Flash collectors thread 25 25

[flashlites]

Here's my 142 as well so we can talk a bit about both the annual and 142 on this page. I bought the 142 in 2017 while visiting my home town from Mary's shop The Comic Book Warehouse. I've been buying Flash comics from her since the 1970's! The annual is from my 90's collection

Edited April 10, 2020 by flashlites
addition

[comicjack]

7 hours ago, flashlites said:

I'll throw my annual out first to start things off and I would love to do the 80 page giants but will need some help in their chronology.

You got lots of reading for 25 cents and a cool cover 

[Jaylam]

The Flash met Julius Schwartz in Flash #179 in this amazing sequence. After all these years, this still stands out to me. It’s too bad that by the 1980’s, DC saw the multiverse as a liability. To me, the concept of a multiverse was a stroke of genius and yielded some of their best stories and plots. These few pages condenses and sums it all up quite well while putting it in the story itself.

[flashlites]

Just great Jaylam! Thanks for opening your books up for us and sharing. How do you get such great pictures of the interior of your comics??

Edited April 10, 2020 by flashlites

[frozentundraguy]

I just ran a check on 80 Page Giants that featured the Flash to find the published dates. The following list shows the dates on the cover. The books themselves normally appeared on the shelves about 3 months before the cover date.

4  -  Oct 1964

9  -  Apr 1965

21 - Apr 1966

34 - Apr 1967

46 - Apr 1968

Evidently Flash liked the month of April.

[Jaylam]

1 hour ago, frozentundraguy said:

I just ran a check on 80 Page Giants that featured the Flash to find the published dates. The following list shows the dates on the cover. The books themselves normally appeared on the shelves about 3 months before the cover date.

4  -  Oct 1964

9  -  Apr 1965

21 - Apr 1966

34 - Apr 1967

46 - Apr 1968

Evidently Flash liked the month of April.

In 1963 DC just released “Annuals” as kind of a one shot for some of their titles. From 1964-1965 they started calling them “80 pg. Giants” and numbered them as their own “80 pg. Giant” series apart from the ongoing titles. Then in 1966 they started incorporating the “80 pg. Giant” series into the numbering of the ongoing titles. The first Flash to do this was #160 in 1966. Oddly to the right of the 80 pg. Giant” logo they kept the numbering of the “Giants” going too. See the “G 21” in this “80 pg. Giant” issue of the Flash #160.

[flashlites]

5 minutes ago, Jaylam said:

In 1963 DC just released “Annuals” as kind of a one shot for some of their titles. From 1964-1965 they started calling them “80 pg. Giants” and numbered them as their own “80 pg. Giant” series apart from the ongoing titles. Then in 1966 they started incorporating the “80 pg. Giant” series into the numbering of the ongoing titles. The first Flash to do this was #160 in 1966. Oddly to the right of the 80 pg. Giant” logo they kept the numbering of the “Giants” going too. See the “G 21” in this “80 pg. Giant” issue of the Flash #160.

Thank you Flash fans! You all are amazing! I always wondered why some giants were numbered the way they were. One of the best things we have going here is the sharing and learning. I learn new things all the time from you guys and I really appreciate it!!!

[frozentundraguy]

8 minutes ago, Jaylam said:

In 1963 DC just released “Annuals” as kind of a one shot for some of their titles. From 1964-1965 they started calling them “80 pg. Giants” and numbered them as their own “80 pg. Giant” series apart from the ongoing titles. Then in 1966 they started incorporating the “80 pg. Giant” series into the numbering of the ongoing titles. The first Flash to do this was #160 in 1966. Oddly to the right of the 80 pg. Giant” logo they kept the numbering of the “Giants” going too. See the “G 21” in this “80 pg. Giant” issue of the Flash #160.

That's kind of cool and weird at the same time. I had noticed on the Grand Comics database that for the 80 page giants Flash #16 had become G-16. In effect the 80 page giant issues became part of the regular series, whether Flash, JLA, or any of them, plus they were part of the 80 page giant series. The weird part is, DC was skimping on the amount of books being published compared to before integrating the giants into the regular run. 

[frozentundraguy]

I also have a copy of Flash #142. It's a clever cover with the Trickster laying down bubbles for him to run on, but for the Flash not so much.

[Jaylam]

The first book to incorporate the “80 pg. Giant” into the ongoing title’s run was Justice League of America #39 (G16) cover date November 1965, released early September 1965. 
@frozentundraguy You are right, this allowed them out of producing new material as often for some of their titles, but I think they did this as the “Giants” proved to be quite popular and were well received by the readership. You have to remember back in those days, it was extremely difficult to have access to earlier issues and the reprint material in these “Giants” filled that demand for some of the more popular or key stories that were missed by newer readers or lost/traded away/thrown out by parents etc. of older readers. It was a win/win for everyone. 
 

[frozentundraguy]

5 minutes ago, Jaylam said:

The first book to incorporate the “80 pg. Giant” into the ongoing title’s run was Justice League of America #39 (G16) cover date November 1965, released early September 1965. 
@frozentundraguy You are right, this allowed them out of producing new material as often for some of their titles, but I think they did this as the “Giants” proved to be quite popular and were well received by the readership. You have to remember back in those days, it was extremely difficult to have access to earlier issues and the reprint material in these “Giants” filled that demand for some of the more popular or key stories that were missed by newer readers or lost/traded away/thrown out by parents etc. of older readers. It was a win/win for everyone. 
 

