Wally became the fastest of the 3 main Flashes during Waid’s run back in the 90s. He’s had some power fluctuations since then, but he’s typically faster than Barry barring those.
Here’s a Flash War info graphic depicting the fastest heroes/villains. The whole Flash family isn’t on there (everyone wasn’t active at the time), but it does compare Barry and Wally.
Side note: Personally, I like when Superman is depicted slower, but his speed has varied a lot and been compared to the Flash’s in races. One of my favorite moments between them is Flash telling Supes those races were for charity, then taking off and leaving Supes in the dust, lol.
I personally think that speed for an organic being is variable, and even though Flash will be more consistently faster than Superman, sometimes Superman can win in a legit race. (I’m sure this will lead to tons and tons of insistance that I’m wrong, but I don’t think races or fights work like math. Sometimes Flash has an off day!)
I was going to say Bart has been forgotten again, but this is from Flash War and I don’t think he was back yet. So, this infographic gets a pass on that.
Cheetah and Wonder Woman are faster than Godspeed, Shazam and Wallace? That doesn’t feel right. But I don’t read enough WW to know that.
Yeah, that actually threw me a bit too. Kid Flashes seem to go through a lot of Flash related growing pains and speed changes, so I figure he’ll keep moving up the chart. Godspeed… I’ve got nothing, lol.
As for races, I agree everyone can have off days and whatnot. I think that applies more to Wally and Barry though. To me, they are both faster than Superman pending something more than an off day. Granted, part of this is just me wanting the Flash to indisputably be the Fastest Hero Alive!
My thing is that the Flashes ARE the fastest heroes alive - but that’s not math. They’re not a car with a max mechanical top speed, or consistent mechanical performance markers. Sometimes Superman will just be able to win, and it’s not just the Flashes letting him win. But it’s more like 1 out of 10 races, not 4 of 10. At least, that’s how I see it.
I guess in head it’s like me vs Usain Bolt. Unless he’s super sick or has an accident, there’s no way I’m winning, lol.
Although, this discussion does remind me of other heroes not on the chart - like Green Lantern. Hal was able to maintain his plane construct beyond the ring’s “limit” to catch Lightray (trying to outpace omega beams?). I think Hal would be a good example of not typically the in contention with the fastest characters, but he can pull off an amazing race when it’s needed.
Anyone pick up Flash: One Minute War Special yesterday or today? I decided to spring for the foil cover, and it’s SO PRETTY! And the stories inside are amazing!
Honestly, that is a concept I don’t like. Personally, I think the speedforce should essentially be it’s own category of speed above what others can achieve without it. Since that’s not actually how it works, I settle on the top echelon of speedsters being there. I think this is indirectly supported by more recent Flash stories, like the aforementioned charity comment moment and during Flash War itself. At least, I don’t recall seeing a direct contradiction in recent years (no bubble bursting!).
Anyway, I doubt there’s a mandate saying Superman shall never again win a race against the Flash, so power levels and speeds will fluctuate to fit whatever story. (I think that mandate would be awesome though!)
On to the next topic!
I have read the One Minute War special. I liked the different stories. At least one of the baddies is kind of interesting, although I’m not sure how they think they’re catching up with the resource demand. If everything is growing at this rate, the system doesn’t seem sustainable. Maybe the speedster energy boosts are the key? I don’t know.
For the other stories, Avery’s was amusing, I’m not sure how Godspeed is alive, and Jai mentioned a brother! Squee! Also, he’s still writing an action log, which is adorable.
Well, if you consider that they’re invading the multiverse, they have a HUGE number of worlds they can consume.
Jai’s story was my favorite - the art was really energetic and appealing, and the relationship with Gold Beetle was so sweet and funny. I had a lot of emotions for such a short story - and I think it’s teasing something coming up pretty soon!
True. I just had the impression that the expansion back home was continuing at light speed too. Any which way, the empress being covered the whole time makes me wonder if there’s some kind of upcoming reveal…
I’ve only seen Gold Beetle in this series. I got Doctor Who vibes with this story. Spoilers!
Every time I see this chart I get annoyed by the Barry blurb. It has nothing to do with Barry! It’s just Didio waxing Jim Lee’s car.
Now I’m not knocking Jim Lee but clearly there was some sort of mix-up at editorial when this thing was published and they never gave us a corrected version.
New chapter of One Minute War this week! What did people think? Did the One Minute War Zone/Special help understand the villains any more? What cover did you get? (I bought the Serg Acuna variant, because I just love Wally and Linda running, even though I’m loving the main covers too).
I am planning to read One Minute War this weekend, can’t wait! I believe I got all the covers. I have them pull both A and B for me, so they should pull one of everything.
That is pretty sweet! I’ve mostly been getting cover A, as Taurin Clark has really been doing a great job reflecting the interiors, but I did get the foil cover for the special and the Serg Acuna Wally and Linda cover for the most recent issue. Acuna really won me over with his art for the annual!
Ok good issue this week. I’m looking forward to seeing how this story resolves itself. I’ll admit that for the first time, since I don’t know how long, I actually cheated and looked at the solicits for the May books to see if any names were mentioned.
Now I won’t say what the result was. But I will post a theory below….
I don’t think Iris is truly dead! I think at worst, she’s been knocked out and because everyone is stuck in Speed Mode, they can’t really tell the difference. I’m more than willing to bet we’re going to see a new Flash wedding by the end of the year!
