CBR Features old Iris/Barry Endings in The Flash

[xBarryxAllenx]

Comic Book Resources went to their CSBG Archives to bring a lot of recurring patterns in comics - like Thor losing his hammer or Batman disappearing after talking to Commissioner Gordon...and like Iris complaining about Barry at the end of Silver Age stories in The Flash. Older readers like myself well remember these exchanges, which happened during their dates before Iris found out Barry's secret identity. There are several pics from those early stories in the article, and it is a fun look back at the Silver Age version of Barry Allen.

Here's the link for the full article:
goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/01/drawing-crazy-patterns-archive/

Here's the link for the section that tells about Iris and Barry:
goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/23/drawing-crazy-patterns-flash-issues-ending-with-iris-west-complaining-about-barry-allen/

Enjoy!

[speedster]

My goodness! What did Barry ever see in Iris other than constant nagging and ridicule? lol

[dallinturner]

I'm actually really glad that the New 52 Barry isn't always notoriously slow and late. In the few pre-52 Flash stories I've read, I got real sick real quick of that bit.

[dillonmania]

I was always glad that Iris was made nicer around when she and Barry got married. She was really unsympathetic back in the Silver Age, and I've never been able to shake the feeling that it was the writer's criticism of women with a career.

[speedster]

That is one way to interpret her characterization back in those days. Although, and mainly because I try to be optimistic on people's intentions, I suspect Iris was like that because the writers felt it was a "funny" gag.

The dramatic irony where the friend/love interest/family member basing the secret identity while praising the hero, but not realizing they are one and the same, is a staple of superhero lore.

Then again, the extreme nature Iris displayed might have stemmed from subconscious sexism (being the early 60s and all). As if the writers wrote it like that thinking "women are like that...lets play it up for a laugh!," but didn't fully intend it to be mean, cliche, sexist, etc.

Holy smokes! I just realized I somehow just combined BA in English and my MS in counseling into one marginally coherent discussion point. Bless you, The Flash. Bless you.

[dillonmania]

You could definitely be right about the writer just thinking it was funny -- there's at least a few moments that it was clearly a gag, like when Iris is nagging Barry to catch the Trickster and he quickly leaves, and she's essentially sitting around saying "Me and my big mouth!"

Anyway, she changed about when Cary Bates took over, and he was a young guy with modern ideas, so I think that's why she became a more rounded character.