My Love Affair with Barry Allen

Badasssssssss.

As noted yesterday, I quite agree with Geoff Johns's claim that Barry Allen is the greatest hero ever. He gave up his life to not only save the world, but existence itself in 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Basically, Barry Allen has been dead for as long as I've been alive. He has only recently been revived, in the one-shot comic DC Universe #0., in 2008. That's right. I didn't even have a chance to read my favorite superhero's (mainstream) tales (there's a multiverse...what can you do?) in fresh ink until I was 23. And why did he come back? To save existence. Again.

Double badassssssss.

So, who is Barry Allen? Why is he so great? Well, to know that, you need to know his history, as well as the history of the Flash lineage.


THE FLASH:

Quite literally a happy family. Well, maybe a determined family would better suit this moment.

The Flash is a lineage title, passed down from one iteration to the next. The first Flash debuted during the Golden Age of comics. His name was Jay Garrick who, among other things, fought ruffians during World War Deuce and is a founding member of the Justice Society. Besides superspeed, his aging has slowed due to several anti-aging "accidents." He wore his father's WWI helmet, modified with wings (resembling the god Hermes's headwear). Unlike other Flashes, Jay didn't wear a mask. He just vibrated his face fast enough to obscure photos/video. Many modern interpretations have him resembling Paul Newman.

That's a handsome octogenarian...

Barry came next, but we'll save him for later. Wally West was Barry's nephew, sidekick, and successor. As the first Kid Flash, we was a founding member of the Teen Titans. After Barry's death in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally took up the Flash mantle. While Wally has had problems with restrictions of his powers in the past, he is able to mainline energy from the Speed Force (a possibly sentient entity that speedsters gain their powers from). In fact, he has been able to draw enough power from it to create his own costume made of pure energy. Though he sounds pretty hardcore, Wally is known as one of the most alkative (and hungry) superheroes around. Like most Flashes, he is married, but unlike others, he has twins who, like him have speed force-based powers (though his daughter has seemed to take the brunt of the powers herself).

Fastest Ginger Alive!

After the events of Infinite Crisis, Wally & family left for an alternate reality, passing the torch to Barry's grandson Bart Allen. Bart was originally born in the future, where his grandparents lived for some time. Before being cured, his body was growing at an alarming rate, so his lived most of his childhood in a virtual world. Due to his lack of strategic thought, he first forayed into adventures as Impulse, before maturing a bit and taking Wally's place as Kid Flash. During Infinite Crisis, Bart was pulled into an alternate reality for four years by the Speed Force, to hold guard over Superboy-Prime (Yes, it is very confusing of you haven't read the amazing stories). Bart came back, eventually taking over as the Flash. He was later murdered while powerless by the Rogues (the Flash Family's enemies). The Legion of the 31st Century were able to bring Bart back from the Speed Force (which is also Valhalla to DC's speedsters, as well as the source of their powers). As Jay, Barry, & Wally all carry the Flash mantle, Bart (being returned to his teenage appearance) is more than happy to reclaim his title as Kid Flash. *Point of interest: Wally's daughter becomes the new Impulse to honor Bart.*

Fastest with the most Convoluted Backstory Boy Alive!

Last, and if you've read the title of this article you already know this, but not least, is Barry Allen. The second Flash. He is the progenitor of what we consider the Flash today: the scarlet and yellow. He is the greatest hero the DC multiverse has ever known.

This Aryan looking fellow.

Making his first appearance in Showcase #4 in October of 1956, Bartholomew Henry Allen was the Flashpoint (see what I did there?) of the Silver Age of Comics. Barry was a notoriously methodical, albeit slow, CSI for the Central City Police Department. Always running late, be it for work or meeting his girlfriend, and later wife, Iris West (Wally's aunt), Barry lived a normal life. Well, until a freak accident changed all of that.

$h*t just got real.

That's right: working in his lab late one night (often depicted as trying to find evidence to find his mother's murderer), a bolt of lightening crashes through the window, dousing him with electrically charged chemicals. The results bond him to the Speed Force, starting his career as a superhero. Two things should be noted though: a) it is implied after his death (and mostly retconned since) that Barry became the lightening bolt that turned him into the Flash & b) do not try this at home.

It's as if he is actually turning into lightening as we speak...

Writers have varied Barry's speed capabilities, and while he is considered the fastest speedster ever, his top speed has varied from beyond the speed of light to beyond the speed of thought. He has complete control of the Speed Force, as well as self-molecular control (he can vibrate ever atom in his body, letting him travel to other realities/universes). And, if that wasn't enough, the man can travel through time. Travel. Through. Time. Suck eggs, Superman.

