I just got my first war-era comic book, Flash Comics #38, originally published in 1942. You know it’s a bad day when you’re at crime school and the Flash pole vaults through the window using a bamboo stick! This book features the original Flash, Jay Garrick, who fights crime in his Hermes-inspired uniform and iconic tin hat. Garrick made his debut in 1940 – 16 years before his more popular predecessor, Barry Allen.
Back in the day, the Flash had to share his comic book with Hawkman, who also made his first appearance in Flash Comics #1 alongside the Fastest Man Alive.
So when you bought a Flash comic, you got two superhero stories – all for the price of 10 cents!
In the ’40s, DC Comics was officially called Superman-DC, named after their most popular character at the time, and the comic book title that gave birth to Batman, Detective Comics. It wasn’t until the ’70s that the comic book company dropped “Superman” from their name and adopted their current brand.
Another marked difference between the comic books from this decade and the ones we have now is the clear lack of supervillains. Most of them only began showing up in the 1960s, leaving superheroes of the early years with no one to fight, except for common criminals. Nazis were also a popular match-up for the super-powered crime fighters of that era.
It’s quite fitting that I got my first war-era comic book while I’m in the middle of reading The Book Thief. Knowing how turbulent it was back then, it really isn’t a stretch to think that stories like this kept the world sane. I can only imagine what journey this book must have had – from that kid who bought it from a magazine stand for 10 cents over seven decades ago to the here and now; from the chaos that was World War II to the still-tumultuous present. What amazing stories it could tell, if only its pages could talk.