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Barry Allen is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics universe and the second Flash. He first appeared in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), created by writers Gardner Fox and Bob Kanigher and penciler Carmine Infantino.

Fictional character biography

Barry Allen was a police scientist in 1956 with a reputation for being very slow, deliberate, and frequently late, which frustrated his fiancee, Iris West. One night, as he was preparing to leave work, a lightning bolt shattered a case full of chemicals and spilled them all over Allen. As a result, Allen found that he could run extremely fast and had matching reflexes. He donned a set of red tights sporting a lightning bolt (reminiscent of the original Captain Marvel), dubbed himself the Flash (after his childhood hero in the comic books, Jay Garrick), and became a crimefighter. In his civilian identity, he stored the costume in his ring, which could eject the compressed clothing when Allen needed it and suck it back in with the aid of a special gas that shrinks the suit.

Rogues Gallery

The Flash acquired a colorful rogues gallery of villains. These criminals typically had unusually modest goals for their power level (robbery or other petty crimes), and each adopted a specific theme in his or her equipment and methods. They included:

The Flash was a charter member of the Justice League of America, where he became good friends with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). In time, he married his girlfriend Iris, who learned of his double identity because Allen talked in his sleep. She kept his secret, and eventually, he revealed his identity to her of his own free will. Iris was eventually revealed to have been sent as a child from the 30th century and adopted.

Tragedy

In the 1980s, Flash's life began to collapse. Iris was murdered by Professor Zoom (who had long loved her and been jealous of Allen), and when Allen was prepared to marry another woman, Zoom tried the same trick again. Allen stopped him, killing Zoom in the process.

Put on trial for Zoom's murder, Allen was eventually acquitted, and learned that Iris' spirit had in fact been taken to the 30th century, where she was given a new body.

Last Days

Following the trial, Allen retired and joined her in the 30th century. However, after only a few weeks of happiness, the Crisis on Infinite Earths intervened, and Allen was captured by the Anti-Monitor and brought to 1986. Allen escaped and foiled the Anti-Monitor's plan to destroy the Earth, but died in the process. It has been said that Allen traveled back through time and became the very same lightning bolt that gave him his powers, but was then strongly implied that now the soul of Barry resided in the Speed Force, the mystical source and Valhalla open to all dead speedsters, and from which the living ones draw their amazing powers. Since then, he has been lauded as one of the greatest of superheroes. After Allen's death, Wally West, his nephew, took up the mantle of the Flash.

Marv Wolfman, DC Comics Editor-in-Chief and scribe for the Crisis on Infinite Earths, has repeatedly stated (first hinted at in his introduction to the original Crisis collected edition hardcover, then fully explicated on his website*) that he left a loophole in the script wherein the Barry Allen Flash could be re-introduced, without a retcon necessary, into DC Universe continuity. This loophole would have feature Barry being pulled out of time at some period during his desperate run to annihalate the anti-matter cannon, but, knowing that he would someday have to return to the time loop, he would become ever more determined to use his speed to help others, cramming everything that he could into the little time he had left before he would have to return and die.

It should also be noted that the way Barry Allen seemed to have "died" in Crisis on Infinite Earths, was that he ran so fast that he was able to stop the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter cannon from firing by catching the tachyon beam at the heart of the weapon. After this act, according to Secret Origins Annual #2 (1988), Barry Allen turned into a lightning bolt, went back in time, becoming the lightning bolt that hit his lab, splashing his past-self with chemicals and transforming him into the Flash. * Alternately, however, during the run of Green Arrow's "Quiver" story, writer Kevin Smith has Green Arrow--the newly-reincarnated Oliver Queen--meet Barry Allen in Heaven, suggesting that Allen died normally.

Legacy

Iris was pregnant when Allen died. She had two children, the Tornado Twins, who would later meet the Legion of Super-Heroes. Each of her children themselves had children. One, Jenni Ognats, grew up to become the Legionnaire XS, while the other, Bart Allen, was born with a rapid-aging illness, and was sent back to the 20th century where he was cured. He remained there as the superhero Impulse (and later adopted the name Kid Flash II).

Post-Crisis Appearances

Due to his time-travel abilities, even death did not stop Barry to aid his own friends and family.

Barry first reappeared during the Chain Lightning arc, where Flashes from different eras joined together to defeat Cobalt Blue. (Previously, a man that was thought to be Barry Allen, was in fact a past version of Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash, who had been driven mad on a visit to the past and believed himself to be Barry Allen.) Cobalt Blue was Barry Allen's twin brother, who had been given to another couple at birth. The resulting battle took place shortly before Barry Allen was kidnapped during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry was nearly killed in this battle, almost rewriting the outcome of the Crisis.

When Wally West, wracked by grief for the loss of his unborn twins at the hands of Zoom, regretted the public knowledge of his identity, Barry came from somewhere in time, counseling him, and talking the Spectre into granting his wish. He then disappeared, telling his nephew that he would come in his aid for three times, in three difficult moments that would be especially hard for Wally. In fact, when Zoom enlisted the aid of Professor Zoom to make Wally relive the loss of his beloved twins, Barry was already there, trying to stop his own Reverse Flash. For the second time, he helped Wally to undo the damage dealt from Zoom, then he returned to his proper timeline. When his third appearance shall occur is unknown at this time.

