Flash (comics)

The Flash is a DC Comics superhero possessing "super-speed", nicknamed the Scarlet Speedster. Created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940).

Powers and abilities

All incarnations of the Flash can run and move their limbs at superhuman speeds, and possess superhuman reflexes. All possess an aura that prevents air friction from affecting their bodies and clothes while moving.

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Barry Allen possessed several other abilities that Jay Garrick and Wally West have not always been able to duplicate. He could vibrate his molecules through solid matter, could run on thick snow clouds and could travel through time and to other dimensions with the help of a "cosmic treadmill". Most unusual was Allen's complete control of his molecules, allowing him to vibrate through solid matter and, on one occasion when transformed into a mirror, "melt" himself and reform as a human to defeat the Mirror Master.

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Wally West has been shown to have a connection to the Speed Force, an extradimensional energy source, which provides his powers and gives him several other abilities. While all speedsters are powered by the force, West mainlines the power from the force itself and cannot be cut off from the source, unlike the others. Wally is believed to be the fastest of all known Flashes, and has on several occasions sped faster than light and entered and exited the speed force by his own volition. He can create his costume out of pure speed energy, and can either impart his high velocities to other people and objects already in motion or steal the velocity they possess. Jay Garrick also possesses this ability to some degree; he stole speed from Black Adam in order to defeat Johnny Sorrow, and he has threatened to steal Bart's speed on at least one occasion when he was misbehaving. West can vibrate through objects; in the past, West would cause whatever he vibrated through to explode, but has recently shown this to be a controlled ability as he can pass through objects without any ensuing explosion. Although not nearly as precise as Allen when he used his cosmic treadmill, West has shown to be able to traverse time and dimensions with his own powers, much like Allen in Showcase #4 in 1956.

Related Topics:
Black Adam - Johnny Sorrow

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Occasionally, the top speeds of the Flashes are lightspeed, although Wally has been shown to have sped faster than light (as shown above). In several instances, the Flash has been able to beat Superman himself in a race.

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