I had just been a collector of the Superman family of comics for a little more than a year when this came out. It was my first introduction to the Superman vs the Flash stories, thinking this was a marvelous idea when I saw the in-house DC ads for it. I didn't realize (until I bought it) that it was a reprint of those first two stories (from Superman #199 and Flash #175.
Despite not resolving who was actually faster (they were close enough to be considered equally fast in the Silver Age), I really loved the first story. It was very much a Weisinger-esque kind of story, where the good guys are always good, with noble intentions, and only the bad guys acted dishonorably. Superman Editor Mort Weisinger may have personally been a jerk to work with, but he treated his guest characters with respect, with each hero secretly helping the other, when one got into a fix.
Unfortunately, I do not believe this respect was handled on the Flash side of the fence. The second story I didn't like at all, and felt it was very contrived. These two are supposed to be heroes, and yet each is willing to race, knowing that it will doom another city to save their own. What kind of heroics is that?? And then at one point, Superman mocks the Flash for being too tired to finish the race. WTF?!? All of Central City is about to die, and Superman is gloating. This is *NOT* how heroes are supposed to react (especially in the Silver Age).
Despite the negatives of the Flash story, I will always have sentimental love for this Limited Collector's Edition. I particularly love the extras, especially the plans for the two levels of Fortress of Solitude (with Neal Adams pencils).
2 comments:
I had just been a collector of the Superman family of comics for a little more than a year when this came out. It was my first introduction to the Superman vs the Flash stories, thinking this was a marvelous idea when I saw the in-house DC ads for it. I didn't realize (until I bought it) that it was a reprint of those first two stories (from Superman #199 and Flash #175.
Despite not resolving who was actually faster (they were close enough to be considered equally fast in the Silver Age), I really loved the first story. It was very much a Weisinger-esque kind of story, where the good guys are always good, with noble intentions, and only the bad guys acted dishonorably. Superman Editor Mort Weisinger may have personally been a jerk to work with, but he treated his guest characters with respect, with each hero secretly helping the other, when one got into a fix.
Unfortunately, I do not believe this respect was handled on the Flash side of the fence. The second story I didn't like at all, and felt it was very contrived. These two are supposed to be heroes, and yet each is willing to race, knowing that it will doom another city to save their own. What kind of heroics is that?? And then at one point, Superman mocks the Flash for being too tired to finish the race. WTF?!? All of Central City is about to die, and Superman is gloating. This is *NOT* how heroes are supposed to react (especially in the Silver Age).
Despite the negatives of the Flash story, I will always have sentimental love for this Limited Collector's Edition. I particularly love the extras, especially the plans for the two levels of Fortress of Solitude (with Neal Adams pencils).
Yeah, I love when they did extras - like schematics!
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