Tom versus the Flash number 299 or night time in the Allen apartment is not a pleasant time.

Welcome back for the flash number 299, the July 1981 issue featured cover, penciled by Carmen and Fantino, inked by Dick Giordano, with the issue being edited by Lenween.

Our first story in this issue is A Stab in the Black, written by

Carrie Bates, penciled by Carmine Infantino, inked by Bob Smith, lettered by John Costanza, colored

by Gene D'Angelo. We begin in the Utopia Tower, Singles and Termin Camp apartment building

inside one of the apartments. There's a newscast playing with someone watching it. The news is

talking all about the brazen daytime battle between the flash and the shade that happened earlier today. Central City has been dealing with black and white attacks where all their color has disappeared. In the fact that the shades are owned, the newscaster thinks maybe there's something going on with that. At the end of the battle, the shade was gone and his cane was left. A reporter asked the flash about,

you know, what was going on with the shade. It's nice that the flash stuck around long enough to

say, uh, no comment, which he just, he waited for the reporter to ask him and then said, no comment.

He's not rude. I mean, the flesh is going to stick around and at least field your questions.

And he got a sweet cane out of

the deal. We know the shade is hiding inside the cane, sort of in his shadow dimension waiting for

the Flash to respond to an offer he made earlier. But we'll get to that in a minute. The apartment

we're in, Barry Allen's apartment. His dad walks in wearing a cowboy hat. Now, this should be a tip off to Barry. That's

something very unusual is going on with his father. I mean, we know his father's planning to kill him,

but Barry should now have some clue that his father is wearing just a cowboy hat, just wandering

around town. That's not the normal type of move for Henry Allen. Barry asks his dad all, you know,

is his mom getting any better,

which his dad says, no, there's really no change in what's going on. But you guys,

you guys have such crazy technology in the city. They're trying some new biofeedback developed

in Canada. DC Universe, the United States uses Canadian healthcare technology. Socialist

biofeedback. It probably makes Barry Allen shiver

...