[1] Nicknamed "the Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "superspeed", which includes the ability to run, move, and think extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.

Like his Justice League colleagues Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the Flash has a distinctive cast of adversaries, including Gorilla Grodd, the various Rogues (unique among DC supervillains for their code of honor), and the various psychotic "speedsters" who go by the names Reverse-Flash or Zoom.

Other supporting characters in Flash stories include Barry's wife, Iris West; Wally's wife, Linda Park; Bart's girlfriend, Valerie Perez; friendly fellow speedster, Max Mercury; and Central City police department members, David Singh and Patty Spivot.

Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, this Flash was Jay Garrick, a college student who gained his speed through the inhalation of hard water vapors.

This new Flash was Barry Allen, a police scientist who gained super-speed when bathed by chemicals after a shelf of them was struck by lightning.

Barry Allen and the new Flash were created by writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome and cartoonist Carmine Infantino.

The initial story arc of this series, written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo with art by Ken Lashley, focused on Bart Allen's acceptance of the role of the Flash.

[3][4] In 2009, Barry Allen made a full-fledged return to the DCU-proper in The Flash: Rebirth, a six-issue miniseries by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.

Jay Garrick was a college student in 1938 who accidentally inhaled heavy water vapors after taking a smoke break inside his laboratory where he had been working.

After a brief career as a college football star, he donned a red shirt with a lightning bolt and a stylized metal helmet with wings (based on images of the Greek deity Hermes), and began to fight crime as the Flash.

One night, as he was preparing to leave work, a freak lightning bolt struck a nearby shelf in his lab and doused him with a cocktail of unnamed chemicals.

He donned a set of red tights sporting a lightning bolt (reminiscent of the original Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel), dubbed himself the Flash (after his childhood hero, Jay Garrick), and became a crimefighter active in Central City.

Barry sacrificed his life for the universe in the 1985 maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths and remained dead for over twenty years after that story's publication.

Bart suffered from accelerated aging and, as a result, was raised in a virtual reality machine until Iris took him back in time to get help from the then-current Flash, Wally West.

She has gone on to become a member of The Justice League of China (a team she joined to retain her Flash moniker and her Chinese-American heritage), the multi-verse team the Justice Incarnate, and the Flash Family, becoming the love interest of Ace West, the duo serving as the main characters of the ongoing series Speed Force.

Judy and the rest of the Lost Children were freed by Stargirl and Red Arrow, re-entering the timestream in the present day and reuniting with her father.

[14] After an alien creature invades Earth, a history buff named Kriyad travels back in time from the 98th century to acquire a Green Lantern power ring (The Flash #309, May 1982).

Some, notably later versions, can vibrate so fast that they can pass through walls in a process called quantum tunneling,[15] travel through time and can also lend and borrow speed.

[16] Writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Ross Andru produced "The Race to the End of the Universe", a follow-up story four months later in The Flash #175 (December 1967).

In Flash: The Human Race,[18] Wally is shown absorbing kinetic energy, to an extent enabling him to move faster than teleportation and run from the end of the universe back to earth in less than a Planck instant.

Their ability to think fast also allows them some immunity to telepathy, as their thoughts operate at a rate too rapid for telepaths such as Martian Manhunter or Gorilla Grodd to read or influence their minds.

[21] A variant of the Flash—a superfast college student named Mary Maxwell—was seen in the Elseworld book Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating The Flash.

The Flash of Earth-D, Rei was a Japanese man who idolized Barry Allen, whose stories only existed in comic books on this world.

Allen and Rei meet during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" when Barry is coming back from the 30th century and arrives in the wrong universe.

Earth-C-Minus was the home of the Crash, a turtle with super-speed powers similar to those of Barry Allen's, and a member of his world's superhero team, the Just'a Lotta Animals.

[27] An African-American teenager of Earth 12 named Danica Williams appears as the Flash in the Justice League Beyond series, acting as Wally West's successor during the 2040s (following the events of Batman Beyond).

The Flash has been included in multiple animated features, such as Super Friends and Justice League, as well as his own live action television series and some guest star appearances on Smallville (as the Bart Allen/Impulse version).

The false name Barry Allen is used by character of con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr.(posing as a Secret Service Agent), in the movie Catch Me If You Can.

[37] Renan Kanbay wears a Flash costume while playing Carrie, the manager of a comic book store, in Joe Lipari's Dream Job (2011).

The Rogues are known for their communal style relationship, socializing together and operating under a strict moral code, sometimes brutally enforced by Captain Cold.