In 1967, various solo heroes and the Justice League and Teen Titans appeared in short seven-minute features within Filmation’s Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The Flash headlined three episodes and appeared in three Justice League of America episodes. Kid Flash co-starred in two of the Flash episodes, as well as three Teen Titans features.
The Flash
Occupation: Police Scientist
Group Affiliation: Justice League
Base of Operations: Central City
Hair: Blond
Voiced by: Ray Owens
See Also: Flash (animated: JLU), Flash II: Barry Allen
Police Scientist Barry Allen became the Flash, “The World’s Fastest Human” — a “Scarlet Speedster for Justice.” More than simply running fast, he can create whirlwinds, launch himself like a helicopter, run aross water and up the sides of buildings, and even control his molecules to vibrate through solid objects. The opening says that he can “conquer the barriers of time and space,” but he does not use these abilities in the episodes filmed.
He has a hyper-velocity detector in his lab, which can home in on other speedsters.
The Flash is a member of the Justice League, where his primary function appears to be transporting the Atom around on his shoulder.
Appearances:
- Flash: “The Chemo-Creature”
- Flash: “Take a Giant Step”
- Flash: “To Catch a Blue Bolt”
- Justice League of America: “In Between Two Armies”
- Justice League of America: “Target Earth”
- Justice League of America: “Bad Day on Black Mountain”
Notes
The costume is simplified: His belt is made a plain straight belt instead of the zig-zag lightning-bolt design (though they do sometimes draw a lightning bolt on the buckle), and he has yellow gloves instead of red gloves with lightning-bolt cuffs. The wings have also been removed from the boots.
Kid Flash
Occupation: Unknown, probably student
Group Affiliation: Teen Titans
Base of Operations: Titans headquarters
Hair: Black
Voiced by: Tommy Cook
See Also: Kid Flash (animated: Teen Titans), Flash III: Wally West
Wally West is Kid Flash, the Flash’s sidekick, and has all the same powers.
He is also a member of the Teen Titans alongside Wonder Girl, Speedy, and Aqualad.
Appearances:
- Flash: “Take a Giant Step”
- Flash: “To Catch a Blue Bolt”
- Teen Titans: “The Monster Machine”
- Teen Titans: “The Space Beast Round-Up”
- Teen Titans: “Operation: Rescue”
Notes
Kid Flash’s look is drastically altered from the comic book design. He is given black hair instead of brown (his hair is naturally red in the comics, and he used to dye it brown when changing into costume). The red and yellow areas of his costume are reversed, and the dividing line is moved from the belt to the legs. Finally, as with the Flash, the wings are removed from the boots.
Enemies
Only one DC villain appeared in these cartoons: Evil Star, in a Green Lantern episode. Instead, the heroes battled mutated monsters, alien invaders, and mad scientists.
The Blue Bolt
Occupation: unknown
Voice: unknown
The humanoid alien Blue Bolt gained super-speed when on Earth. Returning from an exile in outer space, he began destroying landmarks around the world to get revenge on the Flash.
He had the ability to transform into a bolt of energy, which enabled him to fly, travel through space, and absorb and release other kinds of energy. In one instance, he absorbed energy from a solar flare and attempted to melt the Eiffel Tower.
The Flash and Kid Flash battled him across the world to Egypt, where they placed a large pipe in front of his path, angled upward. At the Blue Bolt’s high speed, he launched out into space.
Appearances:
- Flash: “To Catch a Blue Bolt”
Notes
This Blue Bolt is completely unrelated to the Golden Age super-hero of the same name.
Professor Crag
Occupation: Inventor
Voice: unknown
Mad scientist who lived on the outskirts of Central City. Professor Crag built a giant flying robot suit with tank treads and beam weapons. After a test run, he headed to the science fair “to wreak vengeance on those who scoffed at [his] robot creations.” Defeated by Flash and Kid Flash.
Appearances:
- Flash: “Take a Giant Step”
Chemo Creature
An ant subjected to radiation as an experiment in accelerating growth. It transformed the ant into a human-height creature with terrible strength and a number of powers:
- Exhaling toxic gas
- Shooting blinding lights from its eyes
- Spitting a material which would harden around objects, trapping them
- Firing destructive bolts of energy from its antennae.
The Flash grounded it using metal cable, which drained the residual energy out of it, reverting it back to an ordinary ant.
Appearances:
- Flash: “The Chemo-Creature”
Images
- All screen captures from DC Super-Heroes: The Filmation Adventures
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