The Flash (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1959. It was published on December 23, 1958.
Synopsis for "Conqueror from 8 Million B.C.!"
Archaeologist John Haines has followed his research showing early traces of man are buried in a park on the outskirts of Central City. A hunch leads him to dig in a particular spot. The hunch was really a form of mind-control from Katmos, the sole survivor of a metallic race that ruled the Earth eight million years ago. Katmos orders him to free him from the cylindrical prison. Katmos explains he was the sole survivor of his time, and was the ruler of his people. He has decided he will once again rule the world.
Barry Allen is researching a string of strange robberies when he talks to Iris West on the phone. She tells him that he should go out and catch the man vs spending all his time in the laboratory researching like the 'Flash' would. Barry hangs up the phone and thinks about how Iris is always comparing him to Flash since he's always late for appointments. He's worried he'll meet Iris for dinner on time.
Barry thinks back to the time the accident in his lab occurred which gave him his powers. He remembers his oath that no one must know his secret identity as the Flash. Barry picks up a newspaper with a story from an eye-witness report on the robberies he's investigating. The eye-witness report was form a guard who had his mind controlled by Katmos. Katmos told him he was stealing pieces to increase the power of his mind-control weapon which he would use on the entire world. Barry hears a sighting of Katmos on the police scanner and takes off to investigate.
Finding Katmos, Flash battles the prehistoric humanoid, but is captured and sealed in a tube. Once under the direct light of the sun, the tube will make Flash a thousand times heavier than normal. The Flash manages to break out of the tube by bouncing out of the cavern into the sky and crashing onto the ground. The Flash then quickly knocks out Katmos and turns him over to the police.
Barry meets with Iris in time for dinner and says he doesn't need to read the latest article on Katmos, he just wants to spend time with Iris.
Appearing in "Conqueror from 8 Million B.C.!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Katmos (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- John Haines (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Master of Mirrors!"
At the Central City bank, Sam Scudder walks in with civilian clothes on and walks up to bank teller, Mr. J. Wilkins, to exchange larger bills for singles. As the banker is distracted, Scudder takes out a small pocket mirror to capture the individuals 'image' from all angles before leaving the bank.
Outside the city, Mirror Master develops the bank teller's image with his "camera mirror". Sam thinks about his original discovery of these gimmick mirrors when he was in jail years ago. He remembers he painted the wrong material onto a mirror and thought he had ruined it. When he looked into it and saw images the mirror was looking at earlier, he found that this mirror retained an image for several minutes before disappearing. Since leaving jail, he's improved his techniques and can now print 3-D images from the mirrors. He prints up a mirror image of Mr. J. Wilkins from the bank and sends him back to the bank to steal money for him.
Barry Allen, happening to be at the bank at the time, notices that there is something amiss about the manager as his hair is parted differently than before, and his wedding band is on his right hand, so he decides to follow him.
Barry transforms into the Flash to follow Wilkins but soon finds Wilkins moving just as fast as the Flash can. He soon finds himself at a secluded house. Flash finds many mirrors around the house and cannot tell which is the real Wilkins and which is just a mirror image. Flash grabs a paint bucket and starts painting the walls to remove the mirror illusions. Flash follows Wilkins into another room where he encounters a gigantic mosquito. By moving at the speed of light, the Flash causes a strange affect on the mosquito and disables it. Next the the Flash is chased by a Minotaur. He turns off the power in the house and the Minotaur instantly disappears. Flash finds the Mirror Master in the dark and quickly captures the crook and turns him over to the police. The Flash explains he realized these were items powered by light so if he turned of the power and lights, he figured his mirror creations would disappear.
Later, resuming his civilian identity, Barry goes on a date with Iris and fills her in on the story.
Appearing in "The Master of Mirrors!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mirror Master (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Tyler
- Mr. J. Wilkins
Locations:
- Missouri
- Central City
- Central City police department
- Central City Bank
- House of Mirrors
- Central City
Items:
- Gimmick Mirrors
- Camera Mirror
- Image Controller
Notes
- "Conqueror from 8 Million B.C.!" is reprinted in The Flash Annual #1, The Flash Archives Vol. 1, The Flash Chronicles Vol. 1, Showcase Presents: The Flash Vol 1, The Flash Omnibus Vol. 1 and The Flash: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1.
- "The Master of Mirrors" is reprinted in 80-Page Giant #4, The Flash Archives Vol. 1, Limited Collectors' Edition #C-45, Showcase Presents: The Flash Vol 1 and The Flash: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1.
- The Flash appeared last in Showcase #14. He chronologically appears next in Justice League of America #144.
- Iris West appeared last in Showcase #14. She appears next in The Flash #106.
- The Mirror Master appears next in The Flash #109.
- First and only appearance of Katmos.
- The numbering continues from Flash Comics, which had been cancelled exactly ten years before.
Trivia
- The Mind-Control gun can fire radiation as fast as light, however Flash can move faster than the speed of light in this issue.