The fastest superhero to ever grace the pages of comics wears one of the most recognizable costumes, but as the role of the Flash has changed hands from Barry Allen to Wally West, the costumes over the years have incorporated some subtle changes. Of course, no one would be talking about DC Comics’ Flash at all without the original inspiration behind the modern day Flash if Golden Age Jay Garrick had not inspired the superhero’s more popular incarnations.

Iconic Flash Costumes

Golden Age (Jay Garrick)

• Red t-shirt with jagged yellow lightning bolt from top to bottom
• Blue pants
• Red boots with yellow wings
• Silver helmet with yellow wings

Jay Garrick’s Flash costume consists of little more than a set of blue pants, t-shirt, helmet and boots. It comes across as a bit dated by today’s standards (who wears a tucked in long sleeve t-shirt these days?), but it sets the groundwork for the future Flash costumes. The significance of this Flash incarnation is the beginning of the iconic yellow lightning bolt that we see on his shirt, which every other Flash has worn proudly on each of his costumes. The red and yellow color scheme also begins here. The winged helmet and winged boots were a befitting nod to the mythological messenger god, Mercury, who also wore winged footwear, which future embodiments of the Flash have kept.

Silver Age (Barry Allen)

• Red full body jumpsuit
• Redesigned lightning bolt in front of white background
• Yellow athletic boots with matching wings
• Lightning bolt around the waist and forearms
• Red cowl with exposed face and yellow wing accents
• Addition of gloves

Barry Allen begins the transition into the more iconic image of Flash that most comic fans associate with the DC speedster. Barry keeps the red and gold color scheme, but loses the blue pants and t-shirt for a jumpsuit that evokes a more heroic appearance. The lightning bolt theme makes a more prominent appearance on the chest, accented by a white circle to make even more of a focal point, while lightning bolts around the waist and forearms adds another charismatic touch. Barry wears a sleeker, more aero-dynamic cowl, carrying over the wing accents seen in the Golden Age Flash’s helmet. Barry’s boots are now yellow, with a much more fitted appearance and signature wings on the calves.

Crisis Era (Wally West)

• Darker red full body jumpsuit
• Same redesigned bolt on the chest
• Reshaped bolt around the waist
• Yellow boots without wings

Wally West may have started out as the sidekick, but after being thrust into the role of the leading speedster superhero, he brought some new changes to the Flash costume for the Modern Age. Wally’s Flash keeps the lightning bolt encased in a white circle on the chest, but he opts for a deeper red, which creates a sleek modern look. The lightning bolt around the waist changes into a dual lightning bolt, giving some more movement to the suit, while the lightning bolts around the forearms remain unchanged. Wally also gets rid of the wings on the boots. Wally’s changes may have been subtle, but the minor changes really do influence the mood and attitude of the character.

Here’s a side by side comparison of Wally and Barry’s costumes.

Other Flashes

Although the costumes above may represent the better known looks of the Flash, the speedsters have also assumed some other interesting costumes through the years and various sagas. From bright blue to black, Lantern stories to cartoons, the Flash has found himself in a whole myriad of different looks!

New 52 (Barry Allen)

All right, so the first Flash on this list may not be as wild or different as the classic Flash costumes, but with the new comics comes a redesigned suit. The New 52, released in fall 2011 is back to Barry, who wears a slightly modified version of the Wally West suit. The new Flash costume features most of the same features of the Modern Age costume, but now the lightning bolts around the forearms have a more pointed shape moving towards the wrist and the boots received a slight redesign, giving them an almost metallic armor appearance. A toned down, gold metallic accent color also replaces the bright yellows that once made up the lightning bolts and boots.

Blue Lantern Flash (Barry Allen)

Red may be the signature color of the Flash, but Barry Allen made an appearance in blue during the Blackest Night even. His Blue Lantern costume brings forth the style of the Blue Lantern Corps with a dual shading of light blue and dark blue, and a runic Blue Lantern symbol on his chest where the Flash lightning bolt would normally rest. He retains the Flash-style cowl wings, but now in white.

