Early in their runs, the jet age Flash and Green Lantern had already developed surprisingly elaborate mythologies.
Barry Allen’s centered on his highly colorful, idiosyncratic “rogue’s gallery,” which ranged from would-be ladykillers (Captain Cold) to unscrupulous advertising gimmicks (Captain Boomerang).
And foremost among them was Grodd, who added an entire secret city of super gorillas to the mix. By Flash 127, the sinister simian was already making his fifth appearance in the title.
“Grodd sought to overthrow (the super-gorilla chief) Solovar through his impressive psionic powers, which included telekinesis, mind control, telepathy and mental projection,” observed Keith Dallas in his Flash Companion. “He was also a brilliant inventor, constructing various imaginative weapons and gadgets, like the one that caused the Flash to absorb so much moisture from the surrounding air that he turned into a 1,000-pound fat man (The Flash 115, Sept. 1960).”
In this John Broome/Carmine Infantino story, Grodd chooses the unusual weapon of love, using “neo-magnetic radiation” to make anyone who sees him adore him. Cheekily, he even running for governor.
In the next issue, the 64th century stage magician Abra Kadabra would also compel applause, but only because he was a hopeless ham.
The Emerald Gladiator’s mythological superstructure was well displayed on the cover of Green Lantern 11, which featured not just Hal Jordan but an array of masked aliens in vivid and verdant costumes, including a bird humanoid, a fish humanoid, a tree humanoid, a robot and a tiny grasshopper Green Lantern.
Here, Hal’s most formidable foe and opposite number, Sinestro, engineers his exile from the Green Lantern Corps to the evil antimatter universe of Qward. But he succeeds in proving only that the resourceful Hal Jordan can use anything — even the water vapor from his own breath — as the means of escaping a trap.
And of course, as close friends and frequent partners, Flash and Green Lantern were also a part of each other’s mythologies, adding to the fun for fans.
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