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Artists Comments: I have recreated this classic Silver Age cover, in this case "The Flash", no. 123 from Sept 1961 (original cover included just for reference). This image portrays Jimmy Stewart as Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash (the modern Flash is the guy from the TV series). I like recreating the old classics, much like a painter practicing his skill by recreating an old masterpiece, because it is harder to create figures in specific positions rather than just use what is available.

History: Flash #123 was the first time Earth 2 was introduced to comic book readers. Writer Gardner Fox and editor Julius Schwartz decided to bring back the Golden Age Flash by having Barry Allen Earth 1's Flash find himself in an alternate dimension that would be forever known as Earth 2, that is until the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, which did away with all but one Earth. Earth 2 would house all the golden age heroes of World War 2. The Earth 2 versions were only comic book stories to Earth 1. Our Earth was called Earth Prime where all heroes were only comic book characters. Lucky us.

Eventually, the Justice Society of America and the Justice League would begin teaming up to solve Earth shattering problems from time to time. The Earth 2 Superman would marry Lois Lane and become editor of the Daily Star. The Earth 2 Batman would die leaving his daughter the Huntress and Robin to take over his legacy. Whenever DC bought the characters from another company, it gave those heroes their own separate Earth. Thus, Fawcett's Captain Marvel family lived on Earth-S, the Quality Comics heroes lived on Earth-X, the Charlton Comics heroes lived on Earth-4, etc.

Finally, when the Crisis story came in the 1980's the Silver Age Earth 1 Flash Barry Allen, the one who started it all, would be one of the victims of the new universe. Both the Flash and Supergirl would lose their lives, and some Golden Age versions of our heroes like Superman would just cease to exist thanks to the Crisis on Infinite Earths.