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Issue #49January 1944Rating: 5 This is the first time the Flash’s character is continuously late for a date with Joan. A plot devise that got over used in the SA version of the Flash. The Golden Age of Superhero comics can best be described as living in a world of genteel normalcy, shaken up by an anti-social catalyst, resolution is achieved. Life returns to normal. Some of the anti-social catalyst in this issue is very creepy from a historical perspective.

Issue #48December 1943Rating: 5Another Golden Age WWII gem.Now we know what Jay Garrick did during the war . . . The Ghost Patrol sink the Von Tirpitz, 1 full year before the actual event! With a newsstand date of October 8, 1943, this story has real world events as a backdrop. It wasn’t until November 1944 until the ship was sunk. "In September 1943, Tirpitz, along with the battleship Scharnhorst, bombarded Allied positions on the island of Spitzbergen, the only time the ship used her main battery in combat. Shortly thereafter, the ship was damaged in an attack by British mini-submarines and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British Lancaster bombers equipped with 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bombs destroyed the ship; two direct hits and a near miss caused the ship to capsize rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused a large explosion. Figures for the number of men killed in the attack range from 950 to 1,204. Between 1948 and 1957 the wreck was broken up by a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz The Minute Movie tale has to be the most bizarre sports story ever conceived.

German newsreel from 09/15/43 showing the axis alliance with Japan.

Issue #47Rating: 5November 1943 Another exemplary issue.My single stapled cover is too fragile to scan additional photos.

Thanks, mm I really enjoy reading your thread too!

Issue #46October 1943Rating: 5 Excellent wartime balance of humor, action, adventure, and fascinating plot wrinkles. Also on the newstand on August 9, 1943:

Issue #45Rating: 5September 1943Playing of the 1925 Lon Chaney movie ‘The Unholy Three’, a safe cracking midget masquerading as a baby gives Jay and Joan a lot of trouble. Lou Ferstadt art work is excellent. This issue has plenty of WWII themed adventures: Johnny Thunder – Nazi saboteurs. Ghost Patrol – Herman Goering Minute Movies – Nips mind control drugs being used to commit a crime. The Whip – Black Market Sugar ration ring Hawkman – Continuing with its noir crime genre, the only nod to the war is a city wide blackout.With a date stamp of July 9, 1943 the invasion of Sicily began.

Highly regarded fellow board member. (thumbs u

no spolier alerts to be revealed.

Issue #44Rating: 5August 1943 Pop quiz! When was the first time the Flash traveled thru time? You guessed it . . . THIS ISSUE!If the editors had a do over on the cover\title, this is the issue! Forget the ‘Liar’s Club’, use the time travel story line. It would have been a sought after classic!

Highly regarded fellow board member.

Flash Comics #1 PLUS MORE GA Comics Time to unload on many Flash Comics doubles, plus some other desirable books. Flash Comics #1 PLUS MORE GA Comics

Issue #43July 1943Rating: 4 The date stamp of 5-12 is the day the Axis lost North Africa. With 250,000 Italian and German prisoners, the Axis losses for the North African campaign was close to one million. After the outstanding run of previous issues, it was time for a breather. The Flash story tries linking Dr. Frankenstein with escaped convicts by way of a traveling circus. As convoluted as this may sound, it is. The Hal Sharp penciled and origninal Flash artist Harry Lampert inks are something less than desirable to the eyes. Plenty of Nazis to be found in this issue: Johnny Thunder, Ghost Patrol, Minute Movies.Hawkman story fits nicely within the 8 – 10 year old demographics. What is bizarre about this issue is that most of the strips are geared for young children audiences with horrific themes of death camps and nazi occupation.

Issue #42June 1943Rating: 5 Another outstanding issue of this series in its prime. Every strip is a fun and wierd read. The King is dead. Page count is cut to 56 pages.

Newsreel 03/43

Issue #41 May 1943 Rating: 5 Every strip in this issue is fun to read. Generally, the Flash and the Hawkman avoid war themes. This issue is an exception. The Flash and Joan stumble across gangsters that are trying to hi-jack gas to sell on the black market. The demand for the black market gas is overwhelming and draws the Flash’s attention. The Hawkman has to find American airport workers that are willing to sell top secret laser guided anti-aircraft guns, invented by Carter Hall, to the Nazis located in South America. The Hawkman also loans his spare wings to an airman that lost his nerve flying combat missions. The Ghost Patrol tale is a doozy! Hitler releases a Jew from the concentration camp in order to conger up the spirits to counter-act the Ghost Patrol. When Attila the Hun, Napoleon, and Genghis Khan, exit this world for the spirit world because modern warfare is too advance for them to fight against, the Ghost Patrol wallop Hitler on the eastern front. Resulting in the poor jewish medium to be sent back to the concentration camp. Johnny Thunder, and the Whip use the Nazis saboteur themes to good effect. Minute Movies and the King are fun too. Great issue!

(thumbs u That last panel of the girl is in the style of Shelly from his work with the Hawkgirl.

The only direct reference to the war by the Flash is the two-page dream of Joan of the Axis in Flash #35 (posted earlier). The Hawkman stories are all crime. Johnny Thunder joined the Navy and saw action at sea.. After the autumn of 1942, Italy had to accept defeat in North Africa. Which set the stage for the invasion of Sicily. 1943-44 saw major battles in Italy as the Germans slowly withdrew to the Alps. Happy New Years!

Issue #40March 1943Rating: 5This was my very first Flash Comic purchase. It is the classic issue for me.It captures the zeitgeist of the comic book reader with all the war themes. "The Man Who Could Read Faces," by Gardner Fox and art by Lou Ferstadt, is one of the top five GA Flash stories in my opinion. All of the Lou Ferstadt Flash stories in the series are worth checking out if you are new to the series (34,36,38-44,49). They all are excellent. The other stories in the anthology from the early war era represents some of the best of the whole series. The Hawkman story is titled: "Give Them the Bird".

HAPPY NEW YEARS GA-Bros. Today is also my Birthday!

Lou Ferstadt had an excellent run of Flash Comics covers and Flash stories (random issues from #36-49). (thumbs u

Avatar is from #12

Lou Ferstadt had an excellent run of Flash Comics covers and Flash stories (random issues from #36-49). (thumbs u

Issue #39Rating: 3March 1943This issue is a case where the cover is all you really want to hold in your hands. This issue starts to show the strain of cranking out too many scripts. Gardner Fox’s Flash and the King scripts are not his best. The Flash is forced to perform all the rolls in a play. He doesn’t look so good as a blonde with those bushy eye-brows. Joe Gallagher makes his artistic debut to the series on the King, without much gusto. Johnny Thunder, Ghost Patrol, and the Whip use the Nazi exploitation themes with mixed results Minute Movie – best story of the anthology. The Hawkman – typical crime stuff.

Released between #38 and #39 on January 1, 1943, Der Fuehrer's Face (originally titled Donald Duck in Nutzi Land) would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 15th Academy Awards.