And at the wire . . .
The results of my Silver-Age challenges pose a conflict of interest for me. I’m always impressed by you, my fellow Legionnaires, when you ferret out the correct responses to the most difficult, Google-resistant questions I can concoct. At the same time, I kinda-sorta hope that at least one on the list is too tough for you Silver-age experts to crack. That doesn’t happen very often, but it happened this time. The answer to one of this year’s questions eluded all of you. To be sure, it was the one that I thought would give all of you the most trouble, as there was only the barest frame of reference to lead you to the correct source story. Still, that hasn’t stopped you folks in the past. So, I wasn’t taking any bets with myself.
Let’s get right to revealing the answers, starting with the ones you did get and saving the one that got away for a big finish.
1. Though slower than the DC Comics speedsters, Marvel’s Quicksilver has one power that those fast guys in the other company don’t. What is it?
Most of the time, I tell you that the first question is a lob. And the first question always is---for me. This time, though, I expected everyone to know it. I tossed it in, anyway, because it hit the “Wow, I didn’t know that!” aspect that I like every question on my quizzes to have. That’s what makes them fun to read, even if you don’t want to play.
For those of you whose association with Quicksilver doesn’t go back to the days when he wore a green costume, the answer is that the silver-haired mutant, in the Silver Age, at least, possessed the power to fly for short distances. He discovered that he had this ability in the story “Color Him . . . the Red Guardian”, from The Avengers # 43 (Aug., 1967). After playfully surprising Captain America and Hawkeye with an aerial “attack”, Pietro explains, “Yet, if you had been I a few minutes ago, testing your velocity against that of a hurtling bullet---! Suddenly, I found that by vibrating my legs at top speed---I could fly for short distances!”
Jeff of Earth-J was the first to pluck this low-hanging fruit, as he calls it. But, it may not have been within as easy a grasp as he expected. As it turned out, not everyone taking the quiz got it right. Peter Wrexham and Fraser Sherman and Eric “the Silver Age Fogey” Sofer did, though.
2. Instead of an encircled lightning bolt, what does the Bizarro version of the Flash wear as a chest emblem?
It turns out that this was the question that didn’t fool anybody. In “Superman’s Unbeatable Rival”, from Lois Lane # 74 (May, 1967), the plucky newshen is infatuated by a new super-doer on the scene, the economically named “Hero”. Any romantic ideas that Lois may have harboured toward Hero are dashed when he turns out to be a Bizarro version of the Flash. This wasn’t immediately obvious because, as had been shown in earlier tales, the Bizarro-generating duplicator machine which created imperfect copies sometimes itself worked imperfectly. In this case, when Bizarro-Superman № 1 focused the duplicator ray on the Flash, who was acting as chairman of a Justice League meeting at the time, the machine misfired, creating an “imperfect Bizarro”---one that had the appearance and rationality of a normal human being.
The duplicator ray had not done an accurate job of replicating the Flash’s costume, though. For one thing, the colour scheme was reversed. That and other small deviations kept anyone from associating Hero with the Flash. Particularly, the Bizarro-Flash’s chest emblem. When the duplicator ray passed through the gavel the Scarlet Speedster was wielding as the JLA chairman, it transferred the object’s silhouette to the Bizarro-Flash’s chest, giving him a gavel insignia.
As had been shown to happen in these cases, eventually Hero spontaneously transformed into the standard facet-faced, zany-brained Bizarro and he relocated to Htrae. The Bizarro-Flash was not seen again until Cary Bates brought him back for a brief appearance in Superman # 379 (Jan., 1983). Impressively, even though almost sixteen years had passed, either Mr. Bates or artist Curt Swan remembered that the Crimson Comet’s imperfect double wore the gavel insignia. (I wonder how many Bronze-Age readers were confused by it, though.)
All of you remembered, too---Jeff (who termed it a “mallet” but that was close enough for me), Eric, Peter, Fraser, Philip Portelli, and Richard Willis.
