Showcase (1956-1970) #4

by John Broome, Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino (Penciller)

The first appearance and origin of the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, and his wife, Iris West! This issue officially begins the Silver Age of comics with Barry Allen serving as the first DC Silver Age superhero!

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels

24 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 1956

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bro...

Reviews

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is great for nostalgia.. other than that as an interesting story or good dialogue it's the epitome of the narration of every single thing is happening or about to happen from every character or.. well, the narrator.

It's fun to see where Flash (Barry) started but the story as always with everything from that era is simply ridiculous.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The comic book that kicked off the silver age of comics, Showcase #4, starring a rebooted version of the Flash! I enjoyed the stories by Robert Kanigher and John Broome, and loved the art by Carmine Infantino. I was surprised by how well Infantino's pencils paired with Joe Kubert's inks on the second story. It was a great look for both artists. When I read key issues from the golden age, usually I'm "one and done". Detective Comics #27 was an interesting historical curiosity, but I have no interest in reading Detective Comics #28. However, after reading Showcase #4, I'd to read more Silver Age Flash back issues.

[scribble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this in a flash (sorry, you know I had to).

I really really like how meta and cool Barry Allen’s the Flash’s origin story is. A superhero who’s also comic nerd? Sign me up.

P.S. Awesome start for the Silver Age.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A piece of DC history you need to read period, like Flash of the Two Worlds.

[Billy Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about the Flash that makes him so great, specifically from the silver age onwards, is that he’s a very well meaning dork. The whole “my mom was murdered” modern day retcon completely misses the point of why this origin is brilliant. Barry becomes a superhero, because in his comic book addled, horribly naive, himbo dork brain, that’s just the only logical thing to do when you get superpowers.

[Alayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pensé que iba a ser la primer aparición de Flash en general, pero es en realidad la primera de Barry Allen.
Estuvo buena igual. Pero mala mía descargándome cosas equivocadas.
(Me pone nerviosa ser la primera en reseñar esta edición, posta)

[Sean Korzinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 1: 4 stars. The Flash is created by a bolt of lightning and a chemical spill. The Tortoise Man almost kills Iris, Barry's gal pal, but he sees the bullet and moves her out of the way. Tortoise Man plans his moves and uses his intelligence to get away. Flash creates a vortex around his boat and captures him.

Story 2: 4 stars. A series of odd robberies gets the Flash involved with a man from the future who uses heat to slow down Flash. A criminal from the future who was sent by accident into the past is stealing what he needs to return to his own time. Flash captures the man who then escapes prison and is caught trying to use his ship to escape. Launching the ship will kill thousands so Barry runs the man into the future where he returned to authorities of his time. They will resend the man into a desolate future as punishment.

2 solid stories to introduce us to our hero. In this continuity our Flash knows about another Flash as a comic character. Cool that the previous Flash comic is given a nod at the start of this ones series.

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

With its fourth issue Showcase, DC's book for trying out new series, hit paydirt, though it wouldn't be apparent at the time. For its fourth offering editor Julius Schwartz decided to revive one of the superheroes of the Golden Age, namely The Flash. I am not sure why Flash was chosen for revival. True the Golden Age Flash had his own title back then, but so did the Golden Age Green Lantern. Be that as it may The Flash was chosen and Schwartz and his writers went to work. The character was modified somewhat. He was still a super speedster but his origin and uniform were changed. He was given a new secret identity. One big change was that the original Flash's girlfriend knew he was Jay Garrick. The new Flash's girlfriend had no idea that Barry Allen, who she was always berating as being slow, was in fact the fastest man alive. I am not sure if all the changes were for the better but the new costume was definitely an improvement over the original one.
Both stories were nice. The first of course had his origan and then filled us in on his first case, so to speak. He tackles a villain called Turtle Man. Although the first of Flash's Rogues Gallery this character has not been seen in the comics all that often, at least compared to the other Rogues. The second story is notable as it is the first time Flash uses his speed to crash the time barrier, as he is trying to take a criminal from the future back to where he came from, after he accidentally was sent to our time. Thus, with these two stories, we get to see what The Flash is capable of using his super-speed to do. This issue is definitely important to the history of comic, as it started the full-scale revival of superheroes. Happy reading.

[luciddreamer99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustration for this book is really high level, and the writing is not bad, either. A good start for a character who a lot of readers came to like. 2 stories here and they are both pretty decent. The Flash is already displaying some formidable powers. Suggestions of the multiverse to come, as the first Flash is a character in a comic book in Barry's world. A sign of things to come.

[Sakura · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay start to an iconic version of the hero of the flash. Barry Allen’s specifically. I can see now why the CW show was actually good for a while the first few seasons seems to have taken elements from these early comic books. I say okay because the writings very dated. I mean the villain literally says the line “HE DOESNT KNOW THAT I” but it’s honestly fine this is a nice start

[samridhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

the writing style isn’t for me i fear

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Showcase #4 (October 1956) is considered by most to be the start of the Silver Age. I have read different variations of the origin of the Flash (F) over the years, but never the book from cover to cover. Must say that I was 'underwhelmed' by the two villains: Turtle Man (TM) the worlds 'slowest' man and Mazdan (M), a criminal from the future (is it just me or does M have a suit of purple and green that 'evokes' Kang)? Be that as it may this is the beginning of an era - glad to have read it!