Flash Fridays – Showcase # 8
posted on October 24, 2014
The cover to Showcase number eight featured the second appearance of the Silver Age Flash (henceforth I will eschew the use of the appellation Silver Age since for my money this is the Flash… period). It’s an Infantino/Giella cover and, if I didn’t already know who had drawn the cover, I’d have sworn it was by Gil Kane. Which, of course is why Heritage Auctions has never asked me to moonlight as one of their art experts. Still looks like Gil Kane though. This only serves to underline the fact that everyone is still working to get a handle on the character’s look (and anatomy, it sorta looks like he just broke his right leg). The thing I find most interesting about the cover is that it has absolutely nothing to do with either of the stories inside. At no point in either story does a villain or anyone else for that matter point a finger at the Flash and say that he can beat him with one finger. Kind of odd for a Julie Schwartz edited book but there you have it anyway sports fans.
Moving on from the mysterious cover to nowhere, we come to The Secret of the Empty Box which follows a pretty typical pattern for the super hero stories of this era. It’s a four beat piece with beat one being the set-up, beats two and three showing the villain best the hero and beat four when the hero figures things out and captures the bad guy, with the ends being wrapped by the B story which in this case is the relationship of Barry Allen and Iris West. Bob Kanigher, the story’s writer, does a nice job using the front part of the B story to humanize Barry’s character and show off some speed tricks at the same time as he helps a young girl who has dropped her ring in a grate in the sidewalk. It’s a nice establishing bit that walks Barry right up to his meeting with Iris and the problem posed by the villain. A mysterious box has shown up in the Central City Square with apparently no way to get inside. Iris has phoned Barry to meet her there and because he helped the little girl recover her ring he predictably arrives late. He immediately deduces that that box is a ruse to distract from a crime being committed elsewhere and rushes off to find it. Again Kanigher demonstrates the Flash’s speed by having him change to his Flash garb in an arcade photo booth so fast that he can’t be captured in a photo. Also again proving that the Flash is faster than film.
The Flash captures the villain who as we learn later is merely one of two henchmen working for the main villain. The best thing about the villains are their costumes which consist of top hats, tails and a mask, but there’s no emotional investment in the character. Actually, there’s no character in the character. We’re not given a name, a backstory or even a motive (other than greed) for the showy thefts. As a result, the character became a one-off never to be seen again.
Contrast that with the villain in the second story The Coldest Man on Earth and the difference and the difference is pretty dramatic. Here we have the first appearance of Captain Cold who not only has a cool name but an equally cool Infantino designed costume and even cooler backstory. In it, Len Snart, a small time crook looks for a way to up his game by developing a weapon to defeat the Flash. Just a slight digression here… science and technology ruled the 1950s and to someone growing up in that era they were the magical answer to the world’s problems. That could also be flipped to science and technology proving the world’s undoing if used badly. So any skinny premise that involved science, even bad science, was granted plausibility by the comic book readers of the day. We, of course knew better, but if the writer involved science, sometimes just the word science, the audience would immediately buy-in for the sake of the story. Science and technology just provided a reasonable jumping off point. So when Len Snart bones up on cyclotrons, breaks into an actual cyclotron and jiggers it to turn his homemade gun into a weapon that can among other things freeze people into a block of ice, we were pretty much okay with that (my dad, other the other hand who was an engineer, didn’t think very much of the book in part because he knew way better. More on this later on down the line.) Unlike the villain in the first story whose feats go unexplained, Len Snart aka Captain Cold now has a raison d’être. The story then follows the almost catch, almost catch, finally gotcha pattern, but it’s done with a villain we can believe in and for whom we can feel something, and, most importantly, would like to see again. With this story, writer John Broome starts writing the bible for future Flash stories to follow.
One thing I found interesting is that in the last two panels we find that Barry Allen has a lab partner named Stan. This is the first and last time we’ll ever see Stan, but I’ve often felt that there was a story there, narrated by Stan, just begging to be told. Maybe someday.
Batom Comics – The Untold History Chapter 3
posted on October 18, 2014
It was July of 1954. Elvis Presley had just made his radio debut in Memphis with “That’s All Right [Mama]”, DC Comics launched a new Superman-family book with Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, and Batom Comics published its first comic book with what can only be described as a nervous pride. Their comic was born at the nadir of a shattered comic book industry, and featured a genre that would have been a tough sell even in the comics heyday. The book was Starbuck Jones featuring the exploits of the star spanning space opera hero. The character was the brainchild of Batom Comic’s first official writer Flash Freeman. It was a witness to Freeman’s belief that science fiction deserved a home in the comics.