3. Race Morrison was the civilian identity of what criminal super-speedster?
Even with the Toni Morrison Google-camouflage, most of you got this one. In “Earth---Without a Justice League”, the first half of the Justice League/Justice Society team-up, from JLA # 37-8 (Aug. and Sep., 1965), the Johnny Thunder of Earth-One gains control of the Earth-Two Johnny Thunder’s mystical Thunderbolt. The problem is---the Earth-One Johnny’s a crook! After his first attempt to use the T-bolt for crime is foiled by the Flash, he orders the hex genie to travel back in time and prevent the heroes of the Justice League from coming into existence. With this accomplished, Earth-One is reconstructed into an alternate Earth, termed “Earth-A”. Then, the evil Thunder establishes a “Lawless League” by having the T-bolt recreate the events which led to certain JLA members’ origins, substituting criminals in their place.
Thus, the outlaw Race Morrison becomes the villainous Flash of Earth-A.
Philip was the first to chime in with this, but Eric and Peter and Fraser nailed it, as well.
4. Besides super-speed and a friction-heat-resistant aura, what other super-ability did Barry Allen receive from that accidental dousing of lightning-charged chemicals in his origin?
As Philip and Peter and Fraser knew, a lesser-known ability bestowed on Barry Allen by the chemical accident which gave him super-speed is his complete control over the molecules of his body. I’m not enough of a Flash fan (nor did I have time to pore through the twenty-eight previous issues) to know if this was the first reference to this power, but an early demonstration of the Scarlet Speedster’s molecular control was shown in “The Plight of the Puppet-Flash”, from The Flash # 133 (Dec., 1962). This is the infamous tale in which Flash rogue Abra Kadabra turns the Fastest Man Alive into a puppet. Our Hero calls upon this undersung power, adjusting the molecules of his transformed body, enough to get the drop on the villain.
Just for the hell of it, I’ll point out that the Flash’s ability to vibrate through solid objects is not just a function provided by the power of his super-speed alone. It requires his additional ability of molecular control. Superman’s inability to vibrate through solid objects, despite his super-speed, is ascribed to his lack of molecular control. (N.b. Superman # 220 [Oct., 1969], et al.)
5. Speaking of Barry Allen, what college did he attend?
I really wish that I’d remembered Marvel Comics’ Old-Western villain Hurricane, as Mr. Sherman had---because I would’ve gotten a better question out of it. First, it would have given me another Marvel-related poser; and second, would have prevented this quiz from becoming too Flash-centric. Lastly, it would have kept me from resorting to the kind of "line-item” trivia question I dislike. You know, the kind of question which seeks simple details and doesn’t have any “Hey, I didn’t know that!” quality. “What college did Barry Allen attend?” is one of those line-item questions, and I apologise for it.
As Peter and Fraser knew, Barry Allen graduated from Florida’s Sun City University. We see him attending his class’ tenth-year reunion in “Secret of the Stolen Blueprint”, from The Flash # 121 (Jun., 1961).
See how dull that was? Sorry, guys.
6. Besides Quicksilver, what other mutant speedster joined a group of super-villains?
The Giant-Man story in Tales to Astonish # 50 (Dec., 1963) introduced Davey Cannon, who was born with the ability to rotate in a self-directed path at super-speed. Assuming the super-villain identity of the Human Top, he became a recurring foe of the Master of Many Sizes. The sinister spinner dropped into limbo at the same time Giant-Man and the Wasp’s series ended, with TTA # 69 (Jul., 1965)
Three years later, Cannon would reäppear in The Avengers, where writer Roy Thomas would upgrade the character with the more impressive costume and nom de guerre of “the Whirlwind”.
In The Avengers # 54 (Jul., 1968), the Whirlwind becomes a member of the Masters of Evil, after the villainous team is reörganised by Ultron-5, posing as the Crimson Cowl.
