Flash Comics #3
Flash Comics #3 (March 1940) marks the debut of King Standish — better known as 'The King' — a wealthy, never-unmasked master of disguise who vowed to fight crime while remaining suspect in the eyes of both police and underworld alike, adding a morally ambiguous, pulp-inflected hero to DC's earliest anthology lineup. The issue also represents a quiet but consequential creative handoff: Everett E. Hibbard stepped in as the new artist on the Flash strip, replacing Harry Lampert, while Dennis Neville drew his final Hawkman installment before Sheldon Moldoff took over the character. Together these transitions shaped the visual vocabulary that would define both heroes for years to come. As the third chapter of a series that had already introduced the Flash, Hawkman, Johnny Thunder, and the Whip in its first two issues, this issue demonstrates just how rapidly All-American Comics was building the foundational cast of the Golden Age DC universe.
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Flash Comics was published by All-American Comics, Inc. under editor M.C. Gaines, and issue #3 carried a cover date of March 1940. The prolific Gardner Fox scripted the lead Flash story, the Cliff Cornwall feature, the Hawkman story, and the King Standish debut, with William Smith providing the art for King Standish's first appearance; John B. Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier handled Johnny Thunder as they had since issue #1. The notable artistic changeover on the Flash strip — Hibbard in for Lampert — and on Hawkman — Neville's last outing before Moldoff's long run began — occurred simultaneously in this single issue, making it a quiet but real inflection point in Golden Age production history.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of King Standish (a.k.a. 'The King'), a wealthy, face-concealing master of disguise and crimefighter, in the story 'The Terror of the Underworld' — the character's feature would run in Flash Comics through the early 1940s before being squeezed out as the book trimmed pages.
- The King's inaugural strip was initially titled 'King Standish'; the feature was renamed simply 'The King' beginning with Flash Comics #16 (April 1941), and the character's true name was never definitively confirmed in any story.
- King Standish was created by writer Gardner Fox (per the Hey Kids Comics Wiki) and artist William Smith — though the DC Database disambiguation page credits the writer as John B. Wentworth; this credit conflict is flagged.
- First issue with art by Everett E. Hibbard on the Flash strip, replacing Harry Lampert who had drawn Jay Garrick since Flash Comics #1.
- Final issue with art by Dennis Neville on the Hawkman strip; Sheldon Moldoff took over the character with the very next issue.
- The Flash story 'The Trial of Major Williams,' written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Hibbard, includes a plot beat in which Jay Garrick's secret identity is leaked to a foreign spy via a jail guard and a city editor — an unusually espionage-tinged early adventure for the character.
- The Hawkman story 'The Secret of Dick Blendon,' by Fox and Neville, features Carter Hall being notably careless about his secret identity — a group of scientists learn he is Hawkman but agree to stay silent — and establishes a new home address for Hall (20 Hudson Terrace, vs. 88 Rimble Road in issue #1).
- Stories from this issue have been preserved in multiple archival collections: 'The Trial of Major Williams' was reprinted in Golden Age Flash Archives Volume 1; the Hawkman story in Golden Age Hawkman Archives Volume 1; and the Johnny Thunder story in JSA All-Stars Archives Volume 1.
Cast · 13 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
After his initial win in the ring, Johnny begins training for his next fight against Gunpowder Glanz. To top things off, Daisy agrees to marry Johnny if he loses the fight, but Johnny's mysterious power strikes again and he becomes the heavyweight champion!
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).