Why did "Flash of Two Worlds" need to happen?

[Slimybug]

It says on wikipedia that "Flash of Two Worlds" came about because fans were complaining about the continuity discrepancy in Flash, where Barry Allen was supposed to have been inspired by Flash comic books he read as a kid. Of course, the Jay Garrick Flash had teamed up with Superman, but was a fictional character to Barry.

However, I find no official source that says that that was the official impetus. Actually, that seems to be the least of their continuity problems. How about the fact that in the Golden Age, Superman debuted as an adult, and they had since come out with the adventures of Superboy? Or the fact that heroes like Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman, had all had their origin stories rewritten in their own comics by that point. GA and Aquaman's were done through Flashbacks, but WW's adventures simply started anew as of issue #98. Then there's the whole issue of the fact that the Golden Age heroes had fought in WWII, whereas in the silver age, they were still young.

It seems to me it wasn't so much that there were all these "continuity errors" so much as that the DC editorial staff had already thrown all the Golden Age adventures into the bin of "didn't happen," or "not still in continuity." They had happened in a different comic book continuity. It seems to me that what Gardner Fox did with ""Flash of Two Worlds" was not to fix continuity errors so much as to take what was already obviously an alternate, defunct comics continuity,and actually bring it back and sync it with the current continuity. But I've always heard that it was "to fix continuity errors."

What do you guys think? Any historical sources I might actually look at to confirm any of this?

[GlennSimpson]

It says on wikipedia that "Flash of Two Worlds" came about because fans were complaining about the continuity discrepancy in Flash, where Barry Allen was supposed to have been inspired by Flash comic books he read as a kid. Of course, the Jay Garrick Flash had teamed up with Superman, but was a fictional character to Barry.

However, I find no official source that says that that was the official impetus. Actually, that seems to be the least of their continuity problems. How about the fact that in the Golden Age, Superman debuted as an adult, and they had since come out with the adventures of Superboy? Or the fact that heroes like Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman, had all had their origin stories rewritten in their own comics by that point. GA and Aquaman's were done through Flashbacks, but WW's adventures simply started anew as of issue #98. Then there's the whole issue of the fact that the Golden Age heroes had fought in WWII, whereas in the silver age, they were still young.

It seems to me it wasn't so much that there were all these "continuity errors" so much as that the DC editorial staff had already thrown all the Golden Age adventures into the bin of "didn't happen," or "not still in continuity." They had happened in a different comic book continuity. It seems to me that what Gardner Fox did with ""Flash of Two Worlds" was not to fix continuity errors so much as to take what was already obviously an alternate, defunct comics continuity,and actually bring it back and sync it with the current continuity. But I've always heard that it was "to fix continuity errors."

What do you guys think? Any historical sources I might actually look at to confirm any of this?

I believe what happened was that they assumed that everybody who had read the old stories had moved on and wouldn't care about trying to match things up. But once the mail started coming in, they learned that there were still a lot of people reading who had been reading those older stories and so they felt it would appeal to that audience to bring back those older characters.

[Slimybug]

So was it really the thing about Jay Garrick being a teammate to Superman and a fictional character to Barry Allen that was the ignition of the whole thing, or was it that and all the other billions of continuity blips.

[FishboneX]

I believe what happened was that they assumed that everybody who had read the old stories had moved on and wouldn't care about trying to match things up. But once the mail started coming in, they learned that there were still a lot of people reading who had been reading those older stories and so they felt it would appeal to that audience to bring back those older characters.

This is the answer, they weren't trying to fix continuity. They wisely saw an opportunity to bring all of their old characters back into print along with the newer versions.

[Buried Alien]

Nothing in comics *needs* to happen, but it's often awesome when things do happen, and in retrospect, everybody is better off for it. FLASH OF TWO WORLDS was one such thing to happen.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[GlennSimpson]

So was it really the thing about Jay Garrick being a teammate to Superman and a fictional character to Barry Allen that was the ignition of the whole thing, or was it that and all the other billions of continuity blips.

I've never heard the Superman thing called out specifically before, but I can see where that could be used as justification. I think it generally was just that the fans remembered Jay and wanted DC to come up with some way for Barry to meet him.

[Pharozonk]

It was a way to bridge the gap between the Golden Age and Silver Age and placate fans of the Golden Age superheroes so they wouldn't think they just stopped existing.

[bat39]

I remember reading about this a while back.

So the issue was that a lot of the fans of the Silver Age Flash stories were writing in, curious about the Golden Age Flash, and wondering if it was possible for the two Flashes to meet. DC decided to oblige. The continuity problem was that in the very first Silver Age Flash story, Jay Garrick was established as being a comic-book character within the context of Barry Allen's universe! Hence, the creation of parallel earths to explain away the problem...

There was no 'continuity error' to be corrected...it was simply a case of finding a logical means for the two to meet without contradicting the first Barry Allen story!

[WillieMorgan]

I don't as such think it 'needed' to happen, but blimey I'm glad it did.

The pioneering writers and artists of the late 30's / early 40's would likely have never imagined that these characters would still be being published 20 years later. In the early days they would have been winging it.

There was no grand plan behind it all. It just happened. Marvel fans like to boast that the continuity is better in their universe. They are right, their universe was planned. We are the grateful recipients of a happy accident.

[Air Wave]

So was it really the thing about Jay Garrick being a teammate to Superman and a fictional character to Barry Allen that was the ignition of the whole thing, or was it that and all the other billions of continuity blips.

Did Superman and Jay ever actually appear in a story together during the Golden Age?

[GlennSimpson]

Did Superman and Jay ever actually appear in a story together during the Golden Age?

I could be wrong, but surely they must have been in some JSA story (at the beginning or in the final resolution) together at some point.

[gwangung]

I could be wrong, but surely they must have been in some JSA story (at the beginning or in the final resolution) together at some point.

Only time was in All Star Comics #36.

[Air Wave]

Only time was in All Star Comics #36.

I just did the research and found this out. 1947. I never knew this. That's a story I'd like to read. It was also the first time Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman ever appeared in a story together. I'd also like to know if that ever happened again before the first Justice League story in 1960. Also, do you know if it was treated as their first meeting or did it appear that they had met prior? Also, wouldn't this mark Superman & Batman's first meeting, rather than that 1952 story?

[Lee Stone]

I just did the research and found this out. 1947. I never knew this. That's a story I'd like to read. It was also the first time Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman ever appeared in a story together. I'd also like to know if that ever happened again before the first Justice League story in 1960. Also, do you know if it was treated as their first meeting or did it appear that they had met prior? Also, wouldn't this mark Superman & Batman's first meeting, rather than that 1952 story?

That's a classic story. It was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #3 (the first JSA comic I read as a kid), and I still have a copy of it.
DC_Special_Blue_Ribbon_Digest_3.jpg
53_32886_1_DCSpecialBlueRibbonDigest3Just.jpg

[GlennSimpson]

That's a classic story. It was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #3 (the first JSA comic I read as a kid), and I still have a copy of it.
DC_Special_Blue_Ribbon_Digest_3.jpg
53_32886_1_DCSpecialBlueRibbonDigest3Just.jpg

I have that too. Didn't realize that was the first time all three were there.

In general, most of those stories treated it like they all already knew one another, IIRC.