Comic book historians like to call the appearance of the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) in Showcase #4 (July 1956) the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books. From my standpoint, having gone through the first twenty years of superhero comic books, I don’t think there is single defining moment. I believe the Silver Age was a gradual evolution. There are many moments before the Flash that I’d call “Silver Age-y”:
- 1949’s introduction of Kryptonite into the Superman mythos and further deepening of Krypton in stories
- 1950’s introduction of Lana Lang to Superboy’s supporting cast of characters
- 1950’s introduction of Captain Comet, DC’s first “mutant” superhero
- 1954’s introduction of Jimmy Olsen, a Silver Age character if I ever saw one
- 1955’s introduction of the Comics Code Authority and the demise of EC
- 1955’s introduction of the Martian Manhunter, one of the founding members of the JLA
But any way you slice it, we are definitely in the Silver Age now with a great addition to DC’s cast of dynamic superheroes: Barry Allen as the Flash! A police scientists who wishes he was like Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. The story also unwittingly opens the door to the concept of DC’s multiverse, by explaining that the Golden Age Flash were comic books in Barry Allen’s world (meaning those stories took place on a different Earth).
The third story in Showcase #4 features the Flash’s first instance of breaking through the time barrier:
Note that Barry Allen shows up in some issues of Showcase over the next couple years, but does not get his own comic until late in 1958!