Jay Garrick

Jay Garrick (born August 27 1918) is a retired superhero and the original Flash. He is a family friend of Barry Allen, the current Flash, and Barry's nephew, Wally West, Kid Flash.

Early life
Jay gained the power of super speed in a freak lab accident at Lampert laboratories. He became the Flash, the fastest man alive, in 1940, and joined the Justice Society of America.

At the New York World's Fair, Flash was a witness to the death of the heroine Firebrand. Firebrand blocked a shot from Dragon King aimed at him.

With the other members of the Society, he publicly inducted Red Tornado into the group.

He eventually went into semi-retirement in 1951. Jay met Barry Allen around fifty years later, and announced his official retirement as the Flash when Barry started his career as the Flash a year after that.

Present
Jay attended the funeral of Kent Nelson at the Tower of Fate.

Jay and his wife, Joan, attended his birthday party at the home of Rudy and Mary West. Also attending were the Wests' son, Wally, as well as Barry Allen and his wife Iris. Both Wally and Jay were shown up by Barry's manners and helpfulness at cleaning the table, something they rarely did. Also, Wally ate all the ice cream.

Powers and abilities
As the original Flash, Jay Garrick's main ability was being able to run at superhuman speeds. Comments by his wife, Joan, suggest that his speed has diminished with age.