Memphis
posted on June 28, 2016
I was recently in Memphis for the National Cartoonists Society confab and, having read Peter Guralnick’s fine book on Sam Phillips over the winter, a trip to the Sun Studio was definitely on the docket. It was also part of the itinerary because of a story I wanted to research for Funky. Fascinating to see the historic place I’d been reading about. That night in my room at the Peabody Hotel, armed with new info, I wrote the story for which I had been doing the research. I really enjoy to be able to ground a story for myself in this way, and here’s hoping you’ll enjoy it as well when it runs in December of next year.
Flash Fridays – The Flash #137 June 1963
posted on June 24, 2016
This knockout (pun intended) of a cover featuring the Silver Age and the Golden Age Flashes duking it out in the lair of the villain Vandal Savage is second only to The Flash #123 in sheer iconicness and cooleration. Amazing. And the story it fronts is equally deserving of iconic stature. It neatly echoes the origin of the Silver Age Flash when, while trying to discover the source of mysterious power damping lights appearing over American cities, Barry Allen is led to checking a map of the cities on Earth Two, home of the Golden Age Flash and, not incidentally, the Justice Society. Once again, Barry returns to the comic books of his youth, this time All Star Comics and realizes that the lights are appearing over the home towns of the Justice Society heroes. In an earlier post I mentioned that I read somewhere that the Flash editor Julie Schwartz had said that bringing back the Golden age heroes was something he had envisioned from the start and this story seems to lend some credence to that. But rather than bringing back the Justice Society full bore right at the start, he and writer Gardner Fox kept teasing us in the pages of the Flash with glimpses of the Earth Two heroes. This would, of course culminate with a two issue crossover that same summer between the Justice League and the Justice Society.
So Barry as the Flash returns to the Community Center stage where he first vibrated his way to Earth Two. Once there he discovers that Jay Garrick, the Earth Two Flash, has been investigating the mysterious lights (remember those?) as well. They also coincide with the disappearance of various members of the JSA in the cities where they appear. When the lights appear over Keystone (home of the Earth Two Flash), the duo sets off to investigate. When Jay discovers the device causing the lights, it turns out to be a trap and he’s captured in a transparent rectangle. Only with Barry’s help is he able to avoid being whisked off in the trap. Then in a revealing and tantalizing “meanwhile” we find ourselves in the lair of Vandal Savage and in one amazing panel we get a look at the members of the JSA all trapped in the transparent rectangles. For many of us, it’s only our second glimpse of the Golden Age Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman and Doctor Mid-Nite, and, in those pre-internet days, it drove us nearly crazy trying to imagine what had gone before in an era that seemed as distant as the pyramids. We are also given Vandal Savage’s backstory of how, as a caveman, he was bathed in radiation from an exploding meteor which allowed him to live through the ages as various leaders and warriors. When the Flash of Earth Two fails to show up trapped in the cube, Savage personally goes out and captures both Flashes taking them back to his lair. A fight ensues during which Savage forces the two speedsters to battle each other. Through a ruse, the Flashes defeat him and release the Justice Society members. As they stand together, Wonder Woman muses: “You know, boys… I’ve been thinking… it might be a good idea for us to meet every so often… come out of retirement as it were… to prevent anything like this happening again!” And so the door to the multiverse is blown off its hinges.
One last word on the cover, a number of years ago at SDCC I came across the cover to this issue in a dealer’s booth. It was a little pricey at the time, but nothing compared to today’s prices for Silver age art. I thought about it, but took a pass. Sigh.
Tags
Calendar
- ► 2018 (70)
- ► April (14)
- 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
- ► April (14)
- ► 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)
- John Darling - Take 52
- John Darling - Take 51
- The Pipeline
- John Darling -Take 50
- The Batty Batom Bullpen - Joe Staton
- Flash Fridays - The Flash #158 February 1966
- Studio Laptop
- John Darling - Take 49
- In the Rearview Mirror
- The Batty Batom Bullpen
- The Pipeline
- John Darling - Take 48
- Band calendar - February
- ► 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
- ► December (14)
- ► 2015 (72)
- ► 2014 (19)
- ► 2013 (5)
- ► 2012 (12)
- ► 2011 (8)
- ► 2010 (5)
- ► 2009 (6)
- ► 2008 (8)
- ► 2007 (10)
- ► 2006 (1)