Philip, Eric, Richard, and Fraser all got this one right. Messrs. Portelli and Sherman get extra credit for also providing the name of the criminal group.
8. As DC would have it, King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table were a mediæval version of the Justice League of America. Who was the super-speedster of this chivalrous group?
In “Pawns of the Jousting Master”, from World’s Finest Comics # 162 (Nov., 1966), Superman and Batman travel back to the days of King Arthur and his Round Table. Surprisingly, we discover that there were some details about Arthur and his knights that didn’t make it into the Earth-One history books. (Nor the Earth-Prime ones.)
Thanks to magical implements, the chivalrous champions of Camelot possessed powers that made them a virtual Justice League. Sir Lancelot wore a suit of invulnerable armour. Sir Kay’s cloak could render him a giant or invisible. Sir Gawain’s belt gave him the strength of ten men, and King Arthur wielded the legendary blade Excalibur, which could cut through anything.
Specific to the question at hand, Arthur’s son, Sir Bohart, wore enchanted boots which imbued him with the power of super-speed.
Next to Question # 7, I felt that this one would be the toughest for anyone to correctly answer. But Philip, Eric, Peter, and Fraser all got it right. Fraser’s answer of “Sir Bonart” was close enough for me. He identified the source comic, so I’m sure he found the answer. This isn’t Jeopardy!, folks---I don’t take away credit for an obvious misreading of the name.
9. With regard to the character referenced in Question # 6, on what occasion did he and Quicksilver actually square off against each other? (Naming the title and issue number of the comic will suffice.)
Let’s start with my answer. Though the cover of Fantastic Four King-Size Annual # 3 (Jul., 1965) advertises the wedding of Reed (Mr. Fantastic) Richards to Susan (the Invisible Girl) Storm, the story within, “Bedlam at the Baxter Building”, is really an excuse for an all-out super-hero/super-villain slugfest. You see, Doctor Doom seeks to ruin the happy occasion by using the emotion-charger that he built in his spare time to compel just about every evil-doer in the Marvel universe to dogpile on the Fantastic Four. Fortunately, there are enough super-heroes invited to the nuptials to keep the bad guys from interfering with the “I do’s”.
The answer to Question # 6, the Whirlwind, in his earlier incarnation as the Human Top, has a confrontation with Quicksilver. Pietro needs only two panels to put the Top down for the count.
As I said, that was the answer I had in mind. So did Philip.
However, the Fogey and Fraser responded with The Avengers # 46 (Nov., 1967). Initially, I was prepared to rule against that answer. I hadn’t forgotten about the story within that issue, “The Agony and the Anthill”---I just didn’t think it was right. But, I was going by memory, and I decided I’d better re-read that tale so I could speak with authority when I ruled Eric and Fraser wrong. I’m glad I did. I saved myself embarrassment.
“The Agony and the Anthill” describes Davey Cannon’s first attempt to destroy his old enemies, Giant-Man---now, Goliath---and the Wasp in his new identity as the Whirlwind. The other Avengers exit the stage early on, before the main action starts. Quicksilver and Captain America duck out at the top of page 7, to take in a baseball game and, as I remembered it, that was it for their participation in the story.
But I remembered wrong. In my re-reading, I saw that the tale shows that Cap and Quicksilver actually return in time to intercept the Whirlwind before he can escape from the Avengers Mansion. Quicksilver once again pits his speed against the swift-footed villain. But Cannon must’ve had his Wheaties that morning, as he easily super-spins Pietro headfirst into a wall.
So, the answer by Eric and Fraser did, indeed, fit the question as asked. Good job, fellows!
10. When a super-hero got imprisoned in a lead coffin, he was impersonated by the Flash until he could be rescued. Who was he?
