A Sunshine Boy

My friend Michelle (yodalicious) asked me to recommend her some Flash comics a while back and I’ve been woefully negligent in doing so, so here I am now, doing it.  I’m making this post public so that any of my other followers who might be interested can check some issues out, or so that any other followers with different recommendations can add their own to the list.  I’d love to hear ‘em, and Michelle, I hope you find something on here to enjoy.

Anyway, I’m going to start with the basic, bare necessity recommendations. These are some of the most vital, enjoyable, and Flash-centric stories out of my recommendations, at least one for each Flash. Under the cut I’ll break things down in order, by Flash, and give you basically every good Flash story I can think of. It’s very long, but only because I care.

BARE ESSENTIALS:
Mark Waid’s first run (Wally West) [The Flash v.2, #62-129 and #142-162]
Geoff Johns first run (Wally West) [The Flash v. 2 #164-225]
Grant Morrison and Mark Millar’s run (Wally West) [The Flash v.2 #130-141]
Mark Waid’s Impulse (Bart Allen) [Impulse #1-27]
Sterling Gates and Oliver Nome’s Flashpoint tie-in (Bart Allen) [Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost 1-3]
“The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul (Barry Allen) [The Flash v.3 #1-6]
Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s NEW 52 Flash run (Barry Allen) [The Flash v. 4 issues 0-25, plus The Flash v. 4 Annuals 1-2 and The Flash 23.2: The Reverse Flash #1]
David Goyer and Geoff Johns JSA (Jay Garrick) [JSA #1-81]

Anyway, I try to give you issue numbers, TPB names, and digital availability, but I’m not always consistent with the digital aspect. Honestly, I just assume that any book from Infinite Crisis onward is probably available on Comixology, but I did research some of the older books to see if they were available. If I don’t mention Comixology for a specific story, it doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t available; if you’re interested in finding out, just Google the issue number and Comixology and it’s very easy to find out!

Alright, here we go!

Before we get into the thick of it, there’s two things you should keep in mind: 

1. If somebody tells you that the Flash is a great comic and you should check it out, there’s a 95% chance that they’re either referring to Mark Waid’s or Geoff Johns’ first runs writing Wally West. I already mentioned them in the bare-essentials; those are easily the best runs on the title in modern times and are must-reads, but I’ll get to them in more detail later on.

2. The version of the Flash from the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited cartoons is an amazing character, but don’t expect the comic book Flashes to be just like him.  The comic Flashes tend to be much more mature, but when they’re put onto the JLA or other teams they are often used as comedic relief or the more “human” heart of the team kind of characters, but they’re still not as wonderfully silly as JLU Flash.  That said, there was a comic tie-in series based off the animated Justice League series which can probably give you your animated-Flash fix if that’s what you’re interested in, although I don’t know which issues specifically features Flash.

Anyway, my goal here is to roughly run through things in chronological order, but before I start on that, I’m going to make my first recommendation: The current run of the Flash by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.  Yeah, I know, NEW 52, I know, but The Flash has been one of the really good books that the New 52’s offered us. Manapul and Buccellato co-wrote the book, and Manapul did pencils and inks and Buccellato colors, meaning that the majority of the book’s content was dictated by two people, making it an extremely cohesive book that could experiment with different layouts and storytelling ideas than most books on the stands. Manapul’s style is gorgeous and perfectly suited to the Flash, and the writing is pretty darn good too; while I’ve always liked Barry Allen well enough, Manapul and Buccellato are the first creators to really get me invested in the character and interested in what is going on in his personal life. Manapul and Buccellato’s run recently ended with Issue 25, although Buccellato has come back to do a three issue arc (#27-29) to wrap up a few plot points. What this means is that the entire run should be fairly easy to find–the first two story arcs, I believe, are out in trade, and the floppies are still readily available–and that you could hop onto the current book easily enough if you wanted to.  The current Green Lantern writing team of Robert Vendetti and Van Jensen, along with artist Brett Booth, take over with issue #30, but I have no idea what that run will be like.

The main criticisms against this run mainly come from the changes made to the characters from the old continuity.  Interestingly enough, Barry is rather unchanged, but a major point of contention is that, in the New 52 continuity, he isn’t/was never married to his longtime wife, Iris West. The other issue many have is with the changes made to the Rogues. Honestly, whether either of these changes ruins things for you depends on 1. how invested you were in the pre-reboot versions of these characters and 2. how open you are to change and how much compartmentalization you’re able to do. Personally, I have no problem looking at these characters as new and enjoying them separately, but I can totally understand why some of my closest friends here on Tumblr can’t read the reboot series because they just miss the old ones too much. To each their own.

That said, Michelle, as a relative newbie to the comic-Flash, you should definitely check this out.

[Manapul and Buccellato’s run spans The Flash v. 4 issues 0-25, plus The Flash v. 4 Annuals 1-2 and The Flash 23.2: The Reverse Flash #1]

Okay, now onto chronological order!  From here on out, I’ll be referring to books and continuity entirely prior to the New 52, and most of the books I’ll refer to will be from the era between Crisis on Infinite Earths and the reboot.  I’ll also be splitting the books up by the primary Flash at the time.

Jay Garrick

The very first Flash was Jay Garrick, a college student in the early 1940s who fell asleep in a room full of “hard water” and awoke to find he was capable of moving at unfathomable speeds.  Jay Garrick was the Flash of the Golden Age of comics, starring in his own book as well as in the Justice Society of America until the early 50s, when comics went on the decline and his book was cancelled.  Eventually, in the early 60s, the concept of the Flash was resurrected with Barry Allen as the new fastest man alive, and it was declared that Jay Garrick and the rest of his JSA cohorts instead lived on a parallel world known as Earth 2.  The JSA and JLA often had inter-world team-ups throughout the Silver and Bronze ages where the two Flashes got the opportunity to team-up and fight together, and the two greatly admired each other.

