Golly, Iris! Sorry I'm late! The Flash (Barry Allen) Appreciation 2023

[Tomkatie]

Not sure how Barry can live like this without going nuts like Psycho Pirate.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Being The Flash for so long gets ya used to a certain level of weirdness

Multiverse shenanigans aside, we got a Barry and Iris wedding coming up! Do we think it'll happen in #800 with Williamson's story, or sometime later down the line?

[Buried Alien]

Being The Flash for so long gets ya used to a certain level of weirdness

Multiverse shenanigans aside, we got a Barry and Iris wedding coming up! Do we think it'll happen in #800 with Williamson's story, or sometime later down the line?

Maybe it will be the special event for # 800.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[dornwolf]

Being The Flash for so long gets ya used to a certain level of weirdness

Multiverse shenanigans aside, we got a Barry and Iris wedding coming up! Do we think it'll happen in #800 with Williamson's story, or sometime later down the line?

I’d bet #800 if not I hope someone does it

[HsssH]

#800 is supposedly dedicated to Wally so it would be a bit weird if marriage happened there in a short story. My guess would be that it will reveal when the marriage will take place.

As for whole remembering things before Crisis, I don't understand what exactly is gained by it? To me it just makes characters more confusing without any obvious benefit.

[bat39]

One implication would be Barry remembering an upbringing in which both of his parents were alive and well into his adulthood and his father never went to prison, and another upbringing in which his mother was murdered and his father went to prison after being framed for the crime. He would also remember first meeting Jay Garrick first by crossing over to the Earth-Two universe, and another time by simply finding out that Jay and Keystone City had been sent to another dimension by the Thinker, the Fiddler, and the Shade. He'd also remember both forming the first lineup of the Justice League of America with Green Lantern (Hal), Black Canary, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter, but he'd also remember forming the first lineup of the Justice League of America with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. Not sure how Barry can live like this without going nuts like Psycho Pirate.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

My understanding has always been that while in the Speed Force, Barry remembered the Pre-COIE Multiverse, but when he was resurrected, he only remembered his Post-COIE/Pre-Flashpoint history. After all, after his resurrection, he only remembered a history where his mom was murdered and his dad went to prison...had he remembered his Pre-COIE history, he would have remembered a history where that didn't happen. After Flashpoint however, Barry did remember growing up with his parents in the Flashpoint timeline, alongside his New 52 history. And since then, I guess he remembers his Rebirth history, and I'm not sure how much he remembers of previous histories. But I don't think we can necessarily assume that Barry remembers everything (the whole "everyone remembers everything" idea notwithstanding).

[Tomkatie]

#800 is supposedly dedicated to Wally so it would be a bit weird if marriage happened there in a short story. My guess would be that it will reveal when the marriage will take place.

Hopefully you're right, I wouldn't mind if the wedding was held off for a dedicated one-shot special this summer or fall. #800 being a celebration of Wally makes sense, and I wouldn't want Barry and Iris's wedding to detract from that (or vice versa.) Plus, I'm a sucker for wedding covers

As for whole remembering things before Crisis, I don't understand what exactly is gained by it? To me it just makes characters more confusing without any obvious benefit.

Same as post-Death Metal DC's "everything happened" mantra, it's really just so we can be picky-choosy with which pre-Crisis/post-Crisis/New52 stories we prefer while considering everything canon. In reality, it'll never be mentioned except for a throwaway line in One Minute War or a meta guidebook issue like Dark Crisis Big Bang.

[Tomkatie]

Speaking of favorite pre-Crisis stories, just reread Flash #107 when Barry races the android running backwards. First of all amazingly silly Silver Age cover that is absolutely brilliant. Second of all, I love how chill Barry is with finding somebody faster than the Fastest Man Alive. Zero jealousy, zero resentment, Barry just decides "Holy cow you're fast! We should hang out!" He only even thinks about racing him when Iris publicly calls him out, and even then Barry just wants to learn more and help the guy out.

[bat39]

I just re-read The Life Story of the Flash, the 90's 'biography' of Barry Allen by Iris (well, by way of Mark Waid ). I'd read it once before almost a decade ago, and this thread inspired me to re-read it.

It's a very wholesome, very 'classic' look at the Flash mythos - a far cry from things like Flashpoint or most stuff on the CW show. Not sure how popular that particular vision of Barry Allen would be to modern audiences, but it was nice to revisit him.

Obviously, while the story is pretty faithful to classic Pre-COIE/early Post-COIE continuity, it does recontextualize some stuff. It really emphasizes how Barry was inspired by Jay Garrick to become the Flash (and even to become a CSI, it seems). There's a lot of depth given to Iris, and how her lifelong suspicions about her true past and the drive to belong to someone shaped her relationship with Barry. Wally, and his relationship with Barry and Iris gets a fair bit of attention too.

I'd actually highly recommend this book to someone who mostly knows Barry Allen through the CW show or the DCEU. It'll feel like a totally different character and universe, but it's surprising how much the modern adaptations of the character still have some shared DNA with the source material - from Thawne's unhealthy obsession with Barry and desire to 'replace' him, to the tragedy of Barry dying just before his kids were born (which was kinda the case on Season 5 of the show, where Nora West-Allen/XS was born just before Barry's death in the future and grew up not knowing him).

PS: Just thinking...wouldn't Iris have been pretty old by the end of Pre-Flashpoint continuity? I mean, she'd spent at least 25-30 years in the future after Barry's death, raising Dawn and Don. Is Iris actually in her sixties, with future tech having kept her young? Or did she get de-aged at some point? I remember in Flash Rebirth she was back to being the same age as Barry...

