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Superhero Smash Season I—Audio Issue #7: The Flash

Original Air Date

  • June 20, 2023

Part 1 Begins

Hero Song (3:26)

  • “Finish Line” by Skillet

Superhero Smash (0:30)

  • Featuring the best in “Superhero Music and Comic Book Lore”
  • Focusing on current superhero movies and popular culture
  • I’m your host, Dr. Gian Pagnucci, a.k.a. The New Professor X
  • Playing the best music that features superheroes and is highlighted in superhero movies and shows
  • Also playing great music that is tied to the idea of heroism

Audio Episode Theme: The Flash (2:00)

  • The Flash just came out and I saw it last night
  • Don’t worry, this is a NO SPOILERS show!
  • Release Date: June 16, 2023
  • The movie is really good
  • Lots of humor
  • Michael Keaton is excellent as Batman
  • Ezra Miller is solid as the Flash, though I’ll discuss the controversies with him in a bit
  • Some very moving moments too
  • The Flash - Only in theaters June 16

Instrumental Theme Music (2:23)

  • “The Flash TV Main Theme” by Blake Neely
  • From the CW show staring Grant Gustin
  • My personal favorite

Collector’s Item Classic Comic Book (2:00)

  • The Flash First Appearance: Showcase #4
  • Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) Condition: PR. Origin and first | Lot #17487 | Heritage Auctions
  • Publication Date: October 1956
  • Publisher: DC Comics
  • Writers: Robert Kanigher and John Broome
  • Artist: Carmine Infantino
  • Value on eBay today: $25,000 for a CGC’d 3.0 on a 10.0 scale

Flash Song 2 (2:48)

  • “Run” by OneRepublic
  • Run, Barry, Run

Show ID: Superhero Smash (2:00)

  • WIUP FM 90.1
  • Alternative music for the MCU, the DCU, and our own U-niverse too!
  • Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
  • Or email Professor X using the address superherosmash2023@gmail.com
  • Lots of great shows coming up
  • I would love to get your input

Part 1 Ends (@15 minutes)

Part 2 Begins

Origin Story -Part 1 (2:00)

  • The Flash
  • Although the current Flash first appeared in Showcase #4, the character first appeared in Flash Comics #1 back in January of 1940
  • That Flash had a blue leggings and a metal helmet like the one the Roman god Mercury wore
  • Mercury was messenger of the gods and had wings on his feet
  • The original Flash was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, though Lampert left after only 2 issues to pursue his preference for humorous work
  • The original Flash was named Jay Garrick and was a police officer too
  • Garrick got his speed powers by accidentally inhaling hard water vapors
  • The original Flash was also a member of the Justice Society which I discussed during the Wonder Woman episode of Superhero Smash
  • In 1949, The Flash was canceled with issue #104
  • Superheroes declined in popularity after World War II ended

Flash Song 1 (3:34)

  • “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis
  • In honor of the first winged Flash

Origin Story -Part 2 (2:00)

  • In 1956, DC Comics under the leadership of Editor Julius Schwartz decided to revive superheroes and they started with the Flash
  • Rather than reuse the old character, they updated him
  • The costume was changed to all red and they disposed of the helmet
  • The new Flash was Barry Allen, a police forensic scientist
  • He was always late, of course
  • Working late at night, a light bolt shot through the window and doused him with chemicals, giving him super speed
  • And also accelerating his metabolism, so he is always having to eat at lot
  • In Showcase, Barry read a copy of the original Flash comic and adopted the name The Scarlet Speedster from it
  • After appearing in Showcase for several issues, the Flash got his own comic, Flash #105, continuing the numbering from the old canceled Flash series
  • The Flash would continue to run on…

Flash Song 2 (3:45)

  • “Run On” by Moby
  • I first heard the song on an episode of Harsh Realm, an interesting but short-lived comic book-based series on Fox staring D.B. Sweeney

Convention Update (2:00)

  • Awesome Con
  • Interesting con
  • It was held at the beautiful and new Walter E. Washington Convention Center
  • Gorgeous facility
  • Big convention
  • 30 rows of floor space
  • Tons and tons of people in Cosplay
  • I got a great shot of a team of Spider-Men and Spider-Women highlighting the popularity of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
  • Not a ton of superhero stuff
  • Mostly independent artists and crafts people
  • Lots of video game stuff, anime, and manga
  • A big section of Star Wars cosplay
  • And the FBI was even their recruiting everyday heroes
  • Next year, Awesome Con will be March 8-10, 2024
  • It was a fun con, and I did get to go with my son Loughlin
  • I’ll give another shout out to the good folks who run The Washington Center Internship Program
  • This program lets college students from across the country live in D.C. for the summer and do an internship
  • My son Loughlin is there doing an internship with Mid Atlantic Sports Consultants, LLC

