As Speed Force marks its fifth birthday, we decided to take a look back at where each of the Fastest Men Alive were in the fifth year of their original titles.  Happy Fifth Anniversary, Speed Force!

Join us after the jump, as we journey back to 1944, 1963 and 1992 in search of Flash history, original artwork and more!

JAY GARRICK:

Flash Comics #1 went on sale November 10, 1939, introducing super-speedster Jay Garrick to the world.  Five years later, Jay appeared in the first story of Flash Comics #61, the “The Magic of Ultra-Speed” by Gardner Fox and Martin Naydel.

Here is a synopsis of “The Magic of Ultra-Speed” from the DC Comics Database:

The Flash disguises himself as a magician to perform feats of “magic” for children in a hospital ward. While using his speed to grant the wishes of his young audience, he unwittingly stops crimes in progress perpetrated by his old nemesis, Midget Joe.

Midget Joe, repeat Golden Age Flash villain and World War II icon!

Jay also appeared in the one-shot Big All-American Comic Book, published around October – December 1944 (depending on where you look).  The whole comic, including the then-new Flash story “The Million Dollar Apple” by Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard, is reprinted in the amazing DC Comics Rarities Archives, Vol. 1.  Featuring the Three Dimwits, here’s a synopsis from Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics:

Jay Garrick prepares to meet his explorer friend Robert Cromwell, who is returning from an expedition where he discovered a million dollar emerald. Cromwell hides the emerald inside an apple to protect it from thieves. When the gang of Jocko Wolfe tries to find the gem, the Flash interrupts them. However, in the scuffle the apple is lost.

While Flash and the police search for the missing apple, the crooks continue to search among Cromwell’s possessions. However, the emerald has really fallen into the hands of a fruit peddler. While attending a stage show, the peddler throws the apple at Winky, Blinky, and Noddy, whose stage performance is terrible. The dimwits find the gem, then are nearly swindled out of it by Wolfe. Flash arrives in time to recover the gem and capture Wolfe.

November of 1944 was a busy month for Jay, as he also appeared in the Comic Cavalcade #9 story “The Tale of the Winged Horse,” by Gardner Fox and Jon Chester Kozlak.  Could not find a full synopsis on this one, but this page states that the plot involves the Liars Club.  All-Flash #17 came out in early December and had three more new stories by Fox!

BARRY ALLEN:

Not counting the Showcase issues, Barry Allen’s own series began with Flash #105 on December 23, 1958.  Five years later, Barry appeared in two stories in Flash #142, out December 9th.

In the first, “Perilous Pursuit of the Trickster,” we have a classic James Jesse tale by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.  “Puzzle of the Phantom Plunderers” follows, this time with John Broome on script.  Both of these stories have been reprinted in the Flash Archives (volume six) and Showcase Presents: Flash (volume three).

Check out the following pages of amazing original art, via Comic Art Fans: page six, page seven, page eight, page nine, page 10, page 11, page 12, page 14 and page 23.

Over in Justice League of America #25, Gardner Fox handles writing duties for a change as Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs deliver the classic “Outcasts of Infinity“.  Here is the original splash page, also via Comic Art Fans.

WALLY WEST:

Flash #1, kicking off the third volume of the series, was released on March 5, 1987 with Wally West in the wingtips.  Five years later, Flash #65 and the fourth story of Born to Run appeared, courtesy of Mark Waid, Greg LaRocque and Jose Marzan, Jr.  I wasn’t able to find any original art online, but if you find some please post in the comments!  A fitting tale for an anniversary, Flash #65 was a modern look at Wally West’s days as Kid Flash and brought new depth to his origins.

Here’s to five more years of speed reading!

The post Speed Force Fifth!: The Flash, Years Five appeared first on Speed Force.

The #speedforce5th photo challenge is still open! Post your favorite flash memorabilia with that tag.

As for this pic, I love the expression on the doomed construction worker that the Flashes of two worlds are racing to rescue. I couldn’t use this for the announcement, but wanted to put it somewhere.
http://instagram.com/p/atxULMDcou/

Howard Porter’s design for the Flash of Justice League 3000, a new ongoing series by Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire launching this fall.

Through Comic Book Resources, DC Comics has revealed plans for Justice League 3000 by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. The ongoing series, launching in fall, will feature (at least) future versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Green Lantern

So far, all they’ve really released is the creative team and Howard Porter’s designs, including this one for the Flash.

While the team is best known for the humorous “Bwahaha” Justice League International, they’ve written their share of serious stories as well. (You don’t get more serious than Giffen’s “Five Years Later” Legion.)

No doubt this is what’s behind both the end of the current Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice Legion rumors: Presumably the LSH has been shifted to another timeframe, since I imagine the two concepts wouldn’t coexist very well.

Also, it’s worth noting: The Flash of JL3000 has red hair and green eyes. I’m not going to read too much into that. Other Wally West fans may be more optimistic, but I’ve been burned too many times to get my hopes up.

The post A Future Flash Appears in Justice League 3000 appeared first on Speed Force.

Welcome to Speed Force’s fifth anniversary celebration! As part of the fun, we’re running another contest for Flash fans to participate in. And of course there will be prizes!

The idea is simple: just tell us why you like the Flash. Any Flash –- it can be Jay, Barry, Wally, Bart, or all of them (or even just the Flash as a concept). Or perhaps tell us about what he/they mean to you. You can write about it or draw it, whatever suits your talents, and we’ll post the entries after the contest is over. To enter, send your submission here.

The contest will run from Monday June 17 to Monday June 24, with a deadline of 11:50 PM Pacific Time. One entry per person, please. The five Speed Force writers (Kelson, Devin, Greg, Ed, and myself) will select our favourites from the submitted entries and award the prizes.