After Crisis On Infinite Earths retconned away all parallel Earths, history was changed to say that Jay and the rest of the JSA had always been a part of “our” Earth.  They were the original superheroes, but went into retirement in the 50s when McCarthy declared them Communists in an attempt to force them to unmask.  Jay, as well as his home of Keystone City, was later frozen and hidden for decades by villains known as the Shade, The Fiddler, and the Thinker. Eventually Barry Allen discovered the city, defeated the villains, and freed Jay and the rest of the residents of Keystone.  Jay Garrick, now older, started to become a mentor figure to Barry, but especially took on the Elder Statesman role full-time once Wally West became the Flash.  Eventually the JSA–largely led by the children and proteges of the original members–reformed, and Jay started spending most of his time working with the JSA.  Good natured, friendly, and quick with a joke–if a little old-fashioned–Jay is loved by all, and Wildcat has been known to call him the nicest man alive.  His wife Joan has constantly been at his side from the very beginning, and he remained a faithful elder statesman to both the Flashes and the superheroing community in general until the reboot.

Recommendations: Okay, Jay is a bit of a tough one, because almost all his Solo Adventures as a Flash are from the 1940s.  If those are your bag, then I’m sure somebody here on Tumblr could point you towards Jay’s better Golden Age adventures, but comics from that era really do nothing for me.

Jay’s most famous solo-adventure from the modern age is from The Flash v2 #134 by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and Paul Ryan, and the issue serves as a pretty excellent introduction to the character as well (This issue is included in the “The Flash: Emergency Stop” TPB).

Jay tends to pop up quite often in the main Flash book as a supporting character/mentor figure, so if you’re interested in him, you’ll find him in almost all the Flash comics I recommend to you from here on out.

Your best bet for Jay, though, is to check out the JSA books, and fortunately, they’re quite good.  Again, the Golden Age JSA books are Golden Age, so if you’re into that thing, feel free to check them out.  There was also a fairly expansive line of JSA/Earth 2 related books in the years leading up to Crisis On Infinite Earths that are fondly remembered by many, as well as a couple of ill-fated attempts at rebooting the team in the late 80s and early 90s, but I’ve never read any of those runs, so I can’t comment on their quality.

The best JSA run, for my money, is David Goyer and Geoff Johns JSA, which ran from 1999-2006 and is collected in a series of 11TPBs (if you see a Volume 12, ignore it).  It’s really an excellent team book and a wonderful example of DC’s legacy concept (which really made DC shine throughout the 90s and early aughts), which has, unfortunately, been completely dropped now.

This series was followed up by a reboot, Justice Society of America v.3 by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham. I thought the first TPB of this volume was very strong, but the rest of Geoff’s run got very caught up in itself, adding more and more characters and taking three TPBs to tell a single story.  After Geoff’s departure the book meandered around a bit trying some different things and even spinning off another book for a while (JSA All-Stars by Matt Sturges and Freddie Williams II), but none of these books ever really lived up to the previous volume’s glory. If you read JSA and really enjoyed it, than it’s probably worth giving these a look, but don’t start with this volume.

———————–

Barry Allen

Barry Allen was the character who ushered in the Silver Age of comics. Allen was a police scientist in Central City who was struck by a bolt of lightning while working in his lab one night and was blessed with unbelievable super speed as a result. Barry starred in his own book and served as a charter member of the Justice League of America throughout the Silver and much of the Bronze age of comics.  Like most characters in the Silver Age, Barry was portrayed kind of blandly, but unlike many other characters, his personality didn’t develop much beyond that, perhaps because he died before the Modern Age really began.  The main features of Barry’s book were his psuedo-scientific tricks and his eccentric and expansive Rogues Gallery of super-villains, and those Silver Age Flash books are fondly remembered as fun, goofy romps. During this time Barry married his long-time girlfriend, Iris West, and took on her nephew, Wally West, as his sidekick, Kid Flash. I don’t know how much of this shone through in those early books, but nowadays Barry is known to be extremely patient, a bit of a geek and a square, a bit absent minded (his gimmick is that he’s always late), and extremely kind-hearted.

Barry’s world darkened in the late 70s/early 80s.  First, one of the Rogues, The Top, wreaked havoc on Barry’s personal life by specifically targeting his family. Then The Reverse Flash murdered his wife, Iris. After a few years Barry found new love and was engaged to a woman named Fiona, and The Reverse Flash returned to do in her as well; with seemingly no other choice, Barry snapped his neck and killed him.  This launched a lengthy storyline where The Flash was put on trial for murder.  The trial turned off many readers and made Barry a toxic character to DC.  Looking to start over from scratch, DC made the decision to kill Barry off during their upcoming crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths, where Barry valiantly sacrificed his life to destroy the Anti-Monitor’s device and save the universe.

Recommendations: 

Again, this is a tough one, as most of Barry’s solo-adventures are from the Silver Age, another time-period in comics that I’m not super fond of (Honestly, it’s no secret that Barry returned as the Flash a few years ago now, and I’ll cover his modern stories/history later on in this piece).  I know I have a few followers who are fond of these stories, so if there are any stand-out stories from this era–for either Barry or the Rogues–would you mind passing them along?  Thank you so much!

I haven’t read any of those Bronze Age stories I mentioned either.  I’ve heard varying opinions as to their quality, but I haven’t read them, so I can’t verify one way or the other.  You could probably find them easily enough if you look (they might be collected as archive editions or on Comixology or something?  I’m not sure), but honestly, the important thing is that you know they happened.

You should definitely read Crisis On Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, though.  As the first major comics crossover, it has historical significance, and even if Wolfman overextends himself some and even if it’s probably a few issues too long, it’s an exciting epic story, and it’s also a very strong Barry Allen (and Supergirl) story to boot.

Thanks to flashbacks, time-travel, and other similar things, Barry actually shows up plenty of times after he’s “died.”  Expect Barry to pop up fairly often during Wally’s tenure as the Flash; most famously, he co-stars in Mark Waid and Greg LaRocque’s “The Flash: Born to Run” (aka Flash: Year One) which is actually Wally’s origin story with Barry in the mentor role.  JLA: Year One by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson also features Barry and is well worth reading; both of these stories are available in trade.

