Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Jack Cole, lev gleason

Before Plastic Man: Jack Cole's Silver Streak Debuts in #3, at Auction

Before Plastic Man, Jack Cole brought his unrestrained energy to the flying speedster Silver Streak beginning in Silver Streak Comics #3.

Published Wed, 15 Oct 2025 05:57:03 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Sat, 01 Nov 2025 04:39:48 -0500

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Article Summary

Silver Streak debuted in issue #3 with a wild origin story by Jack Cole, making him comics' second speedster.
Jack Cole and Joe Simon contributed early, dynamic work predating their later iconic characters.
Silver Streak is notable as the first superhero with both super-speed and flight powers in comics history.
With only 14 CGC-graded copies known, Silver Streak Comics #3 is a highly scarce Golden Age collectible.

Silver Streak was a foundational early Golden Age title, and issue #3 featured the origin and first appearance of that title's namesake hero, the speedster Silver Streak. In a wonderfully bizarre 10-page origin story by Jack Cole, "The Mystery of the Monstrous Fly" a race car driver is killed in a crash orchestrated by a mad scientist and his giant fly. The driver is then resurrected with incredible powers. This makes Silver Streak the second major speedster in comic book history, his debut coming just two months after that of The Flash in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). He also holds the distinction of being the first superhero with the combined powers of super-speed and flight, predating characters like DC's Johnny Quick by over a year. This issue features formative work from the likes of Cole and Joe Simon, before they created their most famous characters, and there's a CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages copy of Silver Streak Comics #3 (Lev Gleason, 1940) up for auction in the 2025 October 16 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase Auction III at Heritage Auctions.

An illustration from Silver Streak Comics #3 featuring a large, cartoonish fly with exaggerated features, hovering over a cityscape while a small man attempts to fend it off. The title 'Silver Streak' is prominently displayed in bold letters. — Silver Streak Comics #3 (Lev Gleason, 1940)

Jack Cole's raw talent and unrestrained visual imagination would make him legendary with the inventive body horror of Plastic Man, and that talent is certainly on display here in the origin of Silver Streak. A mad scientist known only as Doc has perfected a process to enlarge insects to monstrous proportions. The man who would become Silver Streak is killed when Doc's monstrous giant fly causes his car to crash. Through a mystical process, the man is resurrected as Silver Streak. It's a classic trope that taps directly into public anxieties about the machinery of warfare and the potential consequences of unchecked scientific ambition. Joe Simon's 6-page space opera, Planet Patrol, is an excellent example of his pre-Captain America era as well.

Only 14 total copies of Silver Streak #3 have been graded by CGC in any condition, with only 11 unrestored copies, and just five graded higher than CGC 5.5. It's been at least eight years since a nicer copy has been available than this CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages copy of Silver Streak Comics #3 (Lev Gleason, 1940) up for auction in the 2025 October 16 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase Auction III at Heritage Auctions.