Sunday, October 16, 2016

Flash Facts

Let's see how much of a Flash Fan you really are! Here are One Dozen Flash Facts!
 1. There have been four men to use The Flash Mantle. Jay Garrick got his powers from testing hard water vapors in 1940. Barry Allen was dosed in chemicals and struck by lightning in 1956 which gave him his powers. In 1959, Barry showed his nephew Wally West the chemicals that dosed him and a bolt of lightning caused Wally to get the same powers. After Barry gave his life to save the universe in 1986, Wally picked up the Flash mantle. Barry Allen's grandson Bart Allen had inherited his powers from Barry and came to the year 1994 from the far future. He became The Flash in 2006.

2. Each Flash has been a founder of a significant team in DC Comics. Jay was a founder of The Justice Society of America, Barry was a founder of The Justice League of America, Wally-as Kid Flash-was a founder of The Teen Titans and even stuck around after the team shift in 1980, and Bart was a founding member of Young Justice as Impulse.

3. Excluding Jay Garrick, every Flash is connected to something called The Speed Force. The Speed Force is an alternate dimension where time works on a scale that hasn't been properly set. For example: Barry Allen was trapped in The Speed Force in 1985 and got out in 2008 with no physical changes. Along with being filled with objects from various time periods, The Speed Force is also an intangible energy source which the three Flashes borrow their powers from. After being tied to it so closely Barry Allen had become a physical tether to The Speed Force, meaning if he were to die the other two Flashes would lose their powers.

4. One of The Flash's main villains are a group called The Rogues. Made up of characters like Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Heatwave, Weather Wizard and many more, The Rogues follow a set of guidelines. They do not kill women or children, they will not kill The Flash, and they will only commit acts of robbery. The Rogues don't want to kill The Flash, they want to defeat him and prove their superiority. It's more of a sport to them, some of them even respect The Flash. During the Wally West era some of The Rogues were even friends with The Flash.

5. To say The Flash runs fast is an understatement. He can think at super-speeds, heal at super speed, vibrate the molecules of his body to phase through solid objects, create heat via friction, conduct electricity, create strong winds, time travel, and even create clones of himself by time traveling seconds into the future and bringing that version of himself to the present, or by running, stopping and running again between a number of specific spots, creating the illusion of being in more than one place.

6. Characters like The Flash are referred to as "Speedsters". Speedsters, oddly enough, have their own language. All Speedsters can speak at super speed making it impossible for the average people to understand them. However, Speedsters also process information at super speed meaning they can understand what another Speedster is saying. Two Speedsters can have an entire conversation in a mere second without anyone knowing.

7. The order of who is the fastest Flash goes as such (least to most): Jay, Wally, Bart, Barry. On par with Bart and just under Barry is Superman, who also has super speed. Superman can "speak Speedster" and has even shown to be able to vibrate through solid matter. However, Superman will always be just behind Barry Allen.

8. In the DC Universe, the physical embodiment of Death is a Black Speedster referred to as "The Black Flash". Black Flash's purpose is to assure those who are connected to The Speed Force still die, and since Speedster's have a less likelihood to die of natural causes The Black Flash will sometimes try to capture and contain a Speedster into The Speed Force forever as a substitute for death. A similar character is The Black Racer who assures New Gods like Orion and Darkseid are transported a Hell-dimension as their form of death. Barry Allen has become The Black Flash/Black Racer twice.

9. One of The Flash's worst foes is The Reverse Flash. The first Reverse Flash was Eobard Thawne who lived in the 25th Century. Eobard was obsessed with the legends of The Flash so much he replicated The Flash's powers, got facial reconstructive surgery to look like Barry Allen, and went back in time to see his hero. However he arrived after Barry died and learned he was destined to become The Reverse Flash. After The Flash Family prevented him from taking Barry's place Eobard decided to embrace his destiny. However, Eobard could not kill Barry himself otherwise he'd never exist. Instead he would torture The Flash and his loved ones for the rest of his career.

10. The Flash unintentionally sparked The DC Multiverse. When Barry Allen was created his superhero name and superpowers were reused from the Jay Garrick version. Worried readers would be confused, DC Comics established that Jay Garrick/Flash was a comic book character in the DCU. It would be revealed that the fictional creator of Jay was a writer who's dreams peered into an alternate dimension where Jay, Alan Scott, and The Justice Society of America all existed. Jay would travel to Barry's universe and team up with him, this team up would be the first of many between the two universes and would also lead to many of DC Comic's "Crisis" events.

11. The Flash keeps his signature costume inside a ring. The suit is made from special micro-fibers that allow it to be folded to an extremely small size. Using his super speed, Barry will fold the suit in a specific way and store it inside the ring. He'll pop it out, change into it, and then refold it later. Wally would usually keep a bunch of rings with loaded suits to avoid having to refold the same one every time.

12. After Barry Allen caused a universal reboot in 2011, Wally West went missing for many years in the publication. An African-American teenager named Wally West showed up in 2015. This Wally was the son of Daniel West-Dan being the brother of Iris West who is the love interest of Barry Allen. Dan had knocked up an African-American women sixteen years ago and dumped the kid on his father Joseph West. Red-head Wally had always been the son of Dawn West, Iris' sister. After "DC Universe Rebirth" the red-headed Wally West returns after he was trapped in The Speed Force and wiped from the minds of everyone on Earth by the villain Mister Twister. When red-head Wally returns he not only remembers his rebooted life after 2011, but he also remembers his life before the reboot. Essentially having two batches of memories he reconnects with Barry and with The Teen Titans. To justify the new Wally, it was established that new Wally and red-head Wally were cousins both named after their grandfather Wallace.
Thanks for reading!
If you could time travel where would you go? Comment below!

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