The Flash  

Barry is really, *really* lucky he got back to Earth-1 on his first attempt. If this story was made in the modern day, he's spend about three volumes doing *Sliders* across different universes. Also, kinda interesting how the villains act in this. They legitimately compliment each other and two of them run off to help Fiddler when they think he's in trouble. I guess on Earth-2, there really is honor among thieves.

Don't you love how Barry just assumed Joan wouldn't know about Jay's secret, despite being married? Sadly, he didn't learn much from this.

Jays aging is surprisingly natural for a comic character

"Scooby-Doo's origin story is weird!" According to Mystery Incorporated, it's even _weirder._

When you read this issue and know that the Flash was Grant Morrison's favorite childhood superhero, his work starts to make sense... maybe....

10:38 Linkara: "The Thinker, The Fiddler..." Me: "And The Candlestick Maker."

Maybe the Thinker's problem in the Flash TV show was that he never used his powers to make talking guard dogs for himself.

12:00 "The origin of Scooby-Doo is really weird." You have no idea. Scooby-Doo and other talking pets are actually descendants of the animals possessed by the Annunnaki, a race of creatures living in another dimension. Every few thousand years, during an event called Nibiru, the barrier between their world and ours grows weak, allowing the Anunnaki to visit Earth. Some of them are good and tend to help humans, while others are evil. The Anunnaki have no physical forms, so they have to inhabit various animals' bodies, thus being responsible for mythological figures as the Egyptian gods, China's Monkey King and the Aztec's Quetzalcoatl among others.

I didn’t realize how much the justice league episode “ legends” was inspired by this comic

"Baby Yoda is really cute!" - Linkara

Wasn't expecting the first appearance of a concept, especially the multiverse.

Quite possibly the most important and groundbreaking single issue in DC's history...

It's great to see that elements of this story were worked into the Justice League two-part episode, "Legends", which was dedicated to Garnder Fox.

Back when the multiverse was a simple concept

You know, I'd like to think that in the DC Universe they read Marvel comics and in the Marvel Universe they read DC comics. And indie comics will exist in both, and both DC and Marvel exist as comics in indie universes.

12:09 You joke but one of the Scooby doo show's actually do reveal why Scooby can talk... And it's definitely weirder than this

Is it safe to say that with this story, the creation of the justice league and justice society, that Gardner Fox is one of the most important writers in the history of DC comics. And I’m surprised he isn’t given more love from the Company

As the multiverses idea is my favorite thing in superhero stuff- this is the origin of why I’m a fan of the stuff .

It's really nice that we kind of have an adaptation of this now thanks to Justice Society WW2

He actually kind of touched on something interesting here. The whole, "Fiction writer is actually writing the real experiences of people from another universe," trope is pretty common, but we rarely ever see the logical fallout to that. Like, a writer has just been told and presumably given evidence that all of the ideas they thought were their own are actually just events from somewhere else they've been copying. Their whole career is a lie. They don't have the talent they thought they did. That's got to fuck someone up.

I think the Gardner Fox getting dreams of Jay Garrick might be like how Robert E Howard said Conan appeared to him at night to recount his adventures.

You think the original script for this comic called for "guards," and the artist just assumed they were supposed to be guard dogs? Then, when they brought up later, he was just like, "okay, that makes way more sense, but the talking dogs are awesome, and I'm keeping them," and everyone just kinda agreed?

Good timing with this considering CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths is coming in 2 weeks.

Y'know, it occurs to me that if this were a Marvel story, the two Flashes would've mistaken each other for a villain through a contrived series of misunderstandings and poor communication and started duking it out, leading to a severe amount of property damage before teaming up to defeat the villain...

Funny, the psychic waves were kind of an explanation of why stories are written in that Two-Parter of the DCAU Justice League and it had also the fiddler. It's fun, when they reference that stuff^^. Also, nice detail: the villains want to help their colleague and they are not like "screw that guy." It's nice, when even the bad guys demonstrate that teamwork and being nice to each other helps.

Multiverses are fun :D And I'm with you -- it's nice to see a story where two characters from different worlds can meet WITHOUT it being a world-ending crisis. In fact, for Barry it's the chance of a lifetime -- solve a case with his comic book hero! :D That's really sweet, and I'd like more stories like THAT in the modern era. High-stakes adventures are fine, but a few low-stakes "hey let's just have a pizza night and catch some crooks" stories would help balance everything out nicely. *nods* Also, glad to see the kitties are still loving the camera. XD

In the Justice League episode “Legends”, where the League go to an alternate reality and meet the Justice Guild Of America (off-brand versions of the Justice Society with off-brand versions of the Golden Age Heroes), part of the premise was that the Justice Guild were also a comic book in the League’s own reality that Jon Stewart was a fan of as a kid. While I know the Flash in Justice League was actually Wally West and not Barry Allen, I wish the writers gave Flash the bit about being a comic book fan meeting the characters he liked due to the Flash of Two Worlds comic and how Jay being Barry’s hero and inspiration was a big part of their relationship and Barry becoming a superhero.

