History ComicBook / TheFlash

* [[DependingOnTheArtist/TheFlash Depending On The Artist]]

Barry Allen returned from the Speed Force during ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. The cause of his return and his place in the DCU were explored in Geoff Johns's miniseries ''The Flash: Rebirth''[[note]]Not to be confused with 2016's ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' ongoing by Joshua Williamson[[/note]]. The series is also noticeable for giving Barry a DarkerAndEdgier backstory, wherein his mother was killed by a time-travelling Eobard Thawne, and his father falsely imprisoned for her murder. This change has made it to all subsequent interpretations of his character.\\

* ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth''

* ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen''
* ''ComicBook/{{Terminal Velocity|DCComics}}''
* ''ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfTheFlash''
* ''ComicBook/{{Impulse}}''

* ''ComicBook/TheTrialOfTheFlash''

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The subsequent ComicBook/DawnOfDC relaunch sees two new titles launching. Wally stars in a new series that hearkens back to ''The Flash'''s sci-fi roots, but with a darker bent. A ''Titans'' series will also launch, featuring Wally and the rest of the adult Titans.\\

The Flash -- a.k.a. the Scarlet Speedster -- is a Creator/DCComics superhero originally created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. First appearing in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (1940) during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, he's TheSpeedster of Franchise/TheDCU and has been credited as the TropeCodifier of SuperSpeed tropes in comics.

The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Flash, '''Jay Garrick''', was, if not [[TropeMaker the first]], then the [[TropeCodifier most well-known early]] [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer single-power]] SuperHero. Earlier heroes were either ComicBook/{{Superman}}-style characters with [[ComboPlatterPowers many different abilities]], or ComicBook/{{Batman}}-style [[NonpoweredCostumedHero human vigilantes]]. Jay had exactly one superpower: the ability to move very fast. His SuperHeroOrigin involved a FreakLabAccident involving prolonged exposure to "hard water fumes".[[note]]Real world scientific research at the time had found that laboratory animals would, while exposed to some of the compounds present in hard water, have measurably faster metabolisms. Probably to eliminate those unpleasant chemicals from their bodies.[[/note]] (Later issues {{retcon}}ned this to "heavy water vapor", and later to being the result of activating a [[{{Mutants}} meta-gene]] for which the vapor was a catalyst.) He would also use this ability in creative ways to simulate other superpowers, such as becoming invisible by moving back and forth too quickly for the human eye to perceive.\\

UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks could be said to begin when its Flash, '''[[Characters/TheFlashBarryAllen Barry Allen]]''', arrived on the scene. In [[ComicBook/ShowcaseNumberFour the fourth issue of]] ''[[ComicBook/ShowcaseNumberFour Showcase]]'', a try-out series for new concepts, Creator/DCComics brought back the idea of the Flash, but gave him a new costume, origin, and secret identity, creating the first SuperHero LegacyCharacter. Sales took off, and not long thereafter, he gained his own series, ''The Flash'', picking up numbering with #105 where the Golden Age series ''Flash Comics'' had left off.\\

Barry's career lasted into UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks, and took on the flavor of the era. Professor Zoom, Barry's EvilCounterpart, [[TargetedToHurtTheHero killed Iris]]. Barry grieved, but fell in love again with Fiona Webb; however, on their wedding day, Zoom attacked again, and after a pitched battle, Barry snapped his neck just before he was about to kill Fiona. This led into the ''ComicBook/TheTrialOfTheFlash'' [[StoryArc arc]]; at the end, Barry was acquitted, it was revealed that Iris was from the future and had been saved by AppliedPhlebotinum, and they moved there together, giving the series a HappilyEverAfter ending. (Well, unless you're Fiona.)\\

Finally, the thing that would forever after define the Flash legacy showed up: the Speed Force. After a trip through time, Wally began to transform into energy. Max Mercury, a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] speedster, explained that Wally had touched a quasi-mystical dimension, "beyond the speed of light", that was the [[MetaOrigin source of all speedsters' powers]]. Max became the mentor to Wally and later, to Bart. Wally was eventually sucked in, but managed to come out the other side due to [[ThePowerOfLove the power of his love]] for Linda.\\

