Monday, July 20, 2009

Reprint This! Captain Flash

Captain Who? I know that's what some of you are asking, but he's actually a pretty important and very fun character. Captain Flash was a short-lived 50s title published by the equally short-lived Sterling Comics. What makes this a notable series? Well certain comic book geeks will argue (just to be difficult, I may add - and I know as I've forwarded this argument when I'm feel like being a pain in the ass) that Captain Flash #1 represents the first Silver Age book. It's all based on it being a new super-hero title predating Showcase #4 etc... etc... Anyway, aside from being a footnote of a footnote in comic book history, it's actually a great little treasure trove of comic book goodness.

Our hero is a great mash up of many classic characters. His alter ego is a college professor who gets some for of atomic power when he claps his hands together. Along with his sidekick Ricky, he takes on foes such as Iron Mask and Black Night. I'm not sure who wrote these stories, but they really have a circa 1962 DC or even Tower vibe to them. The real treat is the Mike Sekowsky artwork. It's amazing to see him doing his Silver Age super hero thing well in advance of Brave and the Bold #28. Many of these stories have been reprinted in various AC Comics collections, but it would be wonderful to see the entire 4 issue series published in one slim, yet entertaining volume.

2 comments:

Jeremy A. Patterson said...

AC did reprint ALL of Captain Flash's stories from his short run . Here is a check list:
Men of Mystery #2 (1996; "Beast From 1,000,000 BC" from CF#3)
Men of Mystery #3 (1996; 'Sky Web' from CF #4)
Men of Mystery #4 (1997; 'Black Knight' from CF#2)
Men of Mystery #5 (1997; 'The Actor' from CF#2)
Men of Mystery #8 (1998; 'Return of the Mirror Man' from CF#2)
Men of Mystery #13 (1999; 'Man or Myth' from CF#4)
Men of Mystery #22 (2000; 'Fight of the Century' from CF#3)
Men Of Mystery #24 (2000; 'The Invaders' from CF#4)
Men of Mystery #36 (2002; 'The Sharkmen' from CF#3)
Men of Mystery #79 (2009; 'The Beginning' from CF#1)
Golden Age Greats Volume 10(1996; 'The Mirror Man' from CF #1)
Sentinels of Justice Volume 2 #2 (1994; 'The Invaders')
Golden ge reasury Volume 1 (2003; 'The Sharkmen')
Golden Age Teasury Volume 2 (2003; 'The Iron Mask' from CF#1)

He also showed up in AC's original series as wel here is a list: Femforce: Out of the Asylum Special #1 (1987), Femforce #19 (1989), #20 (1989), #29 to #31 (1990-91), #33 (1991), #36 (1991), #57 to #60 (1993), #66 (1993), #107 (1998), & #109 (1998),Reddevil #1 (1992), AC Annual #4 (1992), 'Retro Comics' #1 (1998), & 'Fighting Yank' #1 (2001)!

I hope you liked this checklist!

J.A.P.

Scott M said...

Thanks for the info Jeremy.

I do wish that AC put these all in a single volume.