The first Flash, Jay Garrick, was introduced in the Golden Age, founding the Justice Society, and creating a mantle that would extend over 80 years into the future. The next Flash was Barry Allen, whose debut kicked off the Silver Age of comics. Wally West would become the third Flash in the '80s, followed by John Fox, Bart Allen, and Avery Ho. The Flash is the greatest legacy mantle in comics.
The Flash's success on TV didn't translate well to motion pictures, but the Flash is still extremely popular. New fans can be pretty daunted by the over eighty years of Flash history, which is completely understandable. However, there are some Flash facts that every new fan should know; facts that will greatly add to their comic-reading experience.
10 Bart Allen Was The First Flash To Be Born With His Powers
Bart Allen started his career as Impulse, after coming to the present from the 31st century. Bart Allen was a very interesting speedster. Bart is the grandson of Barry, who went to the future to reunite his wife Iris after killing the Reverse-Flash. They had two twins, Don and Dawn, and Don got married to Meloni Thawne, a descendant of Reverse-Flash. Bart was born not long after, and was the first speedster to become the Flash that was born with the Speed Force. This gave Bart powers that no one else had.
The most important one was that he could speed read and remember everything. Bart growing up with the Speed Force made being super fast second nature to him. Bart became the Flash after Infinite Crisis, but his stint as the Flash wouldn't last very long, as he was killed by his clone Inertia and the Rogues.
9 The Flash Brought Back The Justice Society
DC introduced the multiverse to comics in 1953's Wonder Woman #59, but it wasn't until The Flash #123 that fans would see characters they recognized. This issue saw Barry Allen team up with Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. This was the first crossover between Golden Age DC superheroes and Silver Age ones, which would start a tradition that redefined what DC superhero comics were.
The Flashes became the foremost multiversal travelers in DC Comics. The return of the Justice Society was a major milestone in comics. There's a good chance it would have happened regardless at some point, but this linked the Flash and the DC Multiverse.
8 The Flash Museum
The heroes of the DC Universe are beloved celebrities. Some of them are more celebrated than others and the Flash is one of the more beloved, especially in the twin cities of Central and Keystone. Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West protected the cities for years and the citizens built the Flash Museum to commemorate their heroes. The Flash Museum became a key tourist attraction, and a way for the people of the Twin Cities to honor the Flash.
The Flash Museum is pretty unique in superhero comics. Even in a universe where Superman exists, who is seemingly the most beloved hero ever, the Flash is so loved that the people of the cities Flashes have protected built a shrine to him.
7 Flash's Rogues Are The Greatest Villain Teams In Comics
The Flash's villains are pure Silver Age cheese, but that doesn't mean they're weak or a joke. Barry Allen battled villains like Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, the Trickster, and more, all of whom are gimmick villains much like many of Batman's villains. However, unlike Batman's enemies, Flash's villains realized they could never defeat the fastest superhero in the universe. So, they banded together as the Rogues.
Most of the time, villain teams don't work very well. Each member of a villain team is usually out for themselves and will betray their teammates in a heart beat. The Rogues, on the other hand, are more like a superhero team. They work together, they look out for each other, and they actually care about each other. Readers love the Rogues and they add so much to the Flash comics.
6 The Reverse-Flash's Obsession With Barry Allen
The Reverse-Flash first appeared in the Silver Age and was based on the Golden Age Flash villain known as Rival, who had the same powers as Golden Age Flash and the same costume with a different color scheme. Reverse-Flash hailed from the 25th century and was obsessed with Barry Allen. This obsession grew and grew until Reverse-Flash killed Iris West, and later tried to kill Allen's next wife, which led to Barry breaking his neck.
Reverse-Flash was brought back to life by the White Lantern and ran back in time to fight Barry Allen after the hero's return to life. Reverse-Flash learned that he was powered by the Negative Speed Force, which allowed him to travel through time unaided and change the past. Reverse-Flash's hatred for Barry Allen is next level even when compared with archvillains like Lex Luthor and the Joker.
