- This article is about the first Flash, Jay Garrick. For the second, see Barry Allen.
Jay Garrick (born August 27, 1918) is a retired superhero and the original Flash.
Physical appearance
Jay Garrick is a remarkably well-preserved Caucasian male with brown hair and blue eyes. Despite graying around the temples, he still retained most of his original hair color.[4]
While active as the Flash, he wore a simple uniform, consisting of blue pants, a red longsleeve shirt emblazoned with an upside down lightning bolt, red boots with small stylized wings, and a tin doughboy helmet that also sported stylized wings on the side.[1]
History
Early life
The original Flash.
Jay gained the power of super speed in a freak lab accident at Lampert laboratories. He became the Flash, the fastest man alive.[1] He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America. [5]
In 1945, at the base of the All-Star Squadron at the site of the New York World's Fair,[6] Flash was a witness to the death of the heroine Firebrand. Firebrand blocked a shot from Dragon King aimed at him.[7]
With the other members of the Society, he publicly inducted Red Tornado into the group.[7] He married Joan on February 28, 1946.[8]
He eventually went into semi-retirement in 1951.[9] During this time he no longer actively patrolled the city, but he would react when he felt needed.[10] 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.[9]
2010
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Jay attended the funeral of Kent Nelson at the Tower of Fate.[11]
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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.[4]
2016
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Joan and Jay were invited to the Allens' house to celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary. Like everyone else, he was surprised to see the unexpected guest Bart Allen, or Impulse.
Bart, Barry and Wally went off to fight the new threat Neutron. Jay stayed behind, but decided to go after them. He figured Joan would chastise him for putting on his costume, but felt it necessary to help Barry out. With Kid Flash, he carried the two other speedsters out of Neutron's blast radius. Flash was concerned that his predecessor had endangered himself, but Jay was more afraid of Joan's reaction than the danger—or so he claimed.[8]
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After Impulse had stopped Neutron's rampage, he claimed he was ready to go back to his own time. Jay accompanied Bart and Barry to the Cave to see him off. Impulse got back in the time machine, but it didn't work.[8]
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When magnetic field disruptors planted by the Reach threatened the Earth, Jay Garrick joined 39 other heroes of Earth in a briefing in Metropolis. The heroes would use a computer virus provided by Lex Luthor to safely disable the devices. The heroes were paired off with another into twenty squads: one member would run interference against Beetle-tech Drones guarding the disruptors, allowing the other to get close enough to plant the virus.[12] Jay was assigned to Lambda Squad, and worked alongside Red Tornado.[13]
Within thirty minutes, all squads had succeeded in their mission.[12]
Powers and abilities
Super speed: Jay Garrick's main ability is being able to run at superhuman speeds. Comments by his wife, Joan, suggest that his speed has diminished with age.[4]
Appearances
- Season 1
- Season 2
- 06. "Bloodlines"
- 20. "Endgame" (no lines)
- Companion comics
- 05. "What's the Story?" (flashback, no lines)
- 11. "The Pit..." (no lines)
Background appearance
- Jay Garrick first appeared in Flash Comics #1, dated January 1940. He was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. He was a science student at Midwestern University when he accidentally fell asleep during an experiment. He was exposed to hard water gasses and gained the power of speed. He was one of the first super powered heroes who did not have super strength. Jay soon became one of All-American Comics' main heroes, and formed the first crossover team, the Justice Society, with Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Wonder Woman.
- Both Jay's creators, as well as his first appearance, have been referenced. In "What's the Story?", Jay is shown to be working for a company named Lampert, and he signs a picture that is the cover of Flash Comics #1. In "Bloodlines", reference is made to a shelter on "Fox and Gardner".
- This is Jay's third animated appearance. He had a small cameo in the opening credits of Justice League: The New Frontier, and several speaking appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. A hero based on him, the Streak, appeared in Justice League, and his helmet was also shown in the Justice League Unlimited episode, "Flash and Substance".
References
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