Gone But Not Forgotten (Flash 168)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you ready? [00:00:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:01] Speaker A: Are you with it? [00:00:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:02] Speaker A: Okay, let's go. You know what to do. The whole world's watching and counting on you. And all you people listening out there. Everybody everywhere. [00:00:13] Speaker B: Hang on, hang on, hang on. Welcome to Checkered Past, a loving postmodern examination of the. Go. Go. Check. Branded comic magazines published by DC Comics between February 1966 and August 1967. I'm Dr. Bob, and each week I'll be your guide on this trippy tour through 535 mid century masterpieces of graphic noveldom. This week, Flash 168. Cover date March 1967 cover price $0.12. Cover artists Carmine Infantano and Joe Giella. Edited by Julia Schwartz. Featuring. One of our Green Lanterns is missing. Written by John Broome. Art by Carmine Infantino and Sid Green. Are you ready? Are you with it? Then away we go. Go. [00:01:01] Speaker C: If you're walking in the shadows Then it's time that you get wise? I just forget about your troubles and open up your eyes? When you wear a smile the world will shout hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine? You're gonna flush the. [00:01:29] Speaker B: The Flash is contacted by a guardian of the universe and informed that his pal Green Lantern is missing. Before he can aid in the search, Flash encounters a gang of bandits using futuristic weapons. The gang manages to use one of their weapons to put Flash to sleep and escape. Confused? Don't worry, I'll be right back with doctor Husband to explain everything. Time will tell if I'm a loser loser? Time will tell if I'm a loser loser. [00:02:18] Speaker A: A body full of heat will be. [00:02:20] Speaker B: So nice Laying down ahead with the snow I've given up the weed and. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Let'S go back Maybe I'm in shaky once or twice. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Dr. Bob is so sick. [00:02:30] Speaker A: You sound terrible. You sound like I did on Thursday. [00:02:33] Speaker B: Well, you give it to me. [00:02:35] Speaker A: I know. I'm so sorry. Well, we've had all the vaccines and whatnot. [00:02:39] Speaker B: I have. [00:02:39] Speaker A: It's a shame we haven't gotten sick. I had a pneumonia and flu vaccine two weeks ago and then I got the COVID vaccine on Friday and then. But I got sick on Wednesday. [00:02:50] Speaker B: Well, I got all three at the same time and I didn't get sick until this weekend. [00:02:55] Speaker A: Well, I wasn't supposed to get a shot on Friday, but I'd be damned if I was not going to get that COVID vaccine. [00:02:59] Speaker B: Well, they weren't going to give me Covid. And she said, do you have any underlying conditions? Well, first she said, do you have a prescription? I said, no. But I understand I might have to get one because I'm so impossibly young. I know that young people need prescriptions. And then she said, well, do you have any underlying conditions? And I said, I'm fat. That's an underlying condition. And she said, but do you have diabetes or anything? And I don't, of course. And then she said, well, let me. I think I can fix it in the system, so. Right. Hopefully that wasn't illegal Walgreens, because I got it. [00:03:32] Speaker A: Well, the funny thing is, can't we get it in other states really easily? Like, can't your sisters get it really easily in Ohio? [00:03:40] Speaker B: I think they had to have a prescription too. [00:03:42] Speaker A: Well, I had a prescription. [00:03:43] Speaker B: Oh. [00:03:44] Speaker A: And they still weren't gonna give it to me. And I said, what? [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yes, you need to write a letter a la Irene Vartanoff. [00:03:51] Speaker A: I was very upset, but I managed to make it work. [00:03:54] Speaker B: Good. [00:03:55] Speaker A: I made condition or something. I don't know. Like I just told him I was obese. And she said, you're not get away. [00:04:01] Speaker B: With that because I just watched your pants fall off of your. [00:04:04] Speaker A: I know I grabbed the wrong kind of pants this morning in the wrong belt. And I'm gonna have to. I mean, I've already punched a new hole in that belt. It's as far as it can go. And the belt sticks out the side. Now I'm gonna have to move to a smaller belt. What a problem. [00:04:19] Speaker B: You're a reed, A willow. [00:04:21] Speaker A: I. I am not. I look like that when I wear big clothes. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Well, then that's the answer. Just wear bigger clothes. [00:04:29] Speaker A: No. [00:04:29] Speaker B: I think you're losing weight. [00:04:30] Speaker A: I guess so. Well, I'm really excited about moving into another section of my closet. [00:04:33] Speaker B: Sure. Who wouldn't be? [00:04:36] Speaker A: Well, not as excited as I am about this issue of Green Lantern. [00:04:39] Speaker B: And it's not Green Lantern, it's the Flash. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Right? [00:04:43] Speaker B: Guess it's starring Green Lantern. [00:04:44] Speaker A: Green Lantern. Oh, my gosh, folks, we are. We've got a busy week ahead of us and we wanted. We wanted to do this tonight, didn't we? Yes, yes, yes. [00:04:53] Speaker B: I'm sick and he's yawning. [00:04:55] Speaker A: Oh, I don't mean to. I'm gonna. I'm pulling it out. Nope, nope, nope. No. We're gonna make this work. You know it. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Let's go. Hey, Green Lantern, don't you run out on me. [00:05:07] Speaker A: I'm helpless against these super armed crooks. [00:05:11] Speaker B: It's flash number 168. [00:05:12] Speaker A: Mm. [00:05:13] Speaker B: Guest starring green Lantern. It's a power packed novel. One of our Green Lanterns is missing. [00:05:22] Speaker A: Now, had we had this set up in a previous story? Because I seem to remember that Green Lantern was going off on his own. He was only going to fight with his fists. [00:05:32] Speaker B: Well, that was in the pages of Green Lantern. I know, right? [00:05:36] Speaker A: So there's no story that we find out what happens here. But, like, this wasn't following some sort of story? Like Green Lantern didn't have something happen to him in a previous. A previous story that would feed into this story? [00:05:49] Speaker B: No, no. Although I do believe this was the same writer. Let me check my sources quickly. John Broome wrote this story, and I believe he's at this time the regular writer on Green Lantern as well. But I'm gonna check that out for you, because that's what I do. Green lantern number 47. [00:06:12] Speaker A: Yes. Hello, Kitty. [00:06:13] Speaker B: Hi. [00:06:14] Speaker A: Hi. [00:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that he did, because, yes, as you remember, Green Lantern has gone off to wander the country because Carol Ferris left him. Left him and married someone else. Now you're gonna play