Set Description:
Synopsis: This is a complete set of all 251 books with a minimum grade of 9.2. The set features over 240 highest graded examples, of which over 30 are single highest graded. Significantly, of the first 25 issues, 21 of our books top the census, including 13 single highest graded examples: Showcase #14 9.2, Flash #106 9.6, Flash #108 9.4, Flash #110 9.6, Flash #111 9.4, Flash #112 9.4, Flash #113 9.6, Flash #115 9.6, Flash #119 9.6, Flash #120 9.6, Flash #122 9.6, Flash #123 9.6 (Flash of Two Worlds), and Flash #124 9.8, the earliest 9.8 in the title. We also have another five books in those first 25 issues that are 1/2 highest graded. The lowest graded books in the set are three 9.2s, Showcases #4, #8 and #14, two of which top the census. All of our books from #105-350 grade at least 9.4 and only one book in the set (our Showcase #4 9.2) is worse than second highest graded, but is still top five (or 1%) out of 605 copies graded.
It has taken many years to compile this collection and many more chasing upgrades. Certainly, the end result is the collection that Flash fanatic, Sheldon Cooper of the Big Bang Theory, would have coveted.
Background: Flash is the name of several DC superheroes Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (cover date January 1940/release month November 1939). Nicknamed "the Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "superspeed", which includes the ability to run, move, and think extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.
Five different characters—each of whom somehow gained the power of "the Speed Force"—have assumed the mantle of the Flash in DC's history: college athlete Jay Garrick (1940–1951, 1961–2011, 2017–present), forensic scientist Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Barry's nephew Wally West (1986–2011, 2016–present), Barry's grandson Bart Allen (2006–2007), and Chinese-American Avery Ho (2017–present). Each incarnation of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.
The Flash is one of DC Comics' most popular characters and has been integral to the publisher's many reality-changing "crisis" story lines over the years. The original meeting of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Silver Age Flash Barry Allen in "Flash of Two Worlds" (1961) introduced the Multiverse storytelling concept to DC readers, which would become the basis for many DC stories in the years to come.
Like his Justice League colleagues Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the Flash has a distinctive cast of adversaries, including Gorilla Grodd, the various Rogues (unique among DC supervillains for their code of honor) and the various psychopathic "speedsters" who go by the names Reverse-Flash or Zoom.
A staple of the comic book DC Universe, the Flash has been adapted to numerous DC films, video games, animated series, and live-action television shows. In live-action, Barry Allen has been portrayed by Rod Haase for the 1979 television special Legends of the Superheroes, John Wesley Shipp in the 1990 The Flash series and Grant Gustin in the 2014 The Flash series, and by Ezra Miller in the DC Extended Universe series of films, beginning with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
This set begins with the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, in Showcase #4 published in Sept/Oct 1956. There is then an 8-month break until Showcase #8 is published in May/June 1957, followed by another 10-month break until Mar/Apr 1958 and the release of Showcase #13. DC then decides to follow up Showcase #13 with another Flash appearance in Showcase #14 in May/June 1958. At that time, DC makes a commitment to giving Flash his own magazine, picking up the Golden Age numbering of Flash Comics, which ended with #104 in 1949, although there is another 9-month break until Flash #105 hits the market in Feb/Mar 1959. Flash then becomes a bi-monthly magazine until Issue #114 in August 1960. Following Issue #114, Flash issues carry a one-month date, but they are still not always released every month, as the schedule becomes most irregular. Generally speaking, DC would issue two issues in two months, then skip a month and issue another two issues in two months. However, even that schedule varied and remained irregular, sometimes bi-monthly, sometimes two every three months, until March 1977 and Issue 247, when it becomes a monthly magazine for the last 8 and 1/2 years of the run.
Our Collection: I fully realize that I am somewhat of a dinosaur, as virtually nobody strives to compile complete sets anymore, especially ones as long as this one. And probably if I were starting out today, I would follow the crowd and do the smart thing and just focus on the keys or iconic covers. After all, that’s where all the juice-and appreciation is and has been for the last 20 years.
