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Inspiration for a concept always comes from somewhere , and a 1940Flash Gordoncomic flight strip provides somepossibleinsight into the inspiration behind the Silver Age costume forthe Flash . The King FeaturesFlash Gordoncomic strip was first started in 1934 by famous cartoonist Alex Raymond . The specific strip in interrogative sentence is from the arc “ Power Men of Mongo ” and feature a courting very alike to Barry Allen ’s costume .
This particular comical comic strip was bring out on Sunday , June 23 , 1940 , which rate it sixteen years beforeShowcase # 4(Oct 1956 ) , the first appearance of Barry Allen , who was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino . The story of the strip shows Flash Gordon seek to economize his love sake Dale Arden from his evil curse , Ming the Merciless . Flash ’s chief rescue maneuver is to disguise himself as a “ Power Man , ” a sorting of electrical engineer , dressed in the very Flash - looking costume , who is hire to install a death ray plain outside of Dale ’s cell .
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The Flash and Power Man outfits are n’t precise compeer of each other , but the red and yellow-bellied vividness - scheme ( admit chicken belts and shin - high boots ) , full hood , and lightning bolt of lightning emblems are all enthralling ocular links between them . It is totally possible that Infantino ’s Flash costume was conceived in isolation , but it also makes gumption that he might have been enliven in - part by this comic landing strip . After all , the Flash has always employed electricity imaging due tothe nature of his powers , and Flash Gordon is so iconic that it is only instinctive that Infantino ’s costume for a persona called “ the Flash ” may have taken some cue from Raymond ’s piece of work .
Of naturally , it ’s essential to mention that this system of logic also lick in reverse . Remember , this funnies was published sixteen year beforeShowcase # 4 , but also five monthsafterthe first appearance of Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert ’s characterJay Garrick – the Golden Age Flash – inFlash Comics # 1(January 1940 ) . In fact , the lightning emblem on Jay Garrick ’s costume actually looksmorelike the lightning on the Power Man suit of clothes than Barry ’s insignia . It ’s entirely potential that Raymond ’s construct for the electrician uniform could have been playing off of Lampert ’s design for the Flashfrom that ancestry story issue .
Ultimately , this is all speculation – not an accusation that any of these characters ’ creator plagiarized each other or were being too derivative . And even if they did inspire one another in some fashion , that ’s not needfully a bad matter . But it ’s intriguing to reach some insight into how these artists rent influence from the works of their contemporaries . Whether Flash Gordon inspired Barry Allen ’s costume , or Jay Garrick inspired Flash Gordon , or neither , discovering small notes of what would become the most definitive look forthe Flashin a classicFlash Gordonadventure is a marvelous kickshaw .
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