with that cat and he's gonna scratch you. [00:06:30] Speaker A: I'm just gonna give him a little bit of love and let him go. [00:06:35] Speaker B: So, yes, I imagine this is following the same continuity of Green Lantern traveling the country aimlessly because he's got a broken heart and he's also only gonna use his fist and use his ring as a last resort. Yeah, but I don't want to spoil anything. Well, I don't. [00:06:52] Speaker A: Don't, don't. [00:06:52] Speaker B: I won't. [00:06:53] Speaker A: Okay, so, the Flash. [00:06:56] Speaker B: The Flash story by John Broom, art by Carmine Infantino and Sid Green. I don't know that I've ever seen Carmine Infantino draw Green Lantern before. I must have, because I know he guest starred in Flash a number of times. [00:07:10] Speaker A: Well, it looks like a different Hal Jordan. Looks like a much younger Hal Jordan. [00:07:15] Speaker B: Well, it's no Gil Kane. I could tell you that only a. [00:07:19] Speaker A: Menace of the most critical nature would ever prompt the Guardians of the Universe to dispatch their agent on Earth, Green Lantern, to deal with it. But when the Emerald Crusader, along with his power battery I'm mysteriously missing. A new deputy in the person of the Flash is requested to handle the case. [00:07:38] Speaker B: One of our Green Lanterns is missing. But before we dive into the story. [00:07:48] Speaker A: Yes? [00:07:48] Speaker B: I've got a beauty quiz for you. [00:07:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:51] Speaker B: Are you ready? [00:07:52] Speaker A: I am. [00:07:53] Speaker B: Question number one. Does exercising for 10 minutes a day keep you from getting heavy? [00:08:00] Speaker A: No. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Correct. Nothing will stop you from putting on extra pounds unless you watch your diet in addition to exercising. As we can well attest, we've been counting calories. [00:08:10] Speaker A: Yes. [00:08:10] Speaker B: And the weight's just falling off. [00:08:12] Speaker A: Falling off. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Question 2. How can you get a natural look without using makeup? [00:08:20] Speaker A: Go out in the sun. Yes. [00:08:23] Speaker B: And smack your face. [00:08:25] Speaker A: No. [00:08:26] Speaker B: Pinch your cheeks. No. Plenty of fresh air, exercise and a good diet. It also helps if you are pretty. Question three. What kind of rollers give the best set? [00:08:39] Speaker A: Foam rollers. [00:08:41] Speaker B: Well, the correct answer is any kind of roller, including foam rollers. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:46] Speaker B: However, the most damaging to the hair are brush rollers. [00:08:50] Speaker A: Oh. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Question four. Is there a such a thing as waterproof false eyelashes? [00:08:57] Speaker A: No. [00:08:58] Speaker B: Wrong. There is. [00:08:59] Speaker A: Oh. Okay. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Question five. Can I get dandruff from using any other person's brush or comb? [00:09:08] Speaker A: No. [00:09:09] Speaker B: Correct question. [00:09:11] Speaker A: But you could get lice. [00:09:13] Speaker B: Yes, but that's not the question. Is it the question specifically about dandruff. Question. What are we on six? I find when I use soap on my face, it tends to dry my skin. Is there a special soap I can use to prevent this from happening? [00:09:26] Speaker A: Dove with one quart of moisturizing cream. [00:09:29] Speaker B: Correct. However, nothing will be effective unless you rinse off the soap thoroughly every time you wash. [00:09:35] Speaker A: Indeed. [00:09:37] Speaker B: Question 8. What can I do about my forehead? It seems I always have a flock of blemishes. [00:09:43] Speaker A: Oh, let's see. Well, this would be the 1960s, so dermatologists are out of the question. [00:09:51] Speaker B: I don't see why. [00:09:52] Speaker A: Okay. I don't know what. [00:09:54] Speaker B: The first thing you can do is get rid of those bangs. Bangs tend to get greasy, and this rubs into the forehead, causing you to break out. [00:10:03] Speaker A: Okay, question. [00:10:06] Speaker B: Whatever question we're on. What can I do about my fingernails? They make my hands look awful. [00:10:12] Speaker A: Stop biting them and keep them clean and trimmed. [00:10:15] Speaker B: That's the answer. Try keeping them out of your mouth. Not only does biting make them look ugly, but it also weakens them. There are certain kinds of liquids that go in, like nail polish, but taste so horrible you won't want to bite them. Well, Mercurochrome is what you put all over your fingers. Keep them out of your mouth. The best way to strengthen your nails is by using a packet of gelatin dissolved in fruit juice or in any liquid at least three or four times a day. What? [00:10:41] Speaker A: Soak them? [00:10:42] Speaker B: No, you drink it. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Oh. [00:10:43] Speaker B: Okay, final question. I want to use perfume, but I don't know what kind to buy. Can you help me? [00:10:53] Speaker A: Well, perfume should be matched to your body's chemistry. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Yes, and it depends mostly on your personality. I can only tell you that guys don't like an overpowering scent. Try something sweet and subtle. [00:11:11] Speaker A: Well, you have wonderful chemistry because you have chosen some colognes that just smell fantastic for you. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Why, thank you. That's because I remember the most important rule. [00:11:21] Speaker A: What? [00:11:21] Speaker B: Price has nothing to do with what you like. Choose to suit your budget as well as your taste. Speaking of budgets and taste, as Mr. And Mrs. Barry Allen start home from the theater one evening, I wonder what they saw. 1967. Mame, maybe. My Fair Lady. What else? [00:11:51] Speaker A: So all I can think of is, not Gypsy Sunday. Late for Gypsy. Not Sunday in the park, but Sunday Park. [00:11:57] Speaker B: Judy Garland at the Palace. Buddy Hackett and Eddie Fisher at the Palace. Of course, this is Central City, which everyone knows is in Ohio. [00:12:08] Speaker A: Oh. [00:12:08] Speaker B: So they were probably seeing something that. The Kenley Players or the Tour. [00:12:12] Speaker A: So that would have been from the previous year, 1966, which would have had shows more. Much more recognizable shows from 1966. Let's see, 1966. Oh, I've got it right here. 1966. And these, one we would have known. Annie, get your gun. A breakfast at Tiffany's at the Majestic Theater. Cabaret. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard of that show. [00:12:43] Speaker A: Annie, get your gun. Did I already say that? [00:12:45] Speaker B: Huh? I did. [00:12:46] Speaker A: Okay. Happily ever after. [00:12:49] Speaker B: I do. I do. [00:12:51] Speaker A: These are all Mame. [00:12:53] Speaker B: Oh, goodness. [00:12:54] Speaker A: Right. These are all shows that we know. Showboat. [00:13:00] Speaker B: Well, that would be a revival. [00:13:02] Speaker A: Sweet Charity. