History
Barry Allen, The Flash, also known as the Fastest Man Alive is a costumed hero with super-speed powers. He is the second Flash, after Jay Garrick and before Wally West. Barry Allen was most frequently a member of the Justice League of America.
Origins
Barry Allen and a twin brother were born on May 13, two weeks late, to Henry and Nora Allen in the small midwestern town of Fallville, Iowa. The brother was pronounced stillborn by Dr. Gilmore. However, in actuality, he had been born healthy, but given to another family, the Thawnes, whose child had died during birth. The lateness of Barry's birth only foreshadowed his bad habit of always being late. Barry grew up reading the adventures of his favorite superhero, Jay Garrick, the original Flash, and acted many of his hero's adventures out with his friend and future actress, Daphne Dean.
When he was a child, his mother was killed and his father was convicted. The drive to prove his father was innocent gave Barry a strong belief in justice.
In high school, Barry had a reputation for being slow and easy-going. On his first date, he went to a carnival. His date had wanted to put a little motion in his life, and they went on the roller coaster first thing. Because of this, he developed a fear of roller coasters, a fear that he didn't get rid of until much later in his life.
Barry loved chemistry from an early age, and that helped his skills as a farmer. He won first place in the Fallville County Fair Agricultural Competition, a prize which included an scholarship to Sun City University. He graduated in three years with a major in organic chemistry and a minor in criminology.
While a senior, Barry helped the authorities apprehend a bank robber, and he was offered a job as a police scientist for the Central City Police Department Scientific Detection Bureau. Eager to be in the sister city of his childhood hero's home, Keystone City, he accepted the offer.
After moving to Central City and getting an apartment with a laboratory in the back, Barry began dating Picture News reporter Iris West, who he met while examining an apparent murder that she was reporting. She was charmed by his honesty and stability.
A Flash of Lightning
That night during an electrical storm, Barry returned to an experiment after a short break. All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning streaks through a window, shatters a case full of chemicals and bathes Barry in the electrified chemicals. Dazed, he decided to return home in a taxi. However, the taxi started to pull away without noticing him. Barry sprinted after it, only to run straight past it as if it had been standing still. He decided to sit down and recollect his thoughts at a diner. A passing waitress accidentally spilled the items of her tray onto Barry, who amazingly caught them all in mid-air and returns them to the tray. The next day, Barry amazingly saved Iris from a stray bullet. There was no question about it: the freak accident had somehow given Barry superhuman speed!
Deciding to use his powers to help humanity, Barry designed a special costume. He used a special cold cast polyester he developed in college, which could be molded into miniature outfits from liquid material, that, when submersed in a special liquid, became sensitive to hydrogen, expanding on contact with the hydrogen in the air. A charge from a battery-powered ring he wore on his finger caused the fabric to release the extra hydrogen and shrink into the ring. He later revised the process, making the fabric sensitive to nitrogen instead. He called himself the Flash, a tribute to his childhood idol. He briefly considered wearing a costume that would show his face, like Jay had, but decided that it would be best to wear a mask to conceal his true identity.[1] The first villain he faced was the Turtle Man.
Heroic History
Barry Allen, the Flash
As the Flash, Barry later became a founding member of the Justice League of America, where he befriended Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, with whom he had many adventures both with and without the Justice League. Later still, he discovered that Jay Garrick was real, and became friends with him as well.
During one summer, Iris' nephew Wally came to visit her in Central City. He was an incredible Flash fan, and he knew his aunt's boyfriend was a "friend" of the Flash, so a meeting was arranged. Flash answered all of Wally's questions. When Wally asked about the lab experiment, Barry set up the cabinet of chemicals in his lab just as it had been during the accident. All of a sudden, the freak accident that gave Barry his powers repeated itself, bathing Wally in electrically-charged chemicals. Now possessing the same powers as The Flash, Wally donned a smaller sized copy of Barry Allen's Flash outfit and became the young crimefighter Kid Flash!
Eventually, Barry proposed to Iris on a Ferris wheel at the fair. She accepted, and they were married, in spite of the efforts of Professor Zoom, who attempted to foil the ceremony. Barry hid his identity from Iris for a year, although she had known the entire time because he had spoken in his sleep on their honeymoon. He was worried that the accident had made him less human and that they would not be able to have children. However, after performing many tests that first year, he determined that they still could, and he revealed his secret.
However, it was not long before Zoom took Iris' life at a masquerade party. Barry chased him into the timestream and left him there.
