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"The Flash of Two Worlds": This story is reprinted from The Flash #123.

80-Page Giant #9 is an issue of the series 80-Page Giant (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1965. It was published on February 11, 1965.

Synopsis for "The Flash of Two Worlds"

This story is reprinted from The Flash #123.

Iris West hosts a function at the Central City Community Center on behalf of the Picture News Orphan Fund Group. Unfortunately, the magician she had hired to entertain the children fails to arrive. When Barry Allen shows up, Iris tells him the news and he suggests that he might be able to convince the Flash to stand in for the missing magician. Barry steps outside to don his Flash costume, and then races back in, much to the delight of dozens of young orphans. The Flash spends the next hour entertaining the kids with a variety of super-speed tricks. First, he astounds them by playing a game of tennis with himself. He serves the ball then races to the other side of the net to receive it just as the ball reaches its destination. He then does a variation of the old Indian rope trick. By vibrating his hands at super-speed, he makes a length of rope appear to rise into the air. He then begins scaling the rope while it continues to hover. As the children applaud, the Flash suddenly disappears, making Iris wonder what could have happened to him.

Barry reappears outside the city limits of a strange-looking town, with no idea where he is. As he begins investigating the town, though, he realizes that he is no longer in Central City. He stops at a newsstand and picks up a copy of the Keystone City Herald. The Flash recognizes the name of Keystone City as the fictional hometown of his childhood comic book hero, Jay Garrick – the original Flash. Barry recalls that comic book writer Gardner Fox created stories of Jay Garrick for Flash Comics based on dreams that he had experienced. He deduces that he must have vibrated between the dimensional barrier separating parallel worlds and has arrived on an Earth similar to the one that he had just left. On this Earth, however, the Golden Age Flash was an actual, living super-hero. Excitedly, Barry looks up Garrick's home address in a phone book and then races off to meet him.

The Flash arrives at the Garrick residence and meets an older Jay Garrick with his wife Joan. He tells them of how he knows Jay's secret identity, explaining that he is the Flash of an alternate universe. Jay confides in Barry that he was thinking of coming out of retirement due to a series of strange crimes that have been plaguing Keystone City as of late. At the Keystone City Bank for example, a teller was shocked when money suddenly began floating out of her drawer. He further describes a robbery at Carmody's Jewel Salon where the crime was obscured by a thick cloud of pure darkness. Another mysterious theft involved an armored car that was ruptured by the sounds of strange music. Upon hearing this, Barry offers to help Jay solve these mysterious crimes.

Flash of Two Worlds

Flashes of Two Worlds

Across town, three super-criminals gather together and boast about the success of their most recent schemes. The Thinker commits crimes by way of a hypnotic Thinking Cap. The Fiddler is able to generate destructive sound waves with his violin and the Shade uses a special cane to create blankets of darkness to conceal his actions. The one thing these three have in common is that they are all old foes of the Flash. Each of them goes off to commit their next robbery.

The Thinker goes to the Jarvis estate and uses his Thinking Cap to order the guard dogs to warn the Flash about his actions should he arrive. He then hypnotizes Mister Jarvis's butler into relinquishing the valuable Neptune Cup to him. Jay Garrick arrives and is shocked when the dogs tell him that the Thinker is robbing the Neptune Cup. Jay speeds around the inside of the house, but he is unable to lay his hands on the Thinker. The Thinker is using his Thinking Cap to make himself appear to be in several places at once. When Jay finds the real Thinker he speeds after him, but the Thinker erects a wall of pure psychic energy that renders Jay unconscious upon impact.

Barry Allen meanwhile scours the docks when he sees a yacht off in the river with thick clouds of black smoke emanating from it. He runs off to investigate, but falls victim to the Shade. The Shade thinks that this Flash is Jay Garrick in a different costume. The Shade escapes in a speedboat, and lays down a slick trail of oil that prevents Barry from chasing after him. Barry later meets up with Jay at the Jarvis estate and Garrick tells him about the Thinker.

In the middle of town, the Fiddler rides down the street in his Fiddle Car and plays music from his violin. The sound waves shatter windows and cause a girder to fall from the top of a partially constructed skyscraper. A worker falls in the path of the girder, but fortunately, the Flashes arrive to save him. Jay pulls the man out of the way, while Barry deflects the falling girder. The Fiddler escapes during the melee and meets up with the Thinker and the Shade. Together they decide to rob the Keystone City Museum.

The Flashes track the villains down, but the Fiddler uses his violin to hypnotize them into obeying his commands. For fun, he has them dance for him like puppets on a string. Then he has them steal jewels for him. As the crooks gather their bounty, they prepare to leave, but the Flashes spring into action and apprehend them. The Fiddler doesn't understand how they resisted his mental commands. Jay explains that while they were forced to do the Fiddler's bidding, there was no command that prevented them from trying to escape. While robbing jewels for them, they plugged their ears with small gems, which distorted the effects of the Fiddler's violin, ultimately enabling them to break free of his control.

After the crooks are arrested, Barry and Jay say goodbye to one another and Barry invites Jay to visit his Earth some time. He then vibrates at super-speed and returns to his proper world. He then visits Iris at Picture News and explains to her why he disappeared, before deciding to visit Gardner Fox and tell him the story — so Fox can write it up in a comic book...