Answering an ad in the Cleveland Press, Freeman showed up on Batom Comics doorstep to find the brothers Barry and Thomas Martin high on enthusiasm to begin publishing comic books, short on experience in how to produce them, and desperately in need of stories to fill them. Freeman had been a stringer for the Press as well as a freelance writer for various publications around town, but his dream was to be a writer of short stories and novels. And not just any short stories and novels. Freeman was fan of science fiction, a field still in its youth and brimming with a nascent energy and excitement. Heinlein, Asimov, Clark – these were the stars that Flash Freeman saw when he looked up to the heavens. For some reason, however, SF had never fully transitioned into the comic books and sales of the genre remained low. Martin Goodman the publisher of Marvel Comics had once famously proclaimed that he never wanted to see a comic book that had rockets, ray guns or robots on the cover. Still, Flash Freeman’s enthusiasm for stories set in the cosmos convinced the Martin brothers to make Freeman’s stellar hero, Starbuck Jones, the star of their first published comic book. Freeman’s belief in his character was contagious. In Freeman, Thomas and Barry had found the writer who knew how to make a successful science fiction comic book.
They were going to need someone to illustrate the stories and once again luck was with them. Freeman had reached out to Phil Holt an artist he had worked with from time to time on his various freelance jobs. Part illustrator, part cartoonist, Phil was the perfect artist for the job. His clean exciting style set the tone for the series right out of the gate. He worked up a character sheet for Starbuck Jones and as soon as the Martin brothers saw it they were sold.
The first issue laid out Starbuck’s origin. He had once been a member of a group called the Lunar Cadets, but his issues with regimentation and his tendency to freelance on missions led to his becoming a freebooter of sorts. A Lone Ranger of Space as Flash Freeman referred to him. A mercenary for hire for the right cause. Flash poured all of his pent-up pulpish energy into that first issue, and Phil Holt ably brought the characters to life and breathed life into the characters. That first issue also introduced the Xaxians the alien race destined to become Starbuck’s arch enemies. But all of it would be nothing but space dust if that inaugural issue wasn’t a success.
Flash Fridays – Showcase # 4
posted on October 17, 2014
When I was participating in Tony Isabella’s driveway panel back in the summer, one of the questions I was asked was who my favorite superhero was. Without a moment’s hesitation I said The Flash (as did fellow panelist Mike Barr). Back when the time came to sell of the bulk of my comics collection, the books I kept were my Flash comics, and, in fact as part of the deal, I had the dealer fill out some of the holes in that hallowed run. I think the response would be pretty much the same for any other comic reader whose golden age (12) came when the Silver Age Flash exploded onto the scene. It was a special book for a whole host of reasons, and a seminal book for me personally.
I’ve decided to take a comics page from my buddy Tony and try to institute something I’m calling Flash Fridays. Starting with the character’s first Showcase appearance, every Friday (kinda sorta) I plan to write about each successive issue until I’ve made my way through the entire Silver Age run. A task of biblical proportions for sure. These comments and observations will be completely free ranging and not a strict critical analysis. There are many sources out there that can provide much more detailed and analytical insights. What this is going to represent is my personal journey with these comics as much as anything else. Where I encountered them, what they meant at the time, and how they affected my artistic and career choices along with what I thought about them using a set of standards purely of my own invention.
So let’s, as they say, start at the beginning which would be with the first Flash tryout in Showcase number 4. The problem with this beginning is that it wasn’t my beginning. I came on board with The Flash number 115 (which isn’t as far down the road as it sounds and will be a story for a future Flash Friday.) But that means that this issue will always remain a bit distant to me because it wasn’t the one I first fell in love with. I didn’t encounter it until the first Silver Age Flash annuals came out and it was just different enough to always seem a little alien to me. Which is strange because it was drawn by my favorite artist at the time, Carmine Infantino and inked by an equally amazing artist, Joe Kubert. It should have been a match made in heaven, but Kubert’s inks lent a much darker tone to my favorite hero turning it into more of a noir piece which on hindsight wasn’t totally inappropriate. He just didn’t look like my Flash. All of the signature elements are here, the fact that Barry Allen was a fan of the old Flash comics, the lightning strike that bathes him with various chemicals, the slow discovery of his powers and the unfolding of his relationship with Iris West.
