Introduced in 1956 and created by writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome and penciler Carmine Infantino, forensic scientist Barry Allen received his powers when a bolt of lightning stuck the chemicals in his lab and connected him with the Speed Force; ever since then, he's got up to an awful lot!
From some bizarre interactions in the Marvel Universe to his importance in the history of comic books and his sordid family background (not to mention who the real Fastest Man Alive is), here you will find ten surprising and amazing facts about The Flash that we're willing to be you probably didn't know about. Many of these may just end up changing how you view this unique member of the League.
10. He's Faster Than Quicksilver And Beat Him In A Race
Marvel and DC Comics crossovers have always been a rarity, but when the two worlds have collided, it's not uncommon to see The Flash and Quicksilver test their speed against each other. One such race occurred during a massive team-up between The Avengers and Justice League, and while the Scarlet Speedster lost in the Marvel Universe because he was cut off from the Speed Force, Pietro quickly learned just how much of an advantage that provides compared to the abilities he was born with.
Quicksilver tends to max out around four or five times the speed of sound, but The Flash is so fast he can reach the speed of sound and even break through time, so there's no question of which of these heroes is truly the Fastest Man Alive. As a result, this round goes to DC Comics, easy!
9. He Was Once Mashed Up With...Ghost Rider?!
We've already told you about Marvel and DC Comics' bizarre Amalgam crossover in the 90s in some of our other lists of facts, but for those of you who need a refresher, the premise was that they mashed up their characters to create entirely new ones. The whole thing was a stunt because both companies were struggling in terms of sales, but what happened to The Flash was particularly unexpected.
He was mixed up with Ghost Rider to become the Speed Demon, and there were actually three versions of this lame new character. They all pretty much failed spectacularly, and that mostly came down to how unbelievably lazy this whole thing was (Barry Allen and Johnny Blaze become Blaze Allen for example). While this crossover had some good points, this wasn't one of them!
8. He Would Have Become An Arrow Regular If The Flash Failed
While The Flash has gone on to find massive success on The CW, the show was a big gamble for a network at the time. After introducing a powerless Barry Allen in Arrow, the plan was to bring him back later in the year for a back door pilot which would have transformed him into the Scarlet Speedster on the Emerald Archer's show.
Instead, the decision was made to give The Flash his own pilot, but had the show crashed and burned and not broken ratings records for The CW, the character wouldn't have just been forgotten about it. People involved with both Arrow and The Flash have since revealed that The Fastest Man Alive would have become a regular in the former had his series been cancelled, something which would have shaken that show up in a major way.
7. He Once Murdered The Reverse-Flash
Only a select few superheroes have killed, and Barry Allen is shockingly among them. It's been argued that it was an accident, but the entire scenario remains one of the most interesting moments in the Scarlet Speedster's history. After the Reverse-Flash murdered Iris West in a fit of jealously, Barry lost the plot, but later met another woman who he was going to marry.
Thawne returned to once again kill the hero's true love, and though The Flash was prepared this time, he still ended up snapping his enemy's neck in the process of stopping him. For this crime, The Flash was put on trial and found guilty of murder. Luckily, he was able to clear his name when it was revealed that Reverse-Flash had survived, and Iris' spirit was alive and well...in the 30th Century?! Comics can be weird sometimes...
6. He's Hard To Shoot
Your reaction to the news that The Fastest Man Alive is hard to hit with a bullet is probably something like, "No sh*t, Sherlock!" However, it turns out that The Flash actually has some tricks up his sleeve to ensure that a stray shot doesn't hit him in the heat of battle. When he runs, the hero vibrates so fast that bullets actually pass through him, but that's not an automatic response.
Instead, The Flash begins that vibration when he feels the bullet touching him, allowing it to then phase in and out of his body. That's pretty damn incredible when you think about it, though the Scarlet Speedster is surprisingly durable anyway as his suit (which of course comes directly from the Speed Force in most iterations) is strong enough that he can shrug off a gunshot that would easily kill a non-powered person.
5. He's More Powerful Than You Realised
The Flash has a myriad of amazing abilities thanks to his speed, and that's something we've seen both in the comic books and TV show. However, there's a lot more to the Fastest Man Alive than just being able to run really fast. Bear in mind that Barry Allen is just a normal guy without any sort of super strength, something which poses a challenge when he squares off with the likes of Darkseid and Gorilla Grodd.
Well, he's found a way to deal with that as the hero has an infinite mass punch which allows him to hit an enemy with a blow similar in force to the one felt by the Earth when that meteor struck it and wiped out the dinosaurs (said punch occurs at the speed of light). Barry is also able to punch someone up to one billion times per second as well, making him a formidable threat.
4. He's Responsible For The Silver Age Of Comic Books
We all know that Barry Allen wasn't the first Flash. That honour belongs to Jay Garrick, a hero introduced in 1940 who stuck around for an entire decade before being replaced. The reason for him being ditched in favour of Barry Allen was because DC Comics wanted to modernise their heroes, hence why the Scarlet Speedster was given a brand new look and a youthful lead character.
Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern all received similar makeovers, and it was this first reboot that ushered in what we now refer to as the Silver Age of Comics. However, Barry was the one who led the charge, so it could be argued that we have him to thank for that era. What happened to Jay Garrick? Well, in the first major shake up of continuity, DC would reveal that he lived on a parallel Earth-2.
3. Psychics Can't Read His Mind
New creative teams are always finding fun and unique ways to explore Barry Allen's powers, and perhaps one of his coolest abilities is the fact that he's invulnerable to psychic attacks. That's because it's not just The Flash's body which moves fast; his mind is also capable of outpacing a regular person's, and while that's often used to help him figure out the best plan of attack as he races into battle, this unexpected side effect has come in handy quite a but.
The way Barry's brain works means that he's not susceptible to being controlled, and while he can be hurt by psychic attacks, Gorilla Grodd can't take over the Scarlet Speedster's mind. That gives him a major advantage when they clash, and with any luck, it's something we'll see touched on in a future season of the TV show.
2. He Has A Secret Brother
Curious about the direction The Flash TV show could go in down the line? Here's one fun possibility. In the comics, it was at one point revealed that Barry Allen had a secret brother after a drunk doctor screwed up the delivery of a child from the wealthy Thawne family. That led to him switching the baby he'd accidentally killed with one of the twins Nora Allen had literally just given birth too in order to save his reputation.
Malcolm Thawne learned his true parentage years later, and driven made with jealousy upon seeing the comfy upbringing Barry had had compared to the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Thawnes, he became Cobalt Blue and set out to rob his brother of his speeding abilities and wipe out his descendants, spawning a feud between the families that would last for centuries.
1. He's Definitely Faster Than Superman
The question of who is faster between Superman and The Flash is one both fans and comic book creators alike have been asking for decades now. DC Comics added fuel to the fire over the years by having the heroes compete in races, only for them to be called off at the last minute because a supervillain was attacking the city or something similar.
However, it's since been made clear that there's only one Fastest Man Alive, and that's Barry Allen. A number of comics have shown Barry easily manage to outpace the Man of Steel. The Speed Force just gives The Flash a clear advantage, and while Superman can nearly keep up with his Justice League ally, he definitely can't beat him when it comes to a good old fashioned foot race, making The Flash more powerful than Supes in one respect.
Which of these facts about The Flash was your favourite? Have we missed any good ones which you know about? As always, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.