Flash Vol. 1 #252

Description

Ralph Dibny, along with his wife, Sue, has come to Central City, to bring the Chane Gang to justice. Sue is surprised in her hotel room by a menacing stranger. Sue forcibly throws the man to the floor, only to discover that it is Dibny, in disguise. Dibny remolds his facial features back to his normal visage. Dibny has decided that his best chance of apprehending the Chane Gang is by going undercover. The Dibnys are just finished drinking a toast, when Ralph disappears. Sue immediately contacts police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, and his wife, Picture News reporter, Iris West, for aid in locating her husband.

The Allens reassure Sue that her husband will be found. As soon as Sue departs, Allen reveals that, as the Flash, he spirited Dibny out of the hotel room, moving so fast as to be naked to the human eye. The Flash had spotted the Chane Gang in the midst of a robbery, and figured that Dibny would want in on the takedown, in his guise as the Elongated Man. The Flash singled out one of the four Chane Gang members and surrounded him in a super-speed generated updraft. Astonishingly, the crook ran right through the Flash. The Elongated Man, too, found that he couldn’t lay a glove on a single member of the Chane Gang.

Realizing they were actually fighting holograms, and that the Chane “Gang” is just one man, the Elongated Man stretched his neck high enough to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding streets. Spying the real culprit, the Elongated Man directed the Flash to the fleeing crook. After apprehending the man, the Flash revealed the holographic hardware laced into his jacket. Upon returning to the First Central Bank, the two heroes discovered they’d only recovered half of the stolen money. The Elongated Man headed off to solve the case, and that was the last the Flash saw of him. The Flash scours the streets of Central City looking for the Elongated Man.

Unbeknownst to the Flash, the Elongated Man has altered his features, and is thus unrecognizable. Going undercover, the Elongated Man makes contact with the twin brother of the man they arrested earlier. It turns out the Chane Gang is really a two man operation. Having determined that the brother has the missing half of the money, the Elongated Man strong-arms the crook into partnering with him. The Flash reports in to Sue before returning home. On the television, Sue sees Dibny, in his disguise, at the airport. A multi-million dollar SST is being unveiled to the public. To the amazement of the crowd of onlookers, the plane suddenly melts into a massive puddle of goo.

Having also seen the spectacle on television, Allen investigates, as the Flash. Impressed by what he’s seen, the Chane brother agrees to a criminal partnership with Dibny. When the Flash arrives to investigate the jet, the Chane brother asks for another demonstration of Dibny’s incredible power. Dibny walks up to the Flash and boldly takes credit for destroying the jet. Dibny, now calling himself “The Molder”, openly challenges the Flash. The Flash charges “The Molder”. With a single touch, “The Molder” transforms the entire runway into liquified tar.

The Flash spins his way free, and momentarily lays “The Molder” out with a single blow. While “The Molder” is stunned, the Flash watches as his facial features briefly become Dibny’s again. Startled to discover that his newest foe is really his best friend, the Flash is caught flatfooted by “The Molder”. With the television camera crews still filming, “The Molder” distorts the Flash’s body like taffy, before pounding the Scarlet Speedster into a horrific blob of fleshy putty.