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The History of the Superman vs Flash races

Posted in comic books, pop culture, Superman, The Flash with tags Cavalcade Comics, comic books, pop culture, reviews, Superman, The Flash on May 14, 2010 by Paxton

I mentioned before that I had been digging through my comic book collection to find cool artwork and vintage ads to scan and put on my Flickr blog (if you aren’t checking my Flickr blog, I can only assume you hate things that are AWESOME). While going through my comics I came across my collection of Flash vs Superman races. The Flash is my favorite super hero and throughout the ’60s and ’70s DC Comics had Superman and Flash race several times. Being a Flash fan, I think it’s ABSURD to think that Superman is faster than Flash. All Flash does is run. That’s his power. On sheer raw speed, Flash should be faster. I mean, we all know who would win in a flying race. Or a strength competition. Am I right?

So, how did Flash fare in these races? Well, DC obviously wanted to protect their “golden boy”, so they had several ties, but at the end, there is a clear winner. Let’s go through the races and tally up the scores to see who is truly the fastest man alive. For this article I’ll be focusing on the Barry Allen Silver Age Flash, who died in 1985 during the Crisis on Inifinite Earths mini-series.

Superman #199 (1967) – The head to head races between the Silver Age Superman and The Flash began here. The two heroes are asked to race for charity. They both readily agree. As usually happens, crime syndicates bet huge sums of money on the outcome and look for ways to sabotage the one they don’t want to win. After several criminal schemes backfire, Supes and Flash finish in a clear tie so as no criminals can cash in. This, of course, leaves the reader with no sense of closure and shaking their fist in the air yelling, “Damn you, DC!!!”. The Flash is now 0-0-1.

Flash #175 (1967) – The next race happened a few months later. Flash and Superman arrive at JLA headquarters to find two aliens who have somehow managed to capture and subdue the rest of the JLA. The two alien gamblers are mad that the first race ended in a tie and want a rematch (you and me both, Mr Alien). This time, Supes and Flash must run to the edge of the Milky Way and back. If Superman loses, Metropolis will be destroyed. If The Flash loses, Central City will be destroyed. Why Superman and Flash don’t just pummel these guys at light speed is beyond me. So, they agree to the race and halfway through they realize the whole thing is a setup to kill The Flash and we get another disappointing “tie” ending (DC. F**k. You.). So at the end of this issue Flash is 0-0-2.

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Glorious Glass: A look back at some of my favorite collector’s glasses

Posted in advertising, comic books, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, The Flash with tags advertising, Burger King, comic books, glasses, McDonald's, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, Star Wars, Taco Bell on July 28, 2009 by Paxton

Fast food joints used to give out the best swag back in the day. At the top of this swag list was commemorative collector glasses. These were glasses made from ACTUAL glass (not f’n plastic) with kick ass graphics all over it usually given away as a premium with a purchase of food or drinks. Actually, collector glasses didn’t just come from fast food joints. The convenience store 7-11 as well as soda giants Coke and Pepsi both created collector’s glasses that were distributed in stores, gas stations, supermarkets and/or fast food joints. The heyday of collector glasses was in the ’70s and ’80s, but glasses were also released in the ’50s, ’60s and ’90s. Burger King recently revived the collector glass (real glass!!) tradition in May 2009 with their four glass set for the new Star Trek movie (Thanks, Michelle for finding those for me).

So without further ado, here are a bunch of my favorite collector glasses from the ’70s and ’80s. You can click any of the below images to see it bigger.

Burger King Star Wars/Empire/Jedi Glasses (1977, 1980, 1983) — The most famous of all commemorative glasses, the Star Wars Burger King collector glasses are what everyone thinks of when you mention “collector glasses”. A set of four were released for each movie. Surprisingly, it is not very hard to complete a set of all 12 as they made a crap-ton of them. Here’s a pic of the Star Wars set. Here’s a pic of the Empire Strikes Back set. Here’s a pic of the Return of the Jedi set.

Glasses for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by 7-Up (1984) — This is probably one of the more obscure glass sets. Made by 7-Up to commemorate the second Indiana Jones movie, the glasses were only released to certain local fast food chains so getting a full set is extremely hard. I don’t care about a set, but I would love the Mola Ram glass (far right hand side) with him holding the still beating flaming heart. That is BAD ASS. A year earlier, in 1983, there was a set of three glasses created by Coca-Cola for Raiders of the Lost Ark but the set was never released. Check those glasses out here.

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Odds ‘n End from around the internet

Posted in comic books, movies, The Flash with tags comic books, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, movies, Superman, The Flash on May 29, 2009 by Paxton

Several news items popped up this week that caught my interest and I thought that you guys would also enjoy them. One is an update of an earlier story, the other two are new.

Back in February, I told you about Action Comics #1 going up for auction.

This comic was notable because it featured the first appearance of Superman and it ushered in the Golden Age of superhero comics back in 1938. Before this comic, there were no superheroes as we think of them today. Well, that copy of Action Comics was sold for $317,200. Not bad for an initial 35 cent investment, right?

Well, another legendary comic book went to auction recently. That comic is Showcase #4 from 1956 and it features the first appearance of the “new” Flash (who also happens to be my favorite comic book character of all time).