[Dred]

Yes. She was a grandma in Waid's run but right before Barry came back she's shown to look like she's in her 20s again.

[Refrax5]

I just re-read The Life Story of the Flash, the 90's 'biography' of Barry Allen by Iris (well, by way of Mark Waid ). I'd read it once before almost a decade ago, and this thread inspired me to re-read it.

It's a very wholesome, very 'classic' look at the Flash mythos - a far cry from things like Flashpoint or most stuff on the CW show. Not sure how popular that particular vision of Barry Allen would be to modern audiences, but it was nice to revisit him.

Obviously, while the story is pretty faithful to classic Pre-COIE/early Post-COIE continuity, it does recontextualize some stuff. It really emphasizes how Barry was inspired by Jay Garrick to become the Flash (and even to become a CSI, it seems). There's a lot of depth given to Iris, and how her lifelong suspicions about her true past and the drive to belong to someone shaped her relationship with Barry. Wally, and his relationship with Barry and Iris gets a fair bit of attention too.

I'd actually highly recommend this book to someone who mostly knows Barry Allen through the CW show or the DCEU. It'll feel like a totally different character and universe, but it's surprising how much the modern adaptations of the character still have some shared DNA with the source material - from Thawne's unhealthy obsession with Barry and desire to 'replace' him, to the tragedy of Barry dying just before his kids were born (which was kinda the case on Season 5 of the show, where Nora West-Allen/XS was born just before Barry's death in the future and grew up not knowing him).

PS: Just thinking...wouldn't Iris have been pretty old by the end of Pre-Flashpoint continuity? I mean, she'd spent at least 25-30 years in the future after Barry's death, raising Dawn and Don. Is Iris actually in her sixties, with future tech having kept her young? Or did she get de-aged at some point? I remember in Flash Rebirth she was back to being the same age as Barry...

Yeah, when I first started getting into the Flash (mostly due to the 90s Flash show), stuff like Life Story of the Flash really helped me understand who the comic version of Barry was. I could still see that version being fairly popular. He's got a bit of Steve Rogers to him, but a bit more humorously dorky and awkward.

[Coop]

Are Barry and Iris the last holdouts of the erased marriages? Or is it still Green arrow and Canary?

So funny but awesome to see all of these characters finally getting back to where they were. What a waste of time the entire new 52 era has been

[Tomkatie]

I just re-read The Life Story of the Flash, the 90's 'biography' of Barry Allen by Iris (well, by way of Mark Waid ). I'd read it once before almost a decade ago, and this thread inspired me to re-read it.

It's a very wholesome, very 'classic' look at the Flash mythos - a far cry from things like Flashpoint or most stuff on the CW show. Not sure how popular that particular vision of Barry Allen would be to modern audiences, but it was nice to revisit him.

Obviously, while the story is pretty faithful to classic Pre-COIE/early Post-COIE continuity, it does recontextualize some stuff. It really emphasizes how Barry was inspired by Jay Garrick to become the Flash (and even to become a CSI, it seems). There's a lot of depth given to Iris, and how her lifelong suspicions about her true past and the drive to belong to someone shaped her relationship with Barry. Wally, and his relationship with Barry and Iris gets a fair bit of attention too.

I'd actually highly recommend this book to someone who mostly knows Barry Allen through the CW show or the DCEU. It'll feel like a totally different character and universe, but it's surprising how much the modern adaptations of the character still have some shared DNA with the source material - from Thawne's unhealthy obsession with Barry and desire to 'replace' him, to the tragedy of Barry dying just before his kids were born (which was kinda the case on Season 5 of the show, where Nora West-Allen/XS was born just before Barry's death in the future and grew up not knowing him).

PS: Just thinking...wouldn't Iris have been pretty old by the end of Pre-Flashpoint continuity? I mean, she'd spent at least 25-30 years in the future after Barry's death, raising Dawn and Don. Is Iris actually in her sixties, with future tech having kept her young? Or did she get de-aged at some point? I remember in Flash Rebirth she was back to being the same age as Barry...

Waid writing Barry is always a treat. JLA: Year One and Flash+GL Brave and the Bold are also great

[dornwolf]

Are Barry and Iris the last holdouts of the erased marriages? Or is it still Green arrow and Canary?

So funny but awesome to see all of these characters finally getting back to where they were. What a waste of time the entire new 52 era has been

I think so. It’s made worse by the fact Barry and Iris were dating and then remembered that oh yeah we were married and then…nothing so good on Adams for doing that finally.

[Buried Alien]

Waid writing Barry is always a treat. JLA: Year One and Flash+GL Brave and the Bold are also great

Ironically, Waid was also one of the most adamantly opposed to ever bringing Barry back from death. One of the writers who understands and writes the character best didn't even want him around.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Tomkatie]

Ironically, Waid was also one of the most adamantly opposed to ever bringing Barry back from death. One of the writers who understands and writes the character best didn't even want him around.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Waid's also admitted he has a very particular view of the DCU.

While I didn't agree with 100% of Waid's Barry characterization (he always brings up the crewcut, which Barry didn't even have for most of his Flash tenure ), his soft-spoken, kind-hearted, dorky dad Barry is still one of the most endearing takes on the character.

I wonder if he's since turned around on Barry coming back though, now that he and Wally are coexisting? Cuz Mark, I dunno what to tell ya, it's partially your fault we all like him so much