Sunday, February 9, 2014

Golden Oldie: FLASH COMICS #91 (Jan 1948)

Six months after her debut in Flash Comics #86, the decision was made to give Black Canary her own solo feature in the magazine.  Issue #91 marks her last guest appearance in Johnny Thunder's adventures.


"The Tumbling Trees" is written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino.


Johnny Thunder is roused from his leisurely nap in the woods by two of the Little Rascals.  The boys pick up whole trees and toss them around like they weighed nothing.  When Johnny tells the boys to put them down, a pair of armed gunmen come out of the woods and tell him to put 'em up.  The boys run off, but Johnny is caught.

As a plane comes in for a landing in the forest, the gunmen grab trees, which are made of cardboard, and create a clearing.  They reveal to Johnny that they were pulling a robbery job that required them to land by plane nearby.  The Black Canary got wise to their scheme and booby-trapped the grounds around the estate they're robbing.  So they faked a forest in the middle of a clearing to land the plane closer.  Whew!



As Black Canary comes out of the Peters home with the stash, the plane opens fire on her.  But just then, the Thunderbolt races out of the house carrying Johnny Thunder.  The Thunderbolt puts a whammy on the plane, bringing it down.  But in the crash, a piece of debris knocks Thunderbolt unconscious.

While Johnny and Canary are treating Thunderbolt, the crooks come out of the downed plane and capture the heroes.  Johnny, Canary and Thunderbolt are then each tied to miniature rockets and sent flying into the sky where the story began


Thus concludes Johnny Thunder's final appearance in Flash Comics.  From here on, Black Canary got the slot usually reserved for Johnny and his magic genie.  His crush on Black Canary would go undeveloped for decades until Roy Thomas used it as part of the weirdest retconned character origin in the pages of Justice League of America #219 and #220.

Come back next Sunday for another Golden Age adventure of Black Canary in Flash Comics #92, her first solo story in the series!

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