A Valentine Day Impulse

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bart Allen (Impulse) looks like he's having a happy one with Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette)....much to the concern of his friend, Carol Bucklen, in Impulse #59 (April, 2000), with cover by Ethan Van Sciver and Wayne Faucher.

 

Merry Christmas With Impulse

Merry Christmas!

May you and yours enjoy the holiday as much as young Impulse does, opening all his gifts from Max Mercury and Helen Claiborne watch with amusement, on this cover for Impulse #34 (February, 1998) by Craig Rousseau and Wayne Faucher (the story inside isn't Christmas related, instead a time travel story, where things go wrong....).

Flash Facts: The Tornado Twins

Jumping a head a little bit...to the 30th Century, the home of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a group of young interplanetary heroes who uses their alien powers to protect the universe (with the help of Superboy, Superman when he was a boy)...in Adventure Comics #373 (October, 1968) they met "The Tornado Twins" in a story by Jim Shooter and Win Mortimer, with a cover by Neal Adams. 


The twins were Don and Dawn, who used their powers to beat up on the Legion members, and their abilities seemed oddly familiar.


Spoilers, here...

....so beware.


So, the twins were Don and Dawn Allen, the descendants of Barry Allen (the Flash), using a special formula to duplicate Barry's powers for a day to celebrate the Flash.

Now, they appeared rarely after this, showing up for Bouncing Boy/Duo Damsel's wedding in Superboy #200 (January-February, 1974) and Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1 (October, 1985), but....

...it was the son of Don (Bart Allen, who became Impulse, then Kid Flash and even Flash for a bit, who first appeared in Flash #91 of June, 1994 and joined the Titans and Young Justice) and daughter of Dawn (Jenni Ognats, who became XS, who first appeared in Legionnaires #0 of October, 1994, who joined the Legion of Super-Heroes), after the Crisis On Infinite Earths, soon after which, it was revealed Don and Dawn were Barry and Iris Allen's kids.

So, all these heroes were born on a fast track!

Flash Facts Evil Speedsters

The Flash isn't the only speedster to have a legacy...it applies to the villainous speedsters as well. Here's a few facts on the folks that run the wrong way.

Rival

First Appearance: Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949).


Created by: John Broome and Carmine Infantino


Flash Foe: Jay Garrick

Edward Clariss was a chemist who duplicated the accident that gave Jay Garrick his speed...and became Jay's super-speed Rival in Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949).  Rival was successful in ending the Flash...that issue was the last of Jay's run.  Rival came back to face the Flash as a member of the Injustice Society under Johnny Sorrow for two issues of JSA (#16 and #17 in November/December, 2000, which gave Rival his only cover appearance!).  Rival returned again as Jay was mentoring Impulse, for the last two issues of Impulse's run (#88 and #89, September/October, 2002), wherein Rival ended up possessing Impulse's usual mentor, Max Mercury.  Jay and the rest of the Justice Society faced Rival and the Injustice Society again in JSA All-Stars #1 (July, 2003).

Reverse Flash

First Appearance: Flash #139 (September, 1963).


Created by: John Broome and Carmine Infantino


Flash Foe: Barry Allen

Eobard Thawne was from the 25th Century, and a fan of Flash (Barry Allen)...well, more or less.  Thawne found Barry's costume in a time capsule, and, being smart, treated it to allow him super-speed (and he reversed the colors since he planned to do evil with the costume).  Barry traveled to the 25th Century to retrieve the costume, and ended up defeating Professor Zoom (another name for the Reverse Flash).  Still, Thawne kept coming back, with more plots and plans...usually trying to become Barry Allen, or marry Iris West.  He even joined with other foes of Barry Allen, including the Secret Society of Super-Villains (most notably, Secret Society of Super-Villains #11-15 and Justice League of America #166-168), and was involved in a few of the early races between Superman and the Flash, no less!

It was just another day at the races with Reverse Flash, at least until Thawne went too far, killing Iris and pushing Barry to the edge....and beyond.  Barry killed Thawne accidentally in Flash #323-325 (damaging the time stream, something hinted at right before the Crisis on Infinite Earths...and Barry's own disappearance for a time).

Still, a good villain will find a way to come back...

