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Quote1 I could give in to the fear and run away...But that's just it...fear is easy. Hope is hard...and I'm always up for a challenge! Quote2
The Flash src

Jason "Jay" Garrick is the first speedster to be called The Flash, and a founding member of the Justice Society of America. As a result of Doctor Manhattan's alterations to the timeline, Jay became trapped in the Speed Force and forgotten to all,[1] though eventually the alterations were undone and Jay was restored alongside the rest of the world's proper history.[2]

Origins

Jay Garrick and Professor Hughes Prime Earth

Jay Garrick in college

In 1938, Jay was a student at Midwestern University. He got good grades and played for the football team, but he was a mediocre player and had little social life, being too nervous to approach girls. He was dissatisfied with his life, always trying to achieve greatness but never quite making it. Professor Hughes, a professor at the college, asked Jay to help him with his research and Jay eagerly agreed, excited that Hughes apparently saw something in him. For the next three years they worked together on formulas to make men faster and stronger. They made significant progress, particularly when Jay came up with the idea of using hard water as a catalyst. Jay's self-esteem improved as their research progressed, giving him the confidence he needed to ask out Joan Williams and they started dating.

One night, Professor Hughes tasked Jay with separating the elements from a formula and left, promising to return in a few hours. Jay completed the task and then lit up a cigarette, leaning on the lab bench. Suddenly it collapsed and the equipment fell on him, shattering and releasing the gases from the formula. Jay passed out from the fumes and was unconscious for three hours until Professor Hughes came back in. Jay believed this was an accident, but in fact Hughes had engineered the whole thing in an attempt to create a superhuman.

Jay was rushed to hospital but quickly made a full recovery and discovered that he had gained superhuman speed as a result of the "accident". After graduation, Jay became the costumed adventurer The Flash.[3]

Early Career

Becoming the Flash

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The Flash, circa 1940

During the year 1940, Jay operated as the Flash in Keystone City. As a result of the altered timeline, Wonder Woman became the world's first superhero and inspired Garrick, who was amidst an existential crisis, to do more to help people by fighting the Nazis in Europe. While facing Thinker, he heard a mysterious voice that warned everyone will forget him. After defeating Thinker, he realized that he was meant to become part of something bigger.[4]

Justice Society

Jay became a member of the Justice Society of America alongside Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern, Wildcat and The Sandman.[5] Shortly after the formation of the JSA, Jay asked Doctor Fate to see the many possible futures and reveal if he and his girlfriend Joan would ever have a kid, which caused Kent to have a painful vision about multiple lost children of various heroes.

In 1940, Jay first encountered a mysterious young female speedster known as The Boom during one of his earliest adventures. Though initially unaware of the helpful young woman's nature, she eventually revealed that she was his daughter, Judy Garrick, travelling from the far-away year of 1963.[6]

In 1941, Jay responded to a bank robbery in New York City, and found Green Lantern on the scene. Green Lantern was officially a member of the JSA but seldom attended meetings or interacted with his ostensible teammates. Lantern had already found the gunman dead on a nearby roof, and Jay pointed out that he appeared to have drowned, and yet also somehow had severe burns on his arms. Green Lantern revealed that he recognised the man.[7] Although it was clear that the man had been murdered, he was revealed to be homosexual and so the New York City Police Department did not bother to investigate his death. Therefore the JSA decided to investigate the murder themselves, in a meeting which Green Lantern did not attend, and assigned The Spectre to handle the case.

Later another gay man showed up in the city who appeared to have been murdered the same way as the supposed gunman. To Jay's surprise, Green Lantern called him in to share what he had found. Due to his obvious personal investment, Jay quickly deduced that Green Lantern was gay himself but chose not to judge or condemn him, and indicated that he was not bothered by Green Lantern's sexuality without explicitly saying so. He revealed to Lantern that the Spectre was already on the case and told Lantern where to find him.[8]

That same year, Jay and the Justice Society broke into a secret laboratory in Germany guarded by a cyborg bear, believing that it held the Spear of Destiny. However, when they got inside they saw an unfamiliar emblem which read "ISA" rather than any recognisable Nazi iconography. Jay speed-read the lab files and determined that they were part of a super-soldier program. A masked American scientist named Doctor Elemental emerged and attacked them, demonstrating powers over the elements. He easily overpowered them but, when all hope seemed lost, Judy burst through a portal from the future and punched him out. Doctor Elemental tried to flee in a rocket and Jay and Judy chased after him, with Jay launching her into the air to catch the rocket. Doctor Elemental ejected out and blew up the rocket, getting away. Judy fell to Earth but Jay jumped up and rescued her.[9][10]

Spear of Destiny and Parsifal

Jay was enlisted by President Roosevelt for a secret mission to retrieve the Spear of Destiny from the Philippines before the Nazis could obtain it. He was partnered with Happy Terrill, aka the Ray, who unlike other early superheroes was a government agent who maintained a low profile and was largely unknown. Jay was awed at the prospect of finding the spear that pierced the side of Christ, although the atheist Terrill was only concerned with the Spear's strategic value. They were beaten to the Spear by a band of Nazis lead by Parsifal and captured, as Parsifal possessed the ability to negate their superpowers. The two were held prisoner and tortured for five weeks on a German warship, and although Jay was initially defiant he eventually lost hope, asking Terrill to carry a message back to his girlfriend Joan if he didn't make it.

The Ray prayed for a miracle, which was answered when lightning exploded from Jay's chest, breaking their chains and blasting the cell door open. Unbeknownst to the Ray, Jay had been possessed by the consciousness of Wally West, a successor of Jay from the 21st Century and the lightning was excess Speed Force energy. Looking out of the porthole, they realised that the ship had landed and Parsifal had handed the Spear over to Hitler, who had also been granted powers by the lightning. Wally and the Ray escaped the ship disguised as German soldiers and chased after the plane Hitler and Parsifal were leaving on. In the future, Barry Allen advised Wally to drain the Speed Force energy within Hitler into the Spear.

The two made it aboard the plane and Hitler used the power of the Spear to take control of their minds. However, when he froze Wally's mind it allowed Jay to take control back of his body. Unsure of where he was or what was happening, he ran forwards and punched Hitler in the face, breaking his command over the Ray. The Ray grabbed the Spear from Hitler and drained the excess Speed Force energy into it. The explosion of energy destroyed the plane but the Ray flew away to safety carrying Jay. Wally was back in control and asked the Ray to get Jay to a hospital before he was pulled back into the timestream. Jay awoke to find Terrill carrying him in midair and panicked, having no idea how he got there. He would retain some memories of their adventure but could not recall details besides punching Hitler in the face.[11]

Battling the Legion of Doom

Justice Society of America Prime Earth 0003

The Justice Society meet their successors

In a splinter of Hypertime, Jay and the rest of the Society encounter John Stewart and Barry Allen.[12] Jay expresses surprise about their being another Flash. He, the other society, John and Barry go to Pearl Harbor, shortly before is attacked by the Japanese.[13] He and his allies battle the Legion of Doom and the Japanese forces under their control, before Aquaman shows up.[14]

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Fatherhood and Erased Existence

After the war Jay married Joan and founded Garrick Laboratories. Judy was born on February 14th, 1949, and her future self stopped travelling back in time to visit him. He continued to be dogged by Doctor Elemental throughout the early 60's, coming to view him as his arch-enemy. On Judy's thirteenth birthday in 1962, Jay was about to take her out after finishing work early when he heard a news report of a fire downtown on the radio. He left to fight the fire, promising to be back soon, and left Judy in his lab. While he was gone a pipe in the lab mysteriously exploded and doused Judy with hard water, similar to the accident that gave him his powers all those years ago. Jay broke down the wall to rescue Judy, but she was unharmed and had gained superspeed of her own. Judy became his sidekick, the Boom.[6][3]

In 1963, Joan was kidnapped by Doctor Elemental, and Jay and Judy tracked her to an abandoned water treatment plant on the outskirts of Keystone City. After Judy accidentally ran over a dam and triggered the bombs that were around it, Jay stayed outside and disarmed them while Judy went in to rescue Joan. Unfortunately, as soon as Joan was saved, Judy disappeared and became trapped on a mysterious island alongside Wing How, with both Joan and Jay losing all memory of her and Doctor Elemental.[15][16]

Jay and his history would later be largely erased from the timeline by the manipulations of Doctor Manhattan. However, Garrick would persist, stuck in the Speed Force, allowing him to avoid the changes to the timeline, at least temporarily.[1]

Rebirth

The Button

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Exiled once more

When Barry Allen and Batman raced through the Timestream after Eobard Thawne, Jay attempted to call out to Barry from inside the Speed Force. After finally getting Barry's attention, Jay was able to break through and use his speed to get Barry, Bruce, and himself out of the timestream and back on Earth.[1]

After getting back on Earth, Jay began slowly fading back into the Speed Force. He introduced himself to Barry, who had no idea who he was, trying to get him to remember him, as he did with Wally West. Jay told Barry that someone took everything from him and he didn't know why. Just before fully fading back into the Speed Force, Barry grabbed Jay's arm and attempted to save him from fading away, although just as he grabbed him, Jay was teleported away by a blinding blue light.[1]

Doomsday Clock

It was revealed that the Justice Society of America had been erased from history due to Dr. Manhattan causing Alan Scott's death. Since Scott was the major lynchpin behind creating the JSA, his death meant the group never existed in the first place.

Dr. Manhattan however undid his actions after getting inspired by Superman, causing Scott to survive and becoming a superhero, restoring the JSA along with Garrick back into the timeline. The team came to assist Superman in stopping the metahuman battle in Washington, D.C.[2]

Manhattan's attempt at fixing the timeline and reality failed however, as they merely re-adjusted into a new version. Jay returned to the present timeline along with other Justice Society members when Wally West, having gained the powers of Dr. Manhattan and acquiring the Mobius Chair, attempted to fix time by merging the various timelines, but he was now significantly old.[17][18][19]

Reunion

Jay was restored to the timeline but had lost his memories. He later recovered most of them but still did not remember Judy. As he and Joan believed that they didn't have kids of their own, they viewed Barry and Wally as their own sons.[20][21]

Flash Family 019

The return of Jay Garrick

Wanting to talk to Barry after recovering his memories, he tracked him down using the Speed Force, but found him threatening Iris West, Avery Ho, Wallace R. West and Bart Allen. He knew the man couldn't be Barry and found that Eobard Thawne had taken control of his body, while engaging in a brawl with him and telling the others to stay back. Just at the moment when Thawne outmatched his opponent, he was struck with great pain due to Barry trying to take back control of his body. The reunited Flash Family then arrived at Central City's graveyard to stop Thawne and his Legion of Zoom recruited from various points of timelines, from taking Nora Allen's body, after getting a tip from the Trickster, James Jesse.[22]

The Tornado Twins soon attacked them but returned to their time after regaining their memories. As Thawne directed the remaining members of his legion to attack, Barry started taking control of his body back. Gorilla Grodd encouraged the other members to kill him, which would allow them to kill both Thawne and Barry, but they were stopped by Jay and the Flash family. As Barry, took back control and brought Jesse Quick as well as Max Mercury out of the Speed Force, Thawne revealed that he had far more Flash Villains across the timeline for his Legion of Zoom than they knew.[23]

As Jay and others struggled to battle the Legion of Zoom, Max Mercury meditated and brought forth speedsters from various realities to help them. As Thawne escaped after getting struck by a lightning and hearing Wally, the kids made a plan to send the Legion of Zoom back to their time by creating a shockwave frequency to do so. Jay, though reluctant, was persuaded by Max to let them do what they wanted. covered them along with the other older speedsters.[24] The Flash finally ended the threat of Thawne by grounding him and giving him part of his speed force, which removed his state of being a paradox that could avoid changes in the timeline.[21]

Death Metal

The world was soon transformed to a nightmarish landscape when the Batman Who Laughs conquered Earth 0 with the help of Dark Knights and was granted power by Perpetua to rule over it as he saw fit by Perpetua, in return for helping her. Jay and the other surviving JSA members guarded the Valhalla Cemetery where deceased JSA members were buried. Barry knew where they were and kept in contact. When Wonder Woman came looking for Batman, whom they had allowed in to recruit his undead army, he also reunited with Wally.[19]

Jason Garrick Prime Earth 0007

On the run from The One Who Laughs

When the Robin King later came to cemetery, they realized the Batman Who Laughs had become immensely powerful and he along with Wally as well as Barry ran through a portal created by Doctor Fate. The Batman Who Laughs, who had now gained Doctor Manhattan's powers, chased them and nearly caught up to them since the Speed Force had grown weak. The three speedsters then combined their powers to outrun him.[25]

During the final stand against the Darkest Knight's army, Jay faced various villains, including a Nazi version of himself from the Last 52 Multiverse.[26].

Later that day, along with Barry, Jay fought against a Last 52 version of Wally West, who still possessed Doctor Manhattan's powers, and was killed by its blue lightnings. However, after the Hands restored Earth 0 to its Pre-Metalverse state, Jay was resurrected along with the other people killed during the invasion.[27]

Infinite Frontier

Dark Crisis

Barry Allen disappeared while on a mission with Justice League Incarnate. Mister Terrific was able to track him through the Speed Force and found three alternate realities where he might be. The Flash Family gathered at the Flash Museum to go into the Force and hopefully find Barry and bring him home. The West twins ran through the portal into the Speed Force, hoping to prove that they were heroes too. Jay tried to stop them but was too late and jumped through the portal after them.[28]

Jay emerged in a dark city and found the twins and another kid seemingly being attacked by Night-Flash, an alternate version of Barry. Jay pulled Night-Flash off them but the twins told him that the other boy was the real villain. The boy ran away and Night-Flash explained that he was in fact his archenemy Knives Maroney, who had aged in reverse since the accident which gave both of them their powers. Jay took the kids home, telling Night-Flash they were sorry they couldn't stay and help him with Knives, but Night-Flash replied that he was happy to know there were other heroes out there.[29] After Wally found and freed Barry, Jay and the Flash Family helped the other superheroes contain the waves of supervillain attacks created by Deathstroke. When Linda Park joined the fight in a superhero costume, Jay was briefly reminded of Judy.[30]

One-Minute War

The Flash Vol 1 796 Textless

Jay leading the charge

Jay was at a bar reflecting on his long life when a mysterious spire arrived on Earth at the same time everyone that wasn't a speedster frooze. That was the arrival of the Fraction, an interdimensional empire that used the Speed Force to plunder various worlds.[31] Jay quickly went to the crash site to rescue Kid Flash and Impulse, who were being targeted by various tanks. The three hid while being cornered by the Fraction until they were saved by Jesse Quick before reuniting with the rest of the Flash Family on the West house.[32] The speedsters later relocated to Mister Terrific's personal lab at Terrifictech to use as a new refuge, Kid Flash and Impulse also managed to get one of the Fraction's vehicles, which contained various other heroes that were kept as prisoners.[33]

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Dawn of DC

Judy and the other kidnapped sidekicks were rescued by Stargirl and Red Arrow. As the timeline was too damaged by their removal, Hourman returned them to the present rather than their proper places in time. Judy ran to JSA Headquarters to reunite with Jay, and as soon as he laid eyes on her his memories of her came flooding back. Judy ran up and hugged him, and when they touched they sent a ripple through the Speed Force that reintegrated her back into history and restored the world's memories of her. After catching up at super-speed, having hours worth of conversations in mere seconds, he took her home.[34]

Seeing Judy instantly restored Joan's memories of her. Her parents were happy to have her home, but Judy realised the world had moved on without her when she saw a picture of the Flash Family, and her old room which Bart had been using. She asked to be alone and they left the room, but when Joan went back in to bring her cookies she found that Judy was gone. Jay quickly realised she had gone to foil a robbery at Keystone City bank. He ran after her and stopped the robbers himself, then ordered her to go back home. At the house he admonished her not to run off on her own, telling her that the world was a much more dangerous place now. Judy retorted that nothing could be more dangerous than Doctor Elemental, and Jay suddenly remembered his old enemy.[15]

Jay started to remember his old fights with Doctor Elemental, including their first encounter in 1941. The new memories made Jay even more fearful of losing Judy again, and he was afraid to let her out of his sight. However, Joan made him let Judy go to the mall with Stargirl. Joan eventually let him go to check on her, which he did without letting himself be seen. However, he saw something running towards the girls and ran down to pull them out of the way. The three of them fought the attacker off, but Judy was still angry at him for following her. When they had it subdued, Jay recognised the attacker as the cyborg bear he fought in 1941. The bear told them that "he" would see him and Judy soon and teleported away.[9]

Mister Terrific explained to Jay that his memories returning was the result of adjusting to changes in the timeline caused by Judy's return, which speedsters were normally immune to. The fact that he forgot Doctor Elemental meant that his existence was inextricably linked to Judy, and when she was removed from the timeline, Jay's memories of Doctor Elemental were erased too. Stargirl realised that if Doctor Elemental was only returning now, it must mean he wanted Judy for something, and he had had sixty years to plan his next move. Judy revealed that she had seen Doctor Elemental's face just before she vanished, but couldn't remember when he looked like. Mister Terrific took them to Terrifictech and used a machine to display Judy's memories on screen. The machine showed Doctor Elemental, who Jay recognised as Professor Hughes.[10]

Mister Terrific traced Professor Hughes' last place of employment to S.T.A.R. Labs in Detroit. Jay and Judy ran there to look for clues but Garrison Slate, the head of S.T.A.R., was already waiting for them. He told them that Professor Hughes was his silent partner and the funder of S.T.A.R. Labs. Garrison showed them an old diary of Hughes' which revealed that he had been trying to unlock the secrets of the Metagene since 1938 and had engineered the accidents that gave them both their powers. Before Slate could tell them where Doctor Elemental was the receptionist burst in and fired at them.[3]

Jay and Judy dove behind Slate's desk for cover, managing to avoid the bullets with their speed, but Slate was hit and died. Jay ran at the receptionist, who was revealed to be a robot, and was able to break it to pieces. Doctor Elemental spoke to them through the robot, and told Jay that he had only ever seen him as a test subject, not a friend. The receptionist self-destructed and blew up the building, but Jay and Judy were able to evacuate the building in seconds.

