Today in Comics History, July 15, 1942: John Byrne subtlely plugs his new crossover

Oh no! Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick has been trapped by the Fiddler! Which, I think we'll all agree, is better than being fiddled by the Trapster.


from "A Stranger with My Face" in Speed Force one-shot (DC, November 1997); script, pencils, inks, and letters by John Byrne; colors by Noelle Giddings
Luckily a mysterious stranger who looks kind of like a relative is able to release Flash, but not being telling him to remember the date. You know, Mysterious Stranger, you could have at least given him a Post-It™ note with the date of 7/15/42 on it.


Well, luckily, as you see in the caption above, we can find out the answer to this puzzling conundrum (or, as we in the bloggin' business say, puzzdrum) within the pages of Wonder Woman #129, only a few months later!

Oh wait...hope you didn't buy Wonder Woman #129, because the story actually continued in Wonder Woman #130. Whoopsie.


Panels from Wonder Woman v.2 #130 (February 1998); script, pencils, inks, and letters by John Byrne; colors by Patricia Mulvihill
Oh, so the M.S. was the white-templed Jay Garrick of 1998 who traveled back to 1942 and released the Jay Garrick of that time so that he could survive into 1998 and go back in time to save himself in 1942 so he could...look, you guys all know how time travel works. Everything is predestined. Unless it isn't.

So, thank you John Byrne, for helping us laugh at July 15...again!