So, for those who actually have read them....

[minutekev@50]

Who wins the Superman-Flash races? There was like four of them wasn't there?

[joe_collector]

The few I read, nobody really did.

[garthgantu]

As I recall (and it's been quite awhile since I read any of those stories), they always seem to have some sort of loophole that allows them to call the race a wash...

[minutekev@50]

So, it's more like:

 

Kids: "Superman you're the greatest!"

 

Kids: "Flash, you're the greatest!"

 

Superman and Flash: "But remember kids, we're both out there fighting the good fight! So say your prayers, drink your milk, eat your spinach and one day you could run as fast as us too!"

[PUNYHUMAN]

Joe's right ! From the 2 issues that I have, Supes #! 199 & Flash #175 I think, I don't have them nearby, it was a draw. If I remember right, they showed 2 different panels "perspective" for the reader to decide who won ! "great issues" by the way !

[justiceleaguer]

The real question is, who has the worst athletes foot?

[JohnBull]

Read 'em at the time and I'm sure they were draws. Seemed a bit mean to Flash really, all he can do is run fast and the other guy can move planets and the like, but the one trick pony can't beat him in a race. They should have let him win by a millionth of a second, just for his self respect.

[goldust40]

Actually, I think in one installment that is what happened. And lest we forget, the Flash is not a one trick pony. He can slow down or speed up his molecular frequency and vibrate through walls and travel through time!!!!

[JohnBull]

Yeah, but if Superman can go as fast as Flash, surely he can do those too. Also, Flash can only go through time on a treadmill of all things, at least Superman could fly there and didn't have to go to the gym first. Of course, that was all in the days when they were allowed to break the time barrier and we had a real Flash and people cared about white kryptonite and comics were good, damnit.

[goldust40]

I agree with everything there, especially the bit about comics being better in those days. However, and I appreciate that I'll sound like the sad comic-book pillock I unquestionably am when I say this, I always thought that Superman could not vibrate through walls as his molecules were too dense.

 

Egad. It's nearly 1 am U.K. time, and here I am posting about bollocks as ever! Love these boards!!

[JohnBull]

I must have missed the bit about the dense molecules, but my DC knowledge after about 1970 tends to fall down a bit. Still, unless the wall is made of green kryptonite, he doesn't really have to worry too much about vibrating through it.

 

I know what you mean about the time, (un)fortunately I'm an insominiac. I've had about 5 hours total sleep in the last 2 nights and I feel like the Al Pacino character in that film he was in recently (with Robin Williams). I'm knackered, but as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm wide awake. So, until the cricket starts at 4.30, it's either this or carry on catching up with the My Greatest Adventure collection.

[goldust40]

Read anything by Jim Shooter post-Valiant. That'll make you sleep better than mogadon.

[JohnBull]

Never read a single Valiant, I'm sadly naive in a lot of areas. I experimented a lot until about 1982, then I went to university and back pedalled for a few years. When I came back, I just read stuff that I liked as a kid. We probably had the same influences, I started with DC's around 70/71 when they were reprinting a lot and also went in to the 100 pagers. When the B+W Marvel reprints came out around 73, I discovered all those characters fully. Ashamedly, I was a Marvel man until about 96, just after I stopped buying new comics (I collected the Legion, but that was it). Flogged all the Marvel - execpt for the Dr Strange stuff - and stuck all the money in SA DC. I now find it hard to even read a Marvel book when I do glance at the odd issue I have. Too many fights and too much reliance on the previous 3 years issues to know what's going on. Now, the world has passed me by - half the books people mention on these boards, I just scratch my head and have no idea what they're talking about !

[Timely]

Did you watch the cartoon episode last season where the Flash races Superman for a charity event? Awesome stuff!

Timely

[supapimp]

the flash is faster than superman as per a episode on the justice league, where the flash's services were needed due to his speed.

[read_em-migration]

Hmmm, I coulda sworn that one of their races had an actual winner (The Flash) - where they needed to pull a switch to stop something? Maybe DC Comics Presents # 1 + 2??

[goldust40]

Yep, your experience is similar to mine, although I got into American comics relatively late (about 1973). I'd read a few Marvels and DCs before that "watershed moment" wherein a particular comic has an enormous effect on you, and fills you with such wonderment to the extent that it becomes pivotal and changes your life forever. Seriously - I'm not being ironic. Well only a little.

 

That comic was Swamp Thing 10 by Wein and Wrightson. I read that comic twenty times, and I still think it's a great book. Any of the new stuff I read is (usually, but not always, obviously) just a vain attempt to recapture that moment thirty years ago. So you ain't missing that much.

 

Except 100 Bullets. And Preacher, Watchmen (obviously) Animal Man 1-25, Stormwatch, Eightball, Neat Stuff, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Starman, Sin City and a handful of others. All these have "esprit de comics". Read 'em!!

[sckao]

Hmmm, I coulda sworn that one of their races had an actual winner (The Flash) - where they needed to pull a switch to stop something? Maybe DC Comics Presents # 1 + 2??

 

This Website has a synopsis or pretty much every Superman/Flash race as well as summaries of all the issues.

 

An excellent resource.

 

 

 

 

[ArAich]

I seem to recall in one of the races that they both ended up crawling to the finish line and Flash won....