Everyone knows the Flash. He's the fastest man alive. But how long has he been running? Let's find out.

The first hero to take up the mantle of the Flash was Jay Garrick, who first appeared in Flash Comics #1 1940 (!).



Jay Garrick, the original Flash.

Later that year, (1940) Flash joined the Justice Society of
America Alongside fellow heroes such as The Spectre and
Dr.Fate in ALL Star Comics #3.




All Star Comics #3

Not very soon later was he dropped from the comic
(Along with fellow hero Green Lantern), as National Comics
(now known as DC Comics) felt they were to popular and thought that lesser-known heroes should be in All-Star Comics. However he was in two solo titles at the time,
(All-Flash Quarterly and Flash Comics) so success could not be stopped! And with odd villains like The Turtle, The Rival , and
The Shade, Readers couldn't wait to tune in! And then the Dark age of Non Superhero Comics came...



The Flash fights the Rival in an issue of All Flash Quarterly.

...and National Comics cancelled all their superhero titles
(Save for Superman and Batman) and changed All-Star Comics
to All Star Western. It appeared The Flash was gone for good.
But then, in 1956, in Showcase #4, an unexpected return
came...


Showcase #4

The Flash had returned, but not the same person. Then a solo title was launched, which lasted until 1985.

However readers were still wondering what happened to
Jay Garrick, so in 1961 all was explained in Flash #23, which was released in September of that year...



Flash #23, September 1961.

This story told of how there were millions of earths, and That Jay was from Earth 2 and Barry was from Earth 1.


After this Jay Garrick and the Justice Society would frequently team up with the Justice League to stop something bad or just hang out.
Today Jay Garrick is still living in the DC universe and no different from how he was almost 70 years ago!
(Minus a few grey hairs.)

Thanks to everyone for taking your time to read this article.

SSPig

SSPig Productions