This look became so popular that it would be used for many future versions of Kid Flash with only a few alterations here and there. Fortunately, a few years later, Wally would adopt a new costume (in yet another contrived way) with the now classic yellow and red Kid Flash costume becoming an instant with a cool combination of colours. Initially, Kid Flash’s costume was simply a smaller version of The Flash’s, a bit too derivative for its own sake. Sidekicks have always been popular in the superhero genre and such decision could make an already popular character even moreso. This was a pretty logical step at the time. This, of course, ultimately granted Wally the same powers (this origin was so illogically funny at the time that later writers would retcon it so Barry replicated the experiment because he wanted Wally to gain superspeed.) Barry decided to make this kid’s dream of meeting his hero come true by appearing in costume in front of him, going so far as to even - in a pretty contrived way - replicating that original lab experiment just to satisfy the kid’s curiosity. The nephew of Iris West, Barry’s classic romantic interest, Wally was a pretty normal kid who admired both Barry Allen and The Flash. One of the most important aspects from the mythos arrived in 1959, when Wally West was created.

Jay would eventually resurface as The Flash of Earth 2 where he interacted with Barry in the classic story ‘Flash of Two Worlds.’ Personality-wise, Barry was pretty similar to Jay: they both were good men who wanted to help others, but what made Barry different from Jay, and pretty unique for that era, is that Barry was actually a comics fan (Jay Garrick’s comics actually inspired him to adopt the identity of The Flash), which made him much more easier to relate considering the audience.

They made him much more sci-fi oriented having him become the fastest man alive due to a lab accident. Legendary creators Carmine Infantino and John Broome decided to reinvent The Flash in 1956. In fact, there’s a lot of charm in the innocence of his nature and how he did good simply for the sake of doing good.īarry Allen would follow his steps during the Silver Age. Jay was a pretty simple character, which was pretty common for most heroes from that era, and he didn’t need much more than that. In 1940, at the dawn of the Golden Age of comics, Jay Garrick was born from the minds of Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert and became the first Flash. However one can’t start an article about him without mentioning everything and everyone who came before. That being said, if you’re a comic fan who started reading from the ’90s or even during the early 2000s The Flash who are you most familiar with is probably Wally West.Īnd Wally West is such a fascinating character to talk about. Not only because most people barely know the names of the actual superheroes but also because there have been several people who have held the mantle of the fastest man alive. The Flash’s true identity is a completely different topic though. In fact, even people who are not familiar with the comics can immediately recognize the name and power set. The Flash is probably one of the most well-known superheroes of all time.

Wally west