The Flash of Two Worlds Deluxe Edition by Gardner F. FoxMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Flash of Two worlds collects six team-ups between Barry Allen, The Flash of the Silver Age, and his Golden Age counterpart, Jay Garrick, including the titular tale.
I've read a handful of Flash tales over the years. He's not my favorite character but I'd love to have his super speed to blaze through mundane tasks to get to the reading I've been neglecting. Anyway, The Flash of Two Worlds is known as a groundbreaking work and I've someone gone 42 years without reading it.
The Flash of Two Worlds introduces the concept of parallel universe to DC comics. Barry Allen accidentally crosses the dimensional barrier and finds himself in Keystone City, home of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. The two Flashes battle The Shade, The Thinker, and The Fiddler and manage to set things right.
The rest of the tales in the collection also feature The Flashes teaming up, bringing the Justice Society into the Silver Age. Kid Flash is also featured and sports one of the best costume designs this side of Stingray.
Gardner Fox does the writing on all but one of the stories. You can tell he's a science fiction fan in the way he composes his stories. He's a pulp writer, for good and for bad. It's become fashionable to shit on him recently but he's a better writer than Stan Lee. John Broome gives the assist on the final tale and does a decent job filling Fox's shoes.
Carmine Infantino handles the art chores. His art is polished from the get-go but his Flash feels almost lifeless in the first half of the book. Infantino picked some boring ass poses and camera angles. A lot of his panels made me recall the lessons in How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.
Things pick up in the second half, though.
As a piece of comics history, I'm glad I finally read this. As for the entertainment value, it was adequate. Three out of five lightning bolts.
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