...menacing Wally West during his time as the Flash (but before Thawne became the Reverse Flash and then again, working with another evil speedster as well), and then coming back during the Blackest Night event as an animated corpse...before being revived to life, and being a menace to Barry and the DC Universe as a whole.

The Reverse Flash had all the same speed abilities as the Flash did, but none of his moral restraint, so he messed with Barry Allen's life all along his time line, creating the Flashpoint event, then restarting the DC Universe with the New 52!

Zoom

First Appearance: Flash Secret Files #3 (November, 2001 as Hunter), Flash #197 (June, 2003, as Zoom)


Created by: Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins


Flash Foe: Wally West

Hunter Zolomon did not have a good life, having parents who weren't particularly appreciative, and, worst still, a father who was a serial killer (who died, after killing his mother).  Hunter took this and tried to be better, working for the FBI as a psychologist, where he even found Ashley, the love of his life.  But, inaction on Hunter's part allowed a criminal to kill her father, and they split, and Hunter was injured as well, never being able to run again.  Hunter ended up at Keystone City's police department, working there, becoming friends with Wally West...at least until a savage attack by Gorilla Grodd paralyzed poor Hunter.  Hunter asked Wally to fix his lousy life by using the Cosmic Treadmill to travel in time...but Wally wouldn't.  Zolomon tried himself, and the resulting explosion shattered Zolomon's connection to time, and turned him into Zoom, fighting with Flash in Flash #197-200!

Zoom had a purpose, to make Wally West's life miserable, so that Wally would understand pain, and be willing to change time to make things better.  Along the way, Zoom works with the new Secret Society (including his recruiter, the Cheetah, and Superman's reversed clone, Bizarro), and continues his battle with Wally, including a massive battle through time, as Zoom messes with Wally's love, Linda Park, and also recruits Reverse Flash into the fight (as well as Jay Flash, Barry Flash, and Bart Allen who is Kid Flash at this time), and battles Flash's Rogue's as well, as evil speedsters are never Rogues!).

Wally stops Zoom by locking him in the moment that Ashley's father dies...and that keeps him away, at least until the Infinite Crisis (because Crises are never good for Flashes....).

Zoom then frees the next generation of Flash (Inertia, more on him soon) from his prison while negotiating with Bart's grandma (Iris Allen) in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10-11, fights Damage (whom he had scarred in the opening of Infinite Crisis), joins with Libra and other villains during the Final Crisis, and then tries to change Inertia into Kid Zoom, who then changes Zoom back along his timeline into crippled Hunter Zolomon (all during Final Crisis: Rouge's Revenge).

Hunter is not deterred, and meets with Reverse Flash in prison, during Flash: Rebirth, going back to the idea he is helping Flashes, promising to make Reverse Flash better.

Inertia

First Appearance: Impulse #50 (July, 1999).


Created by: Todd DeZago and Ethan Van Sciver


Flash Foe: Bart Allen

Thaddeus Thawne started life as a clone of Bart Allen (Impulse), created by President Thaddeus Thawne (a descendant of Reverse Flash) in the 30th Century, first facing Impulse (along with his mentor, Max Mercury) over the issues of Impulse #50-53 (1999), then returning for a rematch in #56, and in #63-67 (trying to be Impulse...must be a characteristic of the Thawnes to want to be Flashes!).

Inertia returned after Bart was artificially aged up and taking over the role of the Flash, finding himself without super-speed and having to take Velocity 9 to fight, facing off with Bart's Flash in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #5-8, and then #10-13 (over 2007, stopping between to join Deathstroke's Titans East in Teen Titans #43-46), with, in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13, Inertia was able to do something no evil speedster was ever able before, to kill Bart's Flash (with Wally stopping Inertia quite literally in All-Flash #1).

Still, the angry little man was revived yet again, this time by Zoom during the course of Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge, where Inertia took on the mantle of "Kid Zoom" and removed Zoom's powers...before the Rogue's got to Kid Zoom, ending his run.

As long as there are Flashes, there will be rivals to those Flashes, running in reverse, even when the Flash transfers mediums to television like on the CW!

Flash Facts Legacy

The 2014 Flash CW TV series with Grant Gustin as the Flash isn't the first series to have Flash as a hero...there was also the 1990 CBS series with John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen...aka the Flash.

