FLASH
Comic Books
For Sale
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The Scarlet
Speedster.
Julius
Schwartz the then long-time editor at DC Comics was in the
beginning of a huge revival of superhero characters during the
1950s.
His stable of writers and artists
were hard at work to create test characters in the now
legendary title called Showcase.
Showcase allowed characters to be introduced to readers and
provide decision makers at DC the necessary data to
gauge whether or not they might be good characters to have
their own ongoing titles. A great opportunity to
tryout just about any character on the burgeoning
re-awakened comic book public that had pretty much laid
dormant due to various government mandates on the industry
in the last few years.
Schwartz knew that he wanted to revise similar characters from the Golden Age,
but in an updated way.
The Flash
became the first character of the Silver Age of Comics to be
re-introduced to new readers as well as old readers.
The Flash
was featured in 4 separate issues of the new Showcase title
in 1956, 1957 and 1958 and the
response was very positive. Shortly in 1959 he was
granted his own title picking up the issue numbering where the
Golden Age Flash issues left off with issue #105.
Somewhat
similar to his Golden Age namesake, yet more along the lines
of the science fiction age of the 1950s with a slick and
updated costume and alter-ego. The newest Flash would
usher in the Siler Age of Comics and a revival in superhero
characters would break all over the comic book world.
Barry Allen a police scientist would accidentally be altered
by chemicals in his laboratory thus giving him super speed
and the ability to speed up his molecules in order to
penetrate walls and other objects.
Writer John Broome
would take over from Robert Kanigher who wrote the first 4
Flash stories in Showcase and collaborated with continuing artist
Carmine Infantino from those issues on the new series.
The new Flash series would last over 247 issues including
one of DC's hard to come by annuals not produced for
Superman or Batman.
The Flash's
supporting characters included his own nephew Wally West who
became Kid Flash and would later take over as the Flash from
his uncle Barry, Elongated Man, the Golden Age Flash and the
Silver Age Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) who often appeared in
the Flash title as either part of the Flash story or as a
back-up feature.
The Flash Rogues Gallery of villains rivals those of Batman
and Spider-Man and Superman and would tussle with the
Scarlet Speedster in his adventures. Gorilla Grodd,
Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Captain
Boomerang, Heatwave, Trickster, Reverse Flash (Professor
Zoom), Pied Piper, Top, Abra Kadabara and Vandal Savage
(returning from the Golden Age to combat in the Silver Age)
and others were introduced and re-introduced in the series.
There have been a
numerous appearances of the Flash during the 1960s, 70s and
beyond in television, animated movies and a couple of major motion pictures.
The Flash has been one of DC Comics' most recognized
characters and his comic book title has spawned into a few
series over the decades carrying the character in various
incarnations into the 21st Century.
Purchasing Flash Comics
Reviewing sources to acquire
Flash comic books, I like to check
out local comic book shops and conventions. I get to see
the comics in person and can examine more issues at one time than I could online.
Eventually local sources go only so far since they rely on
collectors and other sellers in the area to bring them in.
Sources on the internet tend to travel and pick up
collections and will buy a lot of books online to add to
their inventory. They also have a lot of people from
all over the world who will contact them since they are not
tied to a local area to sell to them. These sellers
also tend to advertise on a more global scale than the local
comic book shop since their marketplace is the entire world.
mycomicshop
is a great place to find Flash
issues. They're a
national online seller and have been selling comic books
through the mail since the 1960s. They try to stock every issue of every
title that has ever been published.
You'll
see a large amount of Flash covers of key books in the run
as well as general issues in the title on this page that I
think will interest any Flash
collection which will take
you directly to mycomicshop's inventory of that issue.
There you
will see every condition of that issue they currently have
in stock so you can choose the right condition of the book
that you're looking for.
Don't be
worried if you do not see an issue in stock when you click
on any of the links. Often times they will receive an
issue into their inventory on a fairly regular basis as they
purchase books and collections daily. Just go ahead
and bookmark the link after you've clicked on the issue here
or check back and click on the link to see if the issue
has come into stock. The links will stay permanently
connected.
I've
purchased books from mycomicshop before and will continue to use them.
Their grading is accurate and they are a reliable source.
They have great customer service in providing you books in a
timely manner.
Ebay is good option as there’s a lot of
collectors/sellers/dealers always looking to move in
and out of product and use Ebay for this purpose.
You may find some good deals on Ebay, but be careful to check out
the auctions and or Buy it Now listings carefully. Some
sellers’ terms are not right for everyone and sometimes the
items are not what you expect.
If condition is important to you, then be sure to ask a lot
of questions. If you don’t get the right kinds of answers
you’re looking for, then move on and try another listing.
Always check out the seller’s profile to see how their past
selling has been. If they’re new to selling and have only
been buying, ask questions.
You always want to be comfortable with the person you’re
potentially going to be buying from and you really need to
know what it is you’re getting.
If you're looking for CGC
Flash comics, then ComicLink is
your best choice. They focus primarily on CGC books
and you can find some of the top notch Flash issues available on their site.
Expect to see
Showcase #4, 8, 13, 14, Flash #105 and other
related titles of that era. You'll even see CGC Flash
Comics issues from the Golden Age and other titles where
the Golden Age Flash has appeared like All-Star
Comics. There will be
Bronze age Flash too.
Enjoy your hunt and
Happy
Collecting!!!
Johnson's Collectibles