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Oh, say. Right. [00:13:05] Speaker A: The Apple Tree. We know that. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Yes. That seems up Barry's alley. [00:13:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:10] Speaker B: The Apple Tree. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah. All right. [00:13:14] Speaker B: Name the original cast. [00:13:17] Speaker A: I don't remember. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Alan Alda. [00:13:19] Speaker A: Okay. Oh, why didn't I remember that? [00:13:21] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:13:22] Speaker A: God's sake. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Barbara Harris, I believe, And, I don't know. George Maharis. No, I made that up. Alan Aldo, for sure, though. [00:13:31] Speaker A: Yep. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Anyway, Barry's got to stop off at police headquarters to pick up some paperwork at the lab that he wants to do over the weekend, so he's gonna pick it up on the way home. He's allowing Iris to drive? Of course. [00:13:47] Speaker A: She's a modern gal. She can drive. [00:13:48] Speaker B: She's a news. Hence. But please don't dawdle, Barry. And while you're at headquarters, see if there's been any word from your friend Hal Jordan. He might have reached town this evening and left a message there for you. It seems Hal wrote a letter. [00:14:06] Speaker A: Indeed. [00:14:06] Speaker B: To Barry and Iris that he was visiting Central City to visit Barry and Iris in their new house. [00:14:14] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:15] Speaker B: But since then, there's been no sign of him. And that's not like Hal. [00:14:20] Speaker A: No. He would have called or something. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Barry knows that Hal is Green Lantern, but Iris does not. Nor does she know that her husband is the Flash. We'll get to that later, okay? But there's no message from Hal. Just then, in his lab, there's a green glow in the corner. [00:14:41] Speaker A: Yes? Who is it? [00:14:43] Speaker B: It's a Guardian of the universe. Indeed, seeking Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of this sector of the cosmos. [00:14:56] Speaker A: He says. You mean something's wrong? Hal's missing, he says. Yes, yes. [00:15:01] Speaker B: And his power battery too. [00:15:05] Speaker A: Oh, my God. We'll never get through this if you keep doing that. [00:15:07] Speaker B: In our efforts to regain contact with him, we thought of you. You are aware, of course, that from time to time you have teamed up with him as the Flash. My mission is to enlist your aid in finding Hal Jordan. [00:15:16] Speaker A: I'll do. I can. I'll start tonight. [00:15:18] Speaker B: We knew we could rely on you. Now, please, close your eyes. I'm about to teleport my image back to Oa and the glow as I leave will be intense. [00:15:25] Speaker A: So he does indeed close his eyes and the Guardian disappears. [00:15:29] Speaker B: Yes. How strange for the Flash to be undergoing a mission for the Guardians. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:37] Speaker B: But what he told me about Halloween. [00:15:39] Speaker A: Oh, I guess he had Iris wait outside. [00:15:41] Speaker B: Yeah, certainly. [00:15:42] Speaker A: I thought he was gonna meet her at home. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Well, no. How would. She doesn't know he's the Flash. How would he get home? [00:15:47] Speaker A: Oh, indeed. [00:15:49] Speaker B: All right, he comes out without his papers and tells Iris that he's decided not to work over the weekend. And later, fortunately, Iris goes right to sleep. So Barry doesn't have to make any excuses for sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night. That's convenient. Y. Mr. Allen. Of course, he is a policeman. If she wakes up and he's not there, she just tells her he had an emergency. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Somehow the phone didn't wake her up. [00:16:22] Speaker A: But his policeman's transistor radio did. [00:16:24] Speaker B: My father was an early. I guess now, you'd call him an IT guy, right? He got calls all the time in the middle of the night. We only had, you know, two phones in the house. Giant rotary phones would wake the dead, right? So if he got a call in the middle of the night, there was no sleeping through it for anyone, and off he'd go. [00:16:50] Speaker A: How often would he get calls in the middle of the night? [00:16:53] Speaker B: At least, like, once a month. [00:16:55] Speaker A: What? Punch cards were jammed in the machine. [00:16:58] Speaker B: Something. There was always some kind of problem, you know, took computer to run payroll for the month. He'd always have to go, yes, punch cards. I very clearly remember punch cards and giant reels of magnetic tape. Well, that's all about. About all the business I knew of his. He didn't discuss it at home. [00:17:22] Speaker A: So he would, out of a secret compartment in his rings brings his costume. He changes into the Flash costume and gets to work. [00:17:30] Speaker B: Meanwhile, let us turn our attention to a certain house in Central City. As flash whizzes by without realizing what it might signify. Please look at this house. Do you see anything unusual about it? Well, it's falling apart. That's what I notice right away. Kooky old picket fence boards falling off of it. Unless it's meant to look historic, these kind of look like the fences at the Antietam battlefield. [00:17:59] Speaker A: Mm. [00:18:00] Speaker B: Crisscrossity logs and whatnot. [00:18:02] Speaker A: No, this is definitely a fence. [00:18:04] Speaker B: It's in disrepair. But what's on the inside? It looks like something out of the future, doesn't it? [00:18:10] Speaker A: Indeed it does. [00:18:11] Speaker B: And oddly enough, it is something out of the future. Well, that deserves an immediate explanation. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Well, let's get down to it. [00:18:21] Speaker B: Meet Hjalmar Hjalmar Helms. Hjalmar Helms. H J A L M A R. Like his house, he is undistinguished on the outside. But inside is another matter, for Helms possesses a most uncommon brain that he has put to a most uncommon use. But let him tell his story. As far back as I can remember. [00:18:47] Speaker A: I had only one dream, one overwhelming ambition in life. Time travel obsessed me, as money or power seems to obsess ordinary people. Even as a boy, it was stories of travel into the future that absorbed me. My parents left me well off. I used my wealth after I grew up to devise the most complicated time machine of my own devising. He used devise twice in his thought sentence. [00:19:12] Speaker B: Idiot. That's why he hasn't developed time travel. [00:19:16] Speaker A: He's thinking, oh, invention number 22 doesn't work any more than any of the others. Will I ever realize my dream? Will I ever escape from this error and go into the future? He was about to scrap TM that was time machine 22, when he noticed something. That odd purple light coming from my transistor bank. None of my other machines ever produced any such strange effect. What can it mean? [00:19:37] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to back up to this pile of books. This child is reading. [00:19:42] Speaker A: Yes. [00:19:44] Speaker B: Twice in Time by Manley Wade Wellman. [00:19:47] Speaker A: Is that a real book? [00:19:48] Speaker B: It's a real person, for sure. Manly Wade Wellman was an American writer, while his science fiction and fantasy stories appeared in such pulp magazines as Astounding Stories, Startling Stories Unknown, and Strange Stories, Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary weird tales. And for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian mountains, which draw the native folklore of that region. Well, we should know about him. We live in the Appalachian mountains. [00:20:18] Speaker A: We do, don't we? [00:20:19] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, we don't need to read about him. There's also Timestream by John Taine and Messiah of the cylinder by Victor Russo. I didn't look those up, but I assume they're real books because the first one was Take it on faith. Where were we? [00:20:39] Speaker A: Next page. So I investigated the ISO. Excuse me? I investigated, isolated the unknown radiation and to my stupefaction, I discovered. It's fantastic. With this erilite eerie light, I can lift my armchair, Cause my cat to swim about in midair. I've stumbled across an incredible power, but the new radiation could not transport me into the future. Disappointed, I made a decision. These science fiction books are filled with inspired descriptions of life in centuries to come. With my new discovery, I'll turn these wonderful ideas into reality. I'll build the future here, now, in my house. Using my discovery, I filled the rooms with marvels of tomorrow. [00:21:22] Speaker B: Now he's built what is apparently a steam powered robot that floats around in the air and an atomic plant for heating his home. How did he go from a gun that makes the cat float to a robot? [00:21:43] Speaker A: Oh yeah, the scientific experiment or the experiments that he created and the weapons that he creates for what's going to happen here. No scientific basis in fact. No, it's complete silliness. [00:21:58] Speaker B: Right, right. But the cat can float. [00:22:01] Speaker A: I mean, I like to float. [00:22:02] Speaker B: That's great. I know, it's so cute. [00:22:04] Speaker A: Isn't he cute? Imagine just floating around in the air. [00:22:09] Speaker B: All right. But he's created all these things in his house and he's keeping the rest of it secret from the outside world. Determined that no one should share the future with me or even know about it. [00:22:19] Speaker A: He's a three dimensional telephone friend. [00:22:21] Speaker B: We're all sharing the future with you One second at a time. Second after second, year after year. Now, after a hard day at the office, he returns home, the only man in the world to be waited on hand and foot by robots and entertained by three dimensional television. [00:22:40] Speaker A: Well, where does he get the programming for the three dimensional television? [00:22:43] Speaker B: Right, that's what I'm wondering. [00:22:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Huh? [00:22:46] Speaker B: No one was broadcasting three dimensional television in the 60s, no, much less in color. All right. On this particular evening, unknown to him, he's relaxing in his house, making the cat float, and two hoodlums are outside his house. [00:23:10] Speaker A: He doesn't even know if he's maybe giving his cat cancer by making it. [00:23:12] Speaker B: Float in the room. [00:23:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:14] Speaker B: Seems these gentlemen had cased the joint earlier in the week. Well, one of them had, and he's decided to cut his friend Ace in. These are gentlemen named Ace and Stubble, because he does indeed have stubble. [00:23:32] Speaker A: Nice. [00:23:33] Speaker B: All right. Busy making the cat float. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Jar Helms. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Time for Ace and Stubble to make their move. [00:23:50] Speaker A: Helms. [00:23:52] Speaker B: All right. They knock Hjalmar out, grab his gun and start questioning him. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Just so they knock him out. Then they have to wait for him to come around. [00:24:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:03] Speaker B: And they decide that instead of household gadgets, they're gonna use this cat floating gun to make weapons of the future. But first, we'll lock Hjalmar into his house in case anything goes wrong. He can fix the gun for us, and we can use his house for headquarters. We know he's all alone and he doesn't have any friends, and nobody ever comes here. [00:24:31] Speaker A: This is the thing that bugged me, he says, according to what Helms told us, all we got to do is imagine ahead of time what I want to make. Turn on this gizmo, and we're in the super crime business. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Oh, that's how it works. Yeah. [00:24:43] Speaker A: You just imagine what you want, turn on the gizmo, and it creates it for you. [00:24:49] Speaker B: So it's a God gun that checks out. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:54] Speaker B: Next day, they rob a bank and stop the police cold because they've made a paralysis pistol, which works like a charm. And a sleep gun. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Sleep gun and a paralysis pistol. [00:25:05] Speaker B: Back at headquarters, they're rolling around in jewelry. [00:25:08] Speaker A: It's a good thing they didn't make a gun that turns you inside out. Oh, that would be horrific, wouldn't it? Yeah. Very, very painful. [00:25:15] Speaker B: I feel like we've read about a gun like that at some point. Or maybe seen something on Gilligan's island or peels away you're skin. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Put your skin on the inside and the bones and stuff on the outside. That'd be horrible, wouldn't it? [00:25:27] Speaker B: Sure. All right, Ace is going to call up two of his other pals, the Fixer and the Doubler. Because this is a big operation and they're all gonna wear fancy future type uniforms to go with their new roles as super criminals. [00:25:43] Speaker A: That's right. [00:25:46] Speaker B: Elsewhere, not long after, Flash is mincing about. Flash is racing around town, still trying to fly. Racing, mincing, still trying to find Hal Jordan. I guess he's run all over the globe by now. [00:26:02] Speaker A: Can't find him. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Maybe Hal's been in some kind of accident. There's no time to think about it now because here's some costumed crooks in futuristic costumes robbing Central Bank. [00:26:13] Speaker A: Oh, no. [00:26:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, one of these criminals has got that paralysis pistol. Luckily, Flash was able to dodge out of the way because he's so fast and all. [00:26:28] Speaker A: Mm. [00:26:31] Speaker B: These other criminals have some other kind of ray gun which hurtles at the monarch of motion. Flash is able to dodge every single blast from every one of these guns. [00:26:46] Speaker A: So far. [00:26:48] Speaker B: So far. To get out of the way of this one blast, he runs up the side of a building and down the other. And before the guy can fire the gun again, he punches him out. Now, three down and one more to go. But he is accidentally hit by the sleep gun. So drowsy, he can't keep his eyes open. Luckily, momentum carries the wizard of Whiz some distance before he collapses onto the street. And when he finally wakes back up and runs back to the bank, of course, they're all gone. His sleeping paralysis gave them enough time to escape. Now he's got something else to worry about besides poor old Hal Jordan. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Right? He's got this spectacular gang of costumed criminals with extraordinary weapons. But he's got to get back to Iris right now if he wants to keep his marriage intact. Yep, I hope she swallows the stories. [00:27:50] Speaker B: I prepared for her for being routed. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Out of bed last night by the police alarm. So. [00:27:56] Speaker B: Well, of course, naturally, Barry, I knew when I married a police scientist that emergencies might sometimes cause him to act mysteriously. But please, don't overdo it. That's all I ask. [00:28:08] Speaker A: He thinks to himself, she's really a doll, my wife. [00:28:11] Speaker B: She sure is. [00:28:12] Speaker A: Wants to cheat on her. I guess he has the ability to do so now. [00:28:16] Speaker B: He could do it at super speed. Wouldn't be very satisfying for the woman he's cheating with, but. Well, he decides to turn on the television, find out what if there's any news about this gang of costumed crooks. And Iris still thinks it's strange that there's been no word from Hal. Do you? Of course. You remember the days when you would just write a letter to someone? I'll be there in two weeks. Yeah, unless you were my mother and she would just show up at someone's front door, Here I am. [00:28:48] Speaker A: She would, too. [00:28:49] Speaker B: She absolutely would. Yeah, she'd come to visit us. She'd bring a pound of butter, a box of Kleenex. What else? [00:28:58] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:28:58] Speaker B: A ham, jar of garlic, some sort. [00:29:01] Speaker A: Of something in a cooler. Always Something in a cooler. [00:29:04] Speaker B: Oh, I've dropped my coast. [00:29:06] Speaker A: No, I've broken those coasters that way. Well, yeah, always she'd bring us strange things, you know, which we always appreciate it, you know. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Well, she'd always bring clean house because we didn't keep it in the house. No, but the butter. I never got the butter because I've always had plenty of butter in my home. [00:29:22] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't know. But she'd always bring us food. [00:29:25] Speaker B: Always, always. Right. [00:29:27] Speaker A: It was always something that your mother would do. Whenever we'd come visit her. She'd always ask us, even if it was two weeks in advance. What do you think you'll be hungry. [00:29:33] Speaker B: For two weeks, six months in advance? [00:29:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know, you know. [00:29:40] Speaker B: Anyway, no word from Hal. But instead of news about the criminal gang rampaging through Central City, I'm going to take you on the news to show you some unusual citizens of Central City. Like Mr. Stalo Pantagolas. He sounds like a foreign gentleman. [00:29:59] Speaker A: He sounds like a Greek. It's the Greeks, you know. [00:30:03] Speaker B: He uses his small boat to fish in the river each day and returns to sell his catch to neighborhood stores. [00:30:10] Speaker A: Barry, look at that man in the old fisherman's boat. [00:30:13] Speaker B: What? [00:30:14] Speaker A: Doesn't that look like Hal Jordan behind him? Oh my God, it is him. [00:30:17] Speaker B: It is Hal Jordan in the boat for Mr. Pantagolas. [00:30:22] Speaker A: She says, oh, Barry, get down to that dock on the double. What are you waiting for? [00:30:26] Speaker B: On my way, Iris. [00:30:28] Speaker A: Iris doesn't realize it, but he's going to get down to the river faster than she could imagine. As the Flash. [00:30:33] Speaker B: And there he comes. Hal Jordan. What are you doing here? Why haven't you. [00:30:40] Speaker A: Hal Jordan? [00:30:41] Speaker B: Hal Jordan? Is that my name? [00:30:43] Speaker A: Wha. [00:30:44] Speaker B: Are you sure? Why are you calling me that? [00:30:46] Speaker A: He says, my gosh, he's lost his memory. [00:30:48] Speaker B: I don't know who I am. I've been living with Mr. Pandagolis. He has been good to me, even. [00:30:53] Speaker A: Though he hasn't bathed in a week. No. [00:30:56] Speaker B: Are you his friend? Mr. Flash, this is Mr. Pentagolas. [00:30:59] Speaker A: Yes. [00:31:00] Speaker B: Listen, last week I. Oh, he's foreigner. Last week I find him unconscious by the river. I take him to my boat and then he is alright. But he has no memory. He stay with me and I try to find out who he is, but I have clue. [00:31:17] Speaker A: Ah, clue. [00:31:18] Speaker B: What do you mean while he unconscious? I hear him say couple times, excelsior. But what it mean, I do not know. It's Stan Lee. It's not Hal Jordan at All. It's Stan Lee. From Marvel Comics. [00:31:32] Speaker A: Yes. The Excelsior. That's the name of the hotel in midtown. Wow. It may be a long shot, Mr. Pentagonist, but I'm going to take Hal to the Excelsior Hotel, see if I can find out what happened to him. I must help him recover his memory. [00:31:43] Speaker B: Have you ever seen a picture of Stan Lee? Young? [00:31:46] Speaker A: No. [00:31:47] Speaker B: Snack. [00:31:48] Speaker A: Really? [00:31:48] Speaker B: Yes, as the kids would say before he had his toupee. [00:31:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:55] Speaker B: All right. Off they go toward the Excelsior Hotel. Mr. Pantagolas hasn't realized that he. The man he rescued, is really Green Lantern. And that's why the utmost importance that he recover his memory. And apparently, Hal doesn't realize it either. [00:32:10] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:32:11] Speaker B: Soon, in midtown, they gain access to Hal's room at the Excelsior Hotel. Flash recognizes Hal's suitcase and clothes. But Hal cannot remember anything. [00:32:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:29] Speaker B: So Flash knows. [00:32:33] Speaker A: Flash knows that he has. There's a way to find. [00:32:35] Speaker B: He knows his