The Flash #141

Flash discovers the existence of Paul Gambi, the tailor for the Rogues, while stopping the Top from a crime spree.

The Mystery Of Flash's Third Identity!

While the Flash is away on a mission, in space, with the Justice League of America, the Top escapes from prison. Upon his return, the Flash attempts to apprehend the Top. The Flash grabs the Top, only to have the Top's uniform tear away in his hand, when the Top starts spinning at super-human speed. In the darkness, the still spinning Top escapes. Alone in his apartment, the Flash, as police forensics scientist Barry Allen, turns on his television, in the hopes that there will be some news of the Top. Instead he sees a news story on the slum areas of Central City. Allen watches in horror, as one of the tenement walls begins to crumble, seconds away from collapsing on a small boy.

Allen, as the Flash, races to the boy's rescue. The boy, Jimmy Darrel, was there to deliver a package. Flash retrieves the package, and notices the Top's costume inside the box. Darrel reveals that he was delivering the package for a local tailor, Paul Gambi. Suspecting Gambi to be the personal tailor of all his foes, the Flash decides to pay Gambi a visit. Disguising himself as a lowlife, the Flash, as "Trigger Joe", meets with Gambi, and requests a super-villain's costume. Gambi states that he doesn't do that kind of work. The headline of a newspaper in Gambi's workshop, leads the Flash to the Top's next criminal enterprise.

The Top steals a statue of "Winged Victory", from a local exhibition hall, incapacitating the guards with a gimmicked top that spins them like tops. Encountering the Flash, the top hurls down another trick top in the Flash's path. This top projects holographic images of the Top. The Flash runs down two of the "Tops", but each turn out to to be decoys. Passing through the second "Top", the Flash crashes into a wall, and knocks himself out. The Flash, as "Trigger Joe", returns to Gambi's, where he finds the tailor much more agreeable to his earlier request. Gambi outfits "Trigger Joe" with a science fiction themed outfit, dubbing him "Missle Man".

As soon as "Trigger Joe" suits up, the Missile Man costume becomes rigid. The costume begins to spin at super-speed, while also constricting about "Trigger Joe". The faster the costume spins, the tighter it becomes. The Top steps out from the back room, and reveals that he saw through the Flash's "Trigger Joe" disguise. With Gambi's assistance, the Top set up this very special trap for the Flash. Adding his own acceleration to the spinning suit, the Flash begins to rise in the air, before crashing back down into Gambi and the Top. With the two men taken to jail, the Flash returns "Winged Victory" to the exhibition hall, garnering a reward. The Flash uses the money to begin a building project to refurbish Central City's slum areas.

Slowdown In Time!

The Flash performs feats of super-human speed, at a charity bazaar. Afterwards, the Flash, as police forensics scientist Barry Allen, joins his girlfriend, Picture News reporter Iris West, and her father, physicist T. H. West, for dinner. As usual, Allen arrives late, this time due to his watch being 10 minutes slow. Strangely, Professor West takes note of the discrepancy. After Allen has departed for the evening, Professor West tells his daughter that Allen is the Flash. West, using Einstein's Theory of Relativity, has determined that because the Flash moves so fast, time moves much slower for him. The length of time the Flash performed at the bazaar, would slow time down for him by, roughly, 10 minutes. The same amount of time by which Allen's watch was off.

West finds her father's notions about Allen preposterous. Professor West decides to garner ironclad proof on the matter. Witnessing a bank robbery in progress, Professor West phones Allen. West asks Allen to meet him in precisely one hour, and insists they synchronize their watches so Allen won't be late. When news of the bank robbery reaches Allen, he heads off to thwart it, as the Flash. The Flash pursues the robbers getaway car. Professor West, in a cab, pursues the Flash. Waving his arms at super-human speed, the Flash whips up a dust storm that incapacitates the car.The bank robbers make a run for it, losing themselves in a field of tall grass.

The Flash pulls a wire fence around the field, gradually making the thieves hiding ground smaller and smaller. Once the Flash has caught the crooks, he takes them to jail. Professor West does some calculations and determines that Allen's watch will be precisely off by two minutes and four seconds. The Flash, as Allen, joins the Wests for dinner. Comparing their watches, West is amazed to find Allen's watch perfectly in sync with his own. West is crestfallen that his theory about Allen being the Flash is wrong. In truth, Allen, as the Flash, had spied West, in the cab, following him. A scientist himself, the Flash realized what West was up to, and merely reset his watch to the proper time.