Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 3, 2026 | 1 comment

AN ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Scarlet Speedster comes to your shelf, and kitchen, and….

A selection of Flash items throughout the decades, including a few bonus ones!

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THE FLASH, created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino at the behest of editor Julius Schwartz, debuted 70 years ago in the pages of DC’s Showcase #4, on July 3, 1956 — kicking off the Silver Age! To celebrate both landmarks, we’ve got a FOUR-PART celebration for you! Once you speed through this piece, run to the links below for the other three segments! — Dan

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By CHRIS FRANKLIN

When editor Julius Schwartz, writer Robert Kanigher and artists Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert introduced a new version of the Flash in Showcase #4, they set off a new era in comics, the Silver Age. With his streamlined, jet-age design by Infantino, the new Scarlet Speedster (secretly police scientist Barry Allen) reinvigorated the moribund genre of superhero comics. DC began reviving old concepts with a new coat of paint, like Green Lantern, the Atom, and Hawkman. The heroes formed a new superhero team, the Justice League of America, based on the previous Justice Society. The former Atlas Comics took notice, and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave us the Fantastic Four, and the Marvel Age.

Ideal Batman/Justice League figurines and Ben Cooper Flash costume. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions.

Superman aside, the Silver Age Flash moved the needle in comics like few characters before or after him. But proportionately, he didn’t move much merchandise. The 1960s saw very little Flash items at retail. A few Halloween costumes, a static figurine, an audio adventure record and a few other products made it out during the superhero mania of the swingin’ decade. This despite the fact he was included in animated segments in Filmation’s Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

The ’70s and early ’80s were a little better, but as a fan of the character, I found it frustrating that he was often just relegated to group shots on products like bed sheets. He did get a set of Underoos, and I wore the shirt to death running circles around our house, a homemade mask my mom made for me completing the disguise. He finally got his first action figure when he was in the middle of a never-ending and depressing murder trial storyline in his comic. And then DC bumped him off to prove they meant business in their continuity-resetting Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries in 1985.

Image courtesy of Worthpoint

Despite his comic death, Barry’s fortunes on merchandise flourished once he was the patron saint of the DCU. Heck, he even got his first television series in 1990, but the show’s incredibly high production costs and unfortunately low ratings made it a one-season wonder, resulting in limited merchandise.

Although his nephew and former protégé Wally West fully came into his own as the Flash by the early ’90s, DC chose to questionably resurrect Barry in the Flash: Rebirth miniseries in 2009. Since then, he’s had a far more successful second live-action TV series, as well as big-screen appearances, including his own eponymous film in 2023. So, let’s hop on the Cosmic Treadmill and travel through the decades (and my own personal collection) to see how lightning struck store shelves — with 13 products featuring Barry Allen’s Human Thunderbolt.

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Super Friends Lunchbox (Aladdin Industries, 1976). With his super-speed, it’s hard to imagine the Flash bringing up the rear, but it’s true on this gorgeous 1976 Super Friends lunchbox. Flash, alongside Green Arrow and Batgirl appear on the back of the lunchbox, but it’s a huge spotlight for each of them. It’s an odd combination, but maybe it’s because Flash and Green Arrow were actual guests on the first (and at the time, only) season of the Super Friends cartoon, and Batgirl was still hot from heavy syndication of the ’60s Batman TV series.

Either way, all of them get better treatment than actual SF member (and perpetually mistreated) Aquaman, who doesn’t even get to share the front with fellow regular Friends Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and Robin. As I mentioned in my recent Supergirl merchandise article, this lunchbox was apparently targeted more to girls, hence Batgirl taking up more real estate than her male companions. Not sure exactly where the Flash pose was possibly lifted from, but Green Arrow is aping his hard-traveling buddy Green Lantern’s classic Gil Kane running pose, which is also reproduced on one of the sides.

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Pepsi Super Series (1976) and Collector Series (1978). Whenever I do these galleries, if appropriate, I must mention the much beloved DC Pepsi glass series of the mid-’70s. Flash made it into both sets, beginning with the “moon glass” version in 1976. Pepsi reproduced the often-seen Murphy Anderson art first used on corner vignettes of Flash’s comic in the early 1970s. Strangely, due to limitations in the numbers of inks they used per glass, they gave Barry a black circle for his chest emblem (is it really Professor Zoom in disguise?). However, the red and yellow in his costume still pop against the striking blue “moon” or circle.