power battery has. [00:32:39] Speaker A: I'm trying to say this. [00:32:40] Speaker B: Yes, yes, use your words. [00:32:42] Speaker A: Well, so Flash knows that the battery would not be far away, right? But that he also. [00:32:48] Speaker B: How? [00:32:48] Speaker A: Keeps it hidden because it vibrates at a certain wavelength. So Flash vibrates his own body to see if he can get on that same wavelength to find it. [00:32:57] Speaker B: Yes. [00:32:58] Speaker A: And he does. [00:32:59] Speaker B: He does. It's over in the corner on the floor. He sees it, but he has to stop vibrating, and he has to remember exactly where it is. And then he instructs Hal to do exactly as I say. Even though you do not understand. A great deal depends on what we're about to do, believe me. But we must do it right. Come this way. Close your eyes and give me your hand. Flash, what are you doing? Oh, that's a different story. I read another time. [00:33:35] Speaker A: That's fan fiction. [00:33:36] Speaker B: He leads him over to the corner. Barry knows that Hal's ring is on his finger, where he also keeps it invisible and intangible, so it can't even be felt by touching. But Barry's hope is that once Hal's ring is recharged, he can use his all powerful beam to restore his memory. But can I get him to recharge it? Hal, you must repeat after me exactly what I am about to to say. [00:34:04] Speaker A: In brightest day. [00:34:05] Speaker B: In brightest day. [00:34:06] Speaker A: In blackest night. [00:34:07] Speaker B: In blackest night. [00:34:08] Speaker A: No evil shall escape my sight. [00:34:10] Speaker B: Shall escape my sight. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Let those who worship evil's might. [00:34:13] Speaker B: Let those who worship evil's might. [00:34:15] Speaker A: Beware my power. [00:34:16] Speaker B: Beware my power. [00:34:16] Speaker A: Green Lantern's light. [00:34:17] Speaker B: Green Lantern's light. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Boom. The ring has become visible now in the power battery, too. His expression is changing. I think he's coming back to himself now. [00:34:26] Speaker B: I would have thought, in fact, I was today years old when I still thought that the oath was not necessary, that that was just kind of a flourish, that you could just touch a ring to the lamp. I thought so, too. Unless it's like it takes it 30 seconds to fully charge. And so that's what the oath is for. [00:34:50] Speaker A: Just to kill some time. [00:34:51] Speaker B: It's like when, during COVID when Gloria Gaynor saying, I will survive. I will survive. The chorus of I will survive while you're washing your hands. [00:35:03] Speaker A: Oh, you sing Happy birthday to you 30 seconds twice. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So maybe it's something like that. Yeah. All right. Hal remembers everyone. Don't panic. Everything's flooding back in his mind. Turns out he had just arrived in the hotel and he decided to recharge his ring. Before going out, he intended to visit Barry and Iris. I mean, they have a new house. Why didn't they invite him to stay with them? But as I pressed my ring to the power battery, there was a kind of a backfire. An extraordinary force surged out of it, overwhelming me. [00:35:43] Speaker A: Gasp. [00:35:45] Speaker B: The mysterious radiation blacked out my mind, robbed me of my memory. I can vaguely remember now walking through the city afterward. But I no longer knew who I was or why I had come here. Then the kindly old fisherman found me, and I think you know the rest. [00:36:01] Speaker A: Wow. So, after sharing this story, Hal dawns his Green Lantern uniform, which, along with the power battery, had remained behind, invisible, in the hotel room. [00:36:11] Speaker B: I owe my recovery to you, Flash, and my chance now to seek out the cause of that strange radiation. I must make sure it never happens again. It could be a terrible danger to me. [00:36:22] Speaker A: Well, that's for sure, but. [00:36:24] Speaker B: But before anyone can make a move. Now, this is awkward. Flash has got his police wristwatch under his costume. It's causing a terrible bulky bulge in his wrist. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Looks like he's got a cyst. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Yes. All cars proceed at once to Central City Speedway. Box offices are under attack by a spectacular armed gang. The guards have been paralyzed. [00:36:50] Speaker A: Wow. If I'm right, that gang could be on the. Could be the four costumed crooks with fantastic weapons that I already tangled with. [00:36:56] Speaker B: Now, why doesn't he put the police radio inside one of those giant earpieces he's got in? Disgusting. [00:37:02] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:37:05] Speaker B: Yes. In fact, this is the day that the Great Central City 500 automobile race is run. The box offices out there this afternoon are Crammed with cash. Well, they should take Diners Club or something. You don't have to pay cash. And Flash invites Green Lantern to join him to handle this super crime. Of course, Green Lantern would insist if he hadn't been asked. [00:37:32] Speaker A: Of course. [00:37:35] Speaker B: Selflessly, Hal's going to take care of his personal problem later. And off they go. While thousands inside the great amphitheater are watching the famous race outside, an even more rousing spectacle begins. It's this futuristic gang, and they've got their weapons ready to go. One of them fires a radiation gun and Green Lantern. But the lethal radiation is bouncing off his power ring. But that's odd. The radiation was deflected to that yellow bus nearby, and the radiation had no effect on it. [00:38:21] Speaker A: Cover the odd. [00:38:22] Speaker B: Meanwhile, the Flash himself heads straight for the enemy at blinding vibratory velocity. Because as everyone knows, by vibrating at as fast as possible rate, he's causing the radiation from those weapons to pass harmlessly. [00:38:37] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:38:38] Speaker B: At close quarters, Flash, with perfect timing, momentarily regains his solid physical presence and knocks these crooks for a loop. [00:38:48] Speaker A: Indeed. [00:38:50] Speaker B: Well, one of the criminals tries to sneak up behind Flash and pistol whip him. But Green Lantern stops him. [00:38:57] Speaker A: He does. [00:38:58] Speaker B: But in the act of protecting the Flash, the Green Lantern leaves himself with an unguarded backside. And it seems that the crook they call Doubler is drawing a bead on Green Lantern with one of those super weapons. I've got to reach him before he pulls the trigger. [00:39:13] Speaker A: Let's turn the page. [00:39:14] Speaker B: Let's do. [00:39:16] Speaker A: Well, what does the Flash do? [00:39:19] Speaker B: He runs at super speed over to Green Lantern. There's only one chance to intercept it by traveling faster than the speed of light. [00:39:29] Speaker A: I didn't know that was possible for the Flash. [00:39:32] Speaker