Young Justice: Kid Flash (Wally West)

Some people tend to forget Wally’s time as Kid Flash, but it was the genesis of his story to becoming the Flash. Cartoon Network brings Wally back to his role as Kid Flash in their Young Justice cartoon series. Wally wears the classic Kid Flash costume. As always, he wears a lightning bolt on his chest, but now in red with a white background. Notice that the lightning bolt has only one ripple, rather than two normally seen in the comics. Rather than a full cowl, his headpiece leaves the top open to expose his hair, while a set of goggles adds a new functional look. The Flash wings make an appearance on his headpiece, but in red. Red pants and gloves accent his yellow top and boots, while the boots have been redesigned to look a bit more athletic.

An interesting twist to his look from Young Justice is a “stealth mode” now incorporated into the series. The stealth mode version replaces his yellow and red with varying shades of black.

Whether it’s on the pages of DC comics, or on the TV screen, the Flash always has a unique look. The Flash is one of the few heroes who never made big changes to his costume, for one simple reason: he didn’t need to. The Flash costume has always done an excellent job of telling his fans what he’s all about, with perfectly matched color schemes, symbols that represent the Flash character and a look that no other superhero could replicate. But what do you think—which Flash did it the best?

This Flash costume retrospective was put together by Ryan Heuer. Ryan writes for an online Halloween costumes company that sells a wide variety of superhero costumes for men and women.

Update: Since the related-posts system doesn’t seem to be picking it up automatically, you may be interested in Speed Force’s previous article on Wally West’s costumes.

Flash Costumes: Speedster Style is a post from Speed Force.

DC Comics’ EiC Bob Harras dropped a few hints yesterday about what’s in store for the DC Universe in 2012. Those wondering just what’s going on with Kid Flash — is he still from the future? — still related to Barry? — will be glad to hear that answers are on their way:

And what exactly is Kid Flash’s story? TEEN TITANS will explore that mystery early next year.

Kid Flash’s Story to Unfold in 2012 is a post from Speed Force.

For those of you still playing DC Universe Online for the PS3 and PC (or that jumped back on board for the Free to Play Content), the second expansion pack, “Lightning Strikes” is forthcoming and will be focusing on some of our favorite speedsters and adding some new gameplay elements as well.

Newsrama posted an interview with the Sony Online Entertainment Creative Director, Jens Andersen and Executive Director of Development, Lorin Jameson that confirmed quite a few things:

• Electricity will be joining Fire, Gadgets, Ice, Mental, Sorcery, Nature and Light Manipulation as the standard powers available. It will be more of a support power than a straight up attack power.
• The Flash will be Barry Allen and Kid Flash will be Bart Allen. There is no Wally West content in the game at this time.
• Central City will be added as a new area to explore and although it will be not as expansive as Metropolis and Gotham City, it will feature the Flash Museum!
• Players will be able to access the Cosmic Treadmill(!) in order to go back in time through the Speed Force and play a part in Barry Allen’s origin.
• Weather Wizard(!), Professor Zoom, and Barry Allen are just some of the Flash-related bounties that will be appearing inside of the new Central City map. (Bounties are instances where your character can tackle iconic characters in an effort to bring villains in to answer for their crimes or take heroes out for getting in your way). In the rest of the open world The Trickster (apparently sporting a revamped design), Pied Piper, Abra Kadabra, and the Top (yay for Lia) will be around to menace heroes.
• And as a final piece of Flash-related content players will be able to acquire Flash’s costume ring as an in-game “trinket” item. Apparently it will grant the user special Speed Force-related powers.

“Lightning Strikes” DC Universe Online! is a post from Speed Force.

For those who are still wondering, Teen Titans artist Brett Booth stepped in last week to clarify:

Kid Flash in Teen Titans s BART ALLEN. It’s not his middle name or an alias.