Barry met and began to date another woman, Fiona Webb. However, on the day they were supposed to be married, Zoom showed up again, claiming that he would once again kill the wife of the Flash. Barry chased him across the world, and failed to show up for his own wedding. In the end, Zoom was about to kill Fiona, but Barry unwittingly killed him. The Flash was charged with manslaughter and had to face a long trial.
Barry's face was disfigured severely in a battle with Big Sir. He went to Gorilla City to have his face repaired. Since Barry Allen had supposedly been missing, he decided to have it reconstructed into a completely new face, so that he could keep his secret identity dead.
Later, Barry was brought to the 30th century, where Iris was from and had been reborn. For about a month, they lived in happiness. Iris would later have twins, Don and Dawn Allen.
Barry made a stop in time during his trip to the future and met up with Wally West in a battle against Professor Zoom. There were two Zooms at the time and they each took one. Barry faired much better than Wally, and sent his Zoom through the timestream. It is unclear what happened to him, but he does end up in the 30th century.[2]
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Main article: Crisis on Infinite Earths
Death of the Flash
The Crisis on Infinite Earths brought Barry out of retirement. The 30th Century was beginning to fall apart: natural disasters were occurring despite the technology that had been created to stop them, and reality itself was fraying. Flash returned to the 20th century to warn his fellow heroes. Just as he started to warn Batman, he was pulled into the Antimatter Universe by the Anti-Monitor, where he was mentally tortured by the Psycho-Pirate. Finally, he used the Psycho-Pirate to turn all of the Anti-Monitor's servants, the Thunderers, against him. This gave him enough time to destroy the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon by running around it and destroying the outer casing. He ran so incredibly fast that he entered the Speed Force forever.[3]
Although there were no remains, a grave for Barry was placed in New York City.
Infinite Crisis
Main article: Infinite Crisis
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Barry Allen's soul appeared from the Speed Force, along with Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, to help his grandson Bart deal with Superboy-Prime, taking the villainous lad with him into the Speed Force. Bart Allen later emerges from the Speed Force, wearing Barry Allen's costume, in Tokyo to tell the heroes that Superboy-Prime has escaped. Bart again reappears to combat Superboy-Prime once more. Barry spent four years in an alternate Keystone City along with Max Mercury, Johnny Quick and an alternate Jay Garrick, until he met Bart and Wally West, joining him after the battle against Superboy-Prime. After Superboy-Prime escapes, Barry suggests that someone of the still living speedsters has to absorb the whole Speed Force and cross the dimensional bridge back to Post-Crisis Earth. As Bart volunteers, Barry gives him his suit as a last gift, to keep the Force contained, and stays behind.
Final Crisis
Main article: Final Crisis
Emerging from the Speed Force
Barry Allen has recently reappeared during the Final Crisis. He has been seen chasing the bullet fired backwards through time that killed Orion, and being chased by the Black Racer and what appears to be the Morticoccus Virus.[4] He simply says to Wally West and Jay Garrick "Run!". Barry and Wally accelerate one month into the future, only to find that Darkseid has conquered the world. They are soon discovered by a group of Female Furies composed of the Anti-Life corrupted Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Catwoman, and Giganta. Evading the Furies, they head to Iris' apartment, where Barry is able to break the Anti-Life Equation's hold over her with a kiss, assuring Iris that everything is going to be all right.[5]
Shortly afterwards, Jay Garrick made his way to Iris' home, and reunited with Barry and Wally. Once Jay was there, Barry explained his plan: because they had lead the Black Racer to the present, Barry would lead him to Darkseid, and let his soul be claimed. Although Barry wanted to go alone, Wally insisted on going with him, and Barry relented, asking Jay to keep Iris safe. Managing to hit light speed, Barry and Wally lead the Black Racer to Darkseid's base in Bludhaven. Aware of the threat the speedsters posed, Darkseid fired his Omega Beams through his Anti-Life slaves, but the two Flashes managed to outrace them. At the last second, Barry told Wally to save himself, but both Flashes went through together, running past Superman (who was naturally surprised to see Barry) and vibrated through Darkseid, causing the Omega Beams to hit Darkseid and allowing the Black Racer to remove Darkseid's essence from Dan Turpin.[6]
Back in the world
Main article: Flash: Rebirth
Shortly afterwords, although his family and friends were overjoyed that he was back, Barry himself was uneasy, as he was unable to explain how he alone escaped the Speed Force, while others such as Max Mercury and Johnny Quick were still trapped inside. Deciding not to waste this second chance, Barry went to the Flash Museum to catch up on what he had missed. While there, he met up with his old friend, Hal Jordan, who had also died and returned. Barry discussed his unease over his return with Hal, and how he felt that he did not need to come back. Barry told Hal to tell Wally and Jay that he wasn't going to the parties that had been set up in honor of his return, then sped off on patrol. While running, a rogue speedster Wally had encountered named Savitar somehow escaped the Speed Force through Barry. When Barry managed to catch him, Savitar disintegrated before Barry's eyes.[7]