In the comics, there were four men who held the title role of the Flash as the leads of their respective comics....and here's a few Flash Facts!

Jay Flash

Real Name: Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick

First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940)

Created By: Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert

Origin: A lab accident with "hard water", wherein he inhaled fumes, and eventually awoke with super-speed.

Significant Other: Joan Williams

Team Membership: Justice Society of America (charter member), All-Star Squadron

Speedster Foe: Rival (Dr. Edward Clariss)

Main titles: Flash Comics (104 issues starting in 1940), All-Flash Quarterly (first 5, later just All-Flash, 32 issues starting in 1941), DC Special Series (1 issue, 1977), Flash Special (1 issues, 1990), Speed Force (1 issue, starting in 1997), DC First: Flash/Superman (1 issue, starting in 2002)

Barry Flash

Real Name: Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen

First Appearance: Showcase #4 (Sept-Oct, 1956)

Created By: Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino 

Origin: A lightning bolt hit a batch of chemicals in his lab, causing him to wander off and discover his super-speed.

Significant Other: Iris West

Team Membership: Justice League of America (charter member)

Speedster Foe: Reverse Flash (also known as Professor Zoom, Eobard Thawne)

Main titles: Showcase (4 issues starting in 1956), Flash (246 issues, starting in 1959), Flash Annual (1 issue, starting in 1963), DC Special Series (3 issues, 1977), Flash Special (1 issues, 1990), The Life Story of the Flash (1997), Speed Force (1 issue, starting in 1997), Blackest Night: Flash (3 issues, starting in 2010), Flash: Rebirth (6 issues, starting in 2009), The Flash (12 issues, starting in 2010), Flash Secret Files and Origins (1 issue, starting in 2010), DC Retroactive: Flash - the '70s (1 issue, starting in 2011)

Wally Flash

Real Name: Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West

First Appearance: Flash #110 (December-January, 1959-1960, as Kid Flash), Crisis On Infinite Earths #12 (March, 1986, as Flash)

Created By: John Broome and Carmine Infantino
 
Origin: Barry was showing young Flash fan, Wally, his lab, when lightning struck again.  Then, Wally took over for Barry when Barry "died".

Significant Other:  Linda Park

Team Membership: Teen Titans (charter member), Justice League (joined in Justice League International #24, February, 1989)

Speedster Foe: Zoom (Hunter Zolomon)

Main titles: DC Special Series (1 issue, 1977), Flash (249 issues starting in 1987), Flash Annual (13 issues, starting in 1987), Flash Special (1 issues, 1990), Flash Secret Files (3 issues, starting in 1997), Speed Force (1 issue, starting in 1997), Flash Plus (1 issue, starting in 1997), Flash 80-Page Giant (2 issues, starting in 1998), Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse (1 issue, starting in 2000), Flash: Iron Heights (1 issue, starting in 2001), All-Flash (1 issue, starting in 2007), DC Retroactive: Flash - the '80s (1 issue, starting in 2011), DC Retroactive: Flash - the '90s (1 issue, starting in 2011)

Bart Flash 

Real Name: Bartholomew Henry "Bart" Allen

First Appearance: Flash #91 (June, 1994 as Impulse), Teen Titans #4 (December, 2003 as Kid Flash), Infinite Crisis #7 (June, 2006 as Flash)

Created By: Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo
 
Origin: The grandson of Barry and Iris Allen, Iris brought him back from the 30th Century to be trained in the use of the speed that was killing him by Wally Flash!

Significant Other: Carol Bucklen

Team Membership: Titans (joined in New Titans #0, October, 1994), Young Justice (charter member)

Speedster Foe: Inertia (later known as Kid Zoom, Thaddeus Thawne)

Main titles: Impulse (90 issues, starting in 1995), Impulse Annual (2 issues, starting in 1996), Impulse Plus (1 issue, starting in 1997), Speed Force (1 issue, starting in 1997), Impulse/Atom Double-Shot (1 issue, 1998), Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe (1 issue, starting in 1999), Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse (1 issue, starting in 2000), Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (13 issues, starting in 2006)

Then, Flash (Barry Allen) was instrumental in restarting the whole DC Universe with Flashpoint, starting in 2011, and giving us the New 52!