October 26, 2011 10:12 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Demonpuppy

Brett Booth

While DC hasn’t been very clear in the Teen Titans solicitations, Kid Flash has been identified as Bart Allen in articles and interviews as far back as June. Last week’s Teen Titans #2 explicitly referred to him as Bart Allen, so this should end speculation (most recently seen here) that the series features Wally West in line with the Young Justice cartoon.

Of course, there are still plenty of questions about Bart’s origins. Is he still related to Barry Allen? If so, how? Is he still from the future? How did he get his powers? (Come to think of it, Smallville never did reveal an origin for Bart beyond being in some sort of accident with a flash of light.)

If Bart is still from the future, and if he is still Barry and Iris’ grandson, the fact that they aren’t married in the present is no more a contradiction than the fact that Booster Gold’s grandparents haven’t even been born yet in the present day. In that case, he comes from a future in which they do. Even so, it doesn’t have to lock down the Barry/Iris question. As Yoda once said, “always in motion is future.”

New 52: Kid Flash Clarification is a post from Speed Force.

Over the NYCC weekend, DC unveiled the Teen Titans #5 cover. Artist Brett Booth points out that it’s not Kid Flash’s final costume.

@SpeedsterSite Haha! Barts second ‘costume’ relieved at last;) One more to go!

October 16, 2011 12:22 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Demonpuppy

Brett Booth

In addition to Bart Allen, Brett Booth has also been drawing Wally West a lot lately (for fun, not for any official comics), and spoke with Speed Force last week. Update: And now he’s posted a Max Mercury sketch.

Kid Flash vs. Superboy on the Teen Titans #5 Cover is a post from Speed Force.

Booth has also received attention recently for his unofficial portrayals of Wally West, the third and now erstwhile Flash, as posted on his blog.  Starting with a post on August 24th, Booth has given his fans a couple of different looks at his redesign of West as Flash, including finished versions with colors by Andrew Dalhouse.

We caught up with Booth via email and talked about what makes a Flash costume, his take on Wally West and his favorite Flash stories.

Q: In your first post featuring a Wally West Flash re-design, you said that if you could choose one book to draw it would be a Wally West Flash comic.  What about the character appeals to you personally, and what are your favorite Wally West stories?

BRETT BOOTH:  Wally’s run on the Flash was the first DC book I read. It was issue 3, I later bought the first 2, but that was my first DC book. I had my parents get me a 3 year subscription after that. The Flash was always my favorite when I was young, but the character of Wally, taking on his mentors role was what sold it to me.

I love the Speed Force stories, learning how that works and how it can be used is just super interesting to me. Anytime Wally did something he didn’t think he could, be it outrunning a giant robot creature in #3 to that beginning of the Porcupine Man story to fighting Savitar. Wally overcoming impossible odds is what I like about him:)

Q:  As you’ve tweaked the design over the course of a few posts, have you taken any inspiration from previous Flash portrayals or designs?  In your eyes, what “makes” a Flash uniform?

BB:  A Flash uniform needs lightning bolts and ear ‘wings’ of some kind. Most of mine are pretty much the same design, just with the bolt being messed with. Large like Jays, yet similar to his original Kid Flash design (not the mini Flash suit.) Plus you need something for the speed force energy to come off of.

Q:  Your unofficial Wally West designs have generated discussion amongst Flash and DC fans on the web.  He was also ranked as the #6 most popular DC Comics character in a recent poll over at Comic Book Resources.  If you were given the task of writing Wally West back into the New DC Universe, what would be your approach?

BB:  It would depend on what parameters DC had. This Earth, Earth 2. I doubt the family would be kept in tact, (sorry Brian!) I would like to come up with a new origin, having the exact same one as Barry’s just seems to push things a bit too far into convenient for me. I might go so far as to make him related to one of the other older Speedsters, or still go with Barry but do something about the Speedforce selecting it’s ‘users’. Right now I’d like to have several ideas that are flexible enough to be plugged into whatever direction DC has planned. Since Max was the oldest, and has a connection to the Speedforce from way back, I’d try that route first.

