14. The Flash
The Flash is a title given to a series of DC Comics superheroes. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940).
Once nicknamed the Scarlet Speedster, the Flash possesses "super-speed", which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes and violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, four different characters, each of whom somehow gained the power of "super-speed", have assumed the identity of the Flash: Jay Garrick (1940-1986), Barry Allen (1956-1986), Wally West (1986-2006), and Bart Allen (2006-present).
The second incarnation of the Flash is generally considered the first hero of the Silver Age of comic books and the superhero has remained one of DC‘s most popular ever since. Each version of the Flash has been a key member of either the Justice Society of America or the Justice League, DC’s all-star teams, although it has yet to be seen what kind of role Bart Allen will play in either the Justice League or Justice Society, given how recently he assumed his role as the current Flash, alongside Jay Garrick.
The Barry Allen version of the character was featured in a live action television series in 1990, starring John Wesley Shipp. The Wally West version of the Flash is featured in the animated series Justice League, voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who also portrays Lex Luthor on Smallville.
The Bart Allen version appeared on the television show, Smallville, on January 18, 2007, as the crimefighter, Impulse.
While several other individuals have used the name Flash, these have lived either on other parallel worlds, or in the future. Garrick, Allen and West are the best-known exemplars of the identity.
Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick was a college student in January 1940 who accidentally inhaled heavy water vapors after falling asleep in his laboratory where he had been smoking. As a result, he found that he could run at superhuman speed and had similarly fast reflexes. After a brief career as a college football star, he donned a red shirt with a lightning bolt and a stylized metal helmet with wings (based on images of the Roman god Mercury), and began to fight crime as the Flash. His first case involved battling the "Faultless Four", a group of blackmailers. Jay kept his identity secret for years without a mask by continually vibrating his body while in public so that any photograph of his face would be blurred. He is still active as the Flash, and operates out of Keystone City.
Barry Allen
Barry Allen was a police scientist with a reputation for being very slow, deliberate, and frequently late, which frustrated his fiancée, Iris West. One night, as he was preparing to leave work, a lightning bolt shattered a case full of chemicals and spilled them all over Allen. As a result, Allen found that he could run extremely fast and had matching reflexes. He donned a set of red tights sporting a lightning bolt (reminiscent of the original Captain Marvel), dubbed himself the Flash (after his childhood hero in the comic books, Jay Garrick), and became a crimefighter. In his civilian identity, he stored the costume in his ring, which could eject the compressed clothing when Allen needed it and suck it back in with the aid of a special gas that shrinks the suit.
Wally West
Wally West was the nephew of Iris West and Barry Allen by marriage, and was introduced in The Flash #110 (1959). When West was about ten years old, he was visiting his uncle's police laboratory, and the freak accident that gave Allen his powers repeated itself, bathing West in electrically charged chemicals. Now possessing the same powers as his uncle, West donned a copy of his uncle's outfit and became the young crimefighter Kid Flash. After the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, where Barry Allen was killed, Wally took over as the fastest man alive. Following the events of Infinite Crisis, Wally, his wife Linda, and their twins left Earth for an unknown dimension.
Bart Allen
Bart Allen was the grandson of Barry Allen and his wife Iris. Bart suffered from accelerated aging and, as a result, was raised in a virtual reality machine until Iris took him back in time in order to get help from the then current Flash, Wally West. With Wally's help, Bart's aging slowed and he took the name Impulse. After his kneecap was shot while working with the Teen Titans, Bart changed both his attitude and his costume, taking the mantle of Kid Flash. During the events of Infinite Crisis, the Speed Force vanished, taking with it all the speedsters save Jay Garrick. Bart returned, four years older, and for a year claimed that he was depowered from the event. However, the Speed Force had not disappeared completely, and was absorbed into Bart's body, making it such that Bart contains all of the Speed Force. Bart's costume is Barry Allen's Flash suit. Bart Allen is the Flash who guests on the television series, Smallville in 2004, and again in 2007.
