In a couple of weeks there is going to be a huge event in the DC Universe. Barry Allen, the second (and according to many, the best) Flash is coming back from the dead.

Now, I know what you are thinking. What is so amazing about this? All the time super heroes die and resurrect. Death is not what it used to be, I know. Nobody really believes it anymore when a super hero dies. The Death of Superman, Batman RIP, the resurrection of Jason Todd, Green Arrow, etc, etc, etc….. It seems that death is just a minor inconvenience when it comes to this people. But, this case is a bit different. This was the one hero who was supposed to be dead for real, never to come back. Through the years a grand majority of Flash fans have been waiting in vain for their greatest hero to come back. Barry Allen was killed 24 years ago, in the Crisis in Infinite Earths. That is a very long time. DC writers have teased us, and teased us, showing us glimpses of Barry, and one time really making us believe that he was back. But in the end, the answer was always the same: Barry is dead. Get over it.

I must say I’m a bit torn about this issue. On the one hand, I am thrilled. I cannot tell how excited I am to see Barry Allen back in action. Wally West was an amazing Flash, but the series has been going nowhere for years now. On the other hand it is a bit of a bummer. I mean, this was the one thing that was inmutable, the one hero that was dead for good. As a Flash fan, I was kind of proud of the fact that the series kept their promises, that they had the cojones to actually keep a popular character dead. But, in any case, the truth is that I find this really exciting. I am biting my nails waiting for the first issue of rebirth. And the team behind it. My god. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. The whole run of Johns in Flash was easily the best. When he left, the series practically died. I think that it is quite fitting that it is him the one in charge to bringing the scarlet speedster back to life. So, in view of this, I decided to write a small recap of everthing that happened in The Flash story until now. If you are a fan of The Flash, maybe you’ll like to relive the story. If you are new to it, maybe it will help getting you up to speed (no pun intended) for the coming of Rebirth.

Lets start at the beginning. And that is with Jay Garrick, Flash number one. Jay Garrick was the Flash of the golden age of comics. He was a college student who was well known for being slow (leadfoot being his nickname, given to him by his football coach). One day, while performing an experiment he inhaled heavy water vapors and lost consiousnes. When he came to, he discovered he could run at superhuman speeds. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and the comic was on shelves for 104 issues (1940-1949). For the time being, this is going to be enough about the first Flash, but we’ll come back to him later on.

The First Flash - I like the hat!

The golden age of comics came and went, and the super hero world was ripe for a revival. And so it came to be that The Flash was revived. But not as it’s original persona. Barry Allen was a police scientist, who loved the original Flash comic books (yes, Jay Garrick was a fictional character in Barry’s world….for now). But, just as his childhood superhero, Barry was terribly slow. Always late for every meeting, always last in every race. Barry Started dating a TV news reporter called Iris West, who had a very Lois Lane way of getting into trouble. One day, while Iris was running a story she got kidnapped and held at gunpoint by some criminals, who also happened to be inside a burning building about to collapse. Barry cought this on TV, and cursed his innability to go help her. Outside his window, raged a thunderstorm. And at that very moment, lightningh stroke. Hitting Barry and throwing him towards a cabinet filled with chemicals. The result of this “accident” (it has been hinted that this was not just a normal lightning)….well, you guessed! Our main character got himself some nifty new superpowers, mimmicking those of his hero. And so, Barry ran to Iris, and saved her from certain death, and at the same time capturing the kidnappers. And so, a new Flash was born. The suit of this Flash was totally different from the previous one. This one was a complete red suit, with mask included, and a yellow lightning inside a red circle on his chest. Yellow boots, a lightning like belt and small wings on the sides of his head completed the getup. A nice touch, the wings by his head had small radio receivers, so he could listen to the police radio. Also, the hiding of the suit was fairly original. It was manufactured from a strange compound wich would stay in a very small size and enlarge when it entered in contact with nitrogen in the air, and was kept inside his ring.

Barry's Suit

Barry had a lot of adventures and his main villains where the Rogues Gallery, with members such as Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard and the Pied Piper. But the worst of all, was Proffesor Zoom, the Reverse Flash.

I will leave here for now, but I’ll post the rest of the story in the coming days. Hope you come back for the rest of it!

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