Accuracy of Golden Age Appearances (original) (raw)

Because Golden Age Flash stories are relatively scarce, I have been able to read only about half of the stories from this era. Here’s the current status as relevant to this site.

Availability

Up until 2004, the only Golden-Age Flash stories I had read were those that had been reprinted in Silver-Age issues of The Flash or those that had appeared in The Golden Age Flash Archives Volume 1. In early 2005 I tracked down a list of all the stories that had been reprinted, assuming that even a 30-year-old reprint would be easier to find and cheaper to buy than a 60-year-old comic printed during World War II. Since then DC has published a second volume of GA Flash Archives and the first volume of Comic Cavalcade Archives.

At present, that is less than 25% of all the solo Flash stories printed during the 1940s.

I am counting Flash stories that appeared in Flash Comics (1 story per issue), Comic Cavalcade (1 story per issue), and All-Flash Quarterly (1 to 4 stories per issue). At this time I am not counting Flash solo stories from All-Star Comics.

Since October 2005, I have been tracking down original issues of these series, but it’s going to be a long process. (See my current want list below.)

Primary Sources

I have personally indexed character appearances in all the Flash stories on the Golden-Age Reprints page (including three Archive books), plus roughly two dozen additional issues. At this point I have indexed the following:

• Flash Comics #1–24, #32–33, #36, #39, #44, #52, #61, #63, #66, #76–77, #79, #86, #89–90, #94–97, #99, #102, #104, Mini
• All-Flash #1–2, #5, #9, #11–15, #20–27, #30
• Some stories in All-Flash #31 & #32 (from reprints)
• Comic Cavalcade #1–3, #8–9, #13–15, #19, #21–29
• Three stories written during the Golden Age but published during the Silver Age in Flash v.2 #205 & #214 and Lois Lane #113
• All Star Comics #37 (reprinted in The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told)

It took about a year and a half to index 50% of the stories. At this point, I’ve indexed 54%.

Secondary Sources

Before I began tracking down primary sources, I used The Comics Archives for second-hand appearance lists. I used that site to build my original want-list, and I have now (2007) confirmed most of this information first-hand. I have filled in the gaps using The Grand Comic Book Database, cross-checking further against Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics.

While all three sites are fantastic resources, they don’t provide much information on character appearances other than the leads and the major villains. Supporting characters and minor villains are only rarely mentioned. Worse, they don’t always agree on titles, writer/artist credits, or (in some cases) character names. I’ve also pulled a couple of names from the CBDB, which is a much smaller (and less accurate) database, but lists a few characters omitted from the others.

Also problematic is the fact that many Golden-Age stories lacked credits, or even a title. For untitled stories, I have used titles suggested by the DC Archive series or by the GCD in parentheses.

Want List

I have set aside a (small) budget, and I am now in the market for reader’s copies of Golden Age Flash comics. In particular, I am looking for the following:

• Flash Comics #65 (June 1945) - Thinking Cap

If you happen to have a reader’s copy that you would be willing to sell for less than US $50, or trade for other comics, please let me know at kelson@pobox.com. I’m interested in other issues as well, but these are my main targets right now. (Thanks in advance!)

I am also looking for two issues of the fanzine, History of the Comics, later Robin Snyder’s The Comics. There are two issues dealing with the Rose and the Thorn which apparently include artwork from the unpublished third Thorn story, but the descriptions vary:

• Robin Snyder’s The Comics v.6 #10
• History of the Comics #7 (1991)
• The Comics! (July 1992)
• The Comics! (Oct 1995)

If you have any copies of these, or if you have more information about which issues contain the artwork, please let me know!