I usually prefer the first series glasses, but for the Flash, I think his second is the best. Lifted from comic art that I believe was drawn by longtime Flash artist Irv Novick, Barry is practically running off the glass here! His colors are correct, and the back showcases one of his logos (although oddly enough, not the one used on his covers), and his lightning chest symbol. It’s one of the most striking designs of either series.

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Super Hero Card Game (Russell’s, 1977). Russell’s released a bevy of DC card games in the ’70s, with decks themed to Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and the Flash. Each deck featured artwork redrawn from comics, based on characters from that hero’s adventures. Flash may have gotten his own card pack, but his Rogue’s Gallery got the shaft. This is essentially a Justice League deck.

Barry gets three images, one lifted from the classic Anderson running-forward pose, one from the back of the Neal Adams/Dick Giordano Super DC 1976 Calendar, and one from… I have no idea where. This same pose was used for a generic villain in the Superman deck. Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Aquaman get two cards each, with Hawkman getting one, and that Adams/Giordano Super DC Calendar gets a workout! Russell’s also released these decks blister-packed with crayons as “Super Hero Color-A-Deck” card games.

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Super Jrs. Flash Cards (Larami, 1979). From card games to educational cards, and the Flash is there! Well, Flash-Kid is anyway! This toddler version of the Scarlet Speedster was a featured character in the Super Jrs.’ only published comics adventure, initially released in the late 1970s outside the US, and finally published stateside in Best of DC (Blue Ribbon Digest) #58 (March 1985). Nearly six years prior, as part of a large Super Jrs. merchandise push, Larami produced a series of educational flash cards featuring the diminutive DC heroes. The cards featured on top were random, so I lucked out in finding a mint-in-package example of Flash on division flash cards!

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Super Powers Collection (Kenner, 1984). It’s amazing to think that it took nearly 30 years for the Flash to get an action figure, but it’s true! Ideal only produced a static figurine of the Crimson Comet in their Batman/Justice League of America line and never released a Captain Action outfit for the character. Mego really dropped the ball, omitting the Scarlet Speedster from their legendary World’s Greatest Super-Heroes line in all formats. It took Kenner’s beautifully-crafted series to finally give Barry his due… when he had one foot in the grave. But it’s a fantastic figure nonetheless.

Kenner gave Flash a runner’s build, a friendly face, and a “Power Action Lightning Legs” feature that made perfect sense. Squeeze his arms, and his legs moved back and forth, as if he were running. Although he came on a unique card back like every other figure in the line, for some reason, many examples of Flash are often found in Kenner-branded bags like the one pictured here.

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Mug (Good Company, 1989). Following DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries in 1985, Barry Allen was dead, and Wally West had stepped up and into his uncle’s costume and title. At this point Wally and Barry looked identical, but the few bits of merchandise released in the next several years always seemed to feature Barry. Case in point, this mug by The Good Company.

On the back is Barry’s unique Flash logo, changing colors from yellow to red as the Fastest Man Alive speeds by, after images left in his wake, just like a classic Carmine Infantino drawing. I’m not sure who provided the art, but you don’t get much more iconic than this. That’s more kinetic movement than you’d ever expect from a simple coffee mug. And there’s that blue moon behind him, like on the Pepsi glass!

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Keepsake Ornament (Hallmark, 1998). Hallmark delivered a beautiful addition to not only your Christmas tree, but your Flash collection when they released this ornament, sculpted by Anita Mara Rogers in 1998. Since Wally had adopted the V-shaped lightning belt by this point, this is clearly meant to be Barry. And it captures his heroic, good-natured charm very easily. If you don’t want to hang this as intended, it is a bit of a pain to set up in a display, but the dynamic pose makes for a striking image.