My mistake. I was too Flash conscious.

[Jaylam]

4 hours ago, flashlites said:

Just great Jaylam! Thanks for opening your books up for us and sharing. How do you get such great pictures of the interior of your comics??

Most of it is already available at various places on the internet. I have learned a lot from the research others have done and cross shared here on the boards. 

[Terry E. Gibbs]

6 hours ago, Jaylam said:

The first book to incorporate the “80 pg. Giant” into the ongoing title’s run was Justice League of America #39 (G16) cover date November 1965, released early September 1965. 
@frozentundraguy You are right, this allowed them out of producing new material as often for some of their titles, but I think they did this as the “Giants” proved to be quite popular and were well received by the readership. You have to remember back in those days, it was extremely difficult to have access to earlier issues and the reprint material in these “Giants” filled that demand for some of the more popular or key stories that were missed by newer readers or lost/traded away/thrown out by parents etc. of older readers. It was a win/win for everyone. 
 

I remember the JLA 80pager was so popular very few made it to Australia. There was only one news-stand in Sydney that I knew would carry it and I would make the 1 1/2 journey each year to get it as it came out around Christmas. I never saw them locally over maybe 4 years.

 

This lead to the end of DC's silver age. The writers who were paid per story had their income cut as sometimes DC was replacing normal books with these 80 page giants.. They formed a sort of Union and I am thinking Arnold Drake, (Deadman Doom Patrol and I think maybe X-men) lead them to ask for royalty payments on these reprints. The publishers offered them $1 more per page and the organised labor protest collapsed. They were all then "let go "over the next few years. Why Broome simply dropped out of comics. The new writers, although some were good were not steeped in DC history and there was I believe less talent, and then Marvel left DC in it's wake in the 70s. As a business decision, driven by greed it must rate up there with bypassing the Beatles.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Terry E. Gibbs

[flashlites]

35 minutes ago, Terry E. Gibbs said:

There was only one news-stand in Sydney that I knew would carry it and I would make the 1 1/2 journey each year to get it as it came out around Christmas. I never saw them locally over maybe 4 years.

 

Now that's a dedicated Flash Fan!

[frozentundraguy]

I have one more OPG that features the Flash. It's one I picked up right after I started collecting in 1998. In this scene the Flash has temporarily gotten into a minor jam, so that the Green Lantern, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Adam Strange, and the Atom can gang up on the oversize robot, and rescue him, before he takes the robot apart single handedly.  

[Jaylam]

@Terry E. Gibbs So, do you still live in Australia?

[Terry E. Gibbs]

11 hours ago, Jaylam said:

@Terry E. Gibbs So, do you still live in Australia?

Yep, Sydney Australia, home to the 100 page reprint/editions of the 50s and 60s. Harely comes here for our Melbourne Comic Con each year, we have one very big dealer with almost every major SA key in Brisbane who comes to Sydney once a year and brings a huge amount with him. He actually has as much as the top dealers at ECCC a virtual museum, and I have now done ECCC in 2018 & 2019 and NYCC last year and was before all this happened planning on NYCC next year. I do the lot. Signing books,buying books, panels, cosplay, make up for lost opportunities. Last year also saw the Pats playing on the Thursday following NYCC flew in saw Brady &  Belichick at Gillete at night, got back to my room at 1.40pm left hotel at 8.00am arrived at airport at around 8.40am and Sydney around 30 hours later. One thing you learn early in Australia is what a long haul flight is and if you ever want to see the world you learn how to handle it. (Now in premium economy it handles much easier) ,

[Jaylam]

1 hour ago, Terry E. Gibbs said:

Yep, Sydney Australia, home to the 100 page reprint/editions of the 50s and 60s. Harely comes here for our Melbourne Comic Con each year, we have one very big dealer with almost every major SA key in Brisbane who comes to Sydney once a year and brings a huge amount with him. He actually has as much as the top dealers at ECCC a virtual museum, and I have now done ECCC in 2018 & 2019 and NYCC last year and was before all this happened planning on NYCC next year. I do the lot. Signing books,buying books, panels, cosplay, make up for lost opportunities. Last year also saw the Pats playing on the Thursday following NYCC flew in saw Brady &  Belichick at Gillete at night, got back to my room at 1.40pm left hotel at 8.00am arrived at airport at around 8.40am and Sydney around 30 hours later. One thing you learn early in Australia is what a long haul flight is and if you ever want to see the world you learn how to handle it. (Now in premium economy it handles much easier) ,

Well, how cool is that? I’ve never been to Australia, but I do have some cousins that live in Hervey Bay, about 1,200 km or 750 miles to your north. 
I think it’s very interesting how comic books were published in different countries in the old days, so thanks for sharing some of your original Australian pieces. I would have never known.

[1950's war comics]

Flash were my favorite DC comic as a teen...

[1950's war comics]

Flash had the greatest rogues gallery !! my favorite Mr Element,... but Capt Boomerang was awesome too !