Baby Yoda will unite this country and bring us out of the dark times.

I like that the whole "He got it in a dream" was used in that Justice League episode where they get stuck in another Earth.

"And still none of them had a ZPM" I appreciate the Stargate Atlantis Joke. Thank you Neil Gaimain for Destiny (ok he didn't create him but he made him cool)

"We're starting with something... groovy." You're reviewing an Earthworm Jim comic? Finally!

i like your cats have been making a aperance

Considering Dream and his bro Destiny are Endless really high level cosmic beings who exist as concepts they could very well have been responsible for these authors dreaming of different reality’s as a way to recycle ideas or perhaps to inspire other heroes in many different realities giving them similar names and abilities and allowing them to unite when a Crisis or similarly dangerous threat arises.

That feeling when you are so early the Flash thinks you're too fast.

The funny thing is, they decided to do Crisis because they thought the multiple Earths concept was too confusing, but the very first Justice League I remember buying was 100, when I was only 7 years old. I loved the story and never had a problem following the concept. One thing I did love about the 'jewels in the ears' explanation is that the Fiddler's power really shouldn't effect the Flashes anyway, because of the Doppler effect.

I love that they recreated the cover on the TV Show. I also love that the community center plays a role in Final Crisis.And of course, they homaged this story with the Justice Guild on Justice League. My first JLA Comic was the 1982 JSA team-up, where they also ally with the All-Star Squadron to battle the Crime Syndicate of America, and Per Degaton, to save Earth-Two, and prevent the nuclear annihilation of our world when super-powered American's stole the Russian missiles in Cuba.

I’m comin! I’m coming! PHRASING! Dead. 😂😂😂

2:22 THAT CAT'S WAVING AT US!!!!!!! IT CAN SEE US!!!!!!!!!!

I remember them referencing this on The Flash. Also having John Wesley Shipp play Jay Garrick is genius

It’s weird that we see the blue hand and the Earths side-by-side recreated today as depictions of the Multiverse, and not “mucking up vibrating a rope to entertain some bored kids”.

I hope he eventually does more of the silver age crisis crossovers

Obviously the Flash superspeeds to the nearest dry cleaners and borrows their equipment to get rid of the wrinkles before he puts the suit on.

Recommendations for next year’s secret origins month: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in Uncanny X-men #4 Wally West in The Flash #110 The Vision in Avengers #57 Nick Fury in Sgt. Fury and his Hallowing Commandos #1

But in the DCAU Justice League when Lantern (Jon Stewart), Hawkgirl, Flash (Wally West), and Martian Manhunter crossed into a different dimension it was also similar to this cause of how the heroes and villains all reminded Green Lantern of his time as a boy reading comics. The writer of the comics kept in sync with them until he stopped making them and likewise in the other world it was devastated by nuclear warfare resulting in a truly horrific change for someone there.

And thus, one of the most fascinating concepts in all of science fiction (maybe fiction in general) is introduced to the masses.

I had no idea how in-depth this story was. I kinda figured that it was just a one off that eventually inspired the idea of the DC Multiverse, but no, practically all the details that would be there later are laid here. That, and as a previous commenter noted, the DCAU episode Legends was basically a direct adaptation of this story with a few character changes. Always loved that episode, and now equally appreciate this issue. Thanks Linkara! On an unrelated note - OMG KITTIES! I want to squeeze them! :D

Yes, I agree: Baby Yoda is cute and that is a fact.

I'll bet grant Morrison snuggles with this comic every night

I just watched this review, felt like finally continuing the Flash TV series after having watched season 1 years ago and went on Amazon Prime to do so, and literally in the first two episodes of season 2, Jay Garrick shows up and they reference the cover of this comic. As a non-comic reader, I'm so grateful to Linkara for all the years of comic book reviews and backstory explanations, or else I wouldn't have gotten half of all the references in superhero movies and shows over the past decade.

The one thing about the Earth-Two heroes being comic book characters on Earth-One is that everyone should know who Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are since their identities are the same on both worlds. One of my favorite multi-verse stories was an issue of Brave & The Bold where The Phantom Stranger gives Batman the opportunity to prevent the murder of the Waynes on another Earth. Just like several decades separated the Earth-One Bruce from his Earth-Two counterpart, this Earth had a similar separation. Robin goes along and while Bruce is preoccupied with finding Joe Chill, Dick investigates the world. He finds that young Bruce is a spoiled brat, the world lacks any heroic literature, and star charts show no sign of Krypton ever existing. He begins to wonder if preventing the murder will rob the world of the only hero it will every have.