Station ID: WIUP FM 90.1 (2:00)

  • Alternative music for Indiana County and beyond
  • Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
  • Or email Professor X using the address superherosmash2023@gmail.com

Part 2 Ends (@30 minutes)

Part 3 Begins

Special Radio Guest Star (10:00)

  • Dr. Alex Romagnoli
  • Alex Romagnoli
  • Interim Associate Dean of the School of Education at Monmouth University
  • Co-Author with me of Enter the Superheroes: American Values, Culture, and the Canon of  Superhero Literature
  • Alex and I have written about the Flash and multiple worlds, and he’s here to talk to us a little about the new Flash movie

Flash Song 3 (2:15)

  • In honor of my good friend, Alex
  • “Super Friend” by Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist who stared in the CW’s Supergirl show
  • There was actually a musical episode of The Flash CW, episode 17 of season 3
  • I loved the optimism of The Flash TV show, especially the first 2 seasons
  • It was a great program for young kids around the age of 10 like my sons were at the time we first started watching together

Part 3 Ends (@45 minutes)

Part 4 Begins

Long Lost Hero: The Flash of Two Worlds! (3:00)

  • The Golden Age Flash meets the Silver Age Flash
  • The Flash #123: “Flash of Two Worlds”
  • At a charity event organized by the Flash’s girlfriend, Iris West, the Flash has to do super-speed tricks to entertain the children because the scheduled magician has not appeared
  • Doing a rope climbing trick, the Flash vibrates his molecules and disappears
  • Although Barry lives in Central City, he finds that he has reappeared in Keystone City, the home of the Golden Age Flash in a parallel universe
  • Barry finds Jay who is now older
  • Jay had retired the year his comic book was canceled on Barry’s earth
  • Later DC called Barry’s earth, Earth One, and Jay’s earth, Earth Two
  • Barry says that the comic writer Gardner Fox must have somehow had his mind tuned to Earth Two when he wrote the first Flash series
  • The two speedsters team up to defeat supervillains Jay had fought in the past: The Shade, The Fiddler, and the Thinker
  • Flash of Two Worlds - Wikipedia

Romantic Interlude (3:00)

  • Barry Allen and Iris West
  • Candice Patton played Iris on the CW show
  • She is a black actress and since Barry was white, their interracial relationship was quite unique for superheroes
  • Candice commented on this in an interview:, “The impact is not lost on me, that’s for sure. I love that we have an interracial relationship on the show, and that it’s not questioned, and that it’s healthy and normal, and functional,” going on to add that “the great thing about our show is how diverse we are with our casting [and] storylines, and it’s a show I wish I had when I was younger to be quite honest, seeing that kind of diversity.”
  • Barry loves Iris so much, that at one point in the CW when Iris dies, Barry uses his super speed to change time in order to prevent Iris from dying
  • Arrangement de lalcool écharpe the flash iris and barry kiss arabe argent Immuniser
  • As I said, my kids loved the show when they were young, and in one of my favorite quotes from his entire childhood, my then young son Cormac said, out of the blue, “If there’s one thing I learned in my time as a speedster, you don’t mess with the timeline!”
  • We burst out laughing, but Cormac was right: messing with the timeline only brings trouble, as the new Flash movie shows
  • Time is meant to go forward; that’s what makes it special

Romantic Melody (3:26)

  • “Fast” by Luke Bryan

PSA (3:00)

  • Summer Music Festival
  • At Shenley Plaza in Pittsburgh on June 24th
  • Musicians start performing at 3 p.m.
  • Grammy nominated artist Devon Gilfillian headlines at 9:15 p.m.
  • The whole festival is free!

To Be Continued Next Issue (1:00)

  • Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel–Tune in next time for: Black Panther
  • Songs with Stephanie coming up at noon
  • Contact me, the new Professor X, via email: SuperheroSmash2023@gmail.com
  • And remember…
  • You don’t need superpowers to be a hero. The only thing it takes to be a hero is the courage to do what’s right when someone needs your help.

End Credits Song (2:49)

  • In a final race against time, with only 14 hours to save the earth, here might just be the best Flash song of all…
  • “Flash” by Queen

Part 4 Ends (@60 minutes)