*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
Oh, DC. How could you do it again? The Flash, the Scarlet Speedster, you took him away from me.
In my top "5 list of Superheroes", the Flash exists on a golden pedestal (just below Raven but above
Ch'p). As you may or may not know, however, there have been 4 incarnations of the Flash.
First was Jay Garrick: he existed on Earth 2 (when there was an Earth 2 to live on), and he wore a helmet that gave him the power to run, and run fast. He helped to found the Justice Society after WWII and is now old.
Then came Barry Allen. Barry Allen was the first to wear the speed suit. After gaining his powers from a mixture of chemicals and lightning, he gained the ability to also dash at speeds man couldn't reach. The suit protected him from harming himself from his powers, as it was made from the source of his power: the Speed Force. He was one of the first members of the Justice League and was everyone's best friend. When his nephew, Wally West, came to visit, he was also exposed to chemicals and lightning, and gained the SAME powers (later it was found out that the Speed Force CHOSE who it gave the power of speed to) and became Kid Flash and joined the Teen Titans. The one catch for Wally, though, was that his powers were killing him.
Tragedy struck with the Crisis on Infinite Earths. This brought everyone from all Earths together against the Anit-Monitor, who was going to obliterate the Universe so that he could make his Anti-Universe the dominant force. His anti-matter machine, though was destroyed when Barry Allen ran SO fast that it not only destroyed the machine by reversing its power, but it also killed him. When the Earths were recomfoobulated into one Earth, Wally's powers were tamed and he wouldn't die from them anymore, and he took up the mantle of Scarlet Speedster in memory of Barry Allen.
In the future, there are several Flashes in Keystone City, and a museum to commemorate themm. When Barry Allen's grandson (who was born in the 30th century) came from the future to find the aid of Wally to help him control his hyper-motabolism (he was 12, but in terms of years only lived for 2 years), he was cured and became a new speedster named Impulse. He helped found Young Justice (alongside Tim Drake and Superboy) and then joined the Teen Titans and became Kid Flash.
When Infinite Crisis came, Wally and Bart helped push the insane Superboy Prime into another dimention. But Superboy Prime came back, and so did a Flash, but not Wally West....it was Bart Allen. He had been aged in this other dimention, but Wally never returned, and the Speed Force vanished from the Universe.
They relaunched the comic after that as Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, with Bart in the mantle, as the Speed Force was inside him. And after 13 issues, his evil clone sucked the speed force out of him, and then beat him to death.
The ironic thing is in the issue, one of the last pages is a few panels of Tim Drakes reaction to the news. He, Bart, and Conner (Superboy) founded Young Justice, and then reformed Teen Titans. Superboy died. And now Bart. It makes me fear for Tim Drake. He's my #2.....
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