Flash is a DC Comics superhero identity built around characters with super speed, worn by Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and others across the company's history.

Where did Flash come from?

The first Flash, Jay Garrick, was introduced in Flash Comics in 1940 and later helped form the Justice Society of America.

What does Flash mean?

In DC Comics, Flash refers to a super-speed hero, but the word also has unrelated meanings including a Pokemon HM move and slang for briefly exposing part of one's body.

How do you use Flash?

In fandom spaces, the Speed Force tied to Flash is often invoked as a joke explanation for plot holes or continuity errors in DC storylines.

Is Flash still popular?

Flash is a long-running DC property that stayed prominent through the New 52 reboot and multiple animated and live-action adaptations of Barry Allen.

Flash

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Published August 20, 2026

Flash is a DC Comics superhero franchise built around multiple characters who share the power of super speed, starting with Jay Garrick in 19403. Barry Allen took over as the main Flash in 1956 and became a founding member of the Justice League, appearing across decades of comics, animation, and live-action television3.

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Overview

Flash is a DC Comics superhero identity worn by several different characters across the company's publication history, all sharing the same core power of running at extreme speed3. The suit is a red bodysuit with a gold lightning bolt across the chest, though the earliest Flash wore a winged metal helmet inspired by the Roman god Mercury3.

Fans call the in-universe energy source behind speedster abilities the Speed Force1. The term became a running fandom joke, used as a catch-all explanation for continuity holes and unexplained events in the comics, in a similar spirit to Metal Gear Solid's "Nanomachines, Son"1.

The name Flash also carries unrelated meanings outside the superhero context, including a slang term for briefly exposing part of one's body and the Pokemon HM move that lights up dark caves and lowers enemy accuracy in battle2.

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Origin & Background

Platform

DC Comics (print) / TV and film (later mainstream spread)

Creator

DC Comics

Date

1940

The first Flash was Jay Garrick, introduced in Flash Comics in 19403. Garrick later appeared in All Star Comics alongside the original Green Lantern and Hawkman to help form the Justice Society of America, before dropping into guest-star status for decades after his last solo series ended3.

Barry Allen debuted in Showcase #4 in 1956 and took over the main Flash series at issue #1053. Wally West joined a few issues later as Kid Flash, Barry's nephew and sidekick, introduced in The Flash #1103.

How It Spread

Barry Allen's long run ended when he died in the 1985 crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, at which point Wally West stepped up from Kid Flash and took over the mantle3. Wally held the Flash title until 2008, when Barry Allen was revived in Final Crisis and reclaimed the role, then carried it into DC's company-wide New 52 reboot3.

Wally West got his broadest mainstream exposure as one of the seven core characters on the early-2000s Justice League animated series, which introduced a generation of viewers to a non-Barry version of the character3. Barry Allen is the version most later media leans on, including live-action television and film adaptations that draw from his Silver Age origin3.

Beyond the comics, the Speed Force fan joke spread across DC-focused forums as shorthand for hand-waving away plot inconsistencies1. Flash is also known for his rogues gallery, a stable of speed-themed villains who show up often enough that fans treat the group as a shared bit2.

How to Use This Meme

The Speed Force joke is typically deployed in comic discussions as a mock explanation for any storyline gap, power inconsistency, or writer retcon, similar to how other fandoms invoke "a wizard did it"1. Posts often attribute completely unrelated events to the Speed Force as an in-joke about how much the concept gets stretched in canon1.