Appearing in "The Flash of Two Worlds"

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Other Characters:

  • Mister Jarvis' butler
  • Professor Hughes (Flashback only)
  • Unnamed bank teller
  • Unnamed construction worker

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Synopsis for "The Pied Piper of Peril"

This story is reprinted from The Flash #106.

A wave of crimes occurs across Central City. Windows are broken and expensive jewels are pulled from shelves, but nothing is removed from the stores.

Outside, people respond, as if called, to the musical lure of the Pied Piper's flute. This new criminal has tested his flute and tells his followers that he must stop the Flash if he is to complete his plans. He tells them that he has mastered sounds and even destructive sounds such as sonic booms.

For once, Flash arrives right on time for a date with Iris. Iris is shocked.

Hathaway causes a radio announcement with his flute calling out the Flash to stop the crimes that were not completed the previous night. Barry changes into the Flash and runs out of the apartment.

When the Flash arrives at one of the crime scenes, he finds the Piper. Piper creates a vibratory aura with his flute, freezing the Flash in his tracks, then exclaims that they have thirty minutes before the Flash will be released as he takes off with stolen goods. But the Flash vibrates his body and frees himself, just moments later, then catches up with Piper and takes him to jail.

Barry arrives back at Iris's apartment and tells her he just stepped out for a moment to get her the paper. Iris says she thought for a moment he would have caught them, like the Flash would have, but realized that would be foolish thinking.

Appearing in "The Pied Piper of Peril"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Iris West
  • Hank
  • Prison Staff
    • Warden
    • Tyler the Foreman

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Synopsis for "The Man Who Changed the Earth"

This story is reprinted from Showcase #14.

During a lunch date, Iris tells Barry that she is going to be testing out a new jet as part of a news story. Later while Iris is testing out the craft it is captured by a UFO. Witnessing the abduction on his wrist watch, Barry changes into the Flash and chases after the ship aboard a rocket, but the ship disappears. Realizing that it must have traveled through time, Flash speeds through the time barrier and ends up in a strange world where the people start out small but grow in to giants.

Told that he is in the fourth-dimension, the giants tell the Flash that they intend to invade the Earth and take it over. Braking free of the hour-glass they have imprisoned him in, the Flash saves Iris and destroys the giant's invasion fleet with speed-vibrations, before returning himself and Iris to their own dimension.

Appearing in "The Man Who Changed the Earth"

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  • Flying Saucer

Synopsis for "Here Comes Captain Boomerang"

This story is reprinted from The Flash #117.

The W.W. Wiggins Game Company is looking to market play boomerangs as their next big sales sensation, and the owner W.W. Wiggin's puts out an advertisement looking for somebody to play the company mascot. "Digger" Harkness, a petty crook, decides to apply for the job to launch his own criminal career as Captain Boomerang, using gimmicked boomerangs to commit crimes.

When word of Captain Boomerang's first robbery reaches Barry Allen, who is out on a date with Iris West, he leaves to investigate. She wonders why Barry disappears whenever the Flash appears to fight crime. Confronting Captain Boomerang, the Flash falls for a sob story that he's on the straight and narrow and that he's working to help care for his elderly parents (really crooks in disguise).

Later, following more crimes of jewelry theft, Flash runs into Captain Boomerang again. Flash avoids the first boomerang but is struck from behind as Captain Boomerang had used a lightning boomerang to strike him from behind, knocking him out.

When he awakens, Flash finds himself tied to a giant boomerang, which the Captain launches into the ocean. However, the Flash manages to free himself by vibrating through the ropes and running across the ocean back to Central City. Flash captures Captain Boomerang and his criminals turning them over to the police.

At dinner, he explains to Iris that when he saw the boomerang he moved quickly, for once, to call the police to warn them. This quickly erases Iris' suspicions that Barry had a connection with the Flash.

Appearing in "Here Comes Captain Boomerang"

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Items:

  • Queen Ann Necklace

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Synopsis for "The Super-Gorilla's Secret Identity"

This story is reprinted from The Flash #108.

While out on a picnic date in Central City Park, Iris notices that their favorite tree stump by which they used to picnic by has disappeared. Barry recalls back to the events that led to the trees disappearance. Answering an add to test to see how fast the Flash can run, the Flash had walked into a trap set by Kee Feleg, a being from the world of Mohru. Kee Felag bombarded the Flash's feet with radiation that makes him unable to stop running. Felag's plan was to speed up the treadmill faster and faster until the Flash destroyed himself.

The Flash freed himself by running so fast he overloaded the machine and escaped. The Flash finds that fulgurites are being stolen by beings who are running at super speed. Following them through a dimensional barrier, he finds himself in the world of Mohru, where he learns from the Mohruvian police that the criminals of that world have gained super speed from stealing objects that have been struck by lightning (like the tree stump which Barry and Iris picnic by) to gather residual energy from the lightning strike to gain super speed. The Flash then helps the Mohruvian police force capture the criminal speedsters before returning to his own dimension.

Appearing in "The Super-Gorilla's Secret Identity"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Kee Feleg (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Mohruvians

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See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

JLA v.1 21
Multiversal Crossover
The events from this issue or series involve a Multiversal Crossover between Pre-Crisis worlds and characters. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Pre-Crisis Multiverse Crossover category.
See also Post-Crisis Multiverse Crossovers.
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