Good luck, and have fun!

The post Speed Force Fifth Anniversary Contest appeared first on Speed Force.

As part of our SpeedForce.org celebration, we’re taking a look back to the issue of The Flash that came out the same month that this site started. Back in 2008, we were right in the middle of the “Fast Money” story arc. Wally West has seen the people of Keystone City turn against him, pushed by the villain Spin, who has brought Grodd in to help him in the battle. As for the kids…Iris and Jai have been taken captive by people working for “Boss Dark Side”. That brings us to issue #241 of The Flash, with an August cover date but released June 18th, 2008. (NOTE: Thanks to John at Capitol Comics in Raleigh NC for helping me find a spare copy of this issue for the review when I could not find my own copy in my back issues).

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD!

As we begin this issue, Grodd has immobilized Wally and Jay…and Spin! Grodd answers to no one, and Spin has made a serious tactical error bringing Grodd into this fight. Grodd mentally orders Wally to find and bring back Nzame, the sacred Ape Child. He then tells Jay that there will be some future task that Jay will hate…but will be still forced to accomplish. Finally, Grodd orders Spin to tell him how he brought him here…and what he has done to the city.

Meanwhile, the kids are escaping, but as they do we find that Iris is aging again and is now an adolescent! Jai has not aged similarly, but he confesses to Iris what he has known for some time…that their parents have reason to fear they may suddenly become very old and die far too soon. Iris has already surmised this…which makes sense since their actual age at this point in the series is only three months!

We flip back to Spin telling his origin story – to find that the kids are now on the scene, taking the fight to Grodd and giving enough distraction for Wally to free himself and end this fight quickly. After the battle we find out that Spin is actually the head of KN News, and that he has been using his powers to build his own media empire and to commit crimes while turning the people against the Flash!

We have a very touching scene between Wally and his daughter, with Wally trying not to show the fear any father would have when faced with the potential mortality of his children. But, this scene is cut short by the need to get to the Flash Museum, where an out of control crowd is ready to burn the place to the ground. Wally wants to save one particular exhibit…Intertia!

This story takes place after Inertia has caused the death of Bart Allen. Wally has taken away Inertia’s speed and left him so immobile as to resemble a statue, permanently on display at the museum while facing Bart’s image. We see the internal conflict Wally feels about saving the person responsible for Bart’s death, but in the end we know Wally’s true character will win out, and he does pull Inertia out of the burning building….to find that Iris has aged yet again to adulthood!

That’s where this issue ends, and the “Fast Money” story arc continues from there. It’s also where this site begins…five years ago! As for the story – this issue shows some of the best qualities of Wally West as the Flash. He still has internal doubts and fears and doesn’t always make the best choices (hence this story arc that begins with Wally’s conflict over whether to cash in on his powers and fame to provide for his family). But, he is still at his core a really good guy and a great father. He is, in short, a very compelling character – a very human Wally dealing with the joys and burdens of immense power. This story line was the starting place for Tom Peyer as writer on this series, taking over for Mark Waid just in time to start the “Fast Money” arc. Freddie E. Williams II provided the art, with Tanya and Richard Horie on colors. This was an excellent story to me, and it’s fun to bring this back to you now.

I can’t end this review without a personal note here. I have been a fan of Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning and Speedforce.org for more years than I care to admit. Thanks to Kelson for making all this possible, and for allowing me to become a part of this amazing site. Thanks to Greg, Devin and Lia for being so welcoming and for their excellent posts here that I enjoyed reading long before joining the team. Finally, a special thanks to everyone who follows this site! Thanks so much for following us here!

The post Five Years Ago in The Flash…Review of Flash #241 appeared first on Speed Force.

This week’s features:

• Can “Man of Steel” save “The Flash” from development hell?
• HeroesCon Photos Day 1 and Day 3
• Fan film: Iris
• Black Flash in Ame-Comi Girls and Smallville: Haunted TPB
• Blackest Night Reverse Flash skin DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us
• Photo Challenge & Speed Force 5th Anniversary

Speed Force turns five years old tomorrow (hard to believe, huh?), and one of the ways we’re celebrating is with a photo challenge. (See, I told you we had something in store for our Instagram page.)

To participate, follow @SpeedForceOrg on Instagram and post a photo of your favorite Flash item tagged #speedforce5th.

It can be a comic book, a toy, a statue, a costume, a poster, a piece of original art, a DVD, a shirt or towel, a game piece, anything. It can be official or custom-made. It can be something you own, or something you’ve seen.

We’ll post the highlights next Friday. (Please post your own photos only.)

If you aren’t on Instagram, don’t worry — we’ve got something else planned that you can participate in too!

Wow, five years. Big thanks to Devin, Greg, Lia and Ed for joining me on this journey, to everyone who’s guest-posted, to my wife and son for putting up with me spending time on it, and to all of you for coming along with us!

When you get home from “Man of Steel” this weekend, check on Speed Force. We’ve got a lot more in store as we celebrate our fifth anniversary!

masterofmotion:

The Flash #290, October, 1980. Contains “Will You Believe Me When I’m Dead?” and Firestorm: “The Secret History of the Nuclear Man!”

It also contains the first appearance of Barry Allen’s evil twin. OK, the resemblance is only coincidence in this story, but what’s more likely?

Flash of Two Worlds

Edit: I was digging around in my archives for pictures of Flash memorabilia I could use for announcing our #speedforce5th photo challenge, and found a whole set I’d done of this statue back in the day. This is my favorite shot from the set, though I wish I’d rotated the statue to get the window frame out of view. Original post on Flickr.