1:50 Bonus points for referencing Stargate: Atlantis!

Funny I should watch this right after rewatching the Justice League episode “Legends”, which was clearly inspired by this - and dedicated to Gardner Fox as well!

2:24 Rogue kitty sighting!

...Bouncing from universe to universe, hoping each time the next vibration, will be the vibration home!!

I mean, Dream is also a thing so the dream writing thing makes as much sense as anything. Also Shade is a rather interesting character in his own right.

If you want to know more about the Many-Worlds Interpretation, I recommend _Something Deeply Hidden_ by Sean Carroll. There is actually a variant of Many-Worlds where the different branches can communicate through what is known as an "Everett phone".

Ya gotta love that last panel of the comic book. Given that Gardner Fox wrote it, it essentially puts Fox and Infantino “atop the fourth wall.”

No ZPM in Atlantis? Finally! I can say this with a straight face: "This sounds like a job for Aquaman!"

I hope Lewis guest stars on another WTFIWWY episode with Tara so all three hosts can have their cats onscreen.

One of the best and most iconic comics of the Flash and DC comics in general. Really hope that someday in the future this gets adapt into a movie (it can be either live action or animated). It would be awesome to see a movie showcasing Barry’s origin and having Jay Garrick appearing and acting as mentor for the new and inexperient speedster.

honestly the multiverse is such an enduring part of the comic stories, so much so, i use it as the basis for my fan stories

See, I have no problem with the idea of "getting thoughts about stories via mind link to another dimension"...but only because I first came across an idea like that via an episode of Darkwing Duck as a kid, where a guy gets linked mentally (I think by a helmet in that version) to Darkwing's world, and thus gets story ideas from it.

But did he Stand for every one of us?!?

I do love the fact that the villains just Accept that there are TWO flashes running around without asking any questions about it. Also, if Gardner Fox existed on Earth 1 was there one on earth 2 as well?

Considering the DCTV Crisis on Infinite Earths that’s happening, this is great coincidental timing. Either that or Linkara is some sort of wizard that can predict events in order to have good synergy, but how likely is that? As for SO Month 2020, if we’re gonna go back to 2 Marvel/2 DC, I’d say some good subjects could be Nick Fury, Carol Danvers, Batwoman and The Atom (Ray Palmer).

"Fiddler-Mobile". Fun educational fact: in the UK, we call those windowless vans.

Some ideas for next year’s Secret Origins Month: Marvel Super-Heroes #13 and Ms Marvel #1(first apearence of Carol Danvers both as herself and Ms Marvel respectively) The Umbrella Academy #1 (no surprises for guessing what this is the first appearence of) The Boys #1 (first appearance of the Seven and the heroic black ops team of the comic’s title) Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #25 (first appearance of John Constantine) Alias #1 (first appearance of Jessica Jones) Hero for Hire #1 (first appearance of Luke Cage)

Speaking of the DC multiverse... ...the Crisis happens next week.

Linkara releasing a video on Monday....WHAT KIND OF NEW SPORT OF MADNESS IS THIS?

There has been the occasional comic where a character's dimensional parallel is a normal person, for example Earth-One's Johnny Thunder never had a Thunderbolt genie; he ended up becoming a villain.

It's actually interesting that THIS was the inspiration for a Justice League episode where Martian Manhunter, Flash, Hawkgirl, and John Stewart end up in a silver age world.

I'm also a huge fan of the Legacy Story concept. It's really cool to see a new hero and an older hero of the same ilk (example: the two Flashes in this comic) meeting up and working together for a bit. Not only is it a nice continuity nod and some acknowledgement to the older fans, but it's also a way to get younger readers interested in hunting down the old stories to see what all the fuss is about. And in this day and age, Legacy content _should_ be easier than ever to access. But that's a rant for another day...

Am i the only one who likes the concept of "dreaming about things that happen in another universe"? I mean, It isn't that far fecthed, and is similar to those cases of "a character has a prophetic dream". Just switch "dreamed about the future" o "dreamed about the present in another universe"

If there's an infinite amount of parallel worlds then some of those worlds would be imaginary ones; I love how this this story walks up to this line by having Barry talk about Jay being a fictional character in his world but then runs away from it very quickly because what it means to his own life as the Flash. "I'm real and you're... obviously real." It looks like to me Jay Garrick actually took the next logical step of what that really means and seems to be aware his desire being the Flash relates to his book being cancelled... and the "new guy" showing up and what that means for the Flash of Either World. When Peter Parker meet Stan Lee in the final episode of the SM Animated series, he took his "fictional" status better... especially in how he didn't chew Stan Lee out for making his life a mortal hell. But, sure, one guy meets his fictional counterpart and it means"multiverse" for everyone based on an assumption; DC comics stands for both DisContinuity Comics and Don't Care Comics after all.