Recently Barry and Wally found the Black Flash "apparently dead". After that Barry became the new Black Flash.[8] When he realizes that his presence could damage or kill other innocents, Barry flees back into the Speed Force, where he encounters old friends Johnny Quick and Max Mercury. Max attempts to tell Allen that his becoming the Black Flash is not his fault, and when Max and Barry are pulled into another pocket of the Speed Force, the real culprit reveals himself: Professor Zoom.[9]
Zoom reveals the depth of his plan: after Barry briefly aided Kid Flash against Superboy-Prime during the Infinite Crisis, Thawne was able to send a subliminal pulse into the Speed Force to draw back what was left of Barry's self-awareness. This led to the hero's reappearance during the Final Crisis. Afterward, Zoom transformed himself into "a new kind of speedster and created his negative Speed Force to contaminate Barry and the other heroic speedsters. Before Barry can fight any further, Zoom fades away. Wally enters the Speed Force to retrieve his uncle, and after venturing deeper into the Speed Force, Max reveals to Barry that it was Allen himself who created the speedsters' source of power. Barry unknowingly did the same throughout his career to create the normal Speed Force. Meanwhile, Wally manages to reach Barry and Max, and the three begin their escape. As the heroic speedsters are recharged with energy, Barry, Wally, Jay, Max, and Bart charge towards Zoom.[10]
The seven speedsters battle against Zoom, and despite being outnumbered, Zoom pulls Barry away. He reveals that everything horrible that happened to Barry's life, including the murder of Barry's mother, was caused because of Zoom. He, then, decides to destroy everything by killing Barry's wife, Iris, before they even met.[11]
Barry chases after Zoom, and is joined by Wally, who tells Barry to push as hard as he can to break the time barrier. Doing so, they reach Thawne, becoming the lightning bolt that turns Barry into the Flash as they are able to stop Zoom from killing Iris. As the two Flashes push Zoom back through time to the present, the two Flashes see that the Justice League, the Justice Society, and the Outsiders have built a device specifically for Thawne. Barry tosses him in and activates the device, severing his connection to the negative Speed Force. The Flashes tie Zoom up to stop him from running. With the threat ended, everyone celebrates by welcoming Barry back and the speedsters in general. Later, Barry closes the case on his mother's death and opts to take all the other cold cases they had after his death. Barry spends some time with Iris before racing to Washington to celebrate his return with the Justice League, apologizing for being late.[12]
Blackest Night
Main article: Blackest Night
A few months later, at the grave of Bruce Wayne in Gotham City, Hal Jordan and Barry Allen reflect on Batman's death and how the hero community is avoiding linking Wayne and Batman.
This reflection turns to the pair looking at their own deaths, comparing the sadness that Barry's death engendered in others while Hal's death produced anger. Hal sums it up by telling Barry, "I died a sinner. You died a saint." The conversation moves on to the world becoming "more dangerous" after Barry's death and observing that the deaths of Arthur Curry and Martian Manhunter cost the Justice League its "heart and soul". As they leave the cemetery, Barry expresses hope that their dead comrades will be returned to them. He specifically cites Batman noting, "If there's an escape, you can bet Batman's already planning it."[13]
Barry also appears alongside Hal in the July issues of Green Lantern tying into the event. Recently, in a fight with Black Lantern J'onn J'onzz, he found a mysterious black residue at Bruce Wayne's grave-a black form coagulating much like blood that started corrupting him by partly decaying his skin and muscle during the fight against his former friend, who is intent on killing both Hal and Barry, seeing how they both died, and in the eyes of the Black Lanterns, must return to that state to keep the universe in balance.[14][15]
After fighting off the undead Martian and the subsequent Black Lanterns with Hal and the arriving Atom, Mera, Firestorm, and two of the Indigo Tribe members, Barry, along with Wally and Bart, races across the globe to warn every superhero community across the planet.[16] His message also inadvertently warns the Rogues, who are all realize that their deceased members would come after them and decide to strike first at Iron Heights Penitentiary, unaware that Sam Scudder, the original Mirror Master, who is now a Black Lantern, is watching them. While doing so, Barry meets a Black Lantern version of Professor Zoom for a brief battle. Barry decides to go to Gorilla City to seek aid from its ruler Solovar, unaware the gorilla leader had been killed years before. Finding the city attacked, Barry assumed Grodd had struck only to be horrified to learn Solovar was now a Black Lantern. Their fight was shortened by Barry racing to Coast City. [17]
After he stops at the city's memorial, where he witnesses the arrival of the Black Lanterns' demonic lord, Nekron, and his disciples Scar and Black Hand. [18] The Justice League, the Titans, Wally, and Bart arrive to aid Barry to take a stand against Nekron. However, Nekron reveals however that all the resurrected heroes are tied to him, because he allowed them to rise again. And as such they belong to him. Nekron then used a series of black rings to turn Superman, Green Arrow, Bart and several other resurrected heroes into Black Lanterns. Barry himself soon finds himself being targeted by a black ring and is forced to flee or risk joining the others as Black Lanterns.[19] Currently, the Flash is a member of the Blue Lantern Corps.
