FLASH #122 (1961)
by John Broome & Carmine Infantino
Sometimes I get the distinct feeling the early Flash stories were kind of silly.
Then I see a cover like this one and recall they can also be completely bonkers.
We begin with Barry Allen receiving news that a close friend from France is visiting. He’s a very famous fashion designer and he calls him “Barree”, which is not going to get old by the third time he does it.
I’m 99% sure his friend is coded as gay for 1961 standards.
But the fashion designer is not the main plot (shocking, I know): it’s actually the debut of The Top, the supervillain with a costume so lame everyone makes fun of it from his very first panel.
His gimmick is, what else, trick tops.
Are we sure we really want that to be the main plot? Because I’m fine with taking my chances with the fashion designer plot.
But no, the Flash has to deal with a smokescreen top.
0.0000000000001 nanoseconds later, The Top wins.
Wait, WHAT!?
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: the most stupid secret origin we have seen so far.
Because The Top gained himself superspeed AND superintelligence… BY STUDYING HOW GYROS WORK.
Oh for crying out loud, GYRO-MASTER made more sense than this!!!
And his origin was “Fallen into a vat of super-plastic inside a particle accelerator used to make toys”!!!!!!!
So naturally The Top’s first plan is to ask for WORLD DOMINATION.
Sounds legit.
Fortunately enough, Flash is able to find The Top before he can do anything.
0.0000000000001 nanoseconds later, the Flash wins.
I wish. I’m beginning to think the Flash can ONLY dodge lightning because it seems HE CAN’T DODGE ANYTHING ELSE!!!
First Sinestro, now The Top… what is it with supervillains giving several hours to the heroes to work up a plan!?
How long is Flash trapped inside the grenade before he does anything?There’s a 10 hour ticking clock and he only acts when the top is “beginning” to slow down!!!
This is one of the signature moves of the Silver Age Flash: turning intangible by vibrating very fast.
Or, as this comic calls it, thanks to “his fantastic speedability”.
Considering his love for throwing stuff into space, Flash might be Earth’s Jor-El.
He is a scientist after all.
How is The Top not dead!?!?! And don’t make me think where he puts his tops when his costume is clearly skintight.
And so we end with The Top getting arrested. Considering Flash got rid of the evidence, good luck keeping him jail.
And for the love of Professor Potter stop giving criminals access to the prison’s library!!! Has that EVER led to good things in a superhero comic book!?
But wait, you forgot something… how does the plot about the fashion designer end?
Honestly that should’ve been the main plot.
Historical significance: 5/10
The Top is a classic member of the Rogues… but he’s clearly among the most forgettable ones.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Come on, like I have to explain this one.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Holy crap was this stupid. Other than the artwork, there’s almost nothing redeemable about it… The Top is just evil for evil’s sake, utterly ridiculous and just plainly not interesting.
Come on Flash, you’re better than this!!!
Ridiculous Flash feat of the day 
How close is this to the modern character?: 9/10
The Top doesn’t really stand out during the Silver Age. I mean, if you want tricked gadgets you already have Captain Boomerang and Trickster, and if you want a speedster you have Reverse Flash… The Top didn’t bring all that much to the table.
The most notable thing about him was that his girlfriend (Golden Glider) will become the only female member of the Rogues… but even there he’s not unique because she’s also connected to Captain Cold, being his younger sister.
The Top actually died in 1976… and then teamed up with Golden Glider as a ghost in 1981.
Yeah, things got weird.
He came back a few more times post-Crisis, focusing on his new ability to possess people. That made him a little more unique, but attempts to fully bring him back didn’t really work out.
I still think his problem is that he doesn’t bring anything to the table and that his powers are too mismatched (either be about trick weapons or have superpowers, you can’t have both!!!).
And of course he looks absolutely ridiculous no matter the era.
