The Flash Archives, Vol. 2

The Flash (1959-1985) #109-116

by John Broome

This second collection of classic Flash tales from the dawn of the 1960s introduces many of Barry Allens infamous foes, including Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, the Trickster, Captain Cold, and Captain Boomerang! Also making their debuts in this fast-paced volume are the Flashs young ally, Kid Flasha.k.a. Wally West, the hero who eventually took over as the Flashand the stretchable sleuth known as the Elongated Man!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

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

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second archival volume collecting the Flash's Silver Age adventures was a lot of fun. Most notably, it features the introduction of both Wally West and Ralph Dibny. West, of course, nephew of Barry (Flash) Allen's girlfriend, became endowed with super-speed and took on the identity of Kid Flash. At first, Kid Flash's uniform was a miniature version of Flash's, and remarkably, he was not a sidekick in the same manner of Robin, Speedy, and Aqualad -- always at the side of his adult mentor. No, Kid Flash lived in another town and had his own solo adventures, usually the same length as The Flash's (12 pages or so). Dibny was a young man obsessed with India rubber men and was finally able to deduce how they gained their stretching power. Soon, Dibny was on the scene of many Central City crimes as The Elongated Man. In his one back-up, we learn that Dibny capitalized on his powers enough to earn enough money to be independently wealthy.

Major villains include Captain Cold, Grodd, Mirror Master, and the Trickster, along with some science fiction-type bad guys.

Iris West is her usual prim and proper girl reporter self, and often is waiting on Barry Allen to make their dates on time. There's very little character development with her, and she could easily be Jean Loring or Carol Ferris, to be honest.

So, anyway, fun stories by John Broome and Carmine Infantino from 1959-60.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know what I hate?

Spawn.

But this is Flash you say; why would you mention Spawn?

Because I HATE Spawn, because I have every single issue of Spawn purchased and I hate how throughout the 90s until now, it's a miracle if you can find more than 20 from the 300+ issues that's worth reading, it's boring and repetitive as hell but you still hope it's going to get better at some point, (story wise).

As much as I hate Spawn and stopped reading 2 years ago or so, because I simply couldn't do with the repetitiveness and dumb script and nonsense dialogue, the last couple of volumes of Flash that I've been binge-reading made me think I'd rather be reading Spawn.

And that says a lot.

[Stven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume includes The Flash #109-116 from 1959-1960. Carmine Infantino is one of my lifelong favorites, and his artwork was never better than in this prime slice of Silver Age superhero excellence. John Broome's crazy imagination gave us wonderful stories of aliens, super science villains, and a girlfriend who can't understand how her boyfriend (Flash's secret identity) is always late for dates. This classic year includes the introduction of both Kid Flash and the Elongated Man. Truly a fan's delight.

[Bill Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second set of Flash stories shows real development of the supporting cast of characters. This volume features some of the infamous Rogues Gallery as well as Kid Flash in his just alike costume and the stretchy Elongated Man. The 1960's era science fiction is a nice change from modern dour speculative fiction.

[Cyn McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flash #109-116, October 1959-November 1960

In which we meet Kid Flash. He's cute and fun, except he's described as a teenager and he looks and acts about 12.