Two Classic DC Comics in IT: WELCOME TO DERRY May Have Connections to Pennywise Eric Diaz | usagoldmines.com

In the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry, we meet Theodore “Teddy” Uris, the uncle of Stanley Uris from the original It. Played by Mikkal Karim-Fidler, he’s a comic book fan, especially of DC Comics. In episode one, we see two instances of comics from the era he’s reading, The Flash #123, and Detective Comics #298, both from 1961. (The series takes place in early 1962.) Now, that could just be a fun Easter egg referring to director Andy Muschietti’s previous film, 2023’s The Flash, which features not only the Scarlet Speedster but also Batman. However, there could be a deeper meaning to their inclusion that ties into Stephen King’s grander cosmology.

The Flash #123 (1961)

Published in July 1961, The Flash #123 is one of the most important comic books in DC Comics’ history. The story “Flash of Two Worlds,” was written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Carmine Infantino. This story tried to reconcile the then-current Flash, Barry Allen, with the Flash of the 1940s, Jay Garrick. In Fox’s story, the DC heroes of the ‘40s were revealed as existing on the parallel world of Earth Two, an almost identical reality separated from Barry Allen’s Earth One via vibrational frequencies. This established DC’s Multiverse, which led to decades of stories.

So how does this connect to Welcome to Derry? Well, in Stephen King’s mythology, the being we call Pennywise is actually billions of years old, and came not from an alien world out in space, but from another dimension called the “Macroverse.” King establishes this, despite Pennywise hitching a ride to Earth via an asteroid. We don’t know much about the Macroverse, but it could be a parallel reality to similar to our Earth. This is why including The Flash #123 may be more significant than just a nod to Muschietti’s DC film.

Detective Comics #298 (1961)

The other comic Teddy Uris reads in bed is Detective Comics #298, which hit drug store spinner racks in September of 1961, a few months after The Flash issue. It was written by Bill Finger, Batman’s now-credited co-creator, and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff. This issue reintroduced the villain Clayface for the Atomic Age. He fights Batman and Robin, who encounter him trying to steal jewels from a museum. You know, as Gotham City criminals tend to do. The Dynamic Duo defeat him and a new regular in Batman’s rogues gallery is born.

In the ’40s, Clayface was a disgruntled actor who used makeup to disguise his appearance. For the 1960s Silver Age, DC reinvented him as treasure hunter Matt Hagen. This second-rate Indiana Jones stumbles into a cave, falling into a pool with a mysterious substance. Now able to shapeshift, looking like anyone he can think of. He can also change his overall size. This is the version we meet in the iconic Batman: The Animated Series.

Changing shape to strike terror into his victims? Yeah, this sounds very Pennywise to us. We think the inclusion of this comic may suggest that Welcome to Derry may introduce us to Pennywise’s penchant for constant shapeshifting we see in the movies. We’ll have to see how this all plays out in the series, but we definitely think these DC nods have deeper significance.

It: Welcome to Derry is currently dropping new episodes on Sundays on HBO Max.