———————–

Wally West

Wally West is the nephew of The Flash, Barry Allen, and his wife Iris.  Raised by abrasive, borderline abusive parents, Wally desperately sought escape and idolized The Flash. One summer, while visiting his aunt in Central City, she introduced him to the Flash, and while Flash was showing Wally around his lab, the bizarre accident that gave Barry his powers recreated itself, gifting Wally with speed practically equal to his mentor’s. It was the best day of Wally’s life and the day that saved his life, giving the boy purpose and direction for the first time.

Wally became the Flash’s sidekick, Kid Flash, and went on to help found the Teen Titans, becoming especially close to Dick Grayson–the original Robin–and Donna Troy–the original Wonder Girl.  In college Wally’s speed began decreasing, and the use of his powers started to kill him.  Faced with little other choice, Wally retired from superheroics.

This all changed during Crisis on Infinite Earths when his mentor, Barry Allen, sacrificed his life to save the world. Wally again suited up and lent a hand in the efforts, and after being hit by one of the Anti-Monitor’s blasts found that his super-speed was no longer killing him, though his top speed had been limited to the speed of sound.

Determined to carry on Barry Allen’s legacy, Wally took up the mantle of the Flash, but also determined not to replace or overshadow his hero and mentor, Wally revealed his secret identity to the world. Wally’s tenure as the Flash started off rocky, with Wally still grieving and searching for direction, and quite often making a jerk of himself in the process, but he quickly grew. Indeed, what makes Wally West so beloved by fans is that we watched him grow up, from Kid Flash to Flash, from hot-headed newbie to consummate hero, from player to family-man.  He feels more real than most superheroes, not only because his books were usually well written, but because we were all able to travel on Wally’s journey with him every step of the way.

Recommendations:

Much of Wally’s original time as Kid Flash is portrayed in those same Silver Age issues of The Flash as Barry’s, and again, I haven’t really read them so I don’t know the quality nor the specific issues where he appears. Likewise, Wally was a permanent fixture in Teen Titans throughout the 60’s and 70’s, and the same applies to them.

Teen Titans: Year One by Amy Wolfram (a writer on the Teen Titans animated series) and Karl Kershl is a nice place to look for a modern interpretation of Wally’s days as Kid Flash, and the art is excellent to boot. [This story is collected in the “Teen Titans: Year One TPB.]

Marv Wolfman and George Perez's The New Teen Titans is, in many ways, an essential part of Wally’s history, as it chronicles not only his doomed romance with Raven, but also his decision to briefly retire from superheroics; that said, it’s not the best portrayal of Wally. For all his strengths as a writer, Wolfman kinda didn’t know what to do with a speedster, and he ended up making him in general a source of antagonism and tension for the team, not to mention that Wally being conflicted about being a hero and not knowing whether it’s what he wants to do with his life conflicts with almost all of Wally’s characterization both before and since. Fortunately, tNTT is a comic worth reading even besides that; it’s from the 80s so it’s dated, but it’s one of the first comics (especially from DC) to really spend as much, if not more time, dealing with the characters’ civilian lives and romances as much as it does superheroics, and it’s also a very important time in the life of Dick Grayson, as it’s the original story of how Robin became Nightwing, which I know might interest you Michelle, haha. [Wally specifically takes the spotlight in Issues 17, 18, 20, and 49 , and was a member of the team up through issue 39, although he remains a reoccurring character even afterwards, putting in appearances at Donna Troy’s wedding, having a major role in the Trigon storyline and even working with the team for a while after becoming The Flash. As for tNTT itself, its classic issues run through the end of the Trigon storyline (The New Teen Titans v2. #1-5), although it’s still quite readable up through the Titans Hunt storyline, after which Wolfman just kind of ran out of ideas and the series floundered for far too long before being cancelled.  This series is inconsistently collected, although the "Terra Incognito” TPB heavily features a B-Story about Wally and Raven, and “The Judas Contract” TPB collects the issue where Wally retires, although it’s the first chapter of the collection, so he doesn’t show up again in the book.  I believe most of the classic issues have been collected in hardback, archive format as well, and its worth checking to see if they’re available on Comixology.]

Wally’s actual solo run on the Flash lasted almost 250 issues (with the initial run lasting 230; more on that second run later), which is a lot to work though; I haven’t been able to collect them all myself. The series roughly breaks down into five runs, all of which are at least decent and two or three of which are classics.  While the series is only sporadically collected in TPB, all 247 issues are available for legal download on Comixology (something I might look into soon myself)

Mike Baron and Jackson Guice were the first creative team on Wally’s solo book, working on it from The Flash v.2 1-14.  Baron’s run was very controversial, as much for Baron’s personality as it was his decisions with Wally, such as having him publicly reveal his identity and making him more of a player and jerk.  I’ve heard that Baron either didn’t like Wally or was specifically making decisions with the character to spite Marv Wolfman, but I don’t know how accurate either accusation is.  Either way, what I’ve read of this run is fairly mediocre; not necessarily bad, but nothing that stands out by any means, though it’s still fairly important in that it not only establishes who Wally West is now that he’s the Flash, but also gives us a flawed starting point for him to evolve from throughout the rest of his series.

William Messner-Loebs took over next, writing Issues 15-61.  Out of all of Wally’s major creative teams I’ve read the least of Loebs’, so I probably don’t have a ton of room to judge, but the issues I have read are probably my least favorite of Wally’s run.  That said, most are fonder of his run than I am, and Loebs was instrumental in beginning Wally’s evolution, starting by putting the character in therapy and also by introducing Linda Park, who would go on to become Wally’s primary love interest. Loebs also put a lot of work into establishing a supporting cast for Wally, developing his parents and salvaging and reforming villains such as Chunk and the Pied Piper. Loebs’ era was also defined by a social consciousness; he was the writer who established that Pied Piper is gay, and used the revelation to examine Wally’s attitudes and prejudices on the matter (and remember, late 80s/early 90s).  Unfortunately, none of either Baron’s nor Loebs’ run is available in trade, but as I said, both are fully available on Comixology.

