InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Crivens!"

Doop (xdoop) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-23 16:54:00

Entry tags:

char: flash/barry allen, char: mopee, creator: carmine infantino, creator: gardner fox, publisher: dc comics, title: the flash

The Flash's REAL origin

This is from The Flash #167. It's written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Carmine Infantino.

The story begins with Flash going after some jewel smugglers when suddenly his uniform catches on fire; he's lost the protective body aura that safeguards him from the friction caused by super-speed. Flash jumps into the water to douse the flames.

Flash considers giving up his powers, but thinks about all the good he's done with them.

After his ad is placed in the newspaper, Flash goes across the country with Mopee, delivering various packages.

(Post a new comment)

	sistermagpie 2009-06-23 04:30 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, wow. So this is the famous Mopee. (Reply to this)

	ex_stig213 2009-06-23 04:53 pm UTC (link)
	Either a Fifth-Dimension-Scientist or a figment of the imagination. I can't possibly envision him working any other way in present continuity. (Reply to this)

	icon_uk 2009-06-23 05:13 pm UTC (link)
	Is it an Ambush Bug comic where he shows up again and is rather smug that he's NOT a what if, not an imaginary story, he's REAL and in CONTINUITY, and that drives the comic book fans NUTS! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	brandiweed.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	He showed up in a Superfriends comic (the ones going with the new chunky kids' toys) along with a bunch of other obscure fifth-dimensionals (Aquaman's buddy Qwsp, some Wonder Woman imp), going after Bat-Mite for being a fanboy pest again. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kirayoshi1 2009-06-23 09:55 pm UTC (link)
	I am deeply amazed that Grant Morrison hasn't done anything with this character. Heck, he made Qwisp badass during his JLA run. He even introduced Mxyzptlk's wife from Superman: TAS during that arc! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	xdoop 2009-06-23 07:15 pm UTC (link)
	Yea, Ambush Bug #3. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aaron_bourque 2009-06-23 07:30 pm UTC (link)
	Well, Mopee is portrayed as so . . . braindeadeningly stupid, that I wouldn't be surprised if he actually didn't send that lightning bolt at Barry. Like, me meant to, but he's just not good enough at his job (or, anything) to have succeeded. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	thanekos 2009-06-23 11:21 pm UTC (link)
	lemme guess, he also had fun with a bullet on the grassy knoll? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mcity 2009-06-23 11:53 pm UTC (link)
	Of course not. That was the Comedian. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	janegray 2009-06-24 06:02 am UTC (link)
	I don't get the last reference, who is Jimmy? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-06-24 07:08 am UTC (link)
	Jim Shooter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Shooter (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	janegray 2009-06-24 12:45 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	filbypott 2009-06-23 06:20 pm UTC (link)
	I am really surprised that Grant Morrison hasn't written some stupid fourth-wall-breaking retcon about Mopee (which would get retconned right back as soon as another writer took on the Flash). (Reply to this) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-06-24 08:20 am UTC (link)
	Probably he would have viewed it as being too close to what he did with Yz, Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt, and Lkz in JLA (Reply to this) (Parent)

	crinosg 2009-06-23 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	.....whaaaaaaat? (Reply to this)

	retro_nouveau 2009-06-23 06:42 pm UTC (link)
	Easy as ABZ. Somewhere there's a cottage missing a seventh, rhymes with "mopey". Hi ho! Should have just jogged over to Gotham and asked Bruce to lend a C-note. Taco Whiz, maybe? (Reply to this)

