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June 20, 2005
Superman vs. The Flash: no contest, baby!
DC Comics has been producing some trade paperbacks appealing to those who are interested in the Silver\Bronze Age—or maybe those who just want to buy back their childhood. Superman vs. The Flash
The first race occurred in Superman #199 back in August 1967, and it was written by a teenager: Jim Shooter. In the foreword we find out that Mr. Shooter had always dreamed of such a race. The United Nations asks Superman and The Flash to race against each other (three times around the Earth), with proceeds going to charity; mafia organizations in France and the U.S. are determined to fix the race by sabotaging one of the heroes. The story is full of good, wholesome morals that were dictated by the editor, Mort Weisinger. Superman and Flash treat each other with kid gloves. Superman helps the Flash recover from a spill on an icy lake, in his Clark Kent identity, to spare Barry Allen from a bruised ego (“I could hurt his pride!”). Neither hero actually wins the race; they tie each other at the finish line (“Since neither of us won, none of the gamblers can collect!”). It also happens this way in Flash #175, their second race, written by E. Nelson Bridwell, a few months later in December 1967. Here the dialogue shows the heroes to be a bit snappier; when Superman unexpectedly lends the Flash a hand, Barry Allen says “Why the grandstand play? I was doing okay on my own!” The story is forgettable, about aliens who force the heroes to race across the galaxy.
The best race happened in World’s Finest #198-199, written by Denny O’Neil in 1970. I remembered this story vividly, because it marked a departure for World’s Finest, turning it into a series of team-ups with Superman and another hero. The Carmine Infantino cover was very enticing (on the right, click to expand), with Batman giving the go-signal and the caption “…And This Time There MUST be a Winner!” As the story opens, Jimmy Olsen is fending off a hangover and on his way to the restroom when he falls thru a time portal into a roman chariot. Superman discovers from the Guardians that “anachronids” are invading our universe at a rapid rate and threatening the time stream. To thwart this menace, Superman and Flash must race across the universe, and their speed will somehow destroy these creatures. Doesn’t make sense now, but it did when I was 9 years old! Flash gets a medallion from the Guardians to pave a green-energy “track” which also uses the entire power battery on OA—all Green Lanterns are powerless for the duration. By the time the story is over, Superman/Flash race thru the center of a red sun, and encounter some formidable Phantom Zone criminals. The end of the race was unique: both heroes injure their legs and must crawl to their last destination.
The last race between Barry Allen and the Silver Age Superman kicked off DC Comics Presents #1-2 in 1978. A decent script by Martin Pasko, but it’s the fine art job by Jose-Luiz Garcia Lopez that makes this still worth reading. Again, aliens force the heroes to race each other—but now it’s a race through the timestream. Both Superman and the Flash are pretty experienced at running through time; Flash is trying to save Earth while Superman is trying to save his own birth. It’s totally silly in the end because they easily incapacitate the aliens, but before that happens you will see Lopez draw the Reverse-Flash (Professor Zoom) and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Adventures of Superman #463 (in 1990) was the first post-Crisis race. This was the hardest story to read, because both Flash and Superman are significantly de-powered following the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wally West needs a ton of burgers and fries to keep his metabolism stoked and he’s a bit shallow. When Mr.Mxyzptlk forces them to race each other, Wally is certain he will be beaten by Superman. At least the heroes only race around the world (one rotation) and they are really sweating at the end. The last race took place in DC 1ST: Superman\Flash in 2002. Written by Geoff Johns, it’s a novel twist as Superman doesn’t race Wally West, but Jay Garrick, the original Golden Age Flash. It’s tied into many different continuity events in the Flash’s own series, but it has the best ending of all of them. The “magician” Abra Kadabra (really a criminal from the 64th century) breaks out of jail and zaps Wally with an aging “spell”. Wally will die in five minutes, unless Superman or Jay Garrick can outrun him; Abra sets it up so that whoever touches Wally saves him, but at the cost of their own life. At this point in DC history, Wally is so fast that there’s no question he’s faster than Superman, as Garrick says that only Wally’s illness makes him slow enough for them to catch up. I love the cover by Kevin Nowlan so much that I have included it here (upper left, click to expand).
If you’re a Flash fan, or you’re trying to get a Silver Age DC library, you’ll want to get Superman vs. The Flash