Next up is Mark Waid, who took over with Issue 62 and staggeringly wrote the book until Issue 129.  But wait, that was only a break–then he picked the book back up with Issue 142 and continued on until Issue 162 (He would go on to write a brief third run, but I’ll get into that later). Waid’s run is the quintessential Flash run, and he’s largely considered the best writer of Wally.  It’s no surprise why, as he spent a long time developing and maturing the character.  To the criticism of some, Waid abandoned most of Loebs’ supporting cast to bring every super-speed character in DC’s roster together to mentor and support Wally.  He introduced the Speed Force, the mystical power source that grants The Flash and his counterparts their speed. Much of his run was actually a love story in disguise, chronicling the epic romance of Wally West and Linda Park. He also helped return Wally to his previous top-speed and, along with Grant Morrison, made him a JLA worthy character again. Anybody who tells you that Wally is their favorite character probably owes it to Mark Waid.

The only real criticism of Waid’s run is that his villains were often weak or barely an afterthought to the story at hand, and he especially showed little interest in the Rogues beyond a small handful (Abra Kadabra and the first Trickster). Fortunately, the emotional throughline for Wally in all these stories largely smooths over any issues with the villains.

Unfortunately, only five of Waid’s storylines are collected in trade (The Flash: Born to Run [#62-65], The Return of Barry Allen [#74-79], Terminal Velocity [#0, 95-100], Dead Heat [#108-111, Impulse 10-11], and Race Against Time [#112-118]), although, fortunately, those five storylines are the high point of his run and (besides Wally’s wedding, which was oddly never collected), represent some of the most significant moments in Wally’s life.  As I said, though, the entire series is available on Comixology as well.

But wait, what about that year-long gap in Mark Waid’s run? I believe he took the break to focus on Kingdom Come, but either way, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar ably stepped in with issues 130-141 to provide a fun year’s worth of comics that are definitely well worth reading. Morrison and Millar broke away slightly from Waid’s love story and self-discovery to provide some retro-inspired sci-fi antics, including the return of Morrison’s Mirror Master from Animal Man, an attack by a disembodied suit and Wally’s universe-spanning race with a digital Sonic the Hedgehog-expy.  It’s a lot of fun, and, even better, is completely collected! [All 12 issues of this run are collected in two TPBs, “The Flash: Emergency Stop” and “The Flash: The Human Race.”]

The final epic run of Wally’s career was written by Geoff Johns and mainly illustrated by Scott Kolins, Alberto Dose and Howard Porter and runs in issues 164-225. Geoff doesn’t have quite the handle on Wally’s voice that Waid does (but who does, really?) and he especially doesn’t use Linda enough, but he still crafts a compelling storyline and direction for the two characters. More than any other writer before him, Johns’ run attempted to establish unique and distinctive identities for both Keystone and Central City, and largely succeeded. That said, what Geoff’s run is best known for is his villains! Geoff helped reestablish the Rogues as more legitimate threats and interesting characters than most of them had been since Barry’s era, and popularized them in a way they probably had never been before, not to mention how he expanded their ranks by creating new Rogues. Honestly, the book under Geoff’s pen is probably as much the Rogues’ run as it is Wally’s, and it’s stronger for it.  Also, the entire run is collected! [Geoff’s entire run is collected in a series of 8 TPBs–“Wonderland”, “Blood Will Run”, “Rogues”, “Crossfire”, “Blitz”, “Ignition”, “The Secret of Barry Allen”, and “Rogue War”.  Many of these trades are, unfortunately, out of print and hard to find, but fortunately, the entire run was recently reprinted in a series of, I believe, 3 Omnibus editions that include special issues and features not included with the TPBs, as well as being available on Comixology.  I highly recommend them.]

Of course, as a prominent hero in the DCU, Wally appeared plenty outside of his solo book.  Wally was a member of one Justice League or another for most of his career, beginning with Justice League Europe. JLE was as much of a humor book as it was an action one, if not more, and it heavily played up Wally’s (at the time) jerkish persona, but in one of the few JLE issues I’ve read I remember a B-Plot featuring how Elongated Man’s constant comparisons between Barry and Wally (EM was basically mentored by Barry, knew Wally as a child, and didn’t really take him seriously as the Flash) were having a negative effect on Wally, which I thought was an interesting plot.  I don’t know how well handled or featured he is within the rest of the series, however.

Wally was also a founding member of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA, although he didn’t get a ton of screen time throughout the run. His spotlight–and defining moment in Morrison’s run–comes in Issue 3 [collected in the TPB “JLA: New World Order”].  Likewise, although he’s a more consistent presence throughout Mark Waid and Joe Kelly’s tenures on the book, he isn’t a driving force in either run, although one of the most iconic moments of Wally’s career comes courtesy of Kelly in JLA 89 [collected in the TPB “JLA: Trial by Fire”]. Fortunately, all three runs are well worth reading on their own merits, although I have a hunch you may have already read Morrison’s, Michelle.

Joe Kelly also included Wally on the roster in his Justice League Elite mini-series that spun-out of his Superman and JLA runs, and Wally’s differing role between the two Leagues is explored in JLA Secret Files and Origins 4, which is included in the first of the two volumes that collect this mini-series. [I like this series and Kelly’s JLA in general, but JLElite isn’t a book I’d jump into without having read Kelly’s JLA first, if only so you can see if you’re into the way he writes. That said, I think there’s another character you like featured in this book, Michelle, although telling you who they are would be a major spoiler. This mini is collected in two TPBs, “Justice League Elite: Volume 1” and “Volume 2.”]

