''All-Flash'', originally published as ''All-Flash Quarterly'', was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

magazine series published by

All-American Publications All-American PublicationsThe name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to form t ...

and later National Periodicals (

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

) featuring superhero Jay Garrick, the original

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

. The series was the first solo feature given to the Flash, who also appeared in the anthologies ''

Flash Comics ''Flash Comics'' is a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featu ...

'', ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'', and '' Comic Cavalcade''. It ran for 32 issues from 1941 to 1947 and was originally published on a quarterly basis before changing over to a bi-monthly schedule with issue #6. Each issue regularly contained several stories featuring the Flash, as well as minor back-up features like ''Hop Harrigan'', ''Butch McLobster, The Super Mobster'', and ''Fat and Slat'' by cartoonist Ed Wheelan and, in later issues, ''Ton-O-Fun'' by Flash co-creator Harry Lampert.

Publication history

Original series

The series debuted with a Summer 1941

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

. Since the title ''Flash Comics'' was already in use another name was needed for the series, so it was decided that a contest was to be held in which readers were encouraged to submit their own ideas for the title of the new series. Twenty-five dollars in cash prizes were offered to the four best names submitted, with $10.00 promised to the 1st-place winner of the contest. To the first 500 who submitted a free copy of ''All-Star Comics'' #5 was offered. An advertisement for the contest appeared in the pages of ''All-Star Comics'' #4 stating "The Flash wins and becomes the next quarterly like Superman and

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

! Boys and girls! Here is a message from

Gardner F. Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

and E.E. Hibbard, the author and artist of your favorite feature, the Flash!" The winner of the contest was announced in the pages of ''All-Star Comics'' #5, with an ad featuring the cover art for the first issue of ''All-Flash''. Flash co-creator Gardner Fox wrote the bulk of the series, scripting the main feature in the first 24 issues. From issue #25 and on, the main Flash features in the book were scripted by writers

Robert Kanigher Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...

and John Broome. Art duties for the series were handled by a host of contributors, like artist E. E. Hibbard, Harry Tschida, Lou Ferstadt, Martin Naydel,

Lee Elias Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a British- American comics artist. He was best known for his work on the ''Black Cat'' comic book published by Harvey Comics in the 1940s. Biography Emigrating to the United States from Manche ...

, and

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

. The series marked the first time writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino worked on the Flash character. Kanigher, Broome, and Infantino would later help create the Silver Age

, as well as his sidekick

Kid Flash Kid Flash is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero The Flash. The first version of the c ...

, who would in turn become the third incarnation of the character. ''All-Flash'' ended its run in 1947 with issue #32

2007 one-shot

The title returned in 2007 as a one-shot by writer

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles '' The Flash'', ''Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...

and artists Karl Kerschl, Manuel Garcia, Joe Bennett, and

Daniel Acuna Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

, with cover art by

Josh Middleton Joshua Middleton (sometimes credited as Josh Middleton) is an artist and designer working in the animation, film, comics, and book industries. In 2004 he was nominated for an Eisner Award as "Best Cover Artist" for his work on Marvel's '' NYX'', ' ...

and a variant cover by

Bill Sienkiewicz Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz ( ; born May 3, 1958) is an American artist known for his work in comic books—particularly for Marvel Comics' ''New Mutants'', ''Moon Knight,'' and ''Elektra: Assassin''. Sienkiewicz's work in the 1980s ...

. The one-shot served as a lead-in to ''Flash'' vol. 2 #231.

Notable issues

References

{{Gardner Fox 1941 comics debuts 1948 comics endings Comics magazines published in the United States Comics by Gardner Fox Comics by Robert Kanigher DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Earth-Two Flash (comics) Golden Age comics titles