Here’s where it gets a little personal. I don’t get the cover. Never have. The cover shows the Flash bursting forth from a roll of (I’m just guessing here) movie film. The question that begs for an answer is… Why? Is he supposed to be faster than film? Film isn’t very fast. I never got the connection. Plus, the figure of The Flash is running straight at the reader which makes it that much tougher to illustrate and convey the feeling of speed. For my money, the picture that should have been the cover is the splash page from the first story, Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!. Here we see The Flash symbolically bursting forth from a comic book… his comic book actually, and the symbolism makes much more sense (I learned what a symbolic splash was from Julie Schwartz in the Flash letter column in number 115). Plus the figure of The Flash is running at a three quarter angle which allows for a much more dynamic depiction of foreshortened speed. The splash beautifully says it all.
Then there’s the scene in the diner when Barry the waitress drops a tray full of food and Barry snatches it out of the air. We see it as if it’s happening in slow motion and the conceit is brilliant. The POV switches to Barry and we see it as it would appear to him. To a man moving very fast, the world around him would seem to be moving much slower. This concept would be little used (I think) moving foreword where The Flash would mostly be shown from the reader’s POV as multiple figures moving through the panel. That’s my impression anyway, but we’ll see if it holds-up as we move along on this little journey. It wouldn’t be used again as effectively until the movie X-Men:Days of Future Past when Qucksilver’s speed is displayed in a similar manner.
The fact that Barry is inspired to become the Flash from reading Flash comics is a great touch. Whether Bob Kanigher the writer or Julie Schwartz the editor had in mind what it would eventually become is sadly left to the ages to debate, but, for my money, I’d be willing to bet the pharmacy that Julie had that one in his back pocket all along. Flash’s foe the Turtle Man is a nice counterpoint, and the turtleneck sweater is cute, but I was already used to the Flashy (pun intended – just for the record, from here on out, they’re all intended, kids) costumed foes I’d already encountered by the time I’d read this so he came off as a little quiet to me. As an origin story, though, it did a near perfect job of introducing the new iteration of The Flash.
The second story The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier comes off as, well, a second story. John Broome’s initial take on a time travel story would soon evolve into a more sophisticated approach. The villain is a bald headed guy from the future which would become (trust me on this) an unfortunate Infantino trope when it came to representing people from the future as well as human identities for Grodd the super gorilla. What is fun to observe art wise is Infantino’s early attempts to show the new Flash running. While traditional running poses were fine for the older Flash, the sleeker Silver Age model called for more streamlined poses, and, while Carmine would eventually own those looks, these early attempts were still a little awkward. The actual story is rather pedestrian and, had things continued in this vein, the long term outcome for the new character might not have been as rosy. Fortunately changes in the approach were in the offing, but let’s save that story for another Flash Friday.
Tags
Calendar
- ►2019 (33)
- ►February(13)
- John Darling - Take 154
- Cover Me - 52
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #218 October-November 1972
- Volume 8 Drops
- Match to Flame 96
- Match to Flame 95
- John Darling - Take 153
- Cover Me - 51
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #217 August/September 1972
- Stuf' Said!
- Match to Flame 93
- John Darling - Take 152
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #216 June 1972
- ►January(20)
- Dinkles Clock
- Match to Flame 92
- John Darling - Take 151
- Cover Me - 50
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #215 May 1972
- Winterlude
- John Darling - Take 150
- Cover Me - 49
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #214 April 1972
- Way Back Wendy
- Match to Flame 91
- John Darling - Take 149
- Cover Me - 48
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #213 March 1972
- Match to Flame 90
- John Darling - Take 147
- Cover Me - 47
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #212 February 1972
- Match to Flame 89
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 13
- ►February(13)
- ►2018 (230)
- ►December(25)
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 12
- John Darling - Take 146
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 11
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 10
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 9
- John Darling - Take 145
- Cover Me - 46
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #211 December 1971
