Special

The Green Lantern/Flash:  Faster Friends #1, DC Comics 1997

Walt is reading the comic book again when Michael attempts to spend some time with his son. When Walt ignores Michael, Michael throws the comic book into a fire.

Summary of Comic:
In early 1940, an extraterrestrial starcraft crash-landed in the countryside north of Gotham City. The craft's pilot, later to be dubbed "Alien X," made his way to Gotham City where his mere appearance terrified Gotham's citizens.

The United States military assigned a young officer, Gunther, to contain the public's knowledge of the extraterrestrial's landing. Gunther brought in the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Flash to assist in what was called a threat to national security. The young, patriotic heroes attacked Alien X and it responded with force.

Working individually, the heroes could not overcome the extraterrestrial. Only together could they marshal their forces and subdue Alien X. Rather than fight further, Alien X surrendered and, against the heroes' wishes, was taken into government custody. Had Alien X been able to communicate with the heroes, they would have seen it meant no harm to Earth. Realizing they had been used and cast aside by the army officer, the Green Lantern and the Flash hid the alien's starship, so it too would not fall into government hands.

Alien X' species was extremely long lived, with life spans ofthousands of years. In that perspective, it saw its incarceration as a minor inconvenience. Unknown to the heroes, Alien X was subjected to decades of experiments. Eventually, Alien X was infected with a terminal cancerous disease.



Learning it would soon die, Alien X easily broke free of its imprisonment in the late 1990s. Seeking revenge against those that contributed to its death sentence, Alien X killed Gunther, now a General in charge of the government project and then went after Alan (Green Lantern) Scott and Jay (Flash) Garrick. The heroes were caught by surprise and Garrick had mere moments to leave a clue to his disappearance.

Fortunately for the Golden Age heroes, their wives realized Alien X had been involved. Molly called Kyle Rayner while Joan Garrick called Wally West for help.

Now under Alien X's mental control, the Golden Age heroes unearthed its starship, which was buried in the arctic. When the younger heroes arrived, Alien X ordered the Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern to fight their younger counterparts. Wally West and Kyle Rayner were able to free their elder namesakes and together they defeated Alien X. While West took Garrick and Scott to safety, Rayner tried to help the dying Alien X. Surprised by this sign of compassion, Alien X knew it was too little too late for him and the planet Earth. Rather than face imprisonment once more, Alien X took his own life.
[GREEN LANTERN/FLASH: FASTER FRIENDS # 1]

Before he died, Alien X had activated a summons which brought a swarm of otherworldly creatures to ravage the Earth. This was to be his revenge against the planet of his captors. The creatures were drones, joined in a group mind which teleported to a target world and overran all indigenous life before moving on to the next target world. The quartet of heroes took the battle to the last world the creatures had devoured.

On the unnamed planet, they forced the queen of the alien hive to realize her drones were devouring sentient creatures. Once it understood its responsibility, the queen teleported away with her drones. Earth was spared and the Flashes and Green Lanterns of two eras returned home.
[FLASH/GREEN LANTERN: FASTER FRIENDS # 2]
Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends #1", DC Comics, 1997.