Through crossovers with popular characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, Barry Allen's Flash also helped establish DC's flagship Justice League title, whose success would define its publishing strategy for decades to come.

He has since played a pivotal role in the crossover stories like Blackest Night (2009), Flashpoint (2011), Convergence (2015), DC Rebirth (2016), Doomsday Clock (2017–2019), Infinite Frontier (2021), and Absolute Power (2024).

Barry Allen is an established pop culture icon and has been featured in several media, first appearing in animated form in the 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure and then in the related Super Friends program.

During an era marked by rapid scientific advancements and Cold War anxieties, the stories in "Showcase #4" reflect contemporary themes of technological triumph and societal stability.

introduces Barry Allen, a police scientist who gains super-speed powers, symbolizing the era's optimism about scientific progress and the need for heroes who embody justice.

parallels the groundbreaking achievement of breaking the sound barrier, exploring the potential of time travel influenced by Einstein's theories, and highlighting the fascination with overcoming natural limits through science.

"[6] As presented in Justice League of America #9, when the Earth is infiltrated by alien warriors sent to conquer the planet, some of the world's greatest heroes join forces, Allen among them.

When he is told by a juror Nathan Newbury, who is being possessed by a mind from the future, that Reverse-Flash (whom Allen knows to be dead) brainwashed the jury into this verdict, Flash flees his trial.

The Flash is then attacked by Reverse-Flash, and realizes that the answers to this mystery, and restoring his good name, lie in the future, so Newbury uses a time device to send them forward.

[1] In the controversial storyline Identity Crisis (sets within the post-Zero Hour continuity), it is revealed that six months after Iris' death, Barry and four other members of the Justice League voted to allow Zatanna to edit Doctor Light's mind, essentially lobotomizing him.

[8] Marv Wolfman, scribe for the Crisis on Infinite Earths, has repeatedly stated he left a loophole in the script allowing Barry Allen to be reintroduced, without a retcon, into DC Universe continuity.

Beating several other speedsters (Quicksilver, Quasar, The Whizzer, Captain Marvel, Speed Demon, Black Racer, Super Sabre, and Makkari), he is declared to be the "fastest man alive", a title he believes feels "right", though he never recovers his memory during his time in the universe.

One, Jenni Ognats, grows up to become the Legionnaire XS, while the other, Bart Allen, is born with an accelerated metabolism that rapidly ages him, and is sent back to the 20th century where he is cured by Wally West.

When the two teams see their real futures, Barry witnesses his death during Crisis on Infinite Earths as the Grandmaster shows the heroes how reality should be but nevertheless resolves to help restore the timeline as it is not his place to play God.

He talks with Hal Jordan over the similarity of their situation, stating that dying could not be so bad so long as they have left a legacy for others (Wally West and Kyle Rayner, in their cases) to fight for what they believe.

On the final page, Barry Allen is seen in hot pursuit of the bullet which kills Orion, outrunning the Black Racer and shouting to Jay and Wally to "Run!

[16] Despite the fact that this new version of the Female Furies is equipped with the ability to track down speedsters, perceived by Libra and Darkseid as the only obstacle left between them and world domination, Barry's expertise allows him to overcome their foes and run through the ruined Earth.

[20] When he realizes that his presence could damage or kill other innocents, Barry flees back into the Speed Force, where he encounters old friends Johnny Quick and Max Mercury.

Allen appears alongside Jordan in the Free Comic Book Day issue Blackest Night #0 which acts as a prologue to the July company crossover.

[26][27] After fighting off the undead Martian and the subsequent Black Lanterns with Hal and the arriving Atom, Mera, Firestorm, and two of the Indigo Tribe members, Barry, along with Wally and Bart, races across the globe to warn every superhero community across the planet.

When he arrives, a group of people in costumes similar to the Rogues, called The Renegades appear and tell Barry that they are from the 25th century, and that he is under arrest for murdering the "Mirror Monarch".

In a Green Lantern storyline, Barry becomes the latest host for the embodiment of fear, Parallax, after he joins Hal Jordan's quest of locating all of the entities who each represent aspects of the power of the emotional spectrum.

As the story begins, Barry Allen wakes up in his office and discovers that his mother is alive, there is no trace of Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman leading their respective nations in a war, his wife Iris West is unmarried, and himself currently powerless.

The heroes arrive at New Themyscira to stop the Atlantean/Amazon war, and appear to be winning until Enchantress reveals herself as the Amazon spy and uses her magic to separate the Marvel Family and restore them to their mortal forms.

The fallout of the recent Darkseid War allowed Wally to try and reach out to his former friends in the hopes of either returning or warning them of the truth, but each attempt caused him to fall further into the Speed Force.

He has outrun numerous incredibly fast characters including Reverse Flash, Superman, Supergirl, and the Black Racer, the "Grim Reaper" of speedsters.

In terms of DC's internal lexicon, Barry is classified as a meta-human: A human being who possesses extranormal abilities either through birth or as the result of some external event.

These criminals typically have unusually modest goals for their power level (robbery or other petty crimes), and each have adopted a specific theme in their equipment and methods.

Following his introduction in Arrow, Allen makes subsequent appearances in The Flash (2014),[84][85] theSupergirl episode "Worlds Finest",[86][87] and the animated web series Vixen.

This version is initially a college student who works multiple jobs to fund his search for evidence to clear his father's name after the latter was framed for killing his wife.