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 7
- *Sigh*
- A Crankshaft Christmas
- John Darling - Take 144
- Cover Me - 45
- A Funky Christmas
- Match to Flame 88
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 6
- Ye Old Taboret
- A Lisa Christmas
- John darling - Take 143
- Cover Me - 44
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 5
- Miss American
- Match to Flame 87
- John Darling - Take 142
- Cover Me - 43
- ►November(22)
- A Crankshaft Christmas
- Ephemera - George Kennedy - Crankshaft 4
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 4
- John Darling - Take 141
- Cover Me - 42
- Goodreads Giveaway
- Wally Winkerbean
- Ephemera - George Kennedy - Crankshaft 3
- John Darling - Take 140
- Ephemera - George Kennedy - Crankshaft 2
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 3
- Last One for the Road
- Stan Lee
- Ephemera - George Kennedy - Crankshaft 1
- John Darling - Take 139
- Cover Me - 41
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 2
- Ephemera
- A last look at the Akron Comicon
- John Darling - Take 141
- Cover Me 40
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #210 November 1971
- ►October(25)
- Match to Flame 86
- Ripples - The Daba Mystery 1
- Akron Comicon 2018
- John Darling - Take 138
- Cover Me 39
- Ruby Lith
- Match to Flame 85
- In the Rearview Mirror
- Funky Winkerbean 5k Recap
- John Darling - Take 137
- Cover Me 38
- Match to Flame 94
- Run for Lisa's Legacy 4
- Match to Flame 83
- John Darling - Take 136
- Cover Me 37
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #209 September 1971
- Run for Lisa's Legacy 3
- The Boys of Summer
- John Darling - Take 135
- Cover me 36
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #208 August 1971
- Run for Lisa's Legacy 2
- Kent Book Festival
- Akron Marathon 2018
- ►September(19)
- John Darling - Take 134
- Cover Me 35
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #207 June 1971
- Run for Lisa's Legacy
- Match to Flame 82
- John Darling - Take 133
- Cover Me 34
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #206 May 1971
- Match to Flame 81
- John Darling - Take 132
- Cover Me 33
- Flash Fridays - #205 May 1971
- The Atomic Bomb Ring
- John Darling - Take 131
- Cover me 32
- Flash Fridays - #204 March 1971
- Studio Stuff - OMEA CD 2018
- John Darling - Take 130
- Cover Me 31
- ►August(17)
- Russ Heath
- Match to Flame 80
- John Darling - Take 129
- Cover Me 30
- Flash Fridays - #203 February 1971
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2017
- John Darling - Take 128
- Cover Me 29
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2016
- John Darling - Take 127
- Cover Me 28
- Flash Fridays - #202 December 1970
- Match to Flame 79
- John Darling - Take 126
- Cover Me 27
- On the Shelf
- Match to Flame 78
- ►July(17)
- John Darling - Take 125
- Cover Me 26
- Flash Fridays - #201 November 1970
- Pix from the Road
- John Darling - Take 124
- Cover Me 31
- Flash Fridays - #200 September 1970
- Artists Archives
- John Darling - Take 123
- Cover Me 25
- Flash Fridays - #199 August 1970
- Yet Another Ripples Effect
- John Darling - Take 122
- Cover Me 24
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #198 June 1970
- Odds and Book Shelf Ends
- John Darling - Take 121
- ►June(18)
- Cover Me 23
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2015
- Match to Flame 77
- John Darling - Take 120
- Cover Me - 22
- Anatomy of a Cover Eleven
- Match to Flame 76
- John Darling - Take 119
- Cover Me - 21
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #197 May 1970
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2013
- Match to Flame 75
- John Darling - Take 118
- Cover Me - 20
- Anatomy of a Cover Ten
- John Darling - Take 117
- Cover Me - 19
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #196 April 1970
- ►May(15)
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2014
- John Darling - Take 116
- Cover Me -18
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #195 March 1970
- Match to Flame 74
- Anatomy of a Cover Nine
- John Darling - Take 115
- John Darling Take -114
- Cover Me 17
- Match to Flame - 73
- Studio Stuff - Stan Kenton Alumni Band CD - 2013
- John Darling - Take 113
- Cover Me 16
- Jerry's in the Studio
- Match to Flame 72
- ►April(16)
- John Darling - Take 112
- North Coast Writers Showcase
- John Darling - Take 111
- Cover Me 15
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #194 February 1970
- Match to Flame 71
- Son of On The Road
- John Darling - Take 110
- Cover Me 14
- Match to Flame - 70
- Ohioans Book Festival
- John Darling - Take 109
- Cover Me 13
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #193 December 1969
- Studio Stuff OMEA CD - 2012
- Ohioana Panel
- ►March(21)
- John Darling - Take 108
- Cover Me 12
- Match to Flame - 69
- Match to Flame - 68
- John Darling - Take 107
- Cover Me 11
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #192 November 1969
- On The Road Again With Vol. 7
- Match to Flame - 67
- John Darling - Take 106
