The Flash

The Flash is one of DC comics most endearing heroes for this simple reason; even though he has been given a tremendous gift of super-speed, he is still only human. Superman always could do the incredible tasks of saving the world and managing to rescue Lois Lane from the bad guys... The Flash is always trying to beat the clock. Batman makes detective work look easy, The Flash spends the majority of his day painstakingly analyzing evidence in a lab. Imagine one of the crew of CSI spending the whole day collecting evidence and then trying to stop villains in whatever time he had left of his day: all of this while working in a police station that is hunting down his alter-ego! For those who were not comic book fans, this series is still worth a look. It was ahead of it's time in many ways: X-men, Spiderman, and the upcoming Batman Begins all focus in on the people behind the masks and the costumes to reveal the true character of the Hero.

The Flash’s Powers

The key ability all Flashes share is speed: running fast, thinking fast, kicking and punching fast. They can create whirlwinds with their arms or drill through the ground. They can move back and forth so quickly they become invisible. They can run up the side of a building faster than the pull of gravity, or across water before their feet have time to break the surface. Some have complete control over their molecules, and can vibrate through solid objects. Today’s Flash, Wally West, can also lend speed to moving objects or steal it from them, slowing them to a stop. Unlike the others, he hasn’t mastered the art of vibrating through objects: they tend to explode as he passes through them!

The second Flash, Barry Allen, learned how to travel through time using his control over his molecular vibrations. On his own it was hit-and-miss, so he built the “cosmic treadmill” to help pinpoint destinations. By running on the treadmill, any Flash can set up the right vibrations to travel through time. Wally West is the only Flash (so far) to master time travel without the treadmill, though he avoids it whenever possible.

The Flash Legacy

Four heroes have called themselves the Flash over the years.* The first, Jay Garrick, fought crime in Keystone City during the 1940s. The second, Barry Allen, protected Central City 10–20 years ago and died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. The third Flash, Wally West, started his solo career in New York City before moving to Keystone. He and his family vanished during Infinite Crisis, and Bart Allen took over until his tragic death. Wally was brought back just moments after Bart was killed.

*There’s actually a lot more, if you bring in future and alternate universe stories.

Flash I

Jay Garrick is a scientist. In his college years, a lab accident left him exposed to “heavy water” fumes overnight, and he woke up with super-speed. He fought crime in Keystone City, often with the help of his girlfriend Joan, and was a charter member of the Justice Society of America (JSA). He retired in the early 1950s and married Joan, but would come out of retirement when the need arose. Kept (relatively) young by his powers, he now works with the modern Justice Society.

Current Series: Justice Society of America.

Flash II

Barry Allen was a police scientist in Central City, across the river from Keystone. Working late one night, he was struck by lightning and splashed with chemicals, giving him super-speed. As the Flash, he was a contemporary of Superman and Batman, and a founding member of the Justice League of America (JLA). A year or two into his career, Barry married reporter Iris West. Iris was eventually believed killed by Professor Zoom, but she survived in the 30^th Century. The Flash later killed Zoom accidentally, leading to a lengthy murder trial and Barry being reunited with his wife in the distant future. Just a month later, Barry died in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, sacrificing his life to save the universe. Iris has since returned to the present.

Current Series: None.

Flash III

Wally West grew up in a small Nebraska town, and was a huge fan of the Flash. One day, visiting his aunt Iris, he got a chance to meet his idol. In a freak accident, Barry’s origin repeated itself, and Wally became his teen-aged sidekick, Kid Flash. Wally joined with other sidekicks to form the original Teen Titans, and has been a hero his entire adult life. After Barry’s death, he took on the role of the Flash, first in New York, then in Keystone City. After running through a series of girlfriends, he finally married reporter Linda Park. Wally worked as a mechanic for the Keystone City Police Department until he, Linda, and their infant twins disappeared in Infinite Crisis.

They reappeared over a year later. Their children, Iris and Jai, had developed powers of their own, which accelerated their growth to the physical ages of 10 and 8.

Current Series: Flash, Justice League of America.

Flash IV

Bart Allen, Barry’s grandson, was born in the 30^th Century with a hyper-accelerated metabolism. He grew up in a virtual reality adjusted to match his sense of time, giving him no sense of danger. His grandmother eventually brought him to our present in hopes that Wally would know how to cure him, and his system was shocked to a normal growth rate in early adolescence. At first he took on the name Impulse, and lived with Max Mercury as his guardian and mentor, but since Max’s disappearance, he has lived with Jay and Joan Garrick. A founding member of Young Justice, Bart went on to join the Teen Titans and changed his name to Kid Flash. He spent several years in an alternate dimension during Infinite Crisis and returned as a young adult.

