Greetings comic lovers and welcome back to casually comics the channel where we chat
all things comics from reviews of comics new and old to history to anecdotes to really
wherever our whims take us.
It’s history time today time to take a look back at a story that everyone will tell you
is important if you hang around comic circles long enough and well they’re not wrong.
We’re going to take a look at the first comic to implement the concept of a multiverse
which is now such a core comic book staple that both Marvel and Dc regularly make giant
mega events centering on the concept, whether it’s destroying it recreating it, expanding
it, Apex Lexing it it’s made it’s mark whether you think it’s overplayed or not
there’s no denying it’s importance.
But how did it come to be well like the silver age we have the flash to thank.
Both the first and second flash.
If you love taking a look at comic book history hit that like button.
So we’ve talked before about the rise of the silver age, if you missed out on that
fun you know the drill card and link.
The cliff notes too long didn’t watch for those who really have no time is that there
was a superhero lull, burnout after world war 2 that led to many superhero titles being
cancelled ending the golden age of heroes which was folllowed by a boom in other genre
comics particularly crime and horror.
Which went hard nsfw one now infamous and famous it’s both depending on who you talk
to EC comics cover had a decapitated woman on it.
That coupled with concerns of depravity and comics spreading delinquency and deviance
led to the creation of the comics code there were senate hearings people burned books comics
were nearly regulated by the government seduction of the innocent was written it was a whole
thing.
So those other genres were pretty much crushed because of the censorship which led to a resurgence
in the safer easier to regular plus tried and true superhero comics leading to the dawn
of the silver age with the re-emergence of a new flash.
But the space between silver and golden age was unique cause well people hadn’t hated
the the golden age heroes at all more like shifted interest and so in 1961 Gardner Fox
who also happened to be the writer who had written the first 3 golden age flash stories
starring the first flash jay garrick would put forward a script introducing Earth 2.
Ladies Gentlemen comic book lovers everywhere I give you the birth of the multiverse.
The cover is famous it’s one of the historic comic book covers a man cowering in fear about
to be crushed by a pilar when two very distinct flashes rush to save him from either side.
This cover was also referenced by CW’s Flash which does a lot more homaging than people
sometimes give it credit for.
The cover also claims that this is a spectacular story sure to become a classic I mean that’s
a huge flex but they weren’t wrong so well played cover arrogance well played.
The comic opens with jay garrick talking to a barry drawn like he has an oversized head
not an uncommon occurence for early silver age barry How can you possibly claim to be
the flash barry allen when I Jay Garrick am the flash and have been for more than 20 years.
Yeah this story employs realistic timescales which is going to make earth 2 an interesting
place indeed you’ll see.
This is a great opener for new fans it’s a what’s going on two flashes and for older
fans it’s an acknowledgement heck yeah there are two flashes how many are we up to know
heck yeah there are 10 flashes there’s not that many but we can get there challenge accepted.
Our story begins with barry who is running late it’s one of his ironic character traits
that persists to this day that he’s the fastest man alive and perpetually late for
all things.
He’s going to meet iris who’s hosting a charity event but she’s not mad he’s
late but that the magician she hired to entertain the kids is and of course it’s oprhans in
early comics it’s always orphans maybe bruce can come by and pick one out for the next
time a robin bites the dust.
They have to have dark hair though there are rules.
Barry decides to help out by getting his good friend the flash to perform instead he’s
got all kinds of tricks like playing tennis with himself.
I mean I guess that’s pretty cool, the kids like it and that’s what matters.
For his last trick he decides to try a disappearing act climb a rope and vibrate it and himself
out of phase he’s never done this before the kids are getting peak flash today.
But in the process he vanishes and finds himself in an odd place keystone city rather than
central city nobody recognizes him but all the dates are right and suddenly he has a
thought that he recognizes this place.
So he changes back into barry allen and goes to phone book to look up jay garrick then
goes to his house to accost him with his own backstory which is exposition for the audience
for those who don’t know how jay garrick became the flash he inhaled some hard water
in a lab after he knocked over an experiment.
Ok look if you thought they were giving out powers on street corners in the solver age
you hadn’t seen the golden age where they essentially came to you in the mail.
Hard Water.
Where’s my super speed.
Still this is good exposition cause there’s a reason narratively for barry to be telling
jay this.
It’s to gain his trust even though to me it’s very threatening like someone shows
up at your house and is like I know everything about you and your life but I’m not sketch
I swear.
He quickly tells them that he;s the flash too and show them his nifty ring where he
keeps his costume he then postulates that there must be two earths vibrating out of
phase The way I see it I vibrated so fast I tore a gap in the vibratory shields separating
our worlds as you know two objects can occupy the same space and time if they vibrate at
different speeds.
He then tells his story and establishes the concept that central city is the twin of keystone.
Also that on his world the flash is a comic book written by Gardner Fox who is inserting
himself in a very early example of metaness into this story and that he must have picked
up snippets of jay’s adventure in dreams, a plot that would later inspire cinematic
masterpieces like cool world.
Barry goes onto say that jay was his inspiration and why he took on the name of the flash and
when he says the comic was cancelled jay says that was the year he retired but of course
time kept moving so now Jay is older but looking to get back in the action cause a series of
crimes have occurred around keystone that can only be stopped by the flash.
But what’s better than one flash two flashes.
Whoever these crooks are they;re in for double flash trouble.
Prepare for trouble make it double I can’t hear the word double without thinking that
anymore.
Pokemon has ruined me.
Chapter two these silver age books love the chapter thing.
We see the dastardly villains who have teamed up the thinker, the fiddler and the shade
they’re sitting in a very classy hideout talking about how they’ve each upgraded
their tech and are ready to best the flash.
And each have a unique item to steal.
They all get along so well and are so polite to each other it’s like they’re part of
a book club or what I imagine a book club is like.
I want to be part of an evil book club.
First up the thinker he’s out to steal the neptune cup.
Meanwhile jay and barry decide that the scooby doo approach is the one to take so split up.
Jay ends up going up against the thinker who has a mind control cap that forces people
to do his bidding creates projections etc.
By increasing the energy given off by my brain to it’s fullest capacity I can work scientific
miracles.
I’ll let the we only use some of our brians thing slide cause its 1961 but people still
do it.
It’s not true I expected more from you thinker.
Jay shows up but whenever he gets close to the thinker he moves out of reach eventually
he’s exhausted and is all am I just that old ahhhh.
But then the thinker steps out of the closet he was hiding in.
to be like haha I was merely projecting an image of myself at you.
So the thinker is a camper good to know, I’m not gaming with him.
He then makes jay knock himself out on a wall.
Barry goes up against the shade who is robbing a boat of historical curios which ones, well
does it matter, not to the shade just give him all the curios.
He’s blanketed the boat in darkness but barry runs over and makes the darkness a tornado…
I love how some of the science in this is so legit and the rest is just basically differently
phrased magic.
The shade escapes by shooting darkness mixed with oil at barry who defeated goes to meet
up with jay who’s sitting there living in embarrassment but they decide it’s not them
it was the scooby doo approach with its lure of solo victory and praise no it never works
so it’s time for a proper teamup together cause there’s one villain left the fiddler.
Also the comic starts calling jay the old flash here which makes me snort cause they
call barry the new flash but in my head I’m like the young flash.
That’s what they meant and you know it.
Chapter 3, Fiddler is driving through town on his giant fidlle shaped car.
How did he get that made he’s standing on it and using his fiddle to make glass fall
and spread general pandemonium which leads to the cover panel actually happening in the
issue.
See this is the best cover bait sensational but accurate.
The flashes find his car at the museum with jay going there’s the fiddle car nobody’d
notice it there the museums in such an out of the way place.
1 how outlandish are the other cars that no one is noticing this two he rode on it standing
fiddling people to their potential deaths down a mainstreet.
3 don;t do the museum like that jay it’s a wonderland of learning and fun.
The thinker and head are back at their nice den of a lair talking about how they both
defeated the flash when they realize wait that’s not possible quickly come to the
conclusion there must be two flashes and also start to worry about the fiddler so they rush
off to help him the flash rogues are best rogues what a support network, sometimes unless
some captain cold level pettiness is happening, like it wasn’t even a question it was a
lets go help our friend Shade even says I hope we’re not too late.
But when they get there the fiddler has control over the flashes making them dance and rob
the museum for him.
However he didn’t tell them not try to escape so the just waited til all the villains are
in one place and then defeat them super easily cause it is page 24 and we are out of time,
high tech villain upgrades are no match for the limited page space.
The two flashes part ways with Jay vowing to come out of retirement he had such a good
time.
And seeing how barry vibrates back to his earth he vows that maybe one day he’ll go
visit.
And then gardner fox pats himself on the back The only ones who’d really believe it would
be the readers of flash comics That’s why I’m going to look up Gardner fox who wrote
the original flash stories and tell it to him!
He can write the whole thing down in a comic book!
Comiception!!
It may seem so standard now that’s it hard to think of a time when it was different but
two earths was a huge revelatory concept.
It opened the door to so many things.
If jay was around than so were the other golden age heroes and earth 2 became a haven for
those heroes.
It would expand to why don’t we also write stories about the heroes of earth 2 now that
there’s interest again and we can sell them on the same stands under the headers golden
age and silver age.
The difference in time would lead to legacy heroes some who would travel to earth 1 like
black canary who was the daughter of the first black canary who came over to earth two for
ollie.
Oliver queen ok guess he really does make good chilli.
We would eventually have superman and batman tales from this earth as well with older versions
of the heroes and the concept would grow why just two earths.
The other earths would house characters from acquired comic book companies like the fawcett
characters would get their own earth.
We would play with outlandish concepts that once would only have had solo stories like
the crime syndicate.
The multiverse would prove so successful for dc marvel would later create one of their
own.
Of course it would eventually get convoluted and DC would try to fix it with crisis on
infinite earths but at it’s dawn it was clean and simple and a way to let people have
all the heroes they wanted.
It also did very well in not having either flash step on each others toes so there wasn’t
a need for my flash is better than your flash although that still probably happened.
It established the concept of legacy passing in a very tasteful way respect for the mantle
one took on and respect for the person who took it on.
Everyones so nice in this story even the villains you know minus the trying to kill people with
falling glass.
Not cool Fiddler.
So that was it the story that gives us the multiverse and more metaness than one may
have expected.
What did you think?
What are your thoughts on the multiverse?
Would you join the flash's evil rogue book club?
I would but if you don;t read the book captain cold probably tried to ruin your life.
I’m Sasha and thanks so much for watching casually comics don’t forget to do all the
youtube things like share comment subscribe and stay tuned for more videos coming soon.
Bye