Q:  We interviewed longtime Flash artist Greg LaRocque recently, and he of course redesigned Wally West’s duds for the classic Flash #50.  He mentioned that he had developed a Chunk series with Scott Lobdell that never materialized.  Now that you are working with Mr. Lobdell, and given your appreciation of that era of Flash, what are the chances of seeing a teenaged Chunk in the new Titans?

BB:  That’s my favorite Wally costume! Scott hasn’t mentioned Chunk, but I would bring him back, along with Speed Demon if I could. I would like to delve into the mechanics of the speed force how does it work, were does it come from what all can it do? Scott does like the odd ball characters so you never know. I’m still trying to get him to tell me who Bart’s been living with! He’s very closed lipped sometimes, drives me mad!:)

Q:  What is your favorite speed trick of all time?

BB:  Speed focused is power;) I love to draw the many, many punches. I don’t think the speedsters are ever actually portrayed correctly. If they can move that fast, the bad guys just couldn’t ever even get started. The bad guy would blink and then be captured, not good for stories but it would be bad ass to do a few times for the lesser baddies. I do like that Wally can ‘borrow’ speed from others as well;)I hope some of that makes sense, I tend to ramble and jump from one subject to another and back, If Bart has half this problem writing things down must be hell for him!

Make sure to check out Booth’s blog for more inside looks at his Teen Titans, and Wally West!

Interview: Teen Titans Artist Brett Booth on Wally West is a post from Speed Force.

In order to catch up to his grandfather, Bart Allen will have to race against the speed force itself. As he is bounced around through time collecting multi-dimensional speed force energy from various members of the Flash family, Bart needs to gain all of the necessary tools to reach Barry in time to deliver a message that could save the universe. But will he be able to reach the world’s last hope for restoration before the speed force catches up to him?

In FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST #3, Bart Allen finally realizes the personal sacrifice he must make in order to save his family and the people he loves. By Sterling Gates, Oliver Nome, Scott Kolins and Trevor Scott, the final issue in this miniseries races into stores on Wednesday.

Gates has said that this series, and issue #3 in particular, is his “love letter to the Flash family.” After seeing the pages, I’m…a little concerned about his definition of “love letter.”

Update: The writer replies on Twitter:

@SpeedForceOrg It’s the Flashpoint universe. Wait and see what happens.

August 19, 2011 6:06 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@sterlinggates

Sterling Gates

Indeed…you should never rely too much on a preview.

Preview up for Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #3 is a post from Speed Force.

For those not in the know Young Justice is DC Comic’s latest animated series to hit Cartoon Network. The Kid Flash featured on this show has been stated and explicitly named as Wally West. This is obviously Wally before he graduates on to (possibly) becoming the Fastest Man Alive. The 4.25″ action figure of Kid Flash has been hitting stores all over the country and I finally got my hands on one via Amazon.com. First some mint on card pics:

Kid Flash is similar in scale and style of the soon to be defunct Justice League Unlimited toy line and this line has been touted as its successor. The card is vibrant and full of eye popping color. I can definitely see this toy attracting young eyes at retail. For those wondering why the packaging is so large when the figure is so small, they also included two pieces of a Collect and Connect Hall of Justice which I will never be completing. I’m too much of a cherry picker and to complete the diorama takes a couple of complete waves. No thanks.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get the best pictures of the back but going forward we will be getting a stealth version of Kid Flash. In the cartoon, the Justice League has developed too high of a profile and are far too recognizable for more delicate covert operations so Young Justice is used as a covert team. They possess black stealth suits that remind me a little of the Justice League Elite covert operations gear.

