TreasuryCast #26 – Superman vs. The Flash

TREASURYCAST #26 - SUPERMAN VS. THE FLASH

Place your bets! Rob welcomes the hosts of the WORST COLLECTION EVER podcast, Shawn Marek and Jen Stansfield, to discuss LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION #C48, featuring two titanic tales of Superman vs. The Flash!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

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21 responses to “TreasuryCast #26 – Superman vs. The Flash

  1. Fun episode. I’ve never seen this one, I was picturing it with a black cover… maybe that was a regular-sized reprint collection.

    There’s no way Hal isn’t backing Barry, they’ve been friends since early in the Silver Age, regularly teaming up. Being on one side of the track or the other doesn’t necessarily indicate support, does it?

    1. I’m wondering if the side the various heroes are standing on indicates support for that guy, too, precisely because of GL then apparently rooting for Supes instead of his pal, the Flash. And somehow I think Wonder Woman would probably be more on Supes’ side – although I’m willing to agree with Rob, Shawn and Jen that she might not care and is just there to have fun.

      1. As a young kid, I was really Type-A about it and thought everyone was lined up behind the person they were rooting for. Then I found out the GL and Flash had a Worlds Finest-level of buddy-ness and I had to rethink that cover.

  2. How do we know some of the mobs didn’t rob a few banks during this race?
    The more durable the glass, the more damage it does to the Flash when he hits it.
    It’s also unlikely the bullet-proof glass was made out of sugar cane like in the 1955 movie Sabrina.
    The disintegration pit came in handy when Reactron hit Kara with his radiation in 1984.

  3. According the the Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes hardcover published in 1976, page 92:

    “The question most often asked about the Flash is: Can he outrun Superman? Julius Schwartz, who edits both Flash and Superman, has provided the definitive answer. For short distances, the Flash is faster — he moves at approximately ten times the speed of light. For longer stretches — a million miles — Superman’s inexhaustible stamina would make him the victor.

    “Consider the matter settled.”

    This explanation has always worked for me, in pre-Crisis continuity, of course…

    1. That’s a load of hooey.
      The Flash does one thing – run fast. And he does it better than anyone else.

      Schwartz can get stuffed.

    2. Schwartz can’t even do the math correctly. It takes light 6 seconds to go a million miles, and he ignores the fact you can’t go faster than light.

      1. True, the numbers definitely do not work, but I did agree that Flash would lose in a longer race because he would tire before Superman would… and that did happen in the story of the second race… though Flash caught his second wind to save Superman and keep up with him for the rest of the course…

        And Karen Berger was an amazing editor…

  4. Wow, another show that covers a Treasury I actually had. Needless to say, I enjoyed this one even more than usual. Great discussion everyone!
    The interesting thing for me is that I remember the first story, with Superman and Flash doing laps around the globe, quite well, but even after your description in the show and a look at the image gallery, I can hardly remember any of that second story – except that last bit when they break the fourth wall and ask readers who they think won. Heck, I even remember the bonus material better.
    Also, just a little anecdote, which tied into some of your comments in the show: I remember sitting on the couch reading this as a kid, and my older brother – who wasn’t into comics but was a bit familiar with the characters – asking me who won, and then, after I told him it was a tie, saying something like, “That’s lame. And it should have been Flash, since he’s the guy who just runs fast.”

    By the way, just to address a point Rob made in his responses to the feedback on the preceding show, about that ‘bait & switch’ Superman Treasury. If, back in the day, you ordered one or more Treasuries based on house ads in comic books – as I did, for the Batman (C44) and Secret Origins of Super-Villains (C45) Treasuries – there was no way of flipping through the book to verify its contents. And I do recall seeing house ads for that Superman bicentennial book as well; I would have been seriously upset if I had ordered a Superman book and instead got a bunch of frontiersman stories.

  5. (posted on gallery post accidentally)

    So much to love about this one.

    I love seeing the Flash race Superman. And I have my own head canon about who is the fastest. If it is a foot race, the Flash wins hands down. He is a better runner. But if Superman can fly, he is fastest because of the velocity he can generate that way.

    I do love the 2-parter in DCCP #1 and #2, a sort of Flash/Superman race.

    Another thing I love is the Fortress schematics. So sad that the Atomic Cauldron isn’t named, instead given the dull name of ‘disintegration pit’.

    Thanks so much for covering. Heading to ‘Worst Collection’ podcast now.

  6. DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest No. 3 – The Justice Society was my first introduction into this printing format. After the end of the JSA run in adventure comics, my thirst for Earth-Two tales intensified and this digest hit the spot with a perfectly balanced golden age tale and a modern reintroduction of this team alongside their own “Teen Titans” of sorts. Sadly Crisis squashes this wonderful world six years later but diving back into back issue bins became a terrific past time… as it was all new to me!

  7. So this one doesn’t have the story from World’s Finest #198-199? Huh, I always assumed it did.

    I have been meaning to listen to Shawn and Jen’s show, and now that I have a preview, I know I will. Their banter back and forth reminds me of other comic-talking couples I enjoy, not the least of which I am a part of. Well, I like the other person in our combo anyway. 😉

    Flash should be faster than Superman, but I don’t buy Hulk beating Superman. Even just at strength.

    Chris

  8. I haven’t listened to Worst Collection Ever, yet, but it sounds like fun. I enjoyed Jen and Shawn’s take on this treasury. I think we’ve all made impulse purchases. I don’t live near a comics shop, but I know there have been several occasions when I picked a title I don’t normally collect because I was ordering from a seller who combined shipping and was intrigued by a cover of an issue he was selling cheaply. That is why I now have several issues of Charlton’s Ghostly Haunts, which I’m sure most people wouldn’t want.

    Rob, this is a Superman treasury that I can enjoy…since it actually stars Superman. Plus, we FINALLY get a Flash treasury. I wonder if Flash’s book wasn’t selling that well at the time, because I can’t believe DC never gave him his own treasury. The one letdown with this being the “only” Flash treasury is that it doesn’t feature any Infantino artwork. There was the Infantino story in the Best of DC treasury, but that was it for Barry/Flash and his treasuries, at least in solo adventures.

    I think most of the other posters have hit my thoughts on the stories, so I will comment on the cover. The JLA members aren’t necessarily cheering on Superman or the Flash just because their staying on his side of the track. On the original cover to Superman 199, Batman is on Superman’s side, but his dialogue shows he is cheering for the Flash. Geez, Batman, great way to show your loyalty after all these years of World’s Finest declaring you and Superman to be best friends. Likewise, Hawkman was on Flash’s side but cheered on Superman.

    Ok, boring personal story….this treasury slightly pre-dated when I began collecting, but I got to read it several years after release at the house of a couple of my parents’ friends. Their son had it. I always wanted a copy of my own and finally got to pick one up in the early 2000s.

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