I liked this one because the team-up of the Flash and the Doom Patrol isn’t one that comes to mind often. In “Alias Negative Man”, from The Brave and the Bold # 65 (Apr./May, 1966), General Immortus, working in concert with the Brotherhood of Evil, traps the radio-energy Negative Man in a lead coffin. In order to throw the villains off their scheme, the Chief asks the Flash to impersonate Negative Man.
It’s one of the more cogent B&B team-ups to come from Bob Haney’s typewriter. For one thing, it’s a pairing which makes sense, as the Flash’s super-speed makes him a perfect substitute for Negative Man and his instantaneous radio-wave travel. And the heroes are all fairly well balanced in terms of power levels. This was one of the plotting benefits of B&B’s original two-hero format, something that was often lost when the Batman became the title’s permanent star. The Batman and the Spectre, anyone?
And now we get to the elusive Question # 7 . . .
7. The first time the Flash and Superman competed at super-speed, it began where and ended where?
Fraser Sherman picked up that my phrasing of “competed at super-speed” meant something. Aye, it did. You see, it wasn’t technically a race, in that Superman and the Flash weren’t covering the same distance. There was no finish line, per se. However, it was a test of speed. The two heroes were trying to achieve something as fast as they could, in the shortest amount of time.
However, their effort was incidental to the main plot. That was another layer of difficulty for this question. It wasn’t advertised as a test of the heroes’ super-speeds on the cover or in any synopsis of the story. Unless you happened to know it, there was no real hook to begin researching it. It doesn’t even appear in any on-line articles about the various Superman-Flash races. You have only the tidbit that it has to be a story which includes both the Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster.
And that was my fear---that there might be some Justice League of America scholars out there. Even if you still don’t know precisely the scene I’m talking about, that’s probably enough to tip off some of you that the beginning point and the ending point of the super-speedsters’ competition was---the secret sanctuary of the Justice League of America.
“Secret Behind the Stolen Super-Weapons”, from Justice League of America # 53 (May, 1967), opens with a regular meeting of the JLA. With no team business on the table, Green Arrow and Wonder Woman bring up the peculiar circumstance that their personal weapons---his quiver of trick arrows and her magic lasso---have, somehow, been replaced by cosmetically identical, but otherwise non-functioning copies. An alarmed Batman checks the devices in his utility belt---yup, the same thing has happened to him.
Hawkman wonders if it’s related to a wave of mysterious thefts plaguing museums across the country. Valuable pieces of ancient art have mysteriously vanished, replaced by imperfect copies. The Winged Wonder just became involved, as the Midway City Museum was the latest victim.
The counterfeit objects emit a peculiar radiation that one of Hawkman’s Thanagarian devices could track to their broadcast source, if he had enough of the phoney copies for his detector to get a reading. Superman and the Flash volunteer to collect the fake treasures and bring them to the secret sanctuary in super-fast time.
It is this effort that turns into an unofficial competition. As Snapper Carr suggests, it might determine which of the two super-heroes is the fastest man alive. But, as you might have guessed, it doesn’t.
The mention of a race between the two speedsters, and the fact that their fellow members waited to see which of them would return first made it enough of a competition for me to single it out as the first time that Superman and the Flash pitted their speed against each other.
* * * * *
All of you fellows covered yourselves with glory on this one. The individual numbers of correct answers were so close between you that I didn’t even bother to tally them. I hope it was as much fun for all of you as it was for me putting it together. I’m about halfway through next year’s challenge---a Marvel-centric one. (Sorry, Mr. Wrexham.)
Replies
Fun quiz, as always Commander. And as always, fair in evaluating the answers. But dang. I just reread that JLA story and it didn't register at all as the solution (admittedly I wasn't thinking about the quiz at the time).
I've always thought Dave Cannon's greatest power was that he could pose as the Pym's chauffeur and they never recognized him. Not even the usual "I got plastic surgery" excuse.
