The Flash*

Publication history 📆

• 🕐 Volume 1 ^{(1959–1985)}

  One of the most notable issues of this era was issue #123 (September 1961), which featured the story titled "Flash of Two Worlds". In it, Allen meets his inspiration Jay Garrick, after accidentally being transported to a parallel universe where Garrick existed. In this previous continuity, Garrick and the other characters of the Golden Age only existed as comics characters in the mainline shared universe. This brought about a new concept in the formative stage of what would become the DC Universe, and gave birth to the current conceptualization featuring it as a multiverse.

  Shortly before Barry Allen's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the series was cancelled with issue #350 (October 1985). In the final issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally West, previously known as Allen's sidekick Kid Flash, stated his intent to take up his uncle's mantle as the Flash.

  Keywords

  Flash of Two Worlds Jay Garrick Golden Age Silver Age Crisis on Infinite Earths Wally West Kid Flash

• 🕒 Volume 2 ^{(1987–2006, 2007–2008)}

  The second volume originally went in a different direction from the series starring Barry Allen by making Wally West a public figure with no secret identity, as well as making him more flawed: this Flash could not constantly maintain his super-speed because of his hypermetabolism, and would consume gargantuan amounts of food in order to continue operating at top speed.

  To help take Wally out of Barry and Jay's shadows, authors made him much more powerful than either of his predecessors by introducing an extradimensional energy source referred to as the "Speed Force", through which he could channel near-limitless energy; the Speed Force has since become a cornerstone of Flash mythology.

  Keywords

  Bronze Age Modern Age Speed Force

• 🕔 Volume 3 ^{(2010–2011)}

  Spinning out of Final Crisis, writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver created The Flash: Rebirth, a 6-issue mini-series bringing Barry Allen back to a leading role in the DC Universe as the primary Flash.

  Keywords

  Final Crisis The Flash: Rebirth

• 🕖 Volume 4 ^{(2011–2016)}

  In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, DC Comics relaunched The Flash with issue #1. As with all of the titles associated with the DC relaunch, Barry Allen appears to be about five years younger than the previous incarnation of the character. Superheroes at large have appeared only in the past five years, and are viewed with at best, suspicion, and at worst, outright hostility. In this new continuity, Barry's marriage to Iris West never took place, and he is instead in a relationship with longtime co-worker Patty Spivot. In this new series, the Flash draws deeper into the Speed Force, enhancing his mental abilities while still trying to get a full grasp on his powers, which he doesn't yet exert total control over.

  Keywords

  The New 52 Iris Westh Patty Spivot

• 🕘 Volume 5 ^{(2016–2020)}

  This volume once again starred Barry Allen, carrying over from the New 52 volume, but also featured various other speedsters as supporting characters. Among them was the original incarnation of Wally West, who was revealed to have been lost in the Speed Force and erased from everyone's memories; the New 52 incarnation, thereafter mainly referred to as Wallace West, was retconned to be a separate character with the same name and gained a superhero identity as the new Kid Flash.

  Keywords

  There are no keywords in this section, it is very rude, but it is.😥

• 🕚 Volume 1 restored ^{(2020-present)}

  Original numbering on The Flash began with an oversized celebratory issue #750 (May 2020). However, the series continued otherwise uninterrupted from where volume 5 had left off.

• If you are not interested in a straightforward story, then you can dare to understand the timeline of the Flash from the Arrowverse. 🤯