FLASH #113 (1960)
by John Broome & Carmine Infantino
Of all the things that could possibly amaze the Flash, this looks rather pedestrian.
The Trickster sure makes a great first impression, robbing a plane during its flight!!!
Is it just me or out of all the ways to draw Trickster into the open, this doesn’t sound like something the Flash would normally do?
Normally I would make the joke about Flash winning after nanoseconds, but I can’t even do that because once he meets Trickster he doesn’t even try to arrest him or anything!
Instead he opts to move fast enough to create multiple afterimages. How is this going to put Tricker in jail!?
Well that’s the most pathetic way I’ve seen someone being defeated by sneezing powder.
Which means it’s far worse than that one time Hawkeye defeated Doctor Doom with a sneezing arrow.
The cover scene does make it into the story, and it’s equally as underwhelming. Even assuming Flash can’t run on air himself… at this point I’m convinced there’s nothing he can’t bulls##t his way through… Trickster doesn’t have super-speed. Can’t the Flash just wait for him on the other side of this cliff!?
We now transition to the most bonkers part of this story: the secret origin of Trickster.Which is one of the most confusing ones I’ve read, because it’s basically X origin stories crammed together. Seriously, just tell me how these parts are supposed to fit together.
1) his name is James Jesse. His theme is being a trickster, not an outlaw. Plus I know he’s a kid in this scene, but he’s also an idiot for even suggesting he’s related to Jesse James.
2) he’s from a family of acrobats. This has nothing to do with his theme either.
3) it’s not even important to the character, considering he sucks at being an acrobat.
4) his greatest “trick” is inventing shoes that allow him to walk on air. This, again, has nothing to do with being a trickster!!!
The whole connection to Jesse James is one of the flimsiest excuses for an origin I’ve ever read.
If his whole deal is imitating Jesse James by holding up planes, why does he call himself Trickster and not something like Outlaw!?!?
Heck at this point just call him Harlequin, since that’s the only “““clue””” that leads Flash to the circus where Trickster is still performing!!!
On the other hand it leads to a scene of Flash using a pogo stick, so it’s not all bad.
0.0000000000001 nanoseconds later, the Flash wins.
(yeah, I couldn’t resist doing the bit)
Great job giving him permanent brain damage with that move, Flash.
Historical significance: 6/10
Trickster is one of my favorite Flash villains, especially post-Crisis, but this story in itself doesn’t have a huge impact.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
When circus acrobats with seemingly no scientific background could invent air-walking shoes.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
This is not very good. The action is lackluster (though the pogo stick is hilarious), Flash doesn’t come out as particularly bright, and Trickster has one of the weirdest possible origins.
Ridiculous Flash feat of the day
Presented without context, from the other story of the issue: the same Flash who couldn’t stop Trickster because he was running on air… runs through the entire world in seconds to avoid an energy blast. 
How close is this to the modern character?: 4/10
Trickster’s greatest asset as a character is… well, being a trickster! That is completely absent from this story. He barely uses any tricks, in fact the sneezing powder is the only one.
As with several Flash villains, I mostly liked Trickster during the Wally West era where he was something between anti-hero and anti-villain; suitably for his name, you didn’t always know what you would get from him.
He was killed in 2007 and replaced by a new Trickster named Axel Walker.
I haven’t read a single comic where he appears so I don’t have an opinion on the guy.
I can’t talk about Trickster without mentioning Mark Hamill, who played him in two Flash series, both in the 90s and in 2015, as well as in a few cartoons.
The 90s version has more in common with the Joker than with Trickster, and since it predates Hamill’s iconic role in the Batman Animated Series that would launch shortly thereafter, it’s really hard not to see his Trickster as a trial run.