View source for Flash Comics

{{short description|Comic book anthology}}
{{distinguish|Flash (DC Comics character)}}
{{Infobox comic book title
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
| image = Flash Comics (Jan. 1940)-1.jpg
| caption = Cover to ''Flash Comics'' #1 (Jan. 1940), art by [[Sheldon Moldoff]].
| schedule = '''Monthly:'''<br>#1–64, #70–104<br>'''Bimonthly:'''<br>#65–69
| format =
| ongoing = y
| publisher = [[DC Comics]]
| date = January 1940 – <br />February 1949
| issues = 104
| main_char_team =
| writers = [[Gardner Fox]], [[Robert Kanigher]]
| artists = [[Carmine Infantino]], [[Joe Kubert]], [[Harry Lampert]], [[Dennis Neville]]
| pencillers =
| inkers =
| colorists =
| creative_team_month =
| creative_team_year =
| creators =
| subcat = All-American Publications
| sort = Flash Comics
}}
'''''Flash Comics''''' is a [[comics anthology]] published by [[All-American Publications]] and later by [[National Periodical Publications]] ([[DC Comics]]). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featured the adventures of multiple superheroes in addition to [[Flash (Jay Garrick)|Jay Garrick]], the original [[Flash (DC Comics character)|Flash]]. Characters introduced in the series include the Flash, [[Hawkman (Carter Hall)]], [[Hawkgirl]] and [[Black Canary]].

==Publication history==
The series debuted with a January 1940 [[cover date]], while initially published on November 20, 1939. <ref name="GCD">{{gcdb series|id= 142|title= ''Flash Comics''}},</ref> The first issue featured the first appearances of the [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] versions of the [[Flash (Jay Garrick)|Flash]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Wallace|first= Daniel|last2=Dolan|first2=Hannah, ed.|chapter= 1940s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 30|quote = DC shattered the sound barrier with the debut of the Flash, a blindingly fast mystery man written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Harry Lampert.}}</ref> [[Hawkman (Carter Hall)|Hawkman]],<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "In the same issue [#1] Gardner Fox wrote the first story featuring Hawkman...in a story drawn by Dennis Neville".</ref> and [[Johnny Thunder]].<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 30: "''Flash Comics'' scored a third hit with Johnny Thunder, star of a humorous feature about a boy raised in the distant land of Badhnisia and blessed with the ability to raise an all-powerful, genie-like Thunderbolt".</ref> The Flash was later given a solo comic book series, ''[[All-Flash]]'' which ran for 32 issues between Summer 1941 to January 1948.<ref>{{gcdb series|id= 211|title= ''All-Flash''}}</ref>

Artist [[Joe Kubert]]'s long association with the Hawkman character began with the story "The Painter and the $100,000" in ''Flash Comics'' #62 (Feb. 1945).<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "Artist Joe Kubert began his most memorable work on the gravity-defying superhero Hawkman in this issue..."The Painter and the $100,000" written by Gardner Fox marked the start of a long and fruitful run between illustrator and character".</ref> The [[Monocle (comics)|Monocle]] was introduced in #64 as a new foe for Hawkman.<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 49: "This issue saw writer Gardner Fox and illustrator Joe Kubert present the Monocle...He became representative of the 'gimmick villain', a staple of the super hero genre".</ref>

[[Carmine Infantino]]'s first published work for DC was "The Black Canary", a six-page Johnny Thunder story  in ''Flash Comics'' #86 (August 1947) that introduced the superheroine the [[Black Canary]].<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, pp. 55–56: "Debuting as a supporting character in a six-page Johnny Thunder feature written by Robert Kanigher and penciled by Carmine Infantino, Dinah Drake [the Black Canary] was originally presented as a villain...The Black Canary's introduction in August [1947]'s ''Flash Comics'' #86 represented [Infantino's] first published work for DC".</ref> Writer [[Robert Kanigher]] and Joe Kubert created the [[List of Flash enemies#Thorn|Thorn]] in issue #89 (November 1947).<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 57: "Writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert presented a female twist on Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' with the Thorn".</ref>