** The first was the Terrific Whatzit, a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] comics character who's a turtle. TW had a power set similar to Johnny Quick's (super-speed, some flying ability) plus super-strength; he wore a costume similar to Jay Garrick's. Later stories showed he lived on the parallel world of Earth-C, and was the uncle of the [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Zoo Crew's]] speedster Fastback.
** The second was the Crash, a member of the JLA (Just'a Lotta Animals) of Earth-C-Minus. The Crash was his world's version of the Flash (the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] version), and thus had the same costume and powers as the Flash. In a variation on Barry Allen's backstory as well as the story "The Flash of Two Worlds," it's revealed that the Crash as a child had read his world's "fictional" comics about (Earth-C's) Terrific Whatzit.

Not to be confused with the [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Adobe Flash]] platform, or with the ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' franchise.

* UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks: Creator/MarkWaid's run was highly popular for [[DefiedTrope defying]] much of the trends of UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|of Comic Books}}, being relatively lighthearted yet very emotional. The spinoff ''Impulse'' bucked the trends even more.

** Wally named his son and daughter after the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Flash and his aunt, respectively.

* HeelFaceTurn: The Flash was one of the first comics to attempt this seriously, and at some point, almost every [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Rogue had attempted to go legit, to varying degrees of success. This was Retconned to be a HeelFaceBrainwashing by the Top, however, who gleefully undid it all during the Rogue War. [[spoiler:It's implied that two of the Rogues, Pied Piper and the Trickster, legitimately went straight, though Top's meddling blinded Trickster to the fact that being on the right side of the law didn't mean he was in the right.]]

** HealingFactor: Barry is nigh-unkillable at the peak of his powers, being able to remain conscious and deliberately reassemble himself molecule by molecule even if he's been ''disintegrated''. In other words, he has "complete control over his molecules," as mentioned every third comic or so back in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, and is thus capable of reversing pretty much any sort of attempt to induce PowerIncontinence on him. Considering the things he can undo with this power, mere [[GoodThingYouCanHeal regeneration]] is simple. One has to assume that this same ability is what's kept Jay Garrick exceptionally hale and hearty for a man who's pushing 90 years old.

*** In UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Barry Allen occasionally karate-chopped his way through concrete and steel with a single blow. Being able to move his hand at near-light speed made it pretty easy; what was amazing was that the impact didn't shatter his own bones.

The only times all four Flashes have been on-screen together are two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010''. Episode six of season two, "Bloodlines," features Bart coming to the show's present from forty years in the future, and one by one, he, Wally, and Jay step in to help Barry fight off a villain targeting The Flash. The other episode is the series finale, "Endgame," where Barry, Bart, Wally, and Jay are among the 40 heroes teaming up to thwart the Reach's attempt to destroy the Earth out of spite. While Jay only appears in a crowd shot, Barry, Bart, and Wally are forced to use their speed to create enough kinetic energy to counteract a "secret" bomb the heroes discovered too late to disarm.

The Flash — a.k.a. the Scarlet Speedster — is a Creator/DCComics superhero originally created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. First appearing in Flash Comics #1 (1940) during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, he's TheSpeedster of The DCU and has been credited as the TropeCodifier of SuperSpeed tropes in comics.

The Scarlet Speedster. The Fastest Man Alive.

'''''[[TropeCodifier The]]''''' [[TheSpeedster Speedster]].

This is the SuperSpeed hero of Franchise/TheDCU, whose {{legacy|Character}} stretches from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks to today.

''The Flash''. The Scarlet Speedster. The Crimson Comet. The Sultan of Speed. The Scarlet Knight. The Fastest Man Alive.