	sd_mouser 2009-06-23 07:11 pm UTC (link)
	I prefer the '80s annual where, during his fight with the AntiMonitor he loops back on his life and becomes the lightning bolt that hits the chemicals. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-06-23 09:10 pm UTC (link)
	Motto. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thehefner 2009-06-24 02:06 am UTC (link)
	Double motto. I'm still hoping to see that one posted here at some point. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jlbarnett 2009-06-23 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	which gets rid of Mopee no matter what the Ambush Bug writer says. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-06-24 08:21 am UTC (link)
	Right there with you, though it does make you wonder how Wally got his powers if that were the case. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	aaron_bourque 2009-06-23 07:19 pm UTC (link)
	As bizarre as this story is, I have no problem with Mopee--on a conceptual level. Superheroes, particularly in the Silver Age, had strange impish side characters. That's just how it was. Superman had Mxysptlk, Batman had Bat-Mite, J'onn had Zook, Aquaman had Qwsp, Wonder Woman had Shaggy, the Flash has Mopee. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-06-23 07:21 pm UTC (link)
	Who was Shaggy? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aaron_bourque 2009-06-23 07:26 pm UTC (link)
	Shaggy the Leprechaun. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	aaron_bourque 2009-06-23 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	Mxysptlk For shame. I even double checked, too. I mean of course Mr. Mxysptlk. Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; heh heh heh (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	khaosworks 2009-06-23 08:44 pm UTC (link)
	Um... MxyZptlk. Just sayin'. :) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	aaron_bourque 2009-06-23 11:24 pm UTC (link)
	That's. The. Joke. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	khaosworks 2009-06-23 11:45 pm UTC (link)
	D'oh! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-06-25 11:18 pm UTC (link)
	I wanted to correct him too... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	thehefner 2009-06-24 02:09 am UTC (link)
	Who's Hal's equivalent? Myrwhydden? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lieut_kettch 2009-06-24 05:37 am UTC (link)
	Hal has a whole passel of cosmic-powered midgets. They call themselves the Guardians. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-06-24 08:23 am UTC (link)
	"We're representatives of the LanternPop Guild, The LanternPop Guild, The LanternPop Guild And as representatives of the LanternPop Guild Weeeee welcome you to the LanternPop Corps." They moved to the Emerald City not long after and the rest is history. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	http://www.openid.org/dduane 2009-06-29 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	(SNORT) (The image of Oa redone in Oz-style Art Deco is going to haunt me now...) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	gamerguy 2009-06-23 09:22 pm UTC (link)
	This is why we should be glad for retcons :) (Reply to this)

seriousfic
2009-06-23 10:14 pm UTC (link)

I know others have already gone the Grant Morrison route for their quips, so I can only be the first to say that Grant Morrison is masturbating furiously while wondering how the Heavenly Helpmates fit into the Monitors. It will be the basis of a companywide crossover once he figures it out. Dan Didio will not be able to understand the language it is written in, but he will publish it anyway.

(Reply to this)

	superfan1 2009-06-24 12:33 am UTC (link)
	Mopee should come back. (Reply to this)

	kitty_tc_69 2009-06-24 01:21 am UTC (link)
	Why the hell is Harry Potter there? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	timgueguen 2009-06-24 02:24 am UTC (link)
	So I'm not the only one who thought of Potter. My guess is that this is what happens to poor Harry when he realises the most important thing he did in his life happened when he was still a teenager. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kitty_tc_69 2009-06-24 03:31 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, total child star syndrome there. Shine on, you crazy diamond! (Reply to this) (Parent)

psychop_rex
2009-06-24 02:01 am UTC (link)

Well, now THIS is interesting. First off, it's interesting because, well, the Pre-Crisis Flash got his speed from a guy who looks like what you might get if you left Harry Potter soaking in the washing machine for about fifty years - but secondly, because it FINALLY clears up a little thing that's been nagging me for quite a while.
Here's the little thing - I happen to own a copy of 'The Life Story of the Flash', which is ostensibly written by Iris Allen. It's an interesting book, since it's part text, part comic book. Anyway, the revamped version of Barry's origin goes as follows: he's in his lab, working late, and everything basically goes according to precedent - the rack of chemicals, the lightning bolt, flashy flashy zoomy-zoom zoom. All that. BUT, the one major departure goes as follows - Barry happens to have a sample of a certain street drug in the lab with him, a new kind of hallucinogen. What's the name of it? Yep - it's 'Mopee', and one of the first things that Barry thinks after his initial burst of speed is that maybe he was hallucinating, due to some Mopee being splashed on him during the lightning strike. And if it DID, then Mopee really WAS responsible for Barry's powers - in an indirect way, as one of the chemicals that got electrified. I knew right away that it was a reference to SOMETHING, and I've been trying for a while to figure out just what - but I never did, until now.
So now I know. And knowing is half the battle. Thanks, Mopee!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	kitty_tc_69 2009-06-24 03:35 pm UTC (link)
	"Mopee" as a drug sounds like a street name for a powerful diuretic. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-06-24 05:05 pm UTC (link)
	Nah, too sanitized. It'd probably be something like like 'Mo' piss'. (Reply to this) (Parent)