It seems as if they are staying away from gimmick figures (the kind of figures you would get back in the day with special armor not actually used on the show) for the first few waves at least and only including character appropriate accessories. In this case Kid Flash comes with a bag of “Fast Food”. The details on the figure are pretty solid but I have to comment on the fact that this does not look like Wally at all. The crew cut, brown hair, blue eyes; nothing about this figure says “Wally” except for the fact that he is called that in the show and on the back of the card. Maybe gingers didn’t test well in the market research? I really see no other reason for this other than one that was used way back in the Silver Age when Wally got his second costume; In order to disguise his obvious exposed hair Wally utilized brown temporary hair dye that would inexplicably come from his ring along with his costume. Maybe in this bold new future this is a more advanced suit that simply makes it appear as if the hair is brown and his eyes are blue? Who knows?

The back view of Wally West

As you can see Wally fits right in alongside Justice League Unlimited Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. Except for the different hand positions I don’t see a crazy big difference in the sculpts except for the hands and even then it still works. Not seamless but still I’ve got my Flash family.

Just Barry and Wally

All the different Wally as Kid Flash action figures together. DC Direct Silver Age First Appearance Kid Flash, Teen Titans Box Set Kid Flash, Heroclix Kid Flash, DC Direct Kid Flash, Young Justice Kid Flash, Pocket Heroes Kid Flash, DC Universe Classics Kid Flash, and McDonald’s Happy Meal toy Kid Flash.

Looks like we might have to get used to getting our Wally fix from Young Justice. I’m happy it is coming from somewhere but it is sad to see what we all feared might happen finally come to fruition. I don’t think we will be seeing Wally as the Flash as a figure for a long time.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

Young Justice Series 1 Kid Flash Pictures *Image Intensive* is a post from Speed Force.

Nrama: We’ve got Kid Flash, who has been confirmed as Bart Allen. Based on the very little that’s been revealed thus far, it sounds like the character might be returning a bit more to his Impulse days — or is that way off base?

Lobdell: Maybe we are both off base! [Laughs.] I love the idea that Bart is the only Flash (Kid or otherwise) to maintain the ability to remember everything he’s ever read — and I also love the notion that knowledge and experience are two separate tools that aren’t always used together.

But I also think that what makes Bart different from every other Flash (Kid or otherwise) is that his mind races almost as fast as his feet! I love that Bart is more inclined to speak before he actually thinks about what it is he’s saying. I love that he’s not a Barry who understands instinctually that the quickest way between two points is usually a straight line. I like that Bart’s mind is always racing and I don’t want to ever lose that: is that a trait from his Impulse days? Not exclusively, no.

Scott Lobdell Talks Kid Flash is a post from Speed Force.

Sorry it has taken me a while to get this up. I’ve been busy with work and family over the last few days so I’ve only been able to pop on the ‘net every once in a while. In any case there is a lot of good and not so good news spinning out of SDCC 2011 and not all fans are going to be too thrilled.

First up we had some major news as DC Direct announced and unveiled several prototypes for the Jim Lee designed DCnU Justice League action figure line including the redesigned Flash:

Thanks to Toynewsi.com for the pics

Next we got a great look at the Flashpoint Flash and SDCC 2011 Exclusive Reverse Flash Action Figures also from DC Direct (pictures also courtesy of Toynewsi.com):

Mattel had quite a few announcements of their own. First off the last wave of DC Universe Classics will be Wave 20 and after that the line will be rebranded and offered mainly through Mattel’s Collector web store, Mattycollector.com via subscription. There will still be a retail presence but for the most part, rare figures that would normally be doomed to shelf warmer status will be released primarily through the subscription. The remaining figures that are left over after all the subscriptions are filled will be released to the masses in the middle of the month. But there will be club exclusive figures released that will not be able to be procured without signing up for a subscription (or tracking them down on eBay for exorbitant prices).

