The Flash

Author: Susan Griffith And Clay Griffit

There has always been a Flash. Well, at least since 1940. The first Flash, Jay Garrick, has stuck around, but in 1956, it was the appearance of The Flash in Showcase that launched the Silver Age, and brought the mantel of the Flash to a new name – Barry Allen. The original Flash Comics was cancelled in 1949, but was re-launched with Barry as the Scarlet Speedster starting at issue 105, just where the original had left off almost a decade prior. This re-invention was the first major retroactive continuity, or retcon, in comic book history. He would be given his own title, and would become a key part of the DC universe, not only on his own, but as a part of the Justice League of America. While he's obviously fourth or fifth fiddle in JLA, after Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, it's in his own title where history has been made many times. The 'multiverse' concept came to comics in the early 1960s in a Flash storyline "Flash of Two Worlds, " which forever changed the way comic timelines worked. Flash was key to nearly every cross-over event, and hugely important in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Why it's on the list: One of the most key DC titles, and introduced the 'Something Happened While In A Lab' that defined comics in the 50s and 60s.