Bart had a brief career as the fourth Flash, during which he moved to Los Angeles. Tragically, he was killed by the Rogues just moments before Wally West returned.

Others to carry the mantle of the Flash Jesse Chambers Main article: Jesse Chambers Daughter of the speedster Johnny Quick, Jesse Chambers became a speeding superhero like her father. She later met Wally West, the Flash, who would ask her to be his replacement if something were to happen to him, (as part of an elaborate plan on his part, trying to force Bart Allen to take his role in the legacy of the Flash more seriously). She briefly assumes the mantle of the Flash, after Wally enters the Speed Force. [5] Unnamed Allen of the 23rd Century The father of Sela Allen, his wife and daughter were captured by Cobalt Blue. He was forced to watch his wife die and his daughter become crippled. As he and Max Mercury killed Cobalt Blue, a child took the gem and killed Allen. This Flash was one of the two destined Flashes to be killed by Cobalt Blue (Eobard Thawne). Sela Allen Sela Allen as the Flash of the 23rd century. Sela Allen is an ordinary human in the 23rd century until Cobalt Blue steals electrical impulses away from her, causing her to become as slow to the world as the world is to The Flash. Hoping to restore her, her father takes her into the Speed Force. When her father is killed, she appears as a living manifestation of The Flash, able to lend speed to various people and objects but unable to physically interact with the world. John Fox John Fox as the Flash. When Manfred Mota resurfaced in 27th century, John Fox, a tachyon scientist, traveled back in time to gain aid from the three Flashes who had defeated Manfred before. He failed to make contact but the time travel left him with superspeed. He used a combination of various previous Flash costumes to create his own costume. After defeating Mota he was sidelined by the invention of speed metal. He began searching the timestream for a time where he could belong, briefly replacing a time-displaced Wally West in the 20th century before finally settled in the year 85,265 where he joined the Justice Legion. In issue #2 of the 2007 Booster Gold series, there is a panel depicting Dr. Thirteen's group breaking the fourth wall by complaining about the Architects' only using popular "fellows" in new comics, John Fox was mentioned by name. Blaine Allen Blaine Allen as the Flash of the 28th century. Blaine and his son lived on the colony world of Petrus in the 28th century. In an attempt to end the Allen blood line, Cobalt Blue injected Allen's son Jace with a virus. Lacking superspeed, Jace was unable to shake off the virus. In despair, Blaine took his son to the Speed Force in the hopes that it would accept him. It took Blaine instead, and gave superspeed to Jace so that he could shake off the disease. Jace Allen Jace Allen gained superspeed when his father brought him into the Speed Force to attempt to cure him of a virus injected into his body by Cobalt Blue in an attempt to end the Allen bloodline. In memory of his father, Jace took up the mantle of the Flash and continued the feud against Cobalt Blue. Kryad After an alien creature invaded Earth, a history buff named Kryad traveled back in time from the 98th century to acquire a GL power ring. He failed, so he tried to capture The Flash's speed instead. After being beaten by Wally West, he went back further in time and used the chemicals from the clothes Barry Allen was wearing when he gained his powers. Kryad gave his life to defeat the alien creature. Alternate versions Tanaka Rei from Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Art by Paul Ryan and Bob McLeod. In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-2". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-2, including the Flash among other Justice Society of America characters. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but the Flash is visually similar to the Jay Garrick Flash.[6] Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-2.[7] A variant of the Flash - a superfast college student named Mary Maxwell - was seen in the Elseworld book Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating The Flash. Tanaka Rei The Flash of Earth-D, Rei was a Japanese man who idolized Barry Allen, whose stories only existed in comic books. Rei was inspired by Allen to become the Flash, much like Allen was inspired to become the Flash by his idol, Jay Garrick. Allen and Rei met during the Crisis on Infinite Earths when Barry was coming back from the 30th century and arrived in the wrong universe. As that earth was under attack by the shadow demons, Barry called on the Justice League and Tanaka called on the Justice Alliance, his world's version of the Justice League. They built a cosmic treadmill and made an evacuation. The Justice League left, but 39 seconds later, Earth-D perished. Rei made his only appearance in Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths.