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Secret Origins Annual (1986) #2

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"Flash: "The Unforgiving Minute"": Wally West goes to therapy in hopes of overcoming whatever is making him unable to run as fast as Barry could and as fast as he once was able to. In this story, we see that he is still clinging onto Barry's memory and does not see himself as fit to take on the

Secret Origins Annual (Volume 2) #2 is an issue of the series Secret Origins Annual (Volume 2) with a cover date of September, 1988.

Synopsis for Flash: "The Unforgiving Minute"

Wally West goes to therapy in hopes of overcoming whatever is making him unable to run as fast as Barry could and as fast as he once was able to. In this story, we see that he is still clinging onto Barry's memory and does not see himself as fit to take on the mantle of the Flash, despite how many people he has saved (172). It also shows his unresolved feelings about his father, Rudy, questioning if he ever truly loved him or not because he was a manhunter. Dr. Owen Slade theorizes that Wally has imposter syndrome and wonders if the matter-changing beam that gave Wally his Kid Flash suit because of Barry's thoughts also could have caused Barry to unconsciously make a trigger on Wally's speed so that whenever he does something bad with it, Wally gets slower, but Wally doesn't like this theory. This story overall shows that Wally doesn't feel that he is worthy to take Barry's place as the Flash and that Wally is judging himself very harshly, thinking that he should be disappointed in himself because he doesn't believe he is managing to be as good of a person as Barry. The story ends with a picture of Wally crying looking at a photo of Kid Flash and the Flash together with the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling--a poem representative of the qualities Barry lived up to in his life as a good man, and a poem full of qualities that are hard to achieve and live by, showing how hard it is for Wally to be like Barry like he wants.

Appearing in Flash: "The Unforgiving Minute"

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Synopsis for "The Flash in Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt"

Chronically late Barry Allen graduates from the police academy with a science degree on the basis of his thesis proving the existence of tachyons and obtains a job as a police scientist. At a crime scene, police detective Russo feeds Iris West information about an upcoming police raid on a terrorist group called LDL. Iris visits the site and is kidnapped by LDL, then is forced to broadcast their demands. Seeing the broadcast, Russo races to the scene while Barry frets about being too slow to help. A bolt of lightning breaks enters Barry's lab, freezing in mid-air, where it speaks to him and offers him super-speed at the cost of a shortened lifespan. Accepting the bargain, Barry places a jar of ammonium sulfate on the shelf as instructed by the lightning bolt, which then strikes the chemicals and makes Barry the fastest man alive. After rescuing Iris from LDL, he models himself on the comic book hero the Flash to begin his own heroic career.

At a later point in Barry's career, the Rogues create employ Weather Wizard's powers to create a "Human Thunderbolt" that can move as quickly as the Flash, distracting him while they trash the Flash Museum. After the Human Thunderbolt breaks from his fight to destroy a Flash Museum billboard, Barry realizes that the Thunderbolt is attracted to his costume rather than having a mind of its own. He changes into his civilian clothes, using his empty costume as bait to lure the Thunderbolt into the ring where he keeps his costume in compressed form. At the Flash Museum, the Rogues suddenly find themselves all dressed in Flash costumes. As they realize that the Flash must have changed their clothes at super-speed, Barry appears and releases the Human Thunderbolt from his ring.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry confronts the Anti-Monitor, who boasts that the beam of his anti-matter cannon travels too fast for the Flash to stop it, offering Barry a ten-second head start to prevent the Earth's destruction. Barry sees that the cannon is powered by a single tachyon, which he must outrace and catch in order to save the universe. Although attempting to run at the speed of a tachyon will cost him his life, Barry knows he must try. As he breaks the lightspeed barrier and begins to catch up with the tachyon, Barry sheds his physical form, becoming pure energy; he travels backwards in time, moving back through the events of his own life. Finally catching the tachyon and thwarting the Anti-Monitor, Barry becomes the lightning bolt that entered his own lab so many years earlier, granting himself the power of super-speed.

Appearing in "The Flash in Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt"

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Trivia

"Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt" is also the title of the story that introduced the Silver Age Flash.


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References
Superboy Vol 4 69
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