The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by John Broome

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Composing a Greatest Stories Ever Told book for the Flash is hard. because the Flash isn't a single hero like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. Rather, three different heroes have been known for a decade or more as the Flash: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West (who also was Kid Flash fighting alongside Barry Allen during the Silver and Bronze Age.) This is also the second attempt from DC which did a similar book in the 1980s.

The book begins with two Golden Age stories featuring Jay Garrick's Golden Age Flash, "Stone Age Menace," a fine Mystery Sci-Fi elements, and the last golden age Flash story, "The Rival Flash" which ended the series in style and also could be seen as a precursor to the villainous Reverse Flash.

Then, we have the Silver Age Era which gives us the oft-reprinted, "Flash of Two Worlds" which founded the DC multiverse, "The Gauntlet of Super Villains" features the first team up of Flash's very colorful rogues gallery. There's the wedding of Barry Allen and the Reverse Flash's attempt to foil it in, "One Bridegroom Too Many." In there, we also learn that Barry Allen got married to Iris during the Silver Age and not revealing he was the Flash for fear Iris wouldn't marry him, because it's a good idea to have a marriage based on lies.

Also featured is "The Flash-Fact or Fiction" which has the Flash travelling to our universe in an accident caused by fighting a strange alien. A lot of fun, particularly when the Flash comes to DC comics Editor Julian Schwartz to get a treadmill built.

Then the book reprints a 63 page story from 1978 from DC Special Series #11. The series features the apparent Death of Gorilla Grodd and is split into four parts one each with Garrick, Alan, and Wally West, and then one where you get three flashes together. It's a solid story and really a fitting rarely reprinted item to go in this book.

The book wraps up with a post-Crisis story with Wally West as the Flash called, "Out of Time." Unlike the 1980s edition which just seemed to pick a random Wally West story, this one is an important one. It shows the character's persistent fear of not being able to be everywhere at once. It also gives us more clues as to how the Speed Force actually works in a way that would begin to redefine the Speed Force.

Overall, I not only enjoyed this book, l liked it better than the 1980s version which is a rare thing to say about the 21st century run of Greatest stories book. It's true that we don't have as much introductory material, but given the straightforward stories, Mark Waid's introduction is more than adequate. The stories are simply better and this book includes some of the very best Flash stories, so I heartily recommend it.



View all my reviews