The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Flash, '''Jay Garrick''', was, if not [[TropeMaker the first]], then the [[TropeCodifier most well-known early]] [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer single-power]] SuperHero. Earlier heroes were either Franchise/{{Superman}}-style characters with [[ComboPlatterPowers many different abilities]], or Franchise/{{Batman}}-style [[NonpoweredCostumedHero human vigilantes]]. Jay had exactly one superpower: the ability to move very fast. His SuperHeroOrigin involved a FreakLabAccident involving prolonged exposure to "hard water fumes".[[note]]Real world scientific research at the time had found that laboratory animals would, while exposed to some of the compounds present in hard water, have measurably faster metabolisms. Probably to eliminate those unpleasant chemicals from their bodies.[[/note]] (Later issues {{retcon}}ned this to "heavy water vapor", and later to being the result of activating a [[{{Mutants}} meta-gene]] for which the vapor was a catalyst.) He would also use this ability in creative ways to simulate other superpowers, such as becoming invisible by moving back and forth too quickly for the human eye to perceive.\\

''The Flash'' [[TropeMaker created many of the features]] of the Silver Age [[Franchise/TheDCU DCU]]. In 1961, the story "Flash Of Two Worlds" was published. It featured Barry accidentally crossing the "vibration barrier" between [[AlternateUniverse dimensions]], and ending up in a world he dubbed "Earth-2", where Jay Garrick still lived, having retired from superheroing after marrying Joan. Thus, the first seeds of the [[TheMultiverse Infinite Earths]] were planted. He was also a founding member of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica.\\

* EnhancedPunch: In Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, The Flash fights a speedster called Zum. Once Flash starts thinking of it as a fight rather than a race, he uses his speed to accelerate his body until his uppercut has sufficient force to propel Zum upwards at 25,000 mph. The Flash has [[RequiredSecondaryPowers the Speed Force]] to render himself immune to relativistic effects of approaching lightspeed as he runs. Zum lacks that same protection, and thus from his perspective Wally was punching him with infinite mass.

** Three out of the four are paired with a Franchise/GreenLantern. Jay and Alan Scott, Barry and Hal Jordan, and Wally and Kyle Rayner are all Flash/Green Lantern Life Partners.

* MythArc: "The Flash is to time what ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' is to space", says Geoff Johns. Probably an AbortedArc now since Johns didn't stay with the Flash after the New 52 began.

** Barry, since coming back to life, has been significantly more like Bart and Wally, which is noted by [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] during ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''.

[[folder:Other Non-Comicbook Media]]

* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The Flash vs. Superman races, which, most of the time, would end in a tie. Wally West, the then-current Flash, beat Superman by a slim margin in the first ComicBook/PostCrisis race between the two, on the basis that Supes is unused to running much as compared to the easier flying option, while that's what Flash does all the time. As the writer pointed out, it would be kind of lame if Flash weren't the best at his ''only'' power.\

-->'''Barry:''' You can't stop me.
'''Superman:''' I've raced you before, Barry. I even won some of those races.
'''Barry:''' Those were for '''charity''', Clark.

--->'''Professor Zoom:''' Your mother may be a Thawne, but your father was an Allen. Your blood is polluted.

* AndIMustScream: In a move that seems very unlike the easy-going Wally West we've come to know, he subjects Inertia (clone of Bart, a reverse-Impulse, if you will) to an eternal punishment. Rather than simply outright killing him, he uses the Speed Force to slow Inertia down physically to such a degree, that the simple act of blinking would take him hundreds of years. To make the punishment worse, Inertia could still think and see in real time, frozen in the middle of a sprint, and forced to stare endlessly at images of Bart Allen, whom he had previously killed. Wally describes it as being "forced to stare, with eyes that take a hundred years to blink...at the ghost of the man he could never be." Inertia had pretty much ''just'' killed Bart and was ''taunting'' Wally about it, [[KickTheSonOfABitch so it wasn't like one]] could blame [[BigBrotherInstinct Wally]] for the move.

* CaptainSuperhero: Some of the RoguesGallery.

** Barry's iconic costume is incredibly similar to a disguise worn by ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' in a 1940 story arc.

Not to be confused with the [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Adobe/Macromedia Flash]] platform, or with the ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' franchise.

'''''[[TropeCodifier The]]''''' {{Speedster}}.

'''''[[TropeCodifier The]]''''' [[SuperSpeed Speedster]].