My Greatest Adventure: The Flash

One of DC Comics most popular and longest lasting characters, The Flash was unique in that he single handily spawned the rebirth of super-heroes for National Comics in the dawn of the Silver Age. The Flash first appeared in Showcase #4 in the fall of 1956 written by the inventive Julius Swartz and sleekly illustrated by artist Carmine Infantino before getting his own series in February of 1959. Mild mannered Barry Allen worked for Central City's Police department as a scientist when a freak accident suddenly changed his dull life forever. As a stray bolt of lightning struck through his laboratory window one day and shattered a cabinet of chemicals on him, Barry Allen was bathed in a weird electrifying substance. Barry soon discovered he could now move at incredible speeds, being able to sprint up the sides of buildings, vibrate his own super-charged molecules through solid matter, and other various miraculous quick feats. Designing a special miniaturized red and yellow costume concealed in his signet ring, and taking the name of his Golden Age comic book idol, this Scarlet Speedster uses his new found super powers to fight crime as the world's "fastest man alive", The Flash.

Foreign Favorites: Ernie Pike

In 1957 writer Hector German Oesterheld and artist Hugo Pratt created their war reporter, Ernie Pike, for  Argentina's magazine, Hora Cero #1. It is loosely based on the real-life reporter Ernie Pyle, who was killed in Okinawa in 1945 and made famous by William Wellman's motion picture, The Story of G.I. Joe, with Burgess Meredith in the title role. Pike acts as a narrator initially in the stories, but later is more involved in the tales that don't follow real battles, but share personal stories of tragedy for unknown soldiers created by the author. From a misunderstanding with the writer, Pratt drew the face of Pike that of Oesterheld, and since he had drawn so  much of the storyline already, they decided to just keep the character as it was. Hugo's style, unpretentious and fast, concentrated on the everyday life and death struggle of military life with its muck and mire. Originally focusing on World War II and the Korean War, Oesterheld later came back with stories of Vietnam and a more critical approach to the U.S. involvement. Without regard to the cause for which it was fought, the author used war comics to reflect his personal dislike for war itself. After a few stories, Pratt left for Europe as Argentine artists Alberto Breccia and Francisco Solano López continued in his loose style with Ernie Pike being widely reprinted in Italy and many other countries.

 

A Steve Ditko Gallery

Comic book artist and writer Steve Ditko is best known as the co-creator of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, as well as his significant contributions to Iron Man and the Hulk in the 1960s. Studying under Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York City, he began his professional career in the early fifties inking for the Simon and Kirby studio, and honing his skills under artist/mentor Mort Meskin. Soon moving over to Charlton Comics he worked in many genres over the years including horror, mystery, science fiction and superhero titles including, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and The Question. Once leaving Marvel, Ditko drew for DC Comics creating the well received Hawk and Dove and The Creeper, before starting to concentrate on his own self-published stories featuring Mr. A. and The Avenging World, his philosophical titles thought to be inspired by Ayn Rand's Objectivism and the writings of Aristotle. A very private person, Ditko has declined most interviews or appearances since the 1960s, stating that it is his work he offers to readers, and not his personality.