could pitch playing cards, and the story of "The City of Shifting Sand" by
John Broome and
Martin Naydel, with Flash dealing with a liar's club and telling a tall tale....
....the Deuces Wild story ended up in
DC Super-Stars #5 (July, 1976, under a cover by
Dick Giordano), redrawn by
Rico Rival, and that sand story was kind of reprinted in
Four-Star Spectacular #1 (March-April, 1976, under a cover by
Ernie Chan)...as while the story was the same, it was redrawn by artist
Edgar Bercasio from
Broome's script.
So, do above qualify as a reprints?
No confusion with the next story, as
All-Flash #30 (August-September, 1947) has one of its three stories reprinted, that of "Anything Can Happen" by
John Broome and
Lee Elias...
...with the Flash finding a murdered man dumped off a bridge, and this continuing to happen repeatedly with Jay arrested!
This tale found itself in
Flash #216 (June, 1972) under a cover by
Nick Cardy, where Barry Allen Flash faces his foe, Mr. Element!
The story of "The Secret City" by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino from
All-Flash #31 (October-November, 1947) is up next and has Jay facing off (as the Flash) against the soldiers of the Secret City for the life of Dr. Maria Flura, who went searching for a reporter friend of hers lost in the jungle and how Jay dealt with all of that (and this sets up Dr. Flura's appearance in the Flash Comics story mentioned above!).
This tale was reprinted in
Flash #229 (September-October, 1974), under a cover by
Nick Cardy, and along with the old Golden Age Flash story, features a new team-up of the Golden Age and Silver Age Flash (vs. Golden Age villains Rag Doll and the Thinker), as well as Silver Age Green Lantern, Kid Flash and Flash reprints, and a Golden Age Johnny Quick Flash reprint as well!
"The Planet Of Sport" from
All-Flash #31 (October-November, 1947) by
Robert Kanigher and
Everett Hibbard is also reprinted, and features Jay and Joan competing in an alien Olympic games after being taken off Earth to the alien world of Strobos along with two other athletes, which they had to compete in to return home, of course, keeping their wars there a secret, as that's what super-heroes do, even when they face a marvel such as alien competition!
This tale was reprinted in the
Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years of 2015, along with Jay, Barry and Wally West's first appearances, with a few other interesting tales as well, including
Jay and Barry's first meeting, and the
first Superman-Flash race!
The last issue of All-Flash was
All-Flash #32 (December-January, 1947/1948), and it has two tales reprinted...first, "The Amazing Star Sapphire" by
Robert Kanigher and
Lee Elias, with Jay and Dr. Flura being found dead....and having to fight the alien empress, the Star Sapphire in their dreams to save Earth from alien invasion!
This tale was reprinted in the first
Flash Annual from Summer, 1963, with a cover by
Carmine Infantino, and it also reprints the first appearances of Katmos, Mr. Element,
Elongated Man, Gorilla
Grodd and
Kid Flash....and is so incredible, that DC reprinted the reprint in the
Flash Annual Replica Edition in 2001!
The second story from
All-Flash #32 (December-January, 1947/1948) to be reprinted is the first appearance of Flash foe, the Fiddler, entitled "Duet Of Danger", wherein Flash battles his musical foe for the first time (but the Fiddler will return again and again, including during the first meeting of Jay and Barry).
The Fiddler story is reprinted in
Flash #160 (April, 1966) under a cover by
Carmine Infantino and
Murphy Anderson, and is also known as
80 Page Giant #G-21, with a few other quick reprints as well. Sadly, the third
All-Flash #32 story, featuring the Thinker, has not been reprinted as of yet.
Comic Cavalcade
Flash had one story from
Comic Cavalcade reprinted separately, that of
Comic Cavalcade #24 (December-January, 1947-1948), with "The Slow-Motion Crimes" by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, and has Jay facing his foe, the Turtle, again, and gets help from Joan and a junior JSA member!
This tale is reprinted in the
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told hardcover of 1991, and in the
Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told soft cover of 1992, both having covers by
Carmine Infantino (who would be better known for his art with Barry Allen Flash...
...and this turtle isn't really related to the Turtle Barry Allen faced in his first appearance!).
Flash also found his first 3
Comic Cavalcade stories reprinted in the
Comic Cavalcade Archives #1 of 2005, which also Golden Age stories of Wonder Woman,
Green Lantern,
Wildcat, Sargon and more! Flash also found his solo tales from
All-Star Comics #1 and
#2 reprinted in the
All-Star Archives #0 of 2006, and his story from the
Big All-American Comic Book reprinted in the
DC Comics Rarities Archive #1 of 2005. Would that we could get more Archives from DC!
Flash Archives
With this talk of Archives, Flash did have two volumes all to himself!
The first Golden Age Flash Archive from 1999 featured the first 17 Flash Comics stories, covering Jay's first appearance until
Flash Comics #17 (May, 1941), and the second
Golden Age Flash Archive from 2006 covered Flash's stories from
Flash Comics #18 to
#24 from 1941, and
All-Flash Quarterly #1 and
#2 (Fall, 1941)!
Unpublished Golden Age Flash Tales
Flash had three tales from the Golden Age that went unpublished....
The first is called "Journey Into Danger" by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, and was printed in
Flash #205 (April-May, 1971, under a Dick Giordano cover) where Flash deals with other things that were suddenly sped up, and the man who wanted to take advantage of that!
There's also some Barry Allen, Wally West and Johnny Quick reprints in the issue as well...but the oldest story in the book was also the only one previous unseen!
The second is titled "A Tale of Three Tokens" and is also by
Robert Kanigher and
Carmine Infantino, and deals with a battle between the Flash and the Thinker, and the Thinker's plot to take a time machine, and this story ended up in
Flash #214 (April, 1972) under a
Nick Cardy wrap-around cover featuring many members of Flash' family, foes and a few extra!
The third is an even odder case, as it features Rose and the Thorn (the original version, who faced Jay in multiple issues...and would have again, had this story been printed). The splash page and first two pages can be found in
Alter Ego #4 (with a
Joe Kubert cover), and the last two pages of this 10 page story were published by DC Comics in
Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #113 (September-October, 1971, under a
Dick Giordano cover), (with Flash handing over the defeated Thorn to Green Lantern (Alan Scott) to be taken to Transformation Island (the place where Wonder Woman reformed her criminals). This story was later expanded upon by
Roy Thomas during his
Infinity, Inc. series, especially in the first
Infinity, Inc. Annual (and it also involved another
Robert Kanigher creation, that of the original Harlequin, with more
on those women here!).
So, it might take the skills of a police scientist...
...but you can go back and find Golden Age Flash adventures!
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