Rereading the Race Morrison story a year ago or so, I realized it was my first exposure to most of the JLA's origins: Atom's, Flash's, Green Lantern's, J'Onn's (though I didn't understand what Dr. Erdel's supercomputer had to do with anything) and Batman's debut (it would have made more sense to stop Joe Chill shooting the Waynes, but that's not how the T-bolt did it). A personal landmark at the time.
Oh golly, what a great quiz - as always, Commander! Great fun looking up the answers (where I could) and I should learn that you are VERY exacting in your phrasing - if you don't say race, you don't MEAN race!
a lesser-known ability bestowed on Barry Allen by the chemical accident which gave him super-speed is his complete control over the molecules of his body.
I surely don't argue this. I just wonder how you classify his super speed vision (demonstrated in Showcase #4) - or was it not used often enough to be considered a power?
“Pawns of the Jousting Master”
I loved checking this out again just for some Curt Swan and George Klein art. LOVE that Curt Swan!
...on what occasion did he (Whirlwind) and Quicksilver actually square off against each other?
Of course FF Annual #3. I even recalled the dialogue for Odin's sake! Still proud that I got the Avengers story but my ol' think tank should have remebered.
This was one of the plotting benefits of B&B’s original two-hero format, something that was often lost when the Batman became the title’s permanent star. The Batman and the Spectre, anyone?
Too right - especially when some team ups seemed so natural and didn't involve Batman (e.g., Supergirl and Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Hawkman, Metal Men and Metamorpho - and yes, these were all B&B team ups.
Corollary: you left out one that might have been a little bit tricky: What speedster died, only to go on to fight a ghost? I'll bet that would have sent us scrambling for our back issue archives.
And the non-race question between The Flash and Superman - darned if you aren't the tricky rascal Commander! That was one of not only your decoy questions but also a Google proof question! And all in only two panels! See, this is one of the reasons I LOVE these quizzes! Thanks for this year's submission and I can't wait until next year's offering!
I reread the Reed/Sue wedding issue relatively recently. I still didn't remember it.
I'd count super-speed vision as just part of being fast, which presumably includes his nerves acting fast.
The DP teamup is a favorite of mine. Haney does a good job getting the feel of a DP story, better than a lot of crossovers he wrote.
Haney does a good job getting the feel of a DP story, better than a lot of crossovers he wrote.
When Bob Haney was good, he was FANTASTIC!
I surely don't argue this. I just wonder how you classify his super speed vision (demonstrated in Showcase #4) - or was it not used often enough to be considered a power?
I view Barry Allen's "super-speed vision" the same way Mr. Sherman does: as a by-product of his super-speed (as opposed to being a separate super-power), the same way Superman's ability to hold his breath indefinitely is a secondary benefit of his super-strength and not a discrete power.
Eric, thank you for your kind words about my quizzes. You, too, Fraser. They're a pleasure to construct. But, I have to admit, I don't know how question-worthy material is left. Blame search engines for that. I can't tell you how many fun and informative questions I've had to toss out because the answers popped in a Google-search.
So far, I have six of my requisite ten questions for next summer's Marvel-universe quiz, and they've passed the Google-test. I hope I can plumb four more.
Commander, as previously, if you can give me the theme, I would be glad to assist you in generating some questions. Obviously I wouldn't participate in the quiz - but I'd love to lend a yeoman's hand to you, sir!
Next year's effort will simply be the Marvel universe. My questions and answers are generated by anything Marvel Comics published during the Silver Age. Other than the time frame, the two criteria I apply are 1.) is the question Google-proof; and 2.) does the answer to the question have that "Hey, I didn't know that!" quality which I really like.
I'll be glad to look at anything you come up with, my friend. And, if I use it, it will be credited to you. Thanks!
If you can run at super speed but can't see at super speed you won't last long.
Interesting point to consider.
The Pied Piper and the Turtle both slowed Barry's eyesight and reactions down to exploit that angle. Both stories took place in the Bronze Age. Flash 218 and DC Special 11 respectively.
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