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The Silver Age Flash and Kid-Flash (DC Direct, 2001). Wally West established himself as the Flash in the ’90s, and so few figures were made of Barry’s version of the character for the better part of a decade. And then DC Direct came along with their first of many versions of the Scarlet Speedsters, both Barry and (very) young Wally as Flash and the original “mini-me” costumed Kid Flash. Beautifully sculpted by Tim Bruckner, Barry looks heroic but lean, and has quite a bit of personality in his face. The set also came with the cosmic treadmill for traversing time and dimensions, as well as a one-size-fits-most Flash ring with hidden compartment, so you could recreate those iconic moments of Barry releasing his chemically treated uniform!

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13-Inch Deluxe Collector Figure (DC Direct, 2007). With an emphasis on the most classic versions of the characters, Barry was the Flash chosen for DC Direct’s line of 13-inch collector figures with cloth costumes. Overall, the figure is nicely done, but the face seems a bit off to me. He’s smiling, but there’s something of a hidden sadness there. During the decades when he was dead, Barry was often portrayed as the quintessential DC Silver Age hero; true-blue, chipper and so sincere he could be considered a bit corny. Maybe it’s the odd way his head sits on his neck that throws me. There are some strange costume details, like zippers on the body suit and boots, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to ever remove this costume. Despite the quibbles, it’s still an impressive looking figure.

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DC Comics Originals Big Figs (Jakks Pacific, 2015). Certainly, the largest Flash figure in my collection, this 19-incher makes quite an impression in a display. Maybe it’s the classic Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez style guide art on the packaging, but this just reads in many ways as an enlarged Super Powers figure to me. It has very limited articulation, but these were very affordable upon release, so you can’t expect too much for that price point. His legs ARE a little big, but obviously Barry’s a runner, so leg-day is every day. There was also a shiny metallic version released in a collector box, but maybe you can assume that one is Wally.

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DC Multiverse The Flash (2014 TV series, Mattel, 2015). It didn’t take long for Grant Gustin to get his first Flash figure, courtesy of Mattel’s DC Multiverse line, one year after his show debuted. I hadn’t really looked at the figure in years, and had forgotten how… brown the colors were! Yes, it was meant to reflect the dark maroon of the first two seasons, but the figure appears to be a pretty deep, almost chocolate brown in certain lighting! Luckily, he received MANY costume upgrades over the show’s nine (!) seasons, and by the end had a bright, faithful uniform. This figure has the chest emblem with the white circle from Season 2, but there’s also a variation with the red circle from Season 1.

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DC Multiverse Signature Collection The Flash (’90s TV Series, Mattel, 2018). After some rather abysmal Toy Biz figures were offered during the short run of the original The Flash TV series (1990-91), fans rejoiced when Mattel gave us a well-made figure of John Welsey Shipp’s Barry Allen in all his crimson glory. The likeness is quite nice, capturing Shipp’s set iron jaw perfectly. The fidelity to the costume (designed by The Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens) is also on point.

The packaging seems to focus on the earlier, brighter version of the costume from the pilot, but the figure itself has the much deeper red from the remainder of the series’ 22 episodes. This figure had an extremely limited release, and is coveted by fans of the series who missed it. Here’s hoping McFarlane Toys releases its own take before its license runs out at the end of 2026, or Mattel takes another go when it relaunches its DC collector line in 2027.

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World’s Greatest Super-Heroes 50th Anniversary (Mego, 2023). Mego FINALLY righted a wrong that kids and collectors had suffered for about half a century when it released a Barry Allen Flash figure in its 50th anniversary line of World’s Greatest Super-Heroes. Kid Flash somehow made it into the original line via the Teen Titans subset, but Uncle Barry got left at the starting line. This Flash looks like he stepped right out of your vinyl-covered cardboard Hall of Justice in 1976. The sculpting and costuming are exactly like what Mego would have utilized in the later years of the series. No notes Mego, you nailed it. Despite his super-speed powers, Barry was always notoriously late, so I guess it all fits.

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MORE

— MARK WAID: My TOP 13 Pre-CRISIS FLASH Stories — a 70th ANNIVERSARY Salute. Click here.

— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite SILVER AGE INNOVATIONS — RANKED. Click here. 

— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite Things About SHOWCASE #4. Click here.

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Regular 13th Dimension contributor CHRIS FRANKLIN is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including Batman: Knightcast and JLUCast.