- Cover Me 10
- Studio File
- Match to Flame - 66
- John Darling - Take 105
- Cover Me 9
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #191 September 1969
- In The Pipeline - Rana
- Match to Flame - 65
- John Darling - Take 104
- Cover Me 8
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #190 August 1969
- ►February(18)
- Tom Corbet Space Cadet
- John Darling - Take 103
- Cover Me 7
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #189 June 1969
- Parlor
- John Darling - Take 102
- Cover Me 6
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #188 May 1969
- OMEA 2018
- Winter
- John Darling - Take 101
- Cover Me 5
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #187 April 1969
- Studio Stuff - The Dinkle Bag
- Match to Flame - 64
- John Darling - Take 100
- Cover Me 4
- Flash Fridays - The Flash # 186 March 1969
- ►January(17)
- Match to Flame - 63
- John Darling - Take 99
- Cover Me 3
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #185 February 1969
- John Darling - Take 98
- The Complete Funky Winkerbean Vol. Seven
- On the Studio Shelf
- John Darling - Take 97
- Cover Me 2
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #184 December 1968
- Golden Dinkle Award
- The Flash is in the Studio
- John Darling - Take 96
- Cover Me
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #183 November 1968
- Match to Flame - 62
- In The Pipeline - Adeela
- ►December(25)
- ►2017 (204)
- ►December(13)
- ►November(24)
- John Darling - Takes 87 & 88
- Match to Flame - 58
- John Darling - Take 86
- Match to Flame - 57
- One More from the Road
- John Darling - Take 85
- B & N - San Diego
- Elliott Bay
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Ten
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Nine
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Eight
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Seven
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Six
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Five
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Four
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Three
- Countdown to Heritage Auction Two
- Countdown to Heritage Auction One
- Back on the Road
- Batty Batom Bullpen - John Byrne & Joe Giella
- John Darling - Take 84
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Tom Palmer
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #182 September 1968
- Son of Akron Comicon 2017
- ►October(20)
- Match to Flame - 56
- Akron Comicon 2017
- John Darling - Take 83
- Left Bank Books
- Buckeye Book Fair 2017
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Tom Lyle
- Deep Vellum
- Rothko Chapel
- Brazos
- John Darling - Take 82
- Fox 8 in the Morning
- Lisa's Legacy Run
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #181 August 1968
- Philly
- New York ComicCon
- John Darling - Take 81
- Kent Book Festival
- John Darling - Take 80
- Match to Flame - 55
- John Darling - Take 79
- ►September(19)
- The Thurber Attic
- Lisa's Legacy Trilogy on the Road
- John Darling - Take 78
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Russ Heath - Redux
- Akron Marathon Lisa's Legacy Relay Team
- Launch Signing Nears
- Superman and Cleveland
- John Darling - Take 77
- Batty Batom Bullpen - P. Craig Russell
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #180 June 1968
- More Ripples
- Thurber House Part 3
- John Darling - Take 76
- Batty batom Bullpen - Russ Heath
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #179 May 1968
- Summer's Story
- John Darling - Take 75
- Match to Flame - 54
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #178 April/May 1968
- ►August(19)
- The Last Leaf
- Thurber House Part 2
- John Darling - Take 74
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Rick Burchett Rides Again
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #177 March 1968
- Match to Flame - 53
- Prelude
- John Darling - Take 73
- Ripples Redux Redux
- Thurber House Event
- The Cat Exits the Bag
- John Darling - Take 72
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Rick Burchett
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #176 February - 1968
- Match to Flame - 52
- Match to Flame - 51
- Flash Fridays - Superman #199 The Flash #175 December 1967
- Match to Flame - 50
- Match to Flame - 49
- ►July(18)
- John Darling - Take 71
- Ripples Redux
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #174 November 1967
- Match to Flame - 48
- Even More New in the Studio
- John Darling - Take 70
- The Ripples
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #173 September 1967
- Son of Odds and Ends
- Match to Flame - 47
- John Darling - Take 69
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Don Perlin-Encore
- Flash Fridays - The Flash # 172 August 1967
- John Darling - Take 68
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Neal Adams
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #71 June 1967
- Match to Flame - 46
- John Darling - Take 67
- ►June(18)
- More New in the Studio
- The More Things Seem to Change...
