The Fastest Man Alive, Scarlet Speedster, Flash, has been racing to help Central City and Keystone City citizens since his first appearance in issue 1 of the DC Flash Comics in 1940. This anthology reference book takes a look at the 100 greatest moments of Flash so far. Nerds and Beyond was fortunate enough to get a copy of Flash: 100 Greatest Moments: Highlights from the History of the Scarlet Speedster through NetGalley to review.
Four prominent people have portrayed the DC character created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. The first Flash was Jay Garrick followed by Barry Allen. The first Kid Flash, Wally West (Barry Allen’s cousin), later became the third Flash, for the fourth Flash was Bart Allen, who was also the second Kid Flash and had familial ties to both superheroes and supervillains. But there have been others to dawn the Flash name. The various powers the speedster in red possesses include moving, thinking, and reacting at light speed, superhuman endurance, agility, creating and controlling lightning, and more.
Put together by DC Comics writer Robert Greenberger, the anthology reference book is broken down into various chapters of “The Speed Force,” “The Rogues,” “The Flash Museum,” “The Cosmic Treadmill,” “Flash Facts,” and “The Fastest Man Alive” like in the Batman 100 Greatest Moments (check out our review here). Each section is a few paragraphs long with illustrations and comic covers.Â
While I enjoyed each section, my favorites were the “Flash Facts” and “The Flash Museum.” There was information on the family, various races with Superman, the Teen Titans, Justice Leagues, and the Justice Society connections in those chapters. The tale of how each Flash got their powers in different ways is also included. Jay Garrick inhaled heavy water vapors from his science lab when sleeping. Wally West was visiting his uncle, Flash Barry Allen when he got chemicals on himself. Chemicals are the one similar trait to each of them gaining their powers. When Flash does race Superman, it tends to be a tie, for now. Did you know that Barry Allen has an evil brother named Malcolm Thawne? Yup, he eventually became supervillain Cobalt Blue. You can find facts like that and more in Flash: 100 Greatest Moments: Highlights from the History of the Scarlet Speedster anthology reference book, which is an excellent addition to the DC collection.
You can get your copy of Flash: 100 Greatest Moments: Highlights from the History of the Scarlet Speedster and the other 100 Greatest Moments for DC here.