5 Jay Garrick Is The Greatest Non-Trinity Golden Age Hero
Jay Garrick was a college student experimenting with hard water. The fumes awakened the metahuman gene within him. Like many other people in the Golden Age who gained power, Jay put on a costume and became the Flash. Jay helped found the Justice Society, fighting the Nazis and various supervillains. Jay Garrick became a top hero in the Golden Age and would be the first non-Trinity hero to appear in the Silver Age.
Since then, Jay has become the most popular Golden Age hero. Jay Garrick became the grandfather of the Flash Family, teaching younger heroes like Wally West and Bart Allen. Garrick is the heart and soul of the Justice Society, helping to guide the next generation of heroes. Recently, Jay discovered he and his wife Joan had a daughter, who worked with him as the Boom, who was taken from them and frozen in time so they forgot she existed.
4 The Flash Family Have Their Own Death
The Flash Family consists of multiple members, all powered by the Speed Force. The Speed Force gives speedster heroes an amazing amount of power, with the fastest speedsters able to move faster than the speed of light. However, moving this fast has its danger and speedsters have died moving at extreme velocities, including Barry Allen himself. The DC Multiverse has several beings who represent death, and the Speed Force has one of its own - the Black Flash.
Speedsters like Wally West and Barry Allen have both outrun the Black Racer, the New God who represents death, which is why the Black Flash exists. West and Allen have both inadvertently become the Black Flash, and being hunted from him.
3 The Flash Legacy Stretches Millennia Into The Future
When Jay Garrick started the legacy of the Flash, he never could have imagined how far into the future the Flash's legacy would extend. The Reverse-Flash came from the 25th century, and the Flashes were legends. In the 27th century, John Fox gained a connection to the Speed Force and became the Flash, coming back to the present to meet Wally West before running into the far future of the 853rd century and becoming the Flash of the Justice Legion A.
Barry Allen himself moved to the 31st century for a time and had children with Iris, keeping the speedster legacy of the Allens alive. Wally West has children who have adventures in the future as well. The Flash Family and its legacy extends into the far future, using the power of the Speed Force to keep the multiverse going.
2 Barry Allen Redefined The Flash
Barry Allen kicked off the Silver Age, and his time as the Flash opened the floodgates for other heroes. Barry Allen was the first of a new generation. Barry Allen helped found the Justice League, like Jay Garrick and the Justice Society before him, and was known for being rather white bread. Barry was as bland as a plain turkey sandwich with a glass of water for lunch, but that was part of his geeky charm. The wars against the Reverse-Flash caused him to break his own rules against killing, but he made up for it by sacrificing his life to save the universe from the Anti-Monitor, destroying his anti-matter cannon.
Barry Allen came back to life during the battle against Darkseid, outrunning the Black Racer with Wally West, and bringing the New God's personification of death to Darkseid to help stop him. Allen would discover that the Speed Force was created when the accident that have him his powers happened, and its nature as an energy related to time made sure that it moved retroactively up and down the timestream. Allen's return saw him retake his place as the Flash and remind everyone why he was a great hero.
1 Wally West Is The Greatest Legacy Hero In Comics
Wally West was a huge fan of the Flash. Luckily for him, his aunt Iris dated Barry Allen. Wally would be caught up in the same accident as Barry Allen and his hero made him into his sidekick, the first Kid Flash. As Kid Flash, Wally West learned the ropes from the hero who would become his uncle and helped found the Teen Titans, yet another Flash helping create an extremely important team of heroes. Wally's powers went on the wane and he had to quit heroing, but the death of Barry Allen and the battle against the Anti-Monitor brought him out of retirement.
Wally West took over as the Flash, the first sidekick of his generation to take over for his mentor. Wally West was the first Flash to learn about the Speed Force, using its power to defeat the Reverse-Flash, and soon became the most powerful ever. Wally took everything Barry taught him and improved upon it. He married his girlfriend Linda and had two children. The New 52 took him out continuity, but he'd come roaring back, beating everything thrown at him, getting his family back, and taking as the main Flash again. Wally West is the ultimate legacy hero, in many ways even greater than his friend Dick Grayson, and had become the best Flash ever.