- John Darling - Take 66
- Heritage Consignment
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #170 May 1967
- Match to Flame - 45
- John Darling - Take 65
- The Batty Batom Bullpen - Full Disclosure
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #169 April-May 1967
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Randy Reynaldo
- Match to Flame - 44
- John Darling - Take 64
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Neil Vokes
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #168 March 1967
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Norm Breyfogle
- John Darling - Take 63
- Return to the Road
- The Batty Batom Bullpen - Bob Layton
- ►May(10)
- ►April(14)
- John Darling - Take 60
- The Pipeline
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #164 September 1966
- Match to Flame - 42
- John Darling - Take 59
- The Radar
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #163 August 1966
- Band Calendar - April
- John Darling - Take 58
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Frank Brunner
- Match to Flame - 41
- Les and Cayla
- John Darling - Take 57
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #162 June 1966
- ►March(19)
- The Secret Sauce - The More Things Change
- John Darling - Take 56
- Batty Batom Bullpen - Ron Frenz
- Flash Fridays - #161 May 1966
- Match to Flame - 40
- John Darling - Take 55
- Magic
- The Pipeline
- Flash Fridays - #160 April 1966
- The Secret Sauce - Roses in December
- John Darling - Take 54
- The Batty Batom Bullpen - Paul Gulacy
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #159 March 1966
- Match to Flame - 39
- The Batty Batom Bullpen - Michael Gilbert
- John Darling - Take 53
- Flash Fridays - Green Lantern #43 March 1966 - The Brave and the Bold #65
- The Secret Sauce
- Band Calendar - March
- ►February(13)
- ►January(17)
- Superman Crayons
- John Darling - Take 47
- Flash Fridays - The Flash # 157 December 1965
- John Darling - Take 46
- Match to Flame 38
- Match to Flame 37
- Volume Six is in the house.
- John Darling - Take 45
- Match to Flame 36
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #156 November 1965
- Sunday News
- John Darling - Take 44 1980
- Studio Stuff - Cleaning the Studio
- Son of Superman Crayons
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #155 September 1965
- The Pipeline 2
- Band Calendar - January
- ►2016 (146)
- ►December(14)
- John Darling - Take 43
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #154 August 1965
- John Daring - Take 42
- John Darling - Take 41
- John Darling - Take 40
- Match to Flame 35
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #153 June 1965
- John Darling - Take 39
- Match to Flame 34
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #152 May 1965
- Match to Flame 33
- Home for the Holidays
- Flash Fridays- The Flash Annual #3 April 1965
- Band Calendar - December
- ►November(11)
- ►October(14)
- On the Road Again - Akron Comicon
- John Darling - Take 36
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 11
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #148 - November 1964
- On the Road Again - Buckeye Book Fair
- John Darling - Take 35
- Match to Flame 31
- Flash Fridays - The Flash Annual #2 October 1964
- Autumn
- Match to Flame 30
- John Darling - Take 34
- Flash Fridays- The Flash #147 September 1964
- Match to Flame 29
- October
- ►September(12)
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #146 August 1964
- John Darling - Take 33
- Match to Flame 28
- The Pipeline 1
- Flash Fridays - The Flash # 145 June 1964
- John Darling - Take 32
- Match to Flame 27
- Lisa's Legacy Run 2016
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #144 May 1964
- John Darling - Take 31
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #143 March 1964
- September
- ►August(10)
- ►July(12)
- SDCC 2016
- Flash Fridays - The Flash Annual #1-1963
- Anatomy of a Cover Seven
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #140 November 1963
- Match to Flame 25
- John Darling - Take 28
- Studio Stuff - Wood-burned Starbuck
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #139 September 1963
- Match to Flame 23
- Match to Flame 24
- July
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #138 August 1963
- ►June(11)
- ►May(7)
- ►April(8)
- ►March(17)
- Match to Flame 20
- John Darling - Take 20
- Anatomy of a Cover Four
- Flash Fridays #131 September 1962
- Studio Stuff 4
- Studio Stuff 3
- Studio Stuff 2
- Studio Stuff 1
- Match to Flame 19
- ANATOMY OF A COVER Three
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #130 August 1962
- John Darling - Take 19
- Match to Flame 18
- John Darling - Take 18
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #129 June 1962
- John Darling - Take 17
- Match to Flame 17
- ►February(15)
- John Darling - Take 16
- Anatomy of a Cover Two
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #128
- Match to Flame 16
- Anatomy of a Cover - One
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #127
- On The Road Again
- Blast from Funky's Past
- Flattop Junior's Final Act
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 10
- Match to Flame 15
- John Darling - Take 15
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 9
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #126
- John Darling - Take 14
- ►January(15)
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 8
- Flash Fridays - The Flash # 125
- John Darling - Take 13
- Match to Flame 14
- Match to Flame 13
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #124
- John Darling - Take 12
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 7
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #123
- Match to Flame 12
- John Darling - Take 11
- Batom Comics - The Untold History Part 6
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #122
- Match to Flame 11
- John Darling - Take 10
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