Oops.

Was the second also from the Flash?

Flash 209.

I think the past event turning out to be Dr. Light raping Sue as a way to attack the menfolk (he wasn't even an Elongated Man villain, was he?) and then chortling and leering about it like a Will Eisner villain from WWII was just too over-the-top for me. I would have much preferred it if something Sue had done personally and proactively—like perhaps figuring out a scheme of Dr. Light's and netting him a prison sentence—had initiated a reason for him to attack her specifically.

That would help offset the "Aha! I have stumbled across [insert hero's name here]'s (a) sidekick (b) love interest (c) pet (d) all of the above and can use it to get at him!" vibe I got from this issue .

I don't know much about Sue Dibny, so I don't know if they short-changed her and removed her agency (which is what bugged me about Fred -- she used to be useful, but they made a scenario in which she had to be damsel) or not. I have been taking for granted that the story basically required a virgin to sacrifice on an altar to engender what's come up so far. I find some of the characters reacting patronisingly, but I don't get that from the author yet.

I don't mind a story in which abuse against women is the worst thing that can happen on a micro-scale -- I mind it when I feel the author's telling me that's true outside the story as well.

Ple, after you talked specifically about Silver Age characters and sexism, I couldn't help but notice that that the men characters involved in the mindwipe are the ones most strongly associated with the Silver Age. Flash and Green Lantern foremost, with Atom and Hawkman right behind. Green Arrow being the exception, since he's really a second tier Golden Age character that got a second life post-Silver Age with the late sixties Arrow/Lantern team-ups. It couldn't be mere happenstance that the big three Golden Age heroes were excluded.

Plei -- would the Flash arc you're talking about start after the issues collected in this tpb?

Yep. It's the arc that starts in the aftermath of Blitz.

Sometimes, I really like Wally. Which is remarkable, because I very often just want to smack him over the head with a cluestick.

I hear "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" all the time, but I don't have a clue what they mean. (Other than they obviously refer to time periods and comics.)

The Golden Age refers pretty much to comics during WWII. The Silver Age starts with the introduction of Barry Allen!Flash, and goes through the sixties, maybe a little beyond.

I hear "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" all the time, but I don't have a clue what they mean. (Other than they obviously refer to time periods and comics.)

The "Golden Age" refers to those comics (and characters) that were produced at the beginnings of success for the industry. It is generally dated to begin with the appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1, and end sometime after the end of World War II. The main "Golden Age" superheroes for DC (at that time, National and All-Star Comics) were Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The Marvel (at the time, Timely) Golden Age superheroes are mainly Captain America, the Human Torch and Namor, the Submariner.

After World War II, comics fell in poularity (helped along in the 50's by an attack on comics as encouraging juvenile delinquency and displaying a "homosexual lifestyle"), to the point where almost all of the superhero titles were cancelled, with the exceptiong of the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman titles.

Around 1957, DC decided to update some of its earlier superheroes, giving them a kind of science fiction twist. This was started with The Flash, where the Golden Age character, Jay Garrick, was "replaced" by the new character, police scientist Barry Allen. Following close after was an update of the Green Lantern, where engineer-with-a-mystial-ring Alan Scott was changed to test-pilot-given-a-"magical"-ring Hal Jordan, who was inducted into something like a Galactic Police Force (the Green Lantern Corps).

Someone at DC had the bright idea to have the heroes join up in a team book, labeled the Justice League of America. The increased sales of that book reached the ears of the publisher at Marvel, who then directed Stan Lee to start working on some superhero comics of their own. In short order, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby came out with The Fantastic Four (their version of a team book) in 1962. Soon after, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, the Avengers, Thor, and the X-Men followed (although the X-Men was cancelled later and didn't hit its stide until the '70s). This period of the ealry to late '60s is what people usually refer to when talking about the "Silver Age".

This is all a very rough guide to these topics, but I think it can be useful. It wasn't very long ago that I, too, was confues with these labels.

[Editorial comment - I think the "Golden Age" often refers to the fact that these comics sold in the millions and at the time were thought of as disposable, cheap entertainment. It can cetainly be said that the art and plotting of the stories in this era is often crude or simplistic.]