The Once and Future Iris West

[Jim Kelly]

Bob Kanigher was a paradoxical figure in the history of comics. He’s responsible for co-creating some of DC’s greatest characters and yet he could concoct hare-brained plots that paid no respect to established continuity.

Kanigher actually wrote the first Flash story in SHOWCASE No. 4 (September-October ’56)--“Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt”--which introduces Barry Allen, his origin as the Flash, and introduces Iris West, Barry’s one true love.

Yet in THE FLASH No. 203 (February ’71), Bob concocts a strange vision of the future which will have an impact on both Barry and Iris. And in the process he also contradicts the version of the 30th Century for the Superman of 2965 and the version of the future for the Legion of Super-Heroes. Note that ADVENTURE COMICS No. 373 (October ’68) had already introduced “The Tornado Twins,” Don and Dawn Allen, “direct descendents of Barry Allen.”

No. 203 has a strange cover combining the pictorial talent of Neal Adams and the photographic production talent of Jack Adler.

While the story inside--“The Flash’s Wife is a Two-Timer”--is beautifully rendered by Irv Novick and Murphy Anderson.

By the year 2945, the world will be divided into two power blocks: Earth-East and Earth-West. Earth-East, led by the nation of Laos which has filled the power vacuum left when the old powers of America, Russia and China have fallen, launches a nuclear attack against Earth-West.

Devastated by the nuclear attack on Central City, scientist Eric Russell and his wife Fran dispatch their daughter, Iris, back in time, to save her from the impending nuclear holocaust.

Baby Iris arrives in the 20th century, at the home of Professor Ira West and his wife, whose daughter has recently died in childbirth. The infant from the future is the answer to their prayers. An identity locket sent with Iris reveals her true origin. However the trauma of these events leaves the professor in an absent-minded state and he never reveals the secret of her birth to Iris until she finds the identity locket in the year 1970 (by which time Iris must be 25).

Under stress, Iris is drawn forward in time to the year 2970, where, after the devastation of the war, Central City is now a centralized citadel amid an impoverished landscape. The population have endured great hardships and resources are scarce.

Meanwhile, the Flash uses his cosmic treadmill to find his wife in the future, but he must battle Sirik, Supreme Leader of Earth-East who wants Iris for his mate.

As the Scarlet Speedster prepares for the contest against Sirik and his minions which may cost Barry his life, Iris inspires him with these prophetic words,

Remember, darling--when we were married? They said--“until death us do part”? They were wrong! If ten centuries couldn’t separate us--not even death will part us!

Of course, Sirik is no real match for the Fastest Man Alive. And then the Flash destroys all the weaponry on both sides, East and West, so that the contending powers of Earth must sit down to make peace.

The Flash and Iris return to the present but not before promising Eric and Fran Russell that they will return for more visits in the future.

Flash has related this entire story to Superman on board the JLA satellite, 22,300 miles above Earth--as way of proof that he knows something of the Kryptonian’s own feelings of displacement. In answer, Superman says, “Maybe if I ever have a wife like yours, I won’t feel like such a loner on Earth anymore!”

An “Editor’s Note!” closes the story:

. . . we humbly acknowledge our indebtedness to the origin of Superman for this story!

[Doctor Bifrost]

And then the Flash destroys all the weaponry on both sides, East and West, so that the contending powers of Earth must sit down to make peace.

Funny how he never thinks of doing that in 2017...

[Jim Kelly]

Or that knowing Laos will one day be the superpower of the East, he doesn't intervene in the Vietnam War which had spread to Laos and Cambodia by 1970, so as to prevent the furture nuclear stand-off in the first place. But then he would have never met Iris in the 20th century. So maybe Barry put his happiness before the survival of billions.

[Lee]

Or that knowing Laos will one day be the superpower of the East, he doesn't intervene in the Vietnam War which had spread to Laos and Cambodia by 1970, so as to prevent the furture nuclear stand-off in the first place. But then he would have never met Iris in the 20th century. So maybe Barry put his happiness before the survival of billions.

If he intervened, he'd never have met Iris. And if he'd never met Iris, he'd never know to intervene. And if he didn't intervene, then he would meet Iris.

Choosing to intervene would have trapped himself and Iris and the fate of humanity in a very dangerous time paradox loop.

[Jim Kelly]

True.

There are several interesting things going on in this story. Julie Schwartz was just about to begin as Superman editor, so it's interesting to have this tribute to Superman in THE FLASH, edited by Julie. And the origin of Iris resembles the origin that Siegel and Shuster had initially toyed with (that Superman would be sent from the future).

Kanigher ignores the 30th century Legion history, but this probably indicates how low the LSH was at the time. They were kicked from an already poor back-up position in ACTION COMICS to an occasional back-up feature in SUPERBOY. The continuity for the Superman of 2965 had contradicted the LSH timeline, too--which is arguably worse since the same people (Weisinger, Hamilton, Swan, Klein) were responsible for both.

However, Kanigher's glitches in continuity were often ignored by other writers. Iris coming from the future could have been forgotten. Yet the idea stuck. When the Flash revisited the 30th century Central City, it was more like the optimistic 30th century in the LSH stories. And by then, Legion writer Cary Bates was also writing the Scarlet Speedster.

And combining the fact that Barry and Iris lived in the 30th century with Don and Dawn as their offspring led to the introduction of Impulse (Bart) as well as XS (Jenni).

So it's instructive how a story that seems so off-the-wall and out of place can ultimately become the engine for so many developments in DC continuity. At DC, rather than the exception, this seems the rule.

[Lightning Rider]

I'd love to read that issue. Sounds kind of similar to the Wally issue during Grant Morrison's run where everyone is slave to the clock.

[Jim Kelly]

In the “Flash-Grams,” the letter column for issue 203, most of the comments are on the 200th issue of THE FLASH--a special anniversary issue which saw the Human Thunderbolt in a Manchurian Candidate scenario. That ish also saw the debut of the Irv Novick and Murphy Anderson art team--for my money the best penciller/inker combo for the Flash other than Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. Unfortunately, Irv and Murph were not together for very long on THE FLASH. The cover for the 200th was also special in that it saw the pairing of Infantino and Anderson, which had become a bit rarer by 1970 given Infantino was busy running the operations at National Periodical Publications.

However, the final LoC in 203’s “Flash-Grams” was a horse of a different colour. From Douglas Smith, in Vinton, Virginia, the letter relates how Mr. Smith was sparked to return to THE FLASH following a five year absence, after seeing Jean Luc Godard’s SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. Douglas credits that movie as having a great impact on him, including a scene showing magazine covers, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 44 (May ’66) among them (note this was a bizarre Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson cover). That was enough to get our Douglas Smith to give DC another try.

Speaking personally, I have to say that Jean Luc Godard is one of my top ten directors of all time. But some of his movies are a test of endurance and SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL is one of them. So I’m in awe of Douglas Smith, not just that he got through the whole movie--ostensibly a Rolling Stones rock-umentary--but that he gained so much inspiration from it and could relate that artistic vision to THE FLASH.

Issue 206, in turn, had reactions from readers to Iris Russell West Allen’s true, eventual origin story, in the “Flash-Grams” for that issue. And the missives are almost entirely positive. Julius Schwartz was not shy about including letters that panned a given yarn, so the lack of quibbling is probably accurate to the times.

Frequent letter-hack, Scott Dickerson of Los Alamitos, California, is the lone voice crying in the wilderness, bemoaning the marriage of Barry and Iris--demanding, “I want a divorce!”