Blue Lantern Flash
During the battle, Barry is forced to fight his own grandson, who his ring detects is still alive but would eventually die if not free from the black ring soon. Barry is shown to be skilled with his ring in creating energy constructs based on his imagination (possibly because of the understanding with his friend Hal Jordan's ring), as he is able to create images of Bart as Impluse and Kid Flash against him in order to make him feel again. Barry's plan almost works as Bart reacts to the images of his past and the constructs begin to attempt to take the black ring from him, but later is interrupted by the Black Lantern Professor Zoom and Solovar. Wally and Walker later join Barry to fight against them.[20]
The Rise and Fall
Afterwards, Barry and Hal begin searching the country for Prometheus, who had escaped after destroying Star City during Justice League: Cry for Justice. The pair go to the Shade, who then reveals that he helped Ollie track down Prometheus, and that he killed the villain in cold blood. After confronting Ollie with this knowledge, he flees through use of a transportation key that Prometheus had used to escape during a previous encounter with the JLA. Barry then vows that he and the League have to track down Ollie before he kills again.[21]
With Hal and Dinah by his side, Barry searches the city for Green Arrow, and at some point tells Ollie's son Connor Hawke about his father's crime. After eventually tracking down Ollie, the trio confront him, with Barry telling his old teammate that he hates him more and more every time he sees him. Barry makes the foolish mistake of trying to grab Ollie, and is electrocuted after touching the archer's booby-trapped quiver.[22]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
The Fastest Man Alive.
Speed Force Conduit: Speed Force is a vaguely defined extra-dimensional energy force from which most superspeed-powered heroes draw their powers. The Speed Force serves as the ultimate measure of velocity in the DCU. They are often referred to in terms of barriers: Sound barrier, Light barrier, Time Barrier, Dimensional Barrier, and finally the Speed Force Barrier. In Final Crisis, using the Speed Force, Allen was able to undo the effects of the Anti-Life Equation upon an individual: an ability he used on his wife Iris to free her from the bondage of Darkseid's mind control. He has been revealed to not only be connected to the Speed Force, but is the very source of it, generating it with every step he takes. As such, he presumably has some if not all of the Speed Force-related abilities other speedsters have demonstrated (such as lending and stealing speed), though he has yet to demonstrate such abilities.
- Decelerated Aging: Along with every speedster that draws from the Speed Force, the loved ones of the speedsters will gain eternal youth like Jay's wife and Barry's wife ages have shown.
- Speed Force Aura: The Flash's body is surrounded by what he calls his "speed force aura". This aura protects him and anyone who is running with him or carried by him, from the effects of using his speed. This includes friction and airborne particulate matter. It may also protect him from injury. He does seem to possess some level of superhuman resistance to injury but this does not extend far past normal physical interactions, as received from normal combat.
- Superhuman Speed: It appears that Barry Allen can practically run at almost any speed; even exceeding the speed of light under his own power. After returning to life , when he is running away from the league Barry admits to Superman that the reason why Superman won races against him was due to the races being for charity[23]. Theoretically, speeds greater than Mach 10, are dangerous to the people and to the environment. This speed would still be the equivalent to approximately 2 miles per second; allowing him to cross the United States in about 23 minutes, or circle the world in about 3 hours . The Flash rarely achieves such speed in populated areas due to the effects of sonic disruptions and air displacements. His cruising speeds are subsonic (less than 770 mph ; the speed of sound at sea level). This is fast enough to move through most cities and around people without causing too much disruption to the population. He can also run across bodies of water and up the sides of buildings. Barry's speed is arguably on par with that of Wally West, who is considered to be the fastest being to ever exist.
