The Flash is the name taken by a trio of superheroes from
DC Comics, all gifted with the power of super speed. The Flash has been the inspiration for countless super speedsters.
The first Flash appeared in
1940.
Jay Garrick was a college student messing around with
heavy water when dangerous fumes gave him super powers. He fought crime alone and as a member of
Justice Society of America and the
All-Star Squadron, largely operating out of
Keystone City,
Kansas on
Earth-Two. Garrick wore a red uniform with yellow lightning bolts and a bowl-shaped helmet based on the one worn by
Mercury, messenger of the gods.
The second appeared in
1956.
Barry Allen was a police scientist working in his lab when lightning struck the room, and the mix of electricity and chemicals gave him the gift of speed. Allen was the first Flash to wear the now familiar red tights with the lightning bolt on white circle logo. He was a member of the
Justice League of America and fought crime out of
Central City,
Missouri on
Earth-One. Allen died in
1985 during the
Crisis on Infinite Earths. He saved the
universe by
outracing a tachyon in the
Anti-Monitor’s
anti-matter cannon.
Wally West first appeared in
1956. The accident that happened to Allen happened again (who says
lightning never strikes twice?), so the young west became
Kid Flash and fought crime at Allen’s side and as a member of the
Teen Titans. When Allen died, West adopted his identity and costume.
The first two Flashes were ridiculously fast, able to travel time and across alternate dimensions. This enabled fan favorites like the Earth-1/Earth-2
crossovers and the
Superman/Flash races. The Crisis was an effort to make the
DC Universe more plausible and realistic, so naturally all that had to go. The alternate Earths became a single universe, and Garrick merely became Allen’s
World War II predecessor. West was reduced to the
speed of sound (sped up to
lightspeed sometime in the 1990s).
I am not 100% sure, but I believe the three Flashes were created by
Gardener Fox (Garrick),
Robert Kanigher (Allen), and
John Broome (West).
There was a Flash television show on
CBS from
1990-
1991, starring
John Wesley as Barry Allen. The Wally West Flash has appeared on the current
The New Batman/Superman Adventures cartoon.
For more info, check out this amazingly comprehensive web site: http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/