The Flash #112
The Flash #112 (cover-dated May 1960) delivered one of the Silver Age's most consequential character debuts: the first appearance and complete origin of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man — a stretching sleuth who broke the mold of the era's typical masked hero by publicly revealing his identity to the world, a genuine rarity at the time. Unlike most contemporaries who jealously guarded their alter egos, Dibny embraced celebrity, and his subsequent marriage to Sue Dearbon gave DC one of its first stable, affectionate superhero partnerships — a warmth that made the couple's eventual tragedy in Identity Crisis all the more devastating. The issue also continued the early adventures of Kid Flash (Wally West), who had debuted just two issues prior in #110, cementing the title's role as the primary incubator for the emerging Flash family of characters. Together, these two threads made Flash #112 a cornerstone issue in the broader architecture of DC's Silver Age universe.
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Editor Julius Schwartz commissioned the character specifically to give Barry Allen a lively new supporting ally, reportedly without realizing that DC already held the rights to the Golden Age stretching hero Plastic Man — a behind-the-scenes irony that multiple sources have since noted. Writer John Broome scripted both stories in the issue, with penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Joe Giella handling all art chores, including the cover; Infantino later recalled in his 2000 autobiography that he relished drawing Elongated Man because the character's fluid physicality pushed close to the expressiveness of animation. The lead story's letters column — the first Flash letters page to appear in the series — also debuted in this issue, marking a small but meaningful step in building direct reader engagement around the title.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance AND complete origin of Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) in the lead story 'The Mystery of the Elongated Man!' — both debut and backstory are told within the same issue.
- Created by writer John Broome and penciler Carmine Infantino (inked by Joe Giella), under the editorial direction of Julius Schwartz.
- Ralph Dibny's origin: as a boy fascinated by carnival contortionists, he deduced they all drank a soda called Gingold, isolated the active ingredient (derived from the rare Gingo fruit of the Yucatán), and chemically concentrated it to gain super-elasticity.
- The issue contains a second complete story, 'Danger on Wheels!', a Kid Flash (Wally West) backup written by Broome and drawn by Infantino/Giella, in which Wally exposes a corrupt construction company.
- This issue marks the first Flash letters page in the series' history.
- Elongated Man was one of the earliest Silver Age DC heroes to voluntarily reveal his secret identity to the public — a deliberate character choice that set him apart from virtually every other hero of the era.
- The lead story 'The Mystery of the Elongated Man!' has been reprinted in: The Flash Annual #1, DC Special Series #19, The Flash Archives Vol. 2, The Flash Chronicles Vol. 2, Showcase Presents: Elongated Man Vol. 1, and The Flash Omnibus Vol. 1.
- Elongated Man made his live-action television debut on The CW's Arrowverse series The Flash, portrayed by Hartley Sawyer, with his comic-book origin story directly acknowledged in the show.
Cast · 7 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Elongated Man comes to Central City and Flash suspects him of commiting a string of robberies.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).