By Bob Rozakis

As someone who worked with Julius Schwartz, has he ever confided to you why he picked the characters he did to revamp for the Silver Age? Flash and Green Lantern are obvious since they were popular enough to have their own solo books in the 40s, but why did he choose Hawkman and The Atom over such Golden Age stars as Starman and Dr. Mid-Nite? Also, did he ever say why he stopped after The Atom was introduced?
-- Jim Smith [jhs567@hotmail.com]

A few years ago at the San Diego Comicon, I was the moderator for a late-afternoon panel discussing the Silver Age and Julie was one of the panelists. [There were other people there too. I don't recall who any of them were, but they were fans and/or modern-day creative folks.] I started off by saying to Julie, "Tell us how you invented the Silver Age."

Well, Julie went on for forty-five minutes without taking a breath, telling the audience stories of how at an editorial meeting in the mid-1950s it was suggested that maybe it was time to bring back superheroes and how The Flash was chosen to lead the way. When he finally did pause, he looked at his watch, said, "It's 5:45 and I have a 6:00 dinner with Gil Kane, so thank you very much, I have to go." He headed for the door, all the while receiving a standing ovation.

But before he could leave, I said, "But, Julie, you didn't tell them how you came up with the name Barry Allen." So Julie stands in the doorway, telling that story and half a dozen more until he looks at his watch, sees that it is now 6:00, and says, "And now I'm late! Thanks a lot, Rozakis!"

[For those who didn't know, Barry Allen got his name from entertainer Steve Allen, then the host of the Tonight Show, and New York radio personality Barry Grey. After Julie revealed this in a FLASH letter column, a reader named Steve Grey wrote in lamenting that if only Julie had made the opposite choices, his name would be that of the Scarlet Speedster.]

Anyway, why did they start with Flash and Green Lantern? As you surmise, most likely because they'd had their own books in the 40s. Hawkman seemed a logical choice as well, having been the second star of FLASH COMICS throughout its original run. And while each of these heroes had a different look and origin, the powers were pretty much the same in the new incarnation.

Atomic bombs were very much on the minds of Americans in the early 1960s. Interest in nuclear energy ran high among kids, along with the fear that the Russians would start raining bombs on our heads at any moment. So it seemed a financially logical move to create a character who could tap into that interest.

Keep in mind, too, that The Atom was the first of the revived Golden Age characters whose powers were truly different from the original. Where Al Pratt was merely a short guy who could fight, Ray Palmer could shrink down to atomic size. The challenges he faced as a tiny man in a giant world obviously intrigued readers (and much more than the adventures of Hank Pym, who traded being Ant-Man for Giant-Man fairly early in his career).

As far as bringing back other Golden Age heroes, Julie didn't stop there. Starman and Black Canary showed up in BRAVE & BOLD #61 (with Wildcat joining them in #62), Doctor Fate and Hourman bowed in SHOWCASE #55, and The Spectre returned in SHOWCASE #60. Granted, these were the original Golden Age (Earth-2) heroes, but by then "Flash of Two Worlds" and the "Crisis" stories in JLA had established that readers were interested in them.