And to put it to bed, Barry straight up told Supes that those close races were for charity.

No other character's death was so heartfelt, nor so far reaching as Barry's. He wasn't just the greatest of heroes, but the greatest of men. His death wasn't done for shock, and he wasn't back in a year (again... Superman). Hell, you know he's the greatest when friggin Batman not only says that "Barry is the kind of man that I would've hoped to become if my parents hadn't been murdered." Later, when Wally came back to the present at the end of the Lightening Saga, Batman was visibly disappointed that it wasn't his good friend that returned. But when he did, it was worth it. The wheels were put in motion in DC Universe #0, where Barry started to emerge from the Speed Force, narrating the goings on in DC continuity, putting faces to names, until, finally, the reader learns that the amnestiatic narrator is Barry, he remembers, and he's coming back.

THIS is how you bring somebody back from the dead.

He makes his physical return about six months later, but not before the comic world is lit aflame in anticipation. The New York flipping Daily News ran an article about his return. DC wondermind Geoff Johns stated he's the best. There must be something about all the hubbub.

He was even chosen as a Blue Lantern (Blash? Flashtern?) during the Blackest Night.

Barry's back, kicking ass, making the world a better place. And that's why he'll always be my favorite superhero.

Fastest Man Alive...and sometimes Dead.

The Greatest Superhero Ever: A No Nonsense Look...Well, Maybe Some Nonsense.

Who's the greatest superhero?

I would watch this movie.

Is it the Man of Steel?

You let yourself go, Clark.

No way. Superman is perfect. He's a Boy Scout. In fact, the only flaw he really has (besides getting all wonky on Special K...Kryptonite, that is) is that he's kind of an a-hole. Don't believe me? Check it for yourself.

This is pretty mind blowing, though.

Is it the World's Greatest Detective?

And now it all makes sense...

It pains me to sat that Batman isn't the greatest superhero. He's awesome. Think about it for a minute. He's rich, brilliant, badass, and crazy like a fox. Born into a life of posh living and never having to lift a finger for the rest of his life, he chose to go off and train with the greatest teachers in the world, all so he could jump from rooftops in footie pajamas and beat up villains. Sure, there was some tragedy thrown in there to put him on track, but that's not what I'm talking about. He is the coolest superhero of all time, but he isn't the greatest.

I do believe this is actual documentation of his exploits, though.

Well, how about Cap?

He did give Hitler the business...

Captain America is timeless. He is the embodiment of the American dream. Let's look at that picture up there a little closer, shall we?

Yup. That IS a right cross, Adolf.

Yet, he got killed (as did Supes & the Bat), but when he came back, he chose not to reclaim the shield. Don't get me wrong, Steve Rogers is still fighting the good right in the Marvelverse, but he isn't the Cap anymore, and he loses points for that. Oh, one last thing:

Captain Steve Rogers: still punching Hitler after all these years.

Oooooookay...umm...the Merc with a Mouth?

Nobody else has a Corps made entirely of alternate versions of himself.

Deadpool is the greatest comic character ever created. He isn't the greatest superhero, though. In fact, it's hard to describe Deadpool as a superhero, as he's a mercenary who kills without regard, is shallow and self-absorbed, and is constantly hired by Hydra and other sinister groups. But one thing is for sure: he's fantastic. Just look...

He played "rochambeau" with Cap.

Cap only recently got his revenge.

He also can't believe Cap punched hitler in the face.

In fact, he & Cap are Marvel's Goofus & Gallant...

Maybe he's indie...like, hmmm...The Great Blue Yonder?

Yes Virginia, that is his battle cry.

Ben Edlund's The Tick is a tremendously funny satire on the superhero genre. It has spawned a cartoon, a short lived live-action show, a video game, and more. Unfortunately, both shows may have been a bit too meta for the majority of audiences. He's absurd, irreverent, and everything a city doesn't need in a protector...which makes him exactly what a comic reader wants.

Much like a child or kitten, he is distracted by shiny things.

But alas, he is also not the greatest superhero ever.

So, who is this great hero? Easy. It's none other than the Scarlet Speedster himself.

Fastest. Man. Alive.

I'm not talking about Jay. I'm not talking about Wally, or Bart, for that matter. No way. I mean Barry freaking Allen. THE Flash. He doesn't just ride the lightening, he is the lightening. I will go much, much more in depth about why Barry is so great tomorrow. But when you have the almighty Geoff Johns stating that Barry is the greatest hero, well, who the Hell are you to say otherwise? Oh, and he had the stones to say that in the New York Daily News.

Superman still has to look for a phone booth.