''Flash Comics'' was cancelled in 1949 with issue #104.<ref name="GCD" /> The series' numbering would be continued by the first volume of ''[[The Flash (comic book)|The Flash]]'' series, which debuted during the [[Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] in 1959 and featured [[Flash (Barry Allen)|Barry Allen]] as the new Flash.<ref>[[Alexander C. Irvine|Irvine, Alex]] "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93: "In March 1959, The Flash was back, care of writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. The series continued the numbering from ''Flash Comics'' and gave Barry Allen his own title. Issue #105 also debuted the Mirror Master".</ref>

* Hawkman - issues #1 (January 1940) – #104 (February 1949)
* Johnny Thunder - issues #1 (January 1940) – #91 (January 1948)
* [[Whip (comics)|The Whip]] - issues #1 (January 1940) – #55 (July 1944)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/whip.htm |title=The Whip |first=Don |last=Markstein |date=2011|website=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240527143903/https://www.webcitation.org/6csF5FBuu?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/whip.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2024|url-status= live|quote=[The Whip] took to the road in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (January 1940), the same issue that introduced The Flash and Hawkman to the comics-reading public...His series ended in ''Flash Comics'' #55 (July 1944).|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* Cliff Cornwall - issues #1 (January 1940) – #19 (July 1941)
* Ghost Patrol - issues #29 (May 1942) – #104 (February 1949)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/ghostpat.htm |title=The Ghost Patrol |first=Don |last=Markstein |date=2010 |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240527143943/https://www.webcitation.org/6csFdB5pF?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/ghostpat.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2024|url-status= live|quote=Fred, Pedro and Slim achieved their ghosthood in All-American Publications' ''Flash Comics'' #29 (May, 1942). The story was written by Ted Udall (an assistant editor to Sheldon Mayer) and Emmanuel Demby (who has few if any other credits in comics). It was drawn by Frank Harry ('Little Boy Blue'), who continued to draw the feature through most of its run.|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* Black Canary - issues #92 (February 1948) – #104 (February 1949)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/bcanary.htm |title=The Black Canary |first=Don |last=Markstein |year=2006 |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240527022521/https://www.webcitation.org/6RNJgnPk1?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/bcanary.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2024|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Collected editions==
* ''[[DC Archive Editions|Golden Age Flash Archives]]'':
** ''Vol. 1'' collects the "Flash" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #1–17, 224 pages, September 1999, {{ISBN|978-1563895067}} 
** ''Vol. 2'' collects the "Flash" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #18–24, 224 pages, February 2006, {{ISBN|978-1401207847}} 
* ''The Flash Archives'' Vol. 1 includes the "Flash" story from ''Flash Comics'' #104, 224 pages, May 1998, {{ISBN|978-1563891397}} 
* ''Golden Age Hawkman Archives'' Vol. 1 collects the "Hawkman" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #1–22, 224 pages, February 2006, {{ISBN|978-1401204181}} 
* ''JSA All-Stars Archives'' Volume 1 includes the "Johnny Thunder" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #1–4, 256 pages, October 2007, {{ISBN|978-1401214722}} 
* ''Black Canary Archives'' collects the "Johnny Thunder" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #86–91 and the "Black Canary" stories from ''Flash Comics'' #92–104, 224 pages, December 2000, {{ISBN|978-1563897344}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{comicbookdb|type=title|id=715|title=''Flash Comics''}}
* [http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/series.php?seriesid=815 ''Flash Comics''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427120806/http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/series.php?seriesid=815 |date=2023-04-27 }} at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

{{Flash}}
{{Black Canary}}
{{Gardner Fox}}
{{Hawkman}}

[[Category:1940 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1949 comics endings]]
[[Category:Comics magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Black Canary]]
[[Category:Comics anthologies]]
[[Category:Comics by Gardner Fox]]
[[Category:Comics by Robert Kanigher]]
[[Category:DC Comics titles]]
[[Category:Defunct American comics]]
[[Category:Golden Age comics titles]]