Wally also continued to have a large role in Teen Titans stories, particularly in Devon Grayson and Phil Jimenez’s “JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative”, where Wally’s position as a founding member of both teams puts him in a compromising situation when the two teams come into conflict. This story is a little heavy on Titans continuity, but it’s a really fun story that I highly recommend, and Wally really does play a large part in it [This series is collected in the “JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative” TPB]. This mini lead into a new Titans ongoing with Wally as a member, but he was only on the team for a short time before leaving due to events in his solo book at the time, so I wouldn’t go out of my way to track it down.

Wally’s “last” story is told in Infinite Crisis 4 by Geoff Johns and Phil Jimenez. "Infinite Crisis" was my first DC series so I have a lot of fondness for it, but I do think it holds up pretty well. I should actually reread it soon. That said, getting rid of Wally during the series was unnecessary (and basically derailed the Flash franchise for quite a while; some think “Flash: Rebirth” got it back on track, some say Manapul and Buccellato’s reboot series got it back on track, and some would argue that the franchise never recovered. Honestly, I go with the second choice, but to each their own) and more of an afterthought than anything, but it is the final piece of Wally’s history, which is important in its own right.

Because he was such a prominent character for so many years I’m sure you can find Wally in many books outside the ones I recommended, especially in major crossovers; I know he has roles in “Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time”, “Underworld Unleashed” (which is apparently practically a Rogues mini-series as it is), and “Identity Crisis.”  Of those three, though, the only one I’ve read is Identity Crisis, and that’s a highly controversial can of worms I just don’t feel like opening right now. Any of y'all reading out there have any other Wally West stories I may have missed that were favorites?

———————–

Bart Allen

The story of Bart Allen is a…complicated one. After his murder trial but before his death, Barry Allen traveled to the far flung future to find refuge…and found there his supposedly dead wife, Iris (the story of how she got there and why she’s alive is even more complicated–just Wiki it if you’re a masochist).  They were only together a brief time before Barry’s death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor, but in that brief time Iris became pregnant and later gave birth to Don and Dawn Allen–who grew up to be the heroes known as the Tornado Twins. Like their father, the Tornado Twins died young, but not before both having children of their own. Dawn’s daughter Jenni’s superspeed manifested in adolescence and she ended up joining the Legion of Superheroes as XS, but Don’s son Bart was different. Unlike the rest of his family, his speed was equal to his grandfather Barry’s–and even stranger, his speed manifested at birth. Bart’s speed hyperaccelerated his metabolism, causing him to age rapidly–by age 2, he looked 12. The Earthgov took Bart and hooked him up to virtual reality to help his mind keep up with his body’s growth, but were doing nothing to cure him. Breaking a billion laws, Iris liberated Bart from Earthgov and fled with him to the past in hope that her nephew, Wally West–the Flash–could cure him.

Wally managed to cure Bart’s condition, but failed Bart as a mentor. Due to being raised in VR, Bart was extremely hyperactive and had no concept of danger, and he drove Wally mad.  Wally passed Bart–who by now had become the hero Impulse–off to Max Mercury, an ancient, Zen-like speedster whose infinite patience Bart constantly tested. Together they moved to Manchester, Alabama and had many hilarious adventures. During this time Bart met up with Superboy and Robin (Tim Drake) and formed Young Justice.

Eventually, during a time of great upheaval (including the dissolution of Young Justice/formation of the Teen Titans and the disappearance of Max) Bart took on the mantle of Kid Flash in an attempt to get people to take him more seriously. He remained Kid Flash until Infinite Crisis, when he and most of the other speedsters disappeared as they attempted to imprison Superboy Prime in the Speed Force. Bart later reappeared, having aged several years and having somehow absorbed the Speed Force, and took up the vacant mantle of The Flash in an attempt to live up to his family’s legacy. Bart’s tenure as the Flash was shortlived, though (13 issues); he soon met his demise at the hands of his deranged clone, Inertia.

Fortunately for Bart, the Legion of Superheroes in the 30th Century were attacked by Superboy Prime and were able to resurrect Bart in an attempt to use him against Prime. The rejuvenated Bart was once again young and once again Kid Flash, and after returning to the past, that’s how he remained until the reboot: young, sweet, impulsive, rambunctious, and a beloved (if extremely annoying) mainstay of the young heroic community.

Recommendations:

Impulse debuted in The Flash v.2 92-94 by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo [which is collected, along with “Impulse 1-6”, in the TPB “Impulse: Reckless Youth” which is required reading.] and promptly became a runaway success, playing a pivotal role in the “Terminal Velocity” storyline that ran in issues 95-100 (which I already mentioned in the first Wally West section), and immediately joining the Teen Titans on a whim [“New Titans” #115-130, with 126 probably giving Bart the greatest emphasis. I’ve heard these issues aren’t the best–the series was running out of steam long before Bart joined and was cancelled at #130, plus Bart was such a new character that Wolfman didn’t necessarily always know how to write him–and, with the exception of one plot point (Bart’s crush on Rose Wilson), Bart’s time on this team is rarely mentioned again, so I wouldn’t necessarily seek it out unless you’re on a serious Bart and/or Titans completeionist streak.]. Bart also continued to appear on a reoccurring basis in the main Flash series until the end of Wally’s run with issue 230.

Thanks to that popularity, by the time Flash 100 hit the stands Bart had his own series.  Impulse lasted for 89 issues, had three major runs, and is worth reading for pretty much that entire time. The best run, though, is the first, Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos’ run on issues 1-27. Waid played Impulse, not as a superhero book, but as a situation comedy, and it’s brilliant; Issues 3 and 6 are some of the first books that come to mind when people ask me what my favorite single issue of all-time is.  Waid’s run is basically the definitive take on Bart as a character and is a must read [As previously mentioned, the first six issues are collected in the TPB “Impulse: Reckless Youth”, and Issues 10-11 are included as a part of the “The Flash: Dead Heat” TPB.  Meanwhile, all 89 issues of the series are available for legal download on Comixology.]