B: The Flash? Oh, sure. That's how he travels through time. [00:39:35] Speaker A: Time? That's right. I should know that. [00:39:37] Speaker B: The Scarlet Speedster succeeds, gets in between Green Lantern and the radiation. I can't let it pass through me or it will hit Green Lantern. Using your favorite trick, Spinity Arms. Spinity arms. The man of super speed builds up a dense layer of compressed air in front of him. These closely packed air molecules, of course, should act as a damper on the radiation. Weaken it so it becomes harmless. Similarly, we learn in an editor's note, graphite in a uranium pile acts as a damper to control the dangerous radiation. [00:40:20] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:40:21] Speaker B: Well, it worked. The cushion of air stopped the radiation. Now to stop the man who fired it. Splock. [00:40:30] Speaker A: I really like how the guys faces are drawn. The criminals faces are drawn. Yeah, Pantyhose over their Head or something. [00:40:37] Speaker B: Yeah, they look like burlap cabbage patch or apple shrinking apple dolls. [00:40:42] Speaker A: Yeah, they do. [00:40:44] Speaker B: All right. There's only one member of the gang left. It's stubble. There's only one thing for him to do. He shoots himself in the face with a sleep weapon so he doesn't have to face the Scarlet and Green Justice. All right. After Green Lantern has transported the KO'd quartet to the authorities, Flash and Green Lantern are owed a debt of gratitude from the city. Always a pleasure, Chief, to be of service with my friend the Flash. [00:41:19] Speaker A: I'm just so happy to see Hal back to normal. [00:41:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Later, with a few details of the case to be cleared up, they found a note on one of the crooks which gave the address of the hideout, which was Hjalmar's. What's his last name? [00:41:39] Speaker A: Helm. Helms. [00:41:40] Speaker B: Helvers. I don't remember and I'm too lazy to turn the page. Helms. All right. This is the house they used as their hideout. In they go and find a special exhibit of life of the future. It's like the Carousel of Progress. It's a great big beautiful tomorrow. I saw on Facebook today someone had built a little tiny scale model of the Carousel of Progress. [00:42:06] Speaker A: You're kidding. [00:42:07] Speaker B: No. And it turns and they just turn it and turn it. Remember the dog? [00:42:12] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:12] Speaker B: And the grandma. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Oh, loved that ride. [00:42:17] Speaker B: Same. [00:42:17] Speaker A: Right? [00:42:18] Speaker B: I think it's gone now. [00:42:19] Speaker A: Probably everything good is a. I think. [00:42:22] Speaker B: It'S the Toy Story Blaster Burst or the. What was that terrible ride? [00:42:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it was like. Like a Toy Story like thing where you go into the future world and you blast things in your giant stupid car that goes very slowly. [00:42:39] Speaker B: What was the thing with the giant. With the aliens? The alien broke out. You were in a spaceship to Mars or something that was. Pause. Physical pain. Mission to Mars or something. [00:42:50] Speaker A: Yes. That was awful. It was frightening. [00:42:53] Speaker B: Yes. I think it's gone too. [00:42:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:56] Speaker B: You know what else is gone as of today? [00:42:58] Speaker A: What? [00:42:59] Speaker B: Tom Sawyer's Island. [00:43:01] Speaker A: What? [00:43:01] Speaker B: Tom Sawyer's Island. They've drained the whole lagoon and they're gonna turn it into Cars Land. [00:43:09] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:43:10] Speaker B: I know. [00:43:12] Speaker A: I love Tom Sawyer's Island. [00:43:14] Speaker B: First 20,000 leagues under the Sea and now this. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Oh, I bet the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse will eventually go. [00:43:19] Speaker B: I'm sure it's not long over the world. Unless they turn into Tarzan Treehouse. [00:43:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:43:23] Speaker B: I love the Swiss Family Treehouse. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Most of all, I love Tom Sawyer's island. Most. [00:43:27] Speaker B: Same. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Only quiet place you can go to in Disney World. [00:43:30] Speaker B: Uh huh. [00:43:31] Speaker A: Oh, that and the hall of Presidents, of course. [00:43:32] Speaker B: The hall of Presidents, yes. [00:43:34] Speaker A: Wonderful. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Well. [00:43:36] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:43:36] Speaker B: What? [00:43:37] Speaker A: I just realized something. [00:43:38] Speaker B: What? [00:43:39] Speaker A: Do they still have the hall of Presidents? [00:43:41] Speaker B: Yes. [00:43:42] Speaker A: That means Donald Trump probably speaks during the hall of Presidents. [00:43:44] Speaker B: Oh, yes, of course. [00:43:46] Speaker A: Jesus Christ. [00:43:49] Speaker B: Well, every president, current president, speaks. [00:43:53] Speaker A: What could he possibly say that is interesting? [00:43:58] Speaker B: Well, I don't know. I'm sure they gave him a script. He's good on script. It's just that he strays so often. All right, now, they find this futuristic house, they find Hjalmar Helms in the closet, or he's been in the steam room or something like that. Something. [00:44:17] Speaker A: What's he look at? A dressing gown on or something. [00:44:19] Speaker B: And a towel around his neck. [00:44:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:21] Speaker B: All right, Mr. Helms, I think you've got some splaining to do. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Ah, splaining. [00:44:26] Speaker B: All right. Hjalmar reveals everything, including his time machine that never worked, but did tap a mysterious source of tremendous power which the crooks took advantage of. And not only that. Green Lantern says, my ring is informing me now where that mysterious energy came from. It seems that somehow, by a one in a trillion accident, Helms machine tuned in on my power battery. That was the source of his futuristic creations. My beam power altered into a purple radiation by the transference and allowing cats to float in the air. [00:45:11] Speaker A: I've got a cat in my lap right now. [00:45:12] Speaker B: I suspected something of the sort when in our fight with the gang, one of the local cats floated in the air. And also, one of the super weapons had no effect on a yellow bus. [00:45:25] Speaker A: Yes, I saw that. Two Green Lantern, but I couldn't imagine what the cause was. [00:45:28] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I also saw that I suspected it was something just like this. [00:45:32] Speaker A: Thanks, Barry. I appreciate that. [00:45:35] Speaker B: This is Dane Dorrance. More Dane Dorrance. Detective work. Yeah, just as I suspected. And one thing more, Flash. It was while tuning in on the power battery that Helms unwittingly knocked me out and caused my amnesia. My ring tells me the two events happened simultaneously. [00:45:56] Speaker A: Barry says, well, that just about clears everything up. Doesn't. What are the chances that that can happen again? [00:46:01] Speaker B: Nothing more to say here. Well, luckily, Hjalmar, after what happened, he lied. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Hjalmar, there's no way he's not going to do this. He has given his assurances that he will never again seek to repeat his expediments. [00:46:13] Speaker B: There's no way after what happened, I'll be satisfied to live in the present. Well, you've been living in the present. You just had a cool TV and a robot but from now on, I'm leaving the future strictly to science fiction writers. A wise decision. Next day, at an outing organized on the river, it's Mr. Pantagolas. It's good to see my friend Hal Jordan again. And watch him show other friends how I taught him to fish. [00:46:44] Speaker A: Hal seems entirely recovered. He's uneasy, Barry. [00:46:47] Speaker B: I know he's Greek, but his parents were Russian, and that's why he speaks. [00:46:51] Speaker A: Oh, okay, all right. [00:46:52] Speaker B: In a Russian accent, Iris says, hal. [00:46:54] Speaker A: Seems entirely recovered from his amnesia battery. [00:46:57] Speaker B: Yes, Iris, he's himself again in every way. [00:47:01] Speaker A: Ooh. And far off on the planet Oa. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Thanks to the Flash, the missing Green Lantern of Earth has been found. So once again, we can rest assured that his space sector is in good. [00:47:22] Speaker A: Why does the Guardian sound like someone I would not want to be left alone in a room with? [00:47:25] Speaker B: Because he's billions of years old. They were the first intelligent race in the entire universe. As you know, Barry has yet to inform Iris, his wife, of some months. They've even bought a house together. That he is, in fact, the Flash secretly. Dear editor. Hey, what's going on? Did I or did I not hear? Barry Allen solemnly promised to reveal his secret identity to Iris on their wedding day, way back in Flash issue 156. Does Flash speak with forked tongue or something? Oh, a promise is a promise. And though I'll bet it's all because John Broome never read that issue. The Superhero who betrayed the world. Editor's note. John Broom wrote both this story and the wedding one. And believe us, he knows exactly what he's doing and will do, I am still disgusted to see it evidently forgotten. It's not that I want to spoil all the fun of seeing Iris berate Barry for being late and lazy, but don't you think this kind of behavior is a little unbecoming in the model wife of a superhero? [00:48:37] Speaker A: Irene Vardmoth, Bethesda, Maryland. Oh, good old Irene. [00:48:41] Speaker B: This is a Flashgrams Extra, with readers sounding off on whether Barry should or shouldn't tell Iris his identity. I'm very heartened to see so many male. [00:48:56] Speaker A: Right. Robert Mandel of Houston, Texas, said my answer to Flash's problem is to tell Iris he's Flash. I believe no husband or wife should withhold any secrets that could influence their future lives. [00:49:07] Speaker B: Yeah, but listen to this, for Pete's sake. Don't let Barry tell Iris. She might make him promise to give up his crime fighting career. Then would we be in a mess. [00:49:15] Speaker A: Oh, dear editor, Barry Allen is a no good, miserable Low fat rink. Excuse me. Low rat fink. You should. You show me a happy marriage with a husband keeping secrets from his wife, and I'll show you a purple elephant in Miami Beach. He'd better tell her, but fast. Elizabeth Kane, Hempstead, New York. [00:49:32] Speaker B: No relation to Betty Kane, the original Bat Hyphen Girl. Barry Allen, lend an ear. Tell Iris the truth. That secretly, you are the Flash. A sound marriage is based on trust. And if you deny your wife the truth of your double identity, you will be confessing a pronounced lack of confidence in her. I say, if you can't trust your alter ego with your wife, whom can you trust? I can promise you that should you withhold your decision for too long, she may decide for you. For I suspect your little news hen will not long be satisfied with your hastily contrived excuse for stealing yourself from the altar. Remember that story when he had to go missing on the wedding day and he had to. Flash had to kidnap Barry. Oh, it was a mess. Well, Iris will find out that Barry is the Flash soon enough. [00:50:33] Speaker A: I want to read one more. [00:50:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:50:35] Speaker A: Dear editor, by all means, have Barry tell Iris he's Flash, but don't spoil things by having Iris have kids so that the little tykes are running around like in the Allens home. Bill Labude, Kansas City, Missouri. Yeah. [00:50:49] Speaker B: Cause what if they have super speed? [00:50:50] Speaker A: Oh, she's gonna have to change their diapers, but quick. [00:50:53] Speaker B: Well, Iris catch up with them. Does have children eventually, but it's after they've moved to the future, to the 30th century. Oh, she's got. She has twins. Dawn and Dawn. [00:51:07] Speaker A: Are you kidding me? [00:51:08] Speaker B: No. [00:51:08] Speaker A: D A W N and D O N. Yeah. Oh, my God. [00:51:11] Speaker B: They become the Tornado Twins. They've got super speed. And one of them, Dawn, I believe, is the parent of Bart Allen, whose impulse. Oh, you wouldn't know about that. That's way after this. [00:51:29] Speaker A: Okay. [00:51:30] Speaker B: Of course Barry dies. The crisis on Infinite Earth. [00:51:33] Speaker A: Yes, of course. [00:51:34] Speaker B: Spoiler alert. [00:51:34] Speaker A: Yes. [00:51:36] Speaker B: But his legacy lives on through the Tornado Twin. [00:51:41] Speaker A: The Tornado Twins. [00:51:42] Speaker B: You can find us on social media at GoGoChekPod. You can rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts from. And you can find. Find us on our sister podcast, Nerd Orchestra. And we will be back next week with a first issue debut. [00:51:59] Speaker A: Really? [00:52:00] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:01] Speaker A: Of what? [00:52:02] Speaker B: The Inferior Five. [00:52:04] Speaker A: We know them. [00:52:05] Speaker B: We do. From their tryout in Showcase, but now they're getting their own title. [00:52:10] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:52:11] Speaker B: And aren't we excited? [00:52:12] Speaker A: Very excited. [00:52:14] Speaker B: By. [00:52:18] Speaker C: Politician, you can change it all with a sin and disposition to be heavy and spread it all around. If you find yourself a frownin' just turn it upside down. When you wear a smile the world will shout Hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine. You gotta give in one time. You gotta turn on the sunshine. Push those blues away. Man, this dialectic's too much.