Q 01/05

Which writer created the original Flash with artist Harry Lampert in Flash Comics #1 (1940)?

A) Bill Finger

B) Gardner Fox

C) Jerry Siegel

D) Bob Kane

Answer · why

B) Gardner Fox

Jay Garrick, a college football star turned scientist, became the first chairman of the Justice Society of America.

Q 02/05

How did Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, get his super-speed?

A) Inhaling hard water vapours in his lab

B) A radioactive meteor

C) A gift from the god Mercury

D) An experimental army serum

Answer · why

A) Inhaling hard water vapours in his lab

He had stopped for a cigarette break in the laboratory. Later writers quietly changed 'hard water' to 'heavy water' to sound more scientific.

Q 03/05

Jay Garrick's winged metal helmet is modelled on which Roman god?

A) Mars

B) Apollo

C) Mercury

D) Jupiter

Answer · why

C) Mercury

In later continuity the helmet itself belonged to his father Joseph, who wore it in the First World War.

Q 04/05

Barry Allen's debut in Showcase #4 in October 1956 is generally regarded as the start of what?

A) The Golden Age of comics

B) The Bronze Age of comics

C) The Modern Age of comics

D) The Silver Age of comics

Answer · why

D) The Silver Age of comics

DC's decision to revive a 1940s hero with a science-fiction origin set the template for reviving Green Lantern, the Atom and Hawkman too.

Q 05/05

What is Barry Allen's day job?

A) Newspaper reporter

B) High-school chemistry teacher

C) Test pilot

D) Police forensic scientist

Answer · why

D) Police forensic scientist

The running joke is that the fastest man alive was chronically late and slow before the accident. Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino created him.