William Messner-Loebs took over for Issues 29-49. Messner-Loebs continued Waid’s situation comedy concept, but took things in an odder, more sci-fi direction (for a superhero book, Waid's Impulse was an oddly down-to-Earth book).  It didn’t always work for me–ultimately, this is my least favorite of the three Impulse runs–and there’s at least one plot that basically ruined one of my favorite developments from Waid’s run, but it’s still a solid run overall.

Todd Dezago took the book over with issues 50-89. Due to editorial edict, Impulse became much more of a standard superhero book under Dezago’s pen and began getting sucked into crossovers, but Dezago allowed the book to keep much of its trademark humor as well, and it was an interesting change from some of the stuff that came before. Dezago’s run is famous for two things: Being one of the first, if not the first, regular gigs of Ethan Van Sciver, and introducing the villain Inertia, Bart’s evil clone who went on to be a major, reoccurring part of Bart’s life (though all his uses after this run seem to ignore the development he undergoes during it). [Issues 50-54–containing a Batman team-up and the first Inertia story–were reprinted in 2011 as “DC Comics Presents Impulse: 100 Page Spectacular #1”, and Issues 62-67–the other Inertia story–were collected in the “The Flash: Mercury Falling” TPB.  The rest of Dezago’s run–and as I said, the rest of the series in general–are available on Comixology as well.]

If you can find it, Christopher Priest and Jason Johnson’s “Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe" is a very fun one-and-done, time travel romp collected in TPB.

During this time Bart also helped found Young Justice and was a primary member of the team for it’s entire run–barring a brief retirement that didn’t stick.  Young Justice lasted 55 issues, with Peter David and Todd Nauck as the primary creative team the entire time, and is very very much worth reading. The early issues are a lot of fun and quickly develop the team, and the latter half of the series doesn’t hesitate to throw these characters into some serious situations without ever losing its sense of humor [Issues 1-6 are available in TPB as "Young Justice: A League Of Their Own”, and the mini-series that led up to the series–“JLA: A World Without Grown-Ups” by Todd Dezago, Humberto Ramos and Mike McKone–is also available in TPB, as is Peter David, Todd Nauck, and Pop Mhan’s “Spyboy/Young Justice" team-up mini-series.  Meanwhile, all 55 issues of "Young Justice” are available for legal download on Comixology.].

Young Justice: Sins of Youthis a very fun crossover event helmed by Peter David that involves the Young Justice team and the JLA switching ages and having to deal with the consequences. Bart, Wally and Jay all play major roles in it, plus, hey, haven’t you always wanted to see Tim as Batman teaming up with Bruce as Robin, or a young Kyle Rayner who is literally wearing a new costume in each panel?! [This event is available in the “Young Justice: Sins of Youth” TPB and is also fully available for legal download on Comixology].

Impulse–along with the rest of Young Justice–guest-star in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. 5-6 by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder [Collected in the “JSA Presents: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v.1” TPB].Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. was Johns’ first comic work and the book that introduced Courtney Whitmore–aka Star-Spangled Kid aka Stargirl–to the world, and while Johns is still obviously a little green, it’s a fun book and Young Justice is very in character–this is probably one of Johns’ best uses of Bart, actually.

Bart probably has many more guest appearances I just can’t think of right now, and if anybody can think of any worth checking out, please let us know! Anyway, if we’re being honest, all the best Bart stories take place when he’s still Impulse; he was never quite the same after he became Kid Flash.

The transformation took place in Teen Titans v.3 1-5 by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone [Collected in the “Teen Titans: A Kid’s Game” TPB].While the impetus behind Bart’s change of identity makes sense in a vacuum (and since this storyline was among the very first comics I ever read, I especially enjoyed it at the time), it begins to fall apart when you realize that Bart faced many more traumatizing and demoralizing situations as Impulse but never reached this kind of low. Still, Johns version of Bart-as-Kid-Flash is still recognizable as the same character, even if he’s a more toned-down version (Apparently the idea to mature Bart and change his identity was an editorial edict, so Johns doesn’t take all the blame here). Bart’s most prominent role in the series is within this first storyline, but he still has stuff to do and remains a member of the team until Issue 33.

Bart also features in the subplot of 2004's Teen Titans/Legion of Super-heroes Special by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid and Ivan Reis, which ties into Teen Titans v.3 15. This is one of the last chances we get to see Bart interact with his original time and XS and his mother, so if you enjoy that aspect of Bart, check it out. [This story is collected in the “Teen Titans: The Future Is Now” TPB. Johns entire run is available in trade, I believe was recently rereleased in Omnibus form, and I am assuming is available on Comixology though I haven’t checked.]

After Infinite Crisis Bart returned a few years older and took up the then-vacant mantle of the Flash, and to be honest, this era of Bart should pretty much be skipped entirely. Bart’s solo series, The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive lasted 13 issues, and the first 8 were terrible. The last five issues finally started to pull together a lead who at least somewhat resembled an adult Bart and managed to snag a much better artist, but the whole thing was just leading up to his death, so what’s the point? The best moment of the entire run was the couple of devastating silent pages where Jay, Jesse Quick, and Tim receive the news of Bart’s death, and that’s a rather depressing accomplishment.

The only good thing to come out of this era was Teen Titans v.3 50, which was a memorial issue in Bart’s honor. New series-writer Sean McKeever used his space in the issue to show how Bart’s death was affecting the team’s dynamics, but the highlights of the issue are the anthology-style tribute stories: Todd DeZago and Todd Nauck reunite to tell one last Bart-as-Impulse story, Geoff Johns and Mike McKone reunite to tell (what we thought at the time was) one last Bart-as-Kid Flash story, and Marv Wolfman and George Perez made a surprising return to tell a Wally-as-Kid Flash story. Despite the depressing circumstances behind its very existence, this issue is required reading not just for Bart fans, but for Flash fans in general.

