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Story Title: “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!”
Published: October 1956
Writer: Robert Kanigher
Artist: Carmine Infantino

The Background:
In 1940, writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert introduced readers to Jay Garrick, a college student granted superhuman speed after inhaling “hard water vapours”, and thus the very first superhero to use the name “The Flash” was born. The Flash not only became a charter member of the Justice Society of America but also graduated to his own solo book a year after his debut; however, All-Flash was cancelled after thirty-two issues when the onset of the Second World War saw superheroes decline in popularity. In the seven years that passed after Jay’s last publication hit comic book stands, a lot had changed; the rights to the Flash were now held by DC Comics, who set about reinventing “Golden Age” superheroes like the Flash and Alan Scott/Green Lantern. Thus, in 1956, readers of Showcase #4 were introduced to an all-new version of the Scarlet Speedster; created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino, forensic chemist Barry Allen heralded not only the “Silver Age” of comics but also the concept of the multiverse as it was later revealed that Jay existed on a parallel version of Earth. Barry quickly became one of the most popular and iconic incarnations of the Flash mantle, being a founding member of the Justice League of America and cementing his legacy after sacrificing his life in the Crisis on Infinite Earths epic (Wolfman, et al, 1985 to 1986). Although Barry’s demise lasted longer than most superhero deaths, he was eventually brought back in the ridiculously confusing Final Crisis event (Morrison, et al, 2008 to 2009) and his popularity and influence has seen him in a starring role in two live-action television shows, feature prominently in DC cartoons and videogames, and also seen him brought to life on the big screen as part of the largely disastrous DC Extended Universe.

The Review:
Our story begins with a crisis at a radar station on the East Coast; two military personnel are startled after picking up a strange object travelling faster than anything ever recorded before it sends their equipment haywire. To explain this phenomenon, the story flashes back a short time to Central City on a night when the city was ravaged by a tumultuous lightning storm. Here, in the police laboratory, we meet scientist Barry Allen, who marvels over stories of the Jay Garrick version of the Flash, who at this point exists only in comic books in a slice of metatext. As he returns to his mysterious experiment (which, apparently, requires the use of “every chemical known to science”), a bolt of lightning causes him to be doused in chemicals, leaving him wet and dazed but otherwise unharmed. Shaken, Barry leaves but is too late to hail a cab so tries to chase one down, only to find himself flying along at super speed! Believing his near-death experience has caused him to imagine things, Barry stops at a diner to catch his breath and is startled to find that he can now perceive time in slow motion, moving so fast that a clumsy waitress cannot comprehend what happened, but he still believes he’s suffering from shock so he goes home to rest. By the morning, he’s used some wonky logic to explain everything away but, when he meets Iris West for a date (receiving a talking down for his poor timekeeping), his super speed kicks in again just as a stray bullet threatens her life! Acting quickly, he tackles Iris out of harm’s way, earning him her gratitude, and finally realises that his molecular structure has been altered by the accident to turn him into the fastest man on Earth. Inspired by the adventures of Jay Garrick, Barry…somehow…crafts himself a sleek, form-fitting costume that can condense into a ring on his finger and makes his debut as the Flash to answer a burglar alarm at the city’s central bank.

Thanks to his superhuman speed, the Flash can effortlessly race down the sides of buildings and across town so fast that he breaks the sound barrier, thus explaining the disruption monitored at the start of the story. At the bank, The Flash finds nothing has been stolen; questioning the holdup victims, he learns that the perpetrator was “The Turtle Man”, a villain known as the slowest man on Earth, and somehow intuits that the thief left the job half finished to complete it later on. This odd logic is compounded when the Flash is easily fooled by a silhouette painted on a brick wall, like he’s Wile E. Coyote, and goes crashing through a wall while trying to apprehend the Turtle Man. Somehow, despite the fact that the Flash just appeared and no one even knows about him, Barry believes the villain is “using [his] speed […] as a weapon […] against [him]” and stays on his guard as he follows the Turtle Man’s trail through a sewer and to the river. The Turtle Man certainly lives up to his name; not only does he talk in laborious sentences, but he also chooses a rowboat for his getaway, yet he is also smart enough to boobytrap a speedboat to keep the Flash from pursing him. Thankfully, the laws of physics mean nothing to the Scarlet Speedster and he races across he water’s surface, but he’s unable to apprehend the villain because his movements only push the rowboat further away. Instead, the Flash circles the rowboat at superspeed, trapping it in a vortex and easily capturing the sloth-like crook. The cops and press are awestruck by the feat and the Flash becomes the talk of the town; even Iris swoons over the super-speedy hero completely unaware that she’s already dating the Scarlet Speedster.

The Summary:
Well, I’m not gonna lie…this was a bit of a disappointment. These older comic book tales always tend to be very brief and simplistic but I found Barry’s debut story to be particularly bland considering how colourful and versatile the Flash and his powers can be. I liked that Barry didn’t immediately realise what’d happened after the lightning strike but it takes him so long to figure out what happened that he comes across as a bit of a dunce. His misadventures do give a taste of what he’s now capable of, showing that he can accelerate to inhuman speeds, defy gravity and physics, and even perceive time differently, but it’s handled very clunkily and not in an especially engaging or entertaining way. Barry’s clothes don’t catch fire from the friction, which would’ve been a fun visual, and he’s far too quick to explain away what’s happening with weak logic. Once he does figure things out, he’s somehow able to create this amazing suit that shrinks down into a ring, something I always thought came along later in his career but isn’t even explained with a wishy-washy trope like “unstable molecules”.

The Turtle Man isn’t exactly a visually interesting or threatening first villain, either. I get the idea of pitting the world’s slowest man against the world’s fastest man as a kind of thematic parallel but it doesn’t really work because…why the hell would the world’s slowest man pose a threat to the Flash, of all people?! And…he doesn’t. He briefly bamboozles the Flash by fleeing the crime scene, causes him to run into a wall and sink, both of which are minor inconveniences at best, and is easily apprehended without really taxing the Flash’s powers or intelligence anywhere near their limit. It feels as though this story needed a few more pages; there are other standalone Flash stories in this issue but I would’ve used the extra pages to establish the Flash in the city before he encounters the Turtle Man as the villain is…somehow…aware of the Scarlet Speedster and relishing in their conflict despite him just making his debut! In the end, it’s a kind of fun, wacky tale but a bit of an inauspicious debut for one of DC Comics’ most popular heroes; a lot of the groundwork is here and there’s some fun art showcasing the Flash’s super speed and such but it’s ultimately a bit lacklustre and too simplistic for me to be the definitive origin story for the character.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think about Barry Allen’s debut as the Flash? Were you impressed by it at the time or were you left a little fulfilled, like me? What did you think to the new Flash and how do you think he compared to Jay Garrick? Did you also find it odd that Barry took so long to figure out what was going on? What did you think to the Turtle Man and his threat to the Flash? Which Flash or speedster is your favourite and what are some of your favourite Barry Allen moments? Feel free to share your thoughts on the Flash below and be sure to check out my other Flash-related content!