Flash was an early collecting focus for us, as we always thought that they are some of the best Silver Age covers. Unlike Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, which had numerous covers about their secret identities or some social issue, along with some imaginary stories-OK, I realize it’s all imaginary, but one-off stories that changed the title’s characters such as Lex Luthor becoming the good guy or Lois Lane having super powers. Flash covers always seemed to do a better job of staying within the parameters of the world created by the writers. And Flash covers generally featured Flash battling a super-villain, much the same as the Marvels of that era.
When we first started collecting these books, there were only a couple of serious Flash collectors, so we made great progress very rapidly. We did miss out on the Showcase #4 9.6, which sold in 2009 for $179,250-an amount that was far more than we had ever paid for a single book at that time. But we were successful in the 2000s in acquiring numerous highest-graded examples, although a large number of those have been since surpassed or equaled. When we first registered our books in 2011, our collection immediately topped the registry. It was, in fact, our only set that topped the registry that year.
We completed the set about 10 years ago, but have continued to upgrade issues whenever the opportunity arises. This was our first set to win a Best Silver Age Set in 2018. While we have made more progress on other titles of late, a number of which garner far more registry points, I still consider this our best set from a collecting standpoint.
As an aside, it is disappointing to us that CGC places such a low value on Silver Age Flashes. This is still far and away our favorite DC title and I believe these books, outside the Showcase #4, are seriously undervalued by both the registry and the collecting world, as no DC book is better drawn or features more beautiful covers.
Interestingly, a number of high grade Flashes emerged from CGC during 2021 and 2022, which knocked a couple of our single highest graded books off their perch. In a couple of cases, we ended up acquiring those books, but issue #135 has now joined Issues #109, #121 and #172 as slots where we lack a highest graded example. But there was some good news, as we finally acquired the single highest graded copies of Showcases #13 and #14 and Flash #106.
This remains IMHO, our best single collection, even though it is significantly bested by several others in terms of registry points. Out of 251 issues, we lack a highest graded example in only seven slots. Two of those are later issues where, for whatever reason, we have not seen a 9.8, even though they are several out there with respect to each issue. Of the first 100 issues, there are five slots where we are bested. In each case, there is a single highest graded example topping the census. Thus, there are 37 single highest graded books in total in this title and this set features 32 of them. In four cases, our book is just one step below the single highest graded book we lack.
The one exception is Showcase #4, which is obviously the most valuable book in the entire set. We have a 9.2, which is top 5 in the census, and which set us back $100,000 a decade ago. We funded some of the purchase price with an 8.0 copy of that book we then owned, which was one of the biggest mistakes out of many during my collecting history. It was the most we had ever spent on a single book at the time and, along with our JLA #1, it’s still the most we have spent on one book even today. Obviously, we would love one of the three higher graded Showcase #4s, and as of today we know exactly where the 9.6 and one of the 9.4s are, but it would probably take us crashing a number of collections to acquire either. So, for now, this is about as good as this one will probably get unless we hit the lottery.
At any rate, every book is pictured and described below. We have spent untold hours on our registry, I hope you enjoy seeing them. And, of course, if you have one those missing books, we would love the chance to buy it.
2024 Update: We only acquired one book in this set over the past year, but it was a biggie, as a newly-graded Flash #110 9.6 came on the market and we were fortunate enough to win it. Well, fortunate might not be the right word, as I believe that it was the highest price recorded for a Flash published after Issue #105-although it would be nothing in the Marvel Universe. However, adding it to our collection gave us single highest graded copies of more than half of the first 25 issues.
Of course, it was still very cheap (about 5% of the cost ) compared to an even bigger book, the Showcase #4 9.6 mentioned above, which also hit the auction market over the past year. We barely missed that one by about a half million LOL. Oh well……
Current Stats:
251/251 Books
2 9.9s-Both Highest Graded
207 9.8s-All Highest Graded 9.6s
27 9.6s-25 Highest Graded
14 9.4s-10 Highest Graded
3 9.2s-2 Highest Graded
186 WP
51 OW/W
12 OW
2 Cr/OW-Both are single highest graded.
33 Single Highest Graded
243 Highest Graded
7 Second Highest Graded
1 Third Highest Graded
87 Pedigrees |