The plot point about Gardner Fox WAS a plot point in an episode of Justice League called Legends. One of their best ones tbh.

The Flash of Two Worlds cover is my all time number one favorite comic book cover!!

Plot twist - both Gardner Fox and Jay Garrick had Ancient communication stones. When Fox was dreaming of the Flash, Jay was dreaming of being a comic book writer. He never questioned it because he thought it was relaxing.

The Flash playing Tennis with himself? Ha! Sonic the hedgehog can play Ping Pong with himself!

"I hear they're gonna announce my next opponent in their next news broadcast!" Me in the future: *sigh* ....

I just want to point out that after this and before Crisis on Infinite Earths there's about ten more Crisis events where the Jla and Jsa team up on a mostly annual basis for stories like Crisis on Earth 3 (Crime Syndicate), or Crisis on Earth X (Freedom Fighters). They're collected in the trade paperback Crisis on Multiple Earths, and it's a fun read that gradually expanded the multiverse. The point is that it wasn't a jump right to Crisis on Infinite Earths, that was the culmination of a long pattern of Crises. If you enjoyed this simpler, old fashioned style of comics, check it out.

I just realized even sonic generations referenced this cover in the death egg robot cutscene, both Sonic’s in a hall (with a giant mirror instead of a wall) confused at the other,before Classic hears his Eggman speak and runs while older sonic is still confused, letting the boss begin, just an awesome reference

This comic is also tragic, in a way. It was the last time DC got to be itself, rather than try to be someone else. The contrasting styles of the current and previous incarnations of The Flash did not hamper the overall tone in any way, as with most, it also took advantage of the goofiness of the Golden Age with fourth wall humor, using it as a way to not talk down and berate the audience, but rather ask the fans to see if they are willing to stick around.

I always assumed the reason The Flash's suit didn't have wrinkles was he was basically auto ironing it with mach speed as soon as he popped it on.

This reminds me of the Justice League animated series two-parter "Legends" where they travel to the alternate dimension and meet the Justice Guild of America. They also talk about the dreaming vibrations create comic books thing in that as well.

Yay I got that Stargate Atlantis reference at the beginning.

So the Flash first crosses the dimensional barrier -- completely by accident while performing rope tricks for kids. Anyone else feel that's kind of a weaksauce way to start off what would later become one of the most important crossovers in comics? Also, is this the origin of the infamous comradery between the Flash Rouges? Shade and Thinker realize their fellow crook may be in over his head, and immediately rush to his rescue instead of just taking the loot and ditching him.

9:46 - No wonder his wife doesn't look very happy. Hiyooooo!

0:53 doing some research it apparently undid the orginal crisis bringing back The Infinite Earths Also DC Metal expanding on it in a very cool way

Perfection. Would love to see more concepts being introduced for the first time. What's the Marvel equivalent?

Gotta say I always love it when you roll out your “talking dog” voice.

The Scooby-Doo joke makes me wonder if Linkara's read the Scooby Doo Apocalypse comic and what he thinks about. Personally, I think it stands as easily the first or second most ambitious take on the franchise, and as such one of the best.

Thanks Linkara for reviewing my Secret Origin. ;) ;)

Always loved the caption box hands. Distinctive and imaginative.

*checks the calendar* Monday? The hell is Lewis doing updating on a Monday?

You gave a 'Phrasing!" for both Flashes coming at the same time, but give nothing for 'Vibratory Earth'? Kay.

The breach of multiple worlds! Countless events and deaths have been caused by this single issue! One of the biggest creations ever in DC lore! An event that combined the gold and silver age into a single story...and it all happened because some kids weren't going to be able to see a magic show. Do you ever wonder what would've happened if that magicians car didn't break down or whatever?

I'm glad to see that after months of work Lewis is back on track!

Love the cat cameos.

Not gonna lie, the alternate Linkara outfit in the thumbnail is pretty damn good and I hope it makes a real appearance soon~~

Again: DAMMIT BARRY! As far as this comic was concerned: The Thinker is short sided and... Did Araki get some ideas from American Comics? As for the Scooby-Doo Crack, That might be accurate considering that Scooby-Doo is owned by the WB and had teamed up multiple incarnations of Batman. Next Time: HAIL TO THE KING BABY!