The Flash, No. 186

Written by - Mike Friedrich

Pencils by - Ross Andru

Ink by - Mike Esposito

Cover by - Ross Andru

This issue of The Flash, no. 186, is from 1969 and contains some stunning art. Over the last few months I've really started to appreciate the quality of DC's printing and the choice of paper for their issues. To me, it seems Marvel only really began to produce good quality prints in the 80's and the 'specials' of the 70's; whereas the DC copies are, in my opinion, of a higher standard.  The synopsis for the story 'Three Times Three Equals' is based around Sargon the Sorcerer who has turned to evil and now seeks the knowledge to travel in to the future. In order to do this he needs to bring Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash (the one in the yellow costume), back to the 20th Century and snatching the Flash's skeleton from the time of his death.

The Flash is a relatively new character to me having never really read any of the comics; although he has appeared in some of the modern crossovers I've read. From the 60's era of comics I really love the look of the Flash costume. What is quite unusual is that the cover image appears as a panel (albeit, slightly different) whereas most comic covers of the time (and still do) have little to do with the story as their primary function is to appeal to the potential reader (see my previous post from Jan 6th for Amazing Spiderman no. 75 for another example of a misleading cover). I love Mike Esposito's colours in the issue and my favourite panel has to be the very last one at the bottom of the fourth image below.