FLASH #105 (1959)
by John Broome & Carmine Infantino
This is the first issue of the series to feature Barry Allen as the Flash: issue 104 was a 1949 story with Jay Garrick as the scarlet speedster.
We begin with a guy going to the bank to capture an image. I hope nobody tells him that the camera had already been invented.
No, seriously, that’s the secret origin of Mirror Master: he was a bank robber who accidentally discovered how to make a mirror hold the image for several minutes.
But that’s not all: a combination of Developing Ray ™ and Image Controller (patent pending) allow him to make three-dimensional holograms that can be controlled at a distance!!!
A recurring theme of Flash villains is how they waste inventions worth billions to steal petty cash, and Mirror Master is not even the worst offender.
Barry Allen runs into the hologram at the bank, figuring out his image is mirrored.
He’s also a super-fast hologram!
Mirror Master is ready for him. I fully expect “the speed of thought” to become an actual speed in these stories (with the Flash being faster, because Flash).
The hologram hides in a hall of mirrors (???), where Flash identifies him by defacing the other mirrors with some black paint that he randomly found just laying around.
First Captain Cold, now Mirror Master… do all Flash villains throw random illusions at him in their first appearance!? Admittedly it makes more sense for Mirror Master, but still, weird trend.
You just have to love the Flash just casually jogging at the speed of light just to see if it has any effects.
Okay I can buy Mirror Master capturing the image of a mosquito and enlarging it, but where did he get the minotaur to copy!?
For a moment I was afraid they were going for the old “bulls target anything red” discredited trope, but this is ALMOST correct:
Then he has a hunch the minotaur is just an illusion, and switching off the lights proves it.
And so the Flash captures Mirror Master, just in time for his date.
Historical significance: 8/10
Not exactly mandatory reading for the Flash, but Mirror Master is a major villain.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Only in the Silver Age you could have these crazy mirror technology and casual faster-than-light without anyone batting an eye.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
A very basic concept with a competent execution. You really, REALLY need to suspend your disbelief for the technology, but that’s comics for you.
Ridiculous Flash feat of the day
Presented with no context, from the other story. 
How close is this to the modern character? 7/10
The look is there (most Flash villains have great designs from the start), and the original Mirror Master is not a particularly complex villain. What holds this incarnation back is that, despite his admittedly weird inventions, it doesn’t go NEARLY as insane as his usual tricks.
Seriously, this guy might as well be magic for the crazy stunts he pulls. 
Mirror Master is quite unusual for a classic Silver Age villain, in that his death in Crisis of Infinite Earths actually sticks to the character.
The original Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) does indeed remain dead post-Crisis, to be replaced by Scottish mercenary Evan McCulloch debuting, of all places, in the fantastic Animal Man run by Grant Morrison.
McCulloch has completely eclipsed Scudder at this point.
He’s one of the few replacement villains who I vastly prefer over the original: Scudder was just a generic supervillain, but McCulloch just oozes personality… the mercenary with both a heart of gold and a cruel streak.
