On the Lost episode "Catch 22" there's a Tarrantinoesque exchange between Hurley and Charlie - what if Superman and The Flash had a race?Apparently they've raced many times over the years, but my dad bought me the first matchup back in the '60s. I don't have a theory about the allusion like the fabulous Jeff Jensen at Entertainment Weekly. I'm just sayin'.
I can remember sitting on our back steps and reading it. It does indeed feature The Flash vibrating through a wall as discussed by Hurley, though the comic is long gone and I would be pressed to tell you who won that round or what else happened other than passes by exotic world scenes.
It takes me back, though. My old man bought me "Superman" comics sporadically. I replaced a few of those a while back by mail order, but if I'm recalling the Superman-Flash race was expensive as such issues tend to be.
It's a little cheaper to get Gold Key "Tarzan" issues. They adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs novels in multi-issue arcs, and we managed to follow those, purchasing them at a 7-11 near our house.
My dad read them to me along with issues of "Ripley's Believe it or Not," and things like "The Gold Bug." He inadvertently scared the shit out of me with "The Raven" too.
And that's when the spell of imagination was cast over me too.
Good times.
5 comments:
I was a sucker for those superhero vs superhero things too. I vaguely remember the Flash vs Superman race. i can't remember who won, though.
I had that issue. They never have any one triumph over another. I seem to remember a crisis occurring that interrupted the race, that someone tried to fix it for nefarious reasons. Superman and Flash thwarted them by ending in tie. At least that's what my faulty memory is telling me.
It's strange how we remember some of these things. I get flashes of covers of certain comics. I wasn't a big fan of Superman, more a Marvel man myself, but I recall one cover where Jimmy Olsen, I think it might have been Jimmy Olsen's own magazine...turned into a giant turtle man with freaky eyes. I'm not sure why that image sticks with me.
So you're the Marvel fan, Stewart. Oddly for as popular as Marvel is I seem to know more DC kids than Marvel. Wayne was a DC guy as was my boss as was I. Not sure why except that DC seemed to do more single issue stories while Marvel's always seemed to be continued. I did buy a substantial cache of "Captain Americas" in the '70s which I read in sequence and enjoyed.
Wayne tells me there is a trade paperback collecting all of the Superman/Flash matchups. I need to track that down and get reminded of how everything came out.
I didn't have a ton of Jimmie Olsen's but I remember them fondly. The Jimmie Olsen, Lois Lane etc. spinoffs always had the fun, screwy stories. I saw somewhere online a Jimmie Olsen action figure. I may have to get one of those too. He's dressed in a green suit.
You still didn't tell us who won.
Hey Leon, I think Stewart in his comment above sums up the ending for the 1967 matchup. Apparently there have been various twist in their other competitions.
I believe the 1967 matchup is with the Barry Allen Flash, and I'm not sure about the others.
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