Now how the subscription works is you pay 30 dollars for the club membership. After that you are locked in and guaranteed to receive every DC Universe figure that will be released in that years time. The only rub is that you are forced to buy into all of the figures released, whether you would normally purchase them or not. Now if you are a DCUC completist then this is a dream come true, basically all you have to do is sit and wait for your collection to be filled out nicely with relatively no bumps or snags. But more importantly no more ridiculous hunts. This hobby can take up not only a lot of money but a lot of time also.

Now on the opposite end of the spectrum someone like me could be completely screwed if I don’t sign up. I’m a cherry picker collector which means that I only ever collect Flash-related releases. Nothing that DC Universe Classics has shown me tells me that they have The Flash in mind as a primary interest. Yes we’ve got a couple Rogues and a few Flash repaints (none of which I actually cared that much about, why do we get one off costumes like Blue Lantern Flash when actual characters like Wally were constantly looked over?) but the vast majority is understandably but still annoyingly Batman, Superman and Green Lantern-related. The chances of me getting a good amount of Flash figures to justify the 300 or so bucks that I’m locked in to spend automatically are pretty slim. The cherry on this is that they have teased us with the first pictures of the DC Universe Classics style Jay Garrick, but instead of putting him in the JSA-themed DC Universe Classics wave 19 they decided to go with D-list characters like Magog. Really Magog gets a spot instead of highlydemanded Jay Garrick? The only explanation that I can think of for this is that they wanted to hold Jay “hostage” for subscriptions. Yes it makes sense from a business standpoint but from a fan standpoint this really sucks. In any case without further griping, Jay Garrick:

Picture courtesy of DCUC.INFO

Even though it looks like Jay has been using the Clear I still want this figure in my collection. Jay is my second favorite of the Flash family and to miss out on him because of some subscription nonsense would be terrible. I guess there is always eBay but I’m really getting annoyed paying all the crazy prices on eBay.

Now as for the last wave 20 we will be getting two Flash-related characters (and repaints): Professor Zoom and Mattel’s own version of the White Lantern Flash. There are no pics currently for White Lantern Flash but Toynewsi.com and DCUC.Info both have pics of Zoom:

Nice touch including the lightning staff even though he hasn’t used it in-story in quite a bit. At least it gives him something as opposed to the nothing that typically comes with Flash figures.

Speaking of which Mattel’s DC Universe Action League had some great announcements and some Flash goodness. We will be getting a new pack of two figures featuring The Flash with a new sculpt and Professor Zoom using the old Flash sculpt. Flash features an awesome accessory that makes it look as if he is whipping up a hand spun cyclone:

Picture courtesy of Actionfigureinsider.com

A Flashpoint Wave is also on the horizon and with that we will be getting a Flashpoint Flash (which is the old Flash sculpt) and Citizen Cold (which is essentially just like the regular Captain Cold):

Picture courtesy of Toynewsi.com

Last but not least is my favorite announcement of the show and one of the collectibles I’m most anxiously awaiting: Young Justice Six Inch Kid Flash (picture courtesy of Toynewsi.com):

WOW! Just look at all the cool accessories packed into this figure. I don’t think we’ve seen something like this since The Flash and Kid Flash Silver Age set from DC Direct that came with a Cosmic Treadmill and Costume Ring. We’ve got a hand spun cyclone, removable goggles and a display that simulates Kid Flash’s speed quite nicely. Great visuals. Only thing is we won’t be seeing this figure until Spring 2012. Phooey.

All in all a pretty solid SDCC this year with a number of great Flash collectibles forthcoming. The Jay Garrick/Subscriber thing has me a little worried, but I doubt it will be a huge hurdle to get one. Still not thrilled about never getting a Wally in the DC Universe Classics line but then again there were a lot of characters passed over so I can’t be too bitter. And at least we can count on Young Justice to keep supplying us with some Wally collectible love. Yeah it sucks that he has been marginalized and downgraded to Kid Flash again but hey it’s better than what we could be getting.

By the way if I missed anything new, please drop me a line here and let me know.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

Complete Flash-Related Collectibles News from SDCC 2011 is a post from Speed Force.