Judy asked if they should try to hide, but Jay told her that they would take the fight to Doctor Elemental. He took her to Brazil where he was known by the alias "Joel Ciclone". They met up with his old JSA teammate Pieter Cross, aka Doctor Mid-Nite and went to his underground secret lab, which Judy was amazed by. As Jay predicted they were immediately attacked by Hughes' forces lead by Ro-Bear. He and Doctor Mid-Nite went up to the surface to fight the attackers but made Judy stay in the lab to prevent Doctor Elemental capturing her. However, when he overpowered Ro-Bear and asked him where Doctor Elemental was, Ro-Bear smugly replied that he was already there. In terror, Jay ran down to the lab and saw that Judy had disappeared, taken by Doctor Elemental. He ran back up and Ro-Bear tired to teleport away, but found that Doctor Mid-Nite had disabled his transporter. Jay said that Ro-Bear would tell them where Doctor Elemental had taken Judy "or else".[35]

Powers

  • Speed Force Conduit: Jay possesses a connection to the Speed Force, a mysterious cosmic force that pushes time and space itself forward. As it does this, the Speed Force creates excess energy that builds up and needs to be released. Jay, along with all speedsters connected to the Force, acts as a release valve for the Speed Force. When Jay uses his powers, he taps into that built up energy. As a conduit of the Speed Force, all aspects of Jay's physiology are accelerated and enhanced.
    • Superhuman Speed: Jay is capable of moving at incredible superhuman speeds.[1] He is fast enough to easily run across water, as well as keep up with Barry Allen.[14]
    • Superhuman Reflexes: Jay possesses reflexes far greater than a normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.[4]
    • Superhuman Agility: Jay's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily maneuver while moving at superhuman speed.[4]
    • Superhuman Stamina: Jay's body can handle the stress of moving at superhuman speeds for long periods of time without out getting tired or weak.[4]
    • Speed Force Aura: Jay's body is surrounded by a Speed Force Aura, or "friction cushion" - a bubble of space-time accelerated to the same velocity as Jay. This aura allows Jay to breathe and hear sounds while moving at immense speeds, as well as protects him and anyone who he is running with from the rigorous effects of using his speed, including friction, airborne particulate matter, kinetic impacts, G-Force and the like.
      • Superhuman Durability: Thanks to his protective Speed Force aura, Jay is capable of resisting tremendous kinetic impact forces that could easily crush or kill a human, without suffering any serious external or internal injuries. He was hardly effected by the impact of a large explosion at point blank range.[4]
    • Accelerated Healing: Like all conduits of the Speed Force, Jay is capable of regenerating from injuries much faster than any normal human. This is due to his Speed Force Aura accelerating space-time around him, closing his wounds almost instantly.
    • Aerokinesis: By rotating his arms at super speed or running in a circular motion, Jay can manipulate the airflow around him for various effects, such as creating strong vortexes of wind.[9]
    • Decelerated Aging: Jay ages at a much slower rate than any normal human, due to the Speed Force halting his cells from degrading over time.[15] Jay is nearly 100 years old if not older, as he was shown to already be an adult in the year 1941.[9] Despite his age, Jay remains in peak physical condition.
    • Electrokinesis: As a conduit of the Speed Force, Jay's body generates large amounts of the electrical energy that he draws from the Speed Force. This Speed Force lightning emanates off of him, especially when moving at superhuman speed.[1]
    • Enhanced Senses: The Speed Force grants Jay enhanced senses that allow him to perceive the world at a rate attuned to his reaction speed.[4]
    • Thermokinesis: Jay can use the friction generated by his super speed to create immense heat for various purposes. He once was able to melt the cracks in a large stone wall by rapidly running across it, in order to keep them from spreading and stop the wall from collapsing.[15]
    • Time Travel: Jay is able to use his speed to travel throughout the timestream. He used this ability to bring Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne out of hypertime and back in time before they had entered the timestream.[1]

Abilities


Related

Footnotes


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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.

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Justice Society of America member
This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.

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