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2015 marks the 75th anniversary of the Flash, who first appeared in the first issue of "Flash Comics" all the way back in 1940. Jay Garrick, a college student who gained his powers by inhaling hard/heavy water vapors in his school laboratory, would begin a dynasty that is just as revered in the DC Universe as that of Green Lantern and Starman. Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen were the other pieces to that legacy but to go back to the beginning with Jay is always something else because unlike most of his compatriots in the Justice Society, he wasn't an adult in his mid-20s established in his career field (Alan Scott, Wesley Dodds, and Ted Knight come to mind) but neither was he a hard scrabble sort of character (Al Pratt, Ted Grant). He was an early example of a regular guy who used their powers initially to get the glory (in his case to be the big man on campus and on the football field) and the girl (impressing his future wife Joan). Jay's portrayal would set the tone for how future writers would handle his successors, depicting the Flash as an even-tempered everyman character who knew when it was time to go in and get the job done. Jay himself, upon his re-introduction to the DC Universe in the 1960s, became a mentor to not just up and coming speedsters but other heroes as well. Its a trait that Barry Allen shared, and one that Wally West grew into over time. Little wonder that Jay remained "unkillable", in comparison to his friends and teammates who bit the big one over the years right up to DC Comics' reset of its entire line in 2011. Its arguable that the Flash was always one of DC's more popular heroes from its World War 2 era after Batman and Superman; unlike fellow holdovers from the Golden Age (Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Atom, Hawkman) he saw many long runs with his solo title, with interruptions and cancellations coming after two or three decades had passed (Jay Garrick's own solo title All-Flash and his appearances as a headliner in Flash Comics came to its conclusion in 1949, with the latter reaching triple digits) unlike his teammates whose appearances weren't quite as stable. Its probably a testament to a character who may not be part of the DC Trinity but can comfortably be on that second-tier of A-list characters.

Jay's costume was pretty iconic, with the winged helmet and red shirt/big bolt of lightening being his most defining visual cues. They called back to the off-the-rack simplicity of the 1940s when the mystery men made do with what they could to become masked crimefighters. Jay, who moved so fast at superspeed, could obscure his face by blurring it since he was one of the first superheroes to forgo a mask or cultivate a distinctive identity like Superman and Batman.

The Flash has always been one of my favorite heroes going back to the original 1991 TV series that starred John Wesley Shippe as Barry Allen. I had hoped that the now older Shippe, when he was announced to appear in the new CW show, that he would be portrayed as Jay due to there being hints that Jay exists in the CW/DC Universe (not to mention Jay does/did exist in the timeline of Smallville, in the two-part movie episode "Absolute Justice" where his helmet and the man himself were glimpsed in flashbacks).

Hopefully Warner Bros. plans for a DC Cinematic Universe will yield to Jay appearing in some capacity. He'd make a great callback to earlier times, much like the opening sequence in Watchmen, of a hero and his rise and eventual decision to walk away when the world moved too fast for the fastest man alive.

Description
2015 marks the 75th anniversary of the Flash, who first appeared in the first issue of "Flash Comics" all the way back in 1940. Jay Garrick, a college student who gained his powers by inhaling hard/heavy water vapors in his school laboratory, would begin a dynasty that is just as revered in the DC Universe as that of Green Lantern and Starman. Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen were the other pieces to that legacy but to go back to the beginning with Jay is always something else because unlike most of his compatriots in the Justice Society, he wasn't an adult in his mid-20s established in his career field (Alan Scott, Wesley Dodds, and Ted Knight come to mind) but neither was he a hard scrabble sort of character (Al Pratt, Ted Grant). He was an early example of a regular guy who used their powers initially to get the glory (in his case to be the big man on campus and on the football field) and the girl (impressing his future wife Joan). Jay's portrayal would set the tone for how future writers would handle his successors, depicting the Flash as an even-tempered everyman character who knew when it was time to go in and get the job done. Jay himself, upon his re-introduction to the DC Universe in the 1960s, became a mentor to not just up and coming speedsters but other heroes as well. Its a trait that Barry Allen shared, and one that Wally West grew into over time. Little wonder that Jay remained "unkillable", in comparison to his friends and teammates who bit the big one over the years right up to DC Comics' reset of its entire line in 2011. Its arguable that the Flash was always one of DC's more popular heroes from its World War 2 era after Batman and Superman; unlike fellow holdovers from the Golden Age (Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Atom, Hawkman) he saw many long runs with his solo title, with interruptions and cancellations coming after two or three decades had passed (Jay Garrick's own solo title All-Flash and his appearances as a headliner in Flash Comics came to its conclusion in 1949, with the latter reaching triple digits) unlike his teammates whose appearances weren't quite as stable. Its probably a testament to a character who may not be part of the DC Trinity but can comfortably be on that second-tier of A-list characters.

Jay's costume was pretty iconic, with the winged helmet and red shirt/big bolt of lightening being his most defining visual cues. They called back to the off-the-rack simplicity of the 1940s when the mystery men made do with what they could to become masked crimefighters. Jay, who moved so fast at superspeed, could obscure his face by blurring it since he was one of the first superheroes to forgo a mask or cultivate a distinctive identity like Superman and Batman.

The Flash has always been one of my favorite heroes going back to the original 1991 TV series that starred John Wesley Shippe as Barry Allen. I had hoped that the now older Shippe, when he was announced to appear in the new CW show, that he would be portrayed as Jay due to there being hints that Jay exists in the CW/DC Universe (not to mention Jay does/did exist in the timeline of Smallville, in the two-part movie episode "Absolute Justice" where his helmet and the man himself were glimpsed in flashbacks).

Hopefully Warner Bros. plans for a DC Cinematic Universe will yield to Jay appearing in some capacity. He'd make a great callback to earlier times, much like the opening sequence in Watchmen, of a hero and his rise and eventual decision to walk away when the world moved too fast for the fastest man alive.