Infinite Crisis

In the fourth issue of Infinite Crisis, Barry Allen's soul came out from the Speed Force, along with Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, to help his grandson Bart to deal with Superboy Prime, taking the villainous lad with him in the Speed Force.

In addition to this, Bart Allen appeared wearing Barry Allen's costume in Tokyo near the end of Infinite Crisis #5 to tell the heroes that Superboy Prime had escaped the Speed Force.

Trivia

In addition, Allen invented the cosmic treadmill, a device that allowed for precise time-travel and was used in many stories.

In the Justice League of America: Year One retcon storyline, which presented Allen, Hal Jordan, Black Canary II (Dinah Lance), Martian Manhunter and Aquaman as the founding members of the League, Allen was considered the leader of the group because, methodical and cerebral by nature, he was the one who most often came up with the plans that best utilized the group's vast array of powers. Allen and Black Canary were also depicted as having a romantic attraction to one another, but although they kissed once, they did not pursue a relationship because Allen felt his real love was Iris and Dinah did not want to be anyone's "other woman" (after learning of an affair her mother, the original Black Canary had had years ago with the married Starman).

In Flash #123's "Flash of Two Worlds," Allen is transported to Earth-Two where he meets Jay Garrick, the original Flash in DC Continuity; it is revealed that Jay Garrick's adventures were captured in comic book form on Earth-One. This storyline initiated DC's multiverse and was continued in issues of Flash and in team-ups between the Justice League of America of Earth-One and the Justice Society of America of Earth-Two. In the classic story from Flash #179—"The Flash -- Fact or Fiction?"—Allen is thrown into the universe eventually called Earth Prime, a representation of "our" universe, where he seeks the aid of the Flash comic book's editor Julius Schwartz to build a cosmic treadmill so that he can return home.

Other versions of Barry Allen

  • Barry Allen guest-stars in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Strikes Again. He's been kept by Lex Luthor as a power source for most of the East Coast, constantly running on a treadmill to provide cheap electrical power or Iris shall be executed. After being rescued, Barry wears a black version of his original Flash costume and aids Batman and other heroes in restoring order.

  • Barry Allen also stars in JLA: Age of Wonder as a scientist working with Superman and a consortium of early twentieth-century scientists such as Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. The uniform incorporates the silver age look with the Mercury-style helmet worn by Jay Garrick. Another re-imagining was shown in League of Justice, a "Lord Of The Rings"-type story, where the character is re-cast as "Phaeton," who wears a mystical brooch resembling Flash's lightning-bolt chest emblem, and has bathed in dragon's blood in order to protect himself from speed friction.

  • A story in the Marvel comic book series Quasar had the Marvel universe speedsters facing off in a competition set up by a being called The Runner. The contest was a race from the Earth to the Moon. During the race, a surge of energy hit the track, leaving a being with blonde hair and dressed in the remains of a red outfit with yellow boots. This being had no memory, but an enormous desire to run. He would go on to win the race, passing Marvel speedsters such as Quicksilver and Northstar in the process. When asked what his name was, the man replied, "I don't know... Buried Alien, or something like that." When asked how it felt to be the fastest man alive, he replied, "It feels... right!" Buried Alien would go on to take the name Fast-Forward, disappearing into the universe in an attempt to help a fellow speedster who was stuck at hyper speed.

Barry Allen in other media

  • In the Justice League Unlimited episode Flash and Substance, the Wally West Flash mentions his uncle "flying in" to attend the dedication of a Flash Museum.
  • Barry Allen was the Flash in the 1990s Flash live-action TV series, although this character incorporated elements of Wally's personality and social life, as well as previously non-existent characters such as a brother and nephew. He was played by John Wesley Shipp.
  • An episode of Smallville entitled "Run" featured a speedster played by Kyle Gallner named Bart Allen. He is portrayed as a self-centered teenager who uses his powers for personal gain, although by the end of the episode, he was showing signs of changing his ways. Bart also carries around identification of Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West, three Flashes in the main DC Universe.
  • Ballad of Barry Allen - A song by the band Jim's Big Ego on their album, "They're Everywhere". The song portrays Barry as a tragic character, whose perception of the world is so accelerated that all of reality appears to proceed at a snail's pace, causing him to gradually slip into depression. The band's frontman, Jim Infantino is the nephew of Flash co-creator Carmine Infantino, who provided the cover art for the same album.
  • In the movie Catch Me If You Can Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DeCaprio) uses the name Barry Allen from The Flash comic book as one of his aliases in the film. The fact that he uses the name of a comic book character leads Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) to believe that Abagnale is much younger than he had previously thought.

External links

DC Comics superheroes | Justice League members | Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional scientists | Fictional time travelers | Fictional twins | Fictional speedsters

 

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