FLASH II (Barry Allen)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Julius Schwartz

Flash; Art by Scott Kolins

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Barry Allen
Full Name: Bartholomew 'Barry' Henry Allen
Occupation: Police chemist
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Iris West-Allen (wife), Henry and Nora (parents, deceased); Eric Russell (father-in-law); Fran Russell (mother-in-law); Ira West (stepfather-in-law); Wallace West (nephew); Don Allen (son, deceased); Dawn Allen (daughter, deceased); Jenni Ognats (granddaughter); Bart Allen (grandson); Malcolm Thawne (brother).
Base of Operation: Central City. Missouri.
Group Affiliation(s): Justice League of America (founding member)
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 179 lb.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond
First Appearance: Showcase #4 (September-October 1956): "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!"
Creators: Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Julius Schwartz

Everything that's ever mattered to me... everything that's ever been important... ...the lives of everyone on Earth and throughout our universe... ...in the present, and in the future... ... that's what I'm fighting for now! - Barry Allen Quote taken from Crisis on Infinite Earths #8

OVERVIEW

There are few names in the history of superheroes and mystery men that gathers such recognition and prestige as that of the Flash. Of the three men to have born that name to date it is the second, Barry Allen that is perhaps the greatest of them all. Transformed into a being of superspeed by a bolt of lightning echoing back from the future, police scientist Allen created the Flash persona in homage of the golden age Flash, Jay Garrick.

Allen was a corner stone of the superhuman community. A founding member of the Justice League, he helped launch the careers of Wally West (as Kid Flash), Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man) and was instrumental in the first public appearance of Aquaman. He was the paragon of virtue and a real gentleman, even the villains that he faced recognized this and his Rogues Gallery was testament to more innocent times.

From his brief time in the thirtieth century Barry Allen has the progenitor of an entire line of super speedsters including his grandchildren Bart Allen II (Kid Flash) and Jenni Ognats (XS of the Legion of Superheroes). Ultimately Barry gave his life to stop the plans of the Anti-Monitor on the planet Qward and in the process saved the entire universe!

HISTORY

It all began back in 1938 when student Jay Garrick accidentally inhaled fumes from an experimental version of hard water, after a week long coma the young man awoke to find that the fumes had caused a change in his physiology granting the ability of superspeed. Like Max Mercury before him and dozens after him Garrick had tapped into the mysterious Speed Force - an extra dimensional energy field that lies beyond light speed.

With his new found superspeed Jay Garrick created a costumed identity and became the original Flash, a member of the legendary Justice Society and the All Star Squadron during the second World War. Jay retired from public life to an extent when the JSA disbanded during the HUAC witch hunts of the early fifties, but when the lightning called he would still don his costume to run with the wind.

It was 1956 Eisenhower had just been re-elected, Sudan had gained its independence and Jay Garrick was still occasionally popping up as the Flash in his home city of Keystone, right across the river from its sister city - Central City. A master plan by three criminals the Shade, the Fiddler and the Thinker trapped all of Keystone City in a vibratory field that displaced it from the normal space-time continuum, removing it from both the memories and sight of normal people. The original Flash drifted from the minds of people over the decades but one person remembered, Barry Allen remembered!

Police scientist Barry Allen was known to both friends and family as the slowest person on the face of the planet, no matter the appointment or event. For work or on dates with his long time girlfriend Iris West he was late. Normally people would have held a grudge, but that was never really possible against Barry, he was one of the most brave and noble persons that it was possible to meet. Barry was always one step behind the rest of the world, that altered one night while working late at his laboratory when a bolt of lightning from the future struck the window.

In an instant he heard a voice ask offered to grant him great power for the force of good but it would mean that he would never life out the full term of his lifespan. He agreed!

The lightning earthed itself via the quickest possible route - via an exploding chemical cabinet and the nearby Barry Allen. The random concoction of electricity and chemicals dousing him left little obvious effect until he was forced to run for a date with Iris. He started accelerating, and kept getting faster and faster, easily out pacing the taxi that he had been running after. Barry realized that he had gained the ability of superspeed just like his idol Jay Garrick. But Garrick was just a memory from the old comics, Barry decided in homage to become a new Flash, the second to bear the name.

Barry was foremost a scientist and with his analytical mind he was able to create a special resilient fabric that when exposed to nitrogen in the air expanded to normal size. He used this to tailor a costume that was small enough to fit inside a special signet ring - yet would expand to full size when needed. He had the identity, he had the costume all that was needed was the threats. This was easily supplied by a pantheon of costumed criminals that exceeded that of even the Batman's. Villains such as Gorilla Grodd, the original Mirror Master and the Weather Wizard. Many of them wielded fantastic superpowers or technology but without the grand scope or dreams of others in those more innocent days.

The popular nature and respectability of Barry made the Flash a household name across the country. Central City proudly claimed on its signs that it was "The home of the Flash". Fan clubs sprung up across the country and even a tourist attraction - the Flash Museum - was set up to chronicle the adventures of the Flash. One of the many fan clubs existed in Blue Valley, Nebraska with is president Wally West, nephew of Iris, Barry's fiancee. When Barry met Wally he saw in him the same idolization that he had for the original Flash and so "arranged" for Wally to meet the second Flash.