- Time & Dimensional Travel: Barry Allen has shown to be able to traverse time and dimensions. He previously used the Cosmic Treadmill for this feat, but recently he has shown that he no longer needs to since he can now do it on his own with precision and control.
- Regeneration: Able to accelerate his healing factor while using the Speed Force to sustain him, he could heal from any injury instantly.
- Phasing: The Flash has always possessed the ability to control his speed and angular momentum at the molecular level. While in an intangible state, Flash is immune to any airborne viruses and can breathe regularly. He can also vibrate so fast that light does not reflect off him, rendering him invisible. Barry is unique among Flashes and most characters in the DC Universe in that he has complete control over every molecule in his body.
- Vibrational Vision: An ability that all Flash's share, Barry is able to see invisible objects that are vibrating too fast for an ordinary person to see such as the barrier that Gorilla City uses to hide itself.
- Limited Flight: By spinning like a helicopter, he can even perform a limited kind of flight. Since his power is a quantum/molecular phenomenon, it is possible for the Flash to be able to fly just as other metas do (and there have been other flying speedsters in the past, such as the deceased Johnny Quick) because he can control his absolute molecular energy and direction and force it in the direction he wished to move without running.
- Increased Perceptions: The Flash possesses the ability to alter his perceptions so that falling objects can appear to be standing still and can be caught and moved back to their normal position. He can do this so quickly as to have it happen invisibly to the normal human eye. He can strike a single opponent hundreds of times in a second or multiple opponents two or three times in a second. He can disarm or jam any number of opponents weapons before they are even aware of his movement and can hurl small projectiles at hypersonic velocities.
- Supercharged Brain Activity: The Flash's mental abilities are also increased in speed, simple computations can be done at lightning speeds, and his ability to perform normal feats at increased speeds has allowed him to perform incredible feats. Barry can also read at super-speed. Barry is able to avoid telepathic thought manipulation when he accelerates his brain activity.
- Vortex Creations: By running in a circle at a certain speed, Barry Allen is able to create a vortex with a variety of affects. One effect is pulling the air away from the center in order to suffocate an enemy. Another effect is levitating whoever and whatever was in the center. Also, able to send anyone or anything into another dimension when running around them. Some other effects are acting as barriers to movement or funnels for toxic gases. Barry Allen can also spin his arms to create directed funnels of hurricane-speed winds that can knock down barriers or reduce the speed of a falling object. When putting out forest fires, what Flash does is create a pocket tornado by running around the perimeter of the area. The updraft lowers the temperature inside the funnel and raises the fire off the ground which takes away its fuel source.
Abilities
Master Detective: Barry is skilled as a forensic scientist.
Chemistry: As a forensic scientist, he is an expert chemist.
Criminal Psychology: As a police officer/forensic scientist, Barry is adept in criminal psychology and often discusses these topics with Batman.
Hope: Due to the Blue Power Ring, Barry has the ability to instill hope in others.
Weaknesses
Although Barry (like most speesters) is able to travel through the timestream at will, he is unable to affect or change the past to his liking unlike The Reverse Flash, Professor Eobard "Zoom" Thawne who is able to and has done on numerous occasions affecting Barry's life.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Police Scanner: located in mask.
Transportation
Weapons
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Trivia
- Barry Allen was portrayed by John Wesley Shipp on the 1990 CBS Flash television series.
Related
- 1,236 Appearances of Barry Allen (New Earth)
- 372 Images featuring Barry Allen (New Earth)
- 48 Quotations by or about Barry Allen (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Barry Allen (New Earth)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ Flash (Volume 1) #128
- ↑ The Flash #224-225
- ↑ Crisis on Infinite Earths #8
- ↑ Final Crisis #2
- ↑ Final Crisis #4
- ↑ Final Crisis #7
- ↑ Flash: Rebirth #1
- ↑ Flash: Rebirth #2
- ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #3 June 2009)
- ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #4 (August 2009)
- ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #5 (November 2009)
- ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #6 (February 2010)
- ↑ Blackest Night #0 (June 2009)
- ↑ Blackest Night #1 (July 2009)
- ↑ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #44 (July 2009)
- ↑ Blackest Night #2-4
- ↑ Blackest Night: Flash #1 (February 2010)
- ↑ Blackest Night #4
- ↑ Blackest Night #5 (January 2010)
- ↑ Blackest Night: Flash #2 (March 2010)
- ↑ Justice League: The Rise and Fall Special
- ↑ Green Arrow #31
- ↑ Flash rebirth#3
  This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of The Flash, and a member of the Flash Family of speedsters. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Flash Family members" category. |