Bart returned to life in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3 by Geoff Johns and George Perez. I feel like Johns had a much better handle on Bart’s personality in this mini–probably because the editorial pressure to “mature” the character had subsided–but with his resurrection serving as the cliffhanger to Issue 3, he really only got a chance to actually do anything in the last two issues. Ultimately, this is a story about the Legion of Superheroes resurrecting Bart and Superboy in an attempt to take down Superboy Prime, making it more of a Legion story than anything, and the Legion can be confusing if you’re not careful. I actually enjoyed this mini quite a bit, but you know, just be prepared if you check it out.

Kid Flash and Superboy immediately rejoined the Teen Titans after their resurrection, but this happened to fall right smack-dab in the middle of one of the worst runs the series has ever had, Felicia Henderson’s run–avoid these issues at all costs. J.T. Krul and Nicola Scott took over the book with Teen Titans v.3 #88and worked together until it’s conclusion–due to the New 52 reboot–with Issue 100. Krul had mixed success handling Bart–he showed signs of understanding the core of the character, but also spent a lot of time working with some of the less popular facets of the character that had been established during Johns run and his time as the Flash. Ultimately, I can’t fault Krul for wanting to address some of these concepts, and maybe it was even necessary, but it just didn't feel like Bart, and that’s unfortunate. The first storyline [spanning issues 88-92 and collected in the “Teen Titans: Team Building” TPB] is the best story of this run, largely because throwing Damian Wayne into the mix makes for some fun tension, but once he’s replaced by Red Robin things get a little dull, although, with Nicola Scott on art, it’s always gorgeous to look at. Issues 97-100 feature a strange little subplot about Bart dealing through some of the lingering anger from his death, but if you skipped over Bart’s death (which I recommend unless you’re on a completionist streak) than don’t seek those issues out for that aspect of the plot, although I did find them to be a fun little conclusion to the pre-reboot history of the Titans.

Although Bart only appears on, like, three pages of Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul’s Adventure Comics 1-6, it’s one of the funnest cameos he gets after becoming Kid Flash. The story itself is a lot of fun too, featuring Superboy reacclimating to life, reconnecting with his friends, and putting his daddy issues to rest for good after his resurrection. [This story is collected in the “Superboy: The Boy of Steel” TPB] After this story Superboy got his own solo, Superboy v.4 by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo, and Bart follows him to make a few appearances, specifically in issue 5 where he and Superboy race around the world. That said, Bart has a bit of a weird voice in this book. The whole book has issues, actually–Jeff Lemire’s a very talented writer, but he seemed more interested in developing Smallville than Superboy, leaving his star undeveloped, as interesting as a piece of cardboard.  It’s kind of a strange, dull run.

Bart’s last adventure as Kid Flash is, thankfully, also his best. Further on in this piece I’m going to recommend to you to skip over Flashpoint, and I stand by that, but you SHOULD definitely check out Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost by Sterling Gates and Oliver Nome, which is easily the best Bart Allen story since his days as Impulse. Gates manages to create an interesting plot, keep Bart in character, pay honor to his past and craft a powerful ending for the character as the old universe draws to a close; highly recommended. [This mini lasted three issues and is collected in the “Flashpoint: World of Flashpoint featuring the Flash” TPB along with the only “Citizen Cold” mini, which is also good.]

———————–

Wally West:

Again. The release of the Speed Force when Bart died also helped Wally and his family return to civilization, and Wally resumed acting as the Flash.  Wally’s second tenure as the Flash spent a lot of time focused on his twin children, Jai and Iris, whose powers wreaked havoc on their lives. Although Wally remained the Flash until the reboot, once Barry Allen returned in Final Crisis/Flash: Rebirth Wally let Barry take over as the primary protector of Central and Keystone in order to spend more time with his family, only making sporadic appearances.

Recommendations:

Even though the revival of Wally’s solo series only lasted 17 issues, it went through three “regular writers” writers (and a one-issue guest shot) that each only stuck around for a single storyline.  I’m pretty fond of this entire run, but I admit that it can get rather strange at times.  Mark Waid, Daniel Acuna and Freddie Williams II tackled the first run [The Flash v.2 231-236, collected in “The Flash: The Wild Wests TPB. Also, Waid’s run technically kicked off with the "All Flash #1” special, which addressed Wally’s reaction to Bart’s death; I am not sure if it is collected or not], which established the powersets (and power woes) of Wally’s twins upon their return (as well as establishing just where the Wests had been all this time). It’s a very solid, fun story, although it does take a few odd turns, but anticipation was so high for Waid’s return to the character that he helped define that many/most readers were disappointed with the run, which dispensed with Wally’s iconic internal narration and spent more time focused on the twins than it did Wally. So yeah, it’s a bit odd, but if you end up liking Wally’s twins, then you’ll like this arc (and most of this run).

Tom Peyer took over for issues 238-243, and this arc is probably the best of this short run. It continues the saga of the twins and their power woes, but also gives Wally much more to do, brings back his internal narration, and throws in a slew of new threats to create a super entertaining yet slightly schizophrenic arc that often divides its time between examining how misuse of media can screw somebody over and a gorilla army.  Good stuff.

By the time Alan Burnett came in to write issues 244-247 it had apparently already been decided that Barry would return and replace Wally, so these last four issues were mainly used to recap Wally’s life (although it got a lot of small facts about him wrong) and give him one last adventure, despite the fact that it basically provided no real closure for Wally’s character.  This is actually a fun little arc that is worth reading, but it’s not as essential as it likes to make itself sound.

Wally also rejoined the JLA upon his return (this happened in Issue 10 as the grand finale of the “Lightning Saga”, which is not worth seeking out).  That said, Wally wasn’t really seen in the book until Dwayne McDuffie and Ethan Van Sciver teamed up in Justice League of America v.2 #20 to give us a glorious spotlight on Wally as he teams up with Wonder Woman and fights Queen Bee.  I can’t emphasize enough how fantastic this issue is; find it. Wally remained on the team until Issue 31, when much of the team began to fall apart in the aftermath of Final Crisis. That said, Dwayne McDuffie’s criminally underrated run spans Issues 13-33 and is worth tracking down, even if heavy-handed editorial prevented him from doing everything he wanted with the book.

