Review by Win Wiacek
Superhero comics are littered with eternal questions that can never really be satisfactorily answered. The most common and most passionately asked always begin “who would win if…” or “who’s strongest/smartest/fastest?”
Teenaged scripting wunderkind Jim Shooter knew that very well when he pitched and subsequently scripted a 1967 Superman story creating a sub-genre of comic-plot leading inevitably and delightfully to this collection.
DC Editors in the 1960s generally avoided such questions for fear of upsetting some portion of their tenuous and perhaps temporary fan-base, but as the superhero boom slowed, the notion of a definitive race between the almighty Man of Steel and the Fastest Man Alive became an increasingly enticing and sales-worthy proposition.
This sporty chronicle gathers together the initial contest and numerous rematches, but if you’re seeking a definitive answer you won’t find it here. These are splendid costumed entertainments designed to catch your breath and quicken your pulse, but it’s not about winning, it’s all to do with the taking part.
Shooter’s ‘Superman’s Race With the Flash’ gets the ball rolling, illustrated by Curt Swan. The two speedy champions are asked to compete in an exhibition contest by the United Nations, thereby raising money to fight world hunger. Naturally they agree, but the clever global handicap, circling the planet three times, is secretly subverted by rival criminal combines attempting to stage the greatest gambling coup in history.
The stakes were catastrophically raised in 1967’s inevitable rematch. ‘Race to the End of the Universe!’ has the rivals speeding across the cosmos when ruthless alien gamblers threaten to eradicate Central City and Metropolis unless the pair settled who was fastest. E. Nelson Bridwell adds an ingenious sting in the tale, whilst Ross Andru delivers sterling illustration, but once more the actual winning was deliberately fudged.
1970’s contrived ‘Race to Save the Universe!’ and its conclusion ‘Race to Save Time’ are by Denny O’Neil and Dick Dillin and once more up the stakes as the high-speed heroes are conscripted by the Guardians of the Universe. They must circumnavigate the entire cosmos at their greatest velocities to undo the rampage of the mysterious anachronids, faster-than-light creatures whose pell-mell course throughout the galaxies is unwinding time itself.
‘Chase to the End of Time!’and ‘Race to the End of Time!’ are from 1978 by Martin Pasko and the utterly superb José Luis García-López (sample art left). They rather reprise the previous tale with warring alien races tricking Superman and Flash into speeding through the time-stream to prevent Earth’s history from being corrupted and destroyed. As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, nobody could predict the deadly intervention of the Scarlet Speedster’s most deadly foe, the Reverse-Flash.
‘Speed Kills!’is from 1990 by writer/artist Dan Jurgens (sample art right) and there’s a new kid in the Flash’s uniform as ex-sidekick Wally West had graduated to the role. It’s a delightfully wacky romp wherein 5th dimensional pest Mr. Mxyzptlk coerces the pair into running a race everybody knows is fixed from the get-go.
The collection concludes with a spectacular saga unerringly aimed at older fans. ‘Speeding Bullets’ from 2002 is by Geoff Johns and Rich Burchett, and features Abra Kadabra challenging the Man of Steel and the 1940s Flash Jay Garrick to catch the current Vizier of Velocity who is running amok at hyper-speed and rapid-aging with every step. If they can’t catch him then the Fastest Man Alive won’t be…
There is repetition, but readers casual or deeply devoted are guaranteed a joyous thrill-ride from these stand-alone stories. On your marks…, get set… Buy!