When the fateful day came Wally met the Flash at Barry's laboratory and the two talked about the origin of the Flash. Wally asked if the same thing would ever happen to him and was promptly answered when lightning struck twice transformed Wally into the Kid Flash. Originally wearing a fitted version of Barry's costume Wally became the companion of Barry and a founding member of the Teen Titans. Barry was not idol himself and was principal in the first appearance of Aquaman before joining the Justice League. Shortly after joining the League Barry encountered the world's famous Elongated Man - Ralph Dibny and the two became fast friends.

Barry's fame continued to rise and one night he found himself standing in for the entertainment at a charity event and started to show the children one particularly impressive stunt that involved vibrating his body at a certain frequency. It was in this vibration state that Barry found himself able to hear strains of strange music. Tracking down the music Barry arrived at the river front and tried the vibration trick once more. To his astonishment he found that he was now "in-tune" with the sleeping city of Keystone. Quickly deducing that it was the home of his "fictional" inspiration Barry tracked down Jay and helped him throw off the vibratory sleep. Together for the first time the Flashes of the two cities defeated the gang of super villains and managed to destroy the equipment that was holding Keystone out of step with the rest of the world. The illusion was lifted and inhabitants of the two cities were reunited.

For the next four years Barry Allen along with Wally West and occasionally Jay or Ralph defended Central City against the growing Rogues Gallery of costumed criminals including Captain Boomerang. It was during this time that Barry first encountered Eobard Thawne alias Professor Zoom - the Reverse Flash.

Thawne was a time traveler from five hundred years in the future - he was that centuries greatest fan of the Flash and even went to the extent of having himself surgically altered to look like Barry Allen. He somehow managed to recreated the electrochemical accident that gave Barry his powers to gain superspeed for himself drastically shortening his life span. All set he decided to travel back in time to after the death of the Flash in order to take Barry Allen's place but he had not bargained on finding more accurate records in the current day. He came across the startling revelation that he had actually died at the hands of Barry several years before he had arrived. Sending him over the edge mentally he was sent back to the 25th century by West using the Cosmic Treadmill. Time and time again Thawne would return in time to try and seek vengeance against the man that was going to kill him.

Thawne returned just before Barry was to marry Iris and imprisoned him in order to impersonate Barry so that he might marry Iris himself. However Barry managed to break free of the trap, defeat Thawne and marry Iris without her even realizing that he was the Flash. She only learned that he was the Flash when he revealed it to her in his sleep accidentally during their wedding night. The following year Iris discovered that she was actually from the 30th century sent back in time as an infant in order to spare her from almost certain nuclear war.

Zoom tried again to get Iris to leave Barry and when she refused he murdered her. After an extensive investigation Zoom's involvement in her murder was revealed with him and Barry battling in a superspeed duel. Barry managed to defeat Zoom by trapping him outside the timestream. In the aftermath Barry fell in love with another woman - Fiona Webb - and on their wedding day Zoom returned. In order to save Fiona's life Barry was forced to kill Zoom. The Flash stood trial for murder, Barry Allen disappeared from public life (Fiona went insane) and even his JLA membership was examined but eventually upheld by the voting members.

As the trial continued the villain Abra Kadabra hijacked the trial forcing it to declare a guilty verdict against Barry. However with the help of the Rogues Gallery (who had also been threatened by Kadabra) Barry managed to stop the villain. During the course it was revealed that Iris was actually alive and well in the 30th century and that her spirit had been put into the body of a recently deceased woman using 30th century technology. Barry opted to stay in the 30th century with Iris while evidence that would clear him was sent back to the twentieth century.

Barry lived with Iris in the 30th century for a brief month until the coming of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Flash was captured by the agents on the Anti-Monitor and subjected to psychological torture by the Psycho Pirate. He was transferred to the world of Qward and held in a gelatin-like prison that negated his superspeed. By varying his vibrations he was able to disrupt the containment and easily defeated the Psycho Pirate into submission and forced him to manipulated the Qwardians into attacking the Anti-Monitor.

With the distraction the Flash attacked the Anti-Matter cannon that the Anti-Monitor had constructed so destroy the Earth. Barry started to circle the rotating core of the machine in the opposite direction draining the energy in its power core. Enraged the Anti-Monitor started to open a temporal portal as the speed of the Flash started to manifest the Speed Force's temporal effect. Barry found himself running backwards through time in the process transforming him into a bolt of pure energy that intersected with a certain cabinet of chemicals a decade before. He was the lightning bolt that triggered his entire career as the Flash.

Barry Allen was survived by his wife Iris and twins Don and Dawn.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Flash possessed the power to move at superhuman speed, and could attain the velocity of light. His superhuman endurance enabled him to run great distances without tiring. It was once said that the Flash and the Kid Flash could run seven times around the world in a minute.

The Flash possessed an aura that protected him from friction heat and the adverse effects of travel at superspeeds. He also had absolute mental control over his molecules and often used this ability to alter their vibrations allowing him to pass through objects and to travel in other dimensions. The Flash was the inventor of the Cosmic Treadmill that allowed a superspeedster to travel to time periods by altering their internal vibrations.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Flash in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #8 (October 1985)

Flash Annual Vol. 2 #3 ([June] 1989)
Flash Secret Files #1 (November 1997)
JLA-Z #1 (November 2003)