Wally also makes a short but memorable appearance in Nightwing 141 by Pete Tomasi and Rags Morales, where he and Dick reunite for the first time since Wally’s return and take a little time to catch up. Although it’s his only appearance in the run, I can honestly still recommend Tomasi’s entire run enthusiastically; he writes an awesome Nightwing. [Tomasi’s “Nightwing” run spans issues 141-153, and is collected in two TPBs, “Freefall” and “The Great Leap”, with the Wally appearance happening in the former.]

———————–

Barry Allen

Yup. Barry Allen returned to life in the pages of Final Crisis and was immediately thrown into tremendous upheaval. His attempts to reacclimatize to his new life were thrown to a loop by the return of an old enemy in Flash: Rebirth, and then the entire world was threatened by the dead rising in Blackest Night. When he finally managed to pin down a regular routine it didn’t last long; Barry’s role in Flashpoint helped to reset the universe and bring about the NEW 52.

Recommendations:

Barry returned in the pages of Grant Morrison and JG Jones' Final Crisis. Not only Barry and Wally, but also Iris, Linda, and the twins get a good showing in this story, so as a Flash story I’m a fan, but as a crossover in general, well…Final Crisis is very…Morrison-y, for lack of a better term, so if you’re into Morrison’s typical style–or want to see how Morrison applies his typical style to your standard line-wide crossover–then you’d probably like it. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Final Crisis myself.  I love the more action, plot, and character-driven stuff, but there are several times when Morrison’s message seems to hijack the whole story–at one point quite literally and deliberately, which some people found genius and some people, like me, thought was infuriating to read no matter how smart or appropriate it might have been. [“Final Crisis” is collected in a TPB of the same name.]

Barry’s story next picked up in The Flash: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. This story is used as the reintroduction of Barry into modern continuity and plays that up by having Barry wondering whether he should even be back at all–unfortunately, Johns aims for a “yes” by having every character praise Barry every chance they could possibly get, until the book practically turned into a Barry Allen circlejerk (new band name!).  The story also suffers from two retcons it made to Barry’s past that were rather polarizing–even if you liked the retcons (I’m not a huge fan) they still take up an inordinate amount of space in the book.  That’s not to say it’s a bad book; 6 issues of Van Sciver art is worth the price of admission alone, and there’s still a lot of good stuff with pretty much every member of the Flash family plus most of their allies. 

Ultimately, the biggest strike against The Flash: Rebirth is the fact that it devotes a lot of time to setting up future plots that would never come to pass because of the reboot.  Rebirth is worth reading as long as you keep all of this in mind; otherwise, it could be a frustrating exercise. [“The Flash: Rebirth” is collected in a TPB of the same name.]

The best stories from this (very short) era are the ones that stopped trying to reintroduce Barry or build up his mythos and simply let him have adventures, and one of the best is Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis' Blackest Night. Despite being a Green Lantern story, Barry is very much front-and-center in this one, co-starring with Hal and proving his worth as a hero and a Flash. Blackest Night can get a little grim and a little gory, but I still really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. [“Blackest Night” is collected in a TPB of the same name.]

If you read Blackest Night, also check out the three issue tie-in miniseries Blackest Night: The Flash by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, which uses its A-Plot to explore what Barry, Wally and Bart are up to between what’s shown on the pages of Blackest Night; its B-Plot features the Rogues fighting for their lives against Black Lantern versions of their fallen former teammates. [“Blackest Night: The Flash” is collected in the “Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Volume Two” TPB along with the “JSA” and “Wonder Woman” tie-in minis.]

The other highpoint of this era is the first storyline of Barry’s solo series [The Flash v.3 #1-6 by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul, collected in the “The Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” TPB] which simply sat back and let us enjoy The Flash’s adventures as he takes on a legion of Rogues from the future who have accused Barry of the death of one of their own. It’s a fun, charming story beautifully illustrated by Manapul and you should definitely check it out.

Issues 7-8 are Rogue Profiles.  If you enjoy that sort of thing, definitely check em out (they’re good), but they’re not essential reading.  The final four issues (9-12) of Barry’s ongoing, as well as Flashpoint, aren’t all that great as far as I’m concerned. Flashpoint is oppressively grim and more of a Batman story than anything, and those last four issues are a prologue to Flashpoint that ended up having no bearing on the series at all.

———————–

Because this is specifically about the Flash in all his forms, I’ve neglected to really explain or recommend the Rogues, but hopefully as you read through these various comics you’ll grow an appreciation for them (as most do haha). That said, I do want to recommend the few other Rogues-specific stories I can think of: Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins is a Final Crisis tie-in (obviously) dealing with what happens to the Rogues when they defy Libra’s new world order. It’s a really fun story, and it also ties up a lot of the loose ends from Geoff's first Flash run with Wally. Flashpoint: Citizen Cold by Scott Kolins features the tales of the Rogues in the alternate Flashpoint world, where Cold is attempting to pass himself off as a hero. Both are dark but really enjoyable. Currently, in the NEW 52 continuity, the Rogues are also starring in their own mini, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion by Brian Buccellato and Scott Hepburn, which, as of this writing, just released its fifth issue out of six.It has a very similar premise to Rogues Revenge, dealing with the fall out after the Rogues reject the Crime Syndicate’s proposal, but it’s a much more freewheeling story, basically featuring the Rogues fighting their way through almost every villain in the DC Universe. It’s a lot of fun (although you should skip Forever Evil proper).

Anyway, that’s it for me! On this list you’ll find pretty much every Flash appearance I know and care about, and enclosed within are the reasons why I care so much about the Flash and his world.  I hope you find something on here you enjoy, Michelle, and the same goes for anybody else who read this!  If any of y'all have any questions feel free to drop em in my ask box, and if you have any questions about any of the earlier eras I skipped, try checking out my good pal gorogues, who is not only an expert on the Rogues but on the first reign of Barry Allen as well. She’s the best!

Enjoy, everybody!