Who was the 1rst DC Comics version of "The Flash" you ever read in a comic book?

[MajorHoy]

This is NOT asking which one is your favorite.
The question is which did you first read when he was officially called "The Flash" in a comic book story.

Choices are:

* Jay Garrick (Golden Age Flash) - 1st appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940).
* Barry Allen (Silver/Bronze Age Flash) - 1st appeared in Showcase #4 (1956) / died in Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) but later got better
* Wally West (post-CoIE Flash) - became The Flash at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Disappeared by the end of Infinite Crisis, but later came back. (Then didn't exist when the New52 began, but came back in DC Universe: Rebirth)
* Bart Allen (post-Infinte Crisis Flash) - Became The Flash after Wally vanished and after Bart had suddenly aged as a result of events in Infinte Crisis. Didn't last long as The Flash. (But later returned as his younger version)
* TV/the CW version of The Flash (Barry) - had separate digital-first comic book (The Flash: Season Zero) that was based on the TV show version and was separate from the regular comic book continuity of the DC Universe.

ALSO NOTE: We're specifically referring to these characters being "The Flash", not their time when they went by other identities.

[Lightning Rider]

Surprisingly Barry Allen.

[Godlike13]

Wally was the first Flash i read in a comic book, but the first Flash i was exposed to was Barry from the cheesy 90's show.

[The Darknight Detective]

Barry was not only the first Flash I ever read about (in 1973), but the first one I ever saw (on the Filmation show Aquaman during the late '60s).

[Buried Alien]

Barry, though Wally and Jay showed up almost simultaneously (at the time, Wally was Kid Flash and Jay was Earth-Two Flash).

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Assam]

Barry, having first seen him in his first appearence.

[Sam]

I guess technically Wally, as I think the first mainstream comic I read was a JLA: Terror Incognita trade during a free period in High School when I was hanging out in a Waldenbooks (completely empty and it had a couch. It was heaven).

[JasonTodd428]

Mine was Jay Garrick (with the rest of the Justice Society)in a back issue of All Star Comics.

[The Darknight Detective]

Barry, though Wally and Jay showed up almost simultaneously (at the time, Wally was Kid Flash and Jay was Earth-Two Flash).

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I also saw Wally for the first time on the Aquaman show with Barry.

[Jim Kelly]

It might seem like I'm screwing around, but these questions are not as easy to answer as it would seem. I pride myself on having a good memory--specially for stuff that happened when I was a kid--but the memories don't come back immediately and in the right order. So I'm actually remembering stuff literally as I'm posting. So don't judge me for my disjointed thoughts.

Yes, the first story I remember had Barry Allen as the Flash. Let's get that out of the way. And I'd like to think it was SUPERMAN No. 199 (August '67), which went on sale June 20th, 1967--although it would have arrived at our drugstore in Canada a month or two after that (so almost exactly fifty years ago). That was the story where I was hyper aware of Barry as the Fastest Man Alive, newly married to Iris West Allen. And THE SUPERMAN-AQUAMAN HOUR didn't appear on TV until the fall of '67, so I'm sure I read that comic before the cartoon show.

However, I already knew the Flash existed from all the house ads. I even must have known that a blue-pants Flash existed, from the ads for the Giants where blue-pants was featured on the covers. I didn't know who this guy was, just that he wore blue pants and a helmet. And there were the Comic Book Foldees from Topps that included "Flash in Action" (Barry), "Youthful Kid Flash" (Wally) and "Speedy Old Flash" (Jay)--those came out in 1966, so probably before I read any Barry Flash stories. The one I remember best is "Youthful Kid Flash" because I really liked the look of that character, even though I knew nothing about him.

Well no, that's not true, because now I remember quite clearly reading TEEN TITANS No 10 (July-August '67), which went on sale May 16th, 1967. Now that I think of it, the memory comes into sharper focus. The visual impact of the story comes back to me with the villain (the Scorcher) riding the motorcycle and wearing a red fireman's hat. I don't have that comic in my collection, so I don't know if I had the comic and lost it or if I borrowed it from somebody--maybe the latter. So I'd almost have to say that Wally was the first Flash where I read an actual story with him in it. Except that's not my earliest Flash story either.

No, I bought JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 52 (March '67) at Ryan's drugstore on some Saturday in the spring of 1967. It was a clear day, because I walked home reading that comic--and if it was raining I wouldn't have done that. I had read the whole story by the time I got home and I had memorized the Green Lantern's oath. The Flash does appear in that story, but only in one panel and at the very end of the story. And I would not have known at the time that he was Barry Allen, but that's who he was.

So let me throw this one to the judges. Is it Barry who appears in one panel of "Missing in Action--5 Justice Leaguers" or Wally who appears throughout "Scramble at Wildcat"?

[Carabas]

Technically Barry Allen, but that was just one single Batman issue from the 70's.

The first Flash I really got to know was Wally in Morrison's JLA, second one was Jay in Johns' JSA.

[The Darknight Detective]

Barry was not only the first Flash I ever read about (in 1973), but the first one I ever saw (on the Filmation show [I]Aquaman[/I] during the late '60s).

Not that it really matters, but it most likely was The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure that I first saw him (and Wally) at the age of 3.

[MajorHoy]

. . . Well no, that's not true, because now I remember quite clearly reading TEEN TITANS No 10 (July-August '67), which went on sale May 16th, 1967. Now that I think of it, the memory comes into sharper focus. The visual impact of the story comes back to me with the villain (the Scorcher) riding the motorcycle and wearing a red fireman's hat. I don't have that comic in my collection, so I don't know if I had the comic and lost it or if I borrowed it from somebody--maybe the latter. So I'd almost have to say that Wally was the first Flash where I read an actual story with him in it. Except that's not my earliest Flash story either.

No, I bought JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 52 (March '67) at Ryan's drugstore on some Saturday in the spring of 1967. It was a clear day, because I walked home reading that comic--and if it was raining I wouldn't have done that. I had read the whole story by the time I got home and I had memorized the Green Lantern's oath. The Flash does appear in that story, but only in one panel and at the very end of the story. And I would not have known at the time that he was Barry Allen, but that's who he was.

So let me throw this one to the judges. Is it Barry who appears in one panel of "Missing in Action--5 Justice Leaguers" or Wally who appears throughout "Scramble at Wildcat"?

I guess somebody didn't bother reading the first post in this thread?

This is NOT asking which one is your favorite.
The question is which did you first read when he was officially called "The Flash" in a comic book story.

and

ALSO NOTE: We're specifically referring to these characters being "The Flash", not their time when they went by other identities.

[Jim Kelly]

Sorry. 10 char.

[Lee]

Wally West in DC vs Marvel.

I wasn't aware there was more than one Flash until later.