Here’s a quick one! This is one of the greatest of the fighters for justice. Read the profile on....

The
Flash I

    Late one night Jay Garrick, a brilliant science student at Midwestern University, relaxes with a cigarette after all the long hours of separating the elements in hard water. Leaning against the laboratory table, Jay accidentally spills the vials he was working on and is overcome by the resulting fumes! The following morning Jay is found unconscious and is taken to the hospital, where for weeks he lies precariously between life and death before making a miraculous recovery! Tests, performed on the young Garrick, indicate that his exposure to the chemicals of hard water enable to speak, run, and think faster than anyone alive! After college, Jay accepts an assistant professor’s position at Coleman University. But after designing a costume inspired by the "mythological" Roman god Mercury (see individual entry), Jay Garrick turns to fighting crime as the Flash, the fastest man alive. Able to achieve light speeds, the Flash can catch a bullet in mid-flight, rattle chains apart by moving at super-speed, and create deep trenches simply by moving back and forth. As the Flash, he maintains a constant "inner" vibration, thus blurring his facial features and protecting his true identity.

    The Flash is a charter member and the first chairman of the prestigious Justice Society of America. He serves long and honorably with the JSA until the group disbands in 1951.During his illustrious career, the Flash goes through many changes. He becomes the protector of Keystone City, aided by his longtime sweetheart Joan Williams, one of the few people who knows his true identity. On one occasion, when the Flash temporarily "retires," Joan takes up the role of the Flash to battle evil in Jay Garrick's absence (See individual entry on MISS Flash). During a second brief retirement, another hero, Muscleman , took his place. Another friend of Jay’s is the colorful and mostly honest gambler Deuces Wilde. And he is helped and hindered by three eccentric friends, Winky, Blinky, and Noddy. And even with his speed Jay needs help with criminals like the Fiddler, the Rag Doll, and the Thinker. While in Keystone City, Jay becomes a police scientist, putting him in easier contact with criminal activities! Later on, Jay resigns from the police and becomes Director of Keystone Research Laboratories. The Flash is one of the most distinguished heroes of his day and had years of adventuring to recall when he "retired" for good in 1951.

Flash Comics #s 1-104
Flash Comics Giveaway November 1948
All-Flash Comics #s 1-32
All Star Comics #s 1-6, 7, 10, and 24-57
Comics Cavalcade #s 1-29
The Big All American Comic Book # 1 (1944)
First Appearance: 01/40
Last Appearance: 03/51