The Ages of The Flash

While many American superheroes have multiple powers and complex gadgets, the Flash is simply fast. This simplicity makes his character easily comprehendible for all audiences, whether they are avid comic fans or newcomers to the genre, and in turn he has become one of the most iconic figures in the comic-book industry. This collection of new essays serves as a stepping-stone to an even greater understanding of the Flash, examining various iterations of his character—including those of Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen—and what they reveal about the era in which they were written.

Joseph J. Darowski teaches English at Brigham Young University and has published on comic book superheroes such as the X-Men, Wonder Woman, and Superman as well as on television series such as Chuck and Frasier.

Edited by Joseph J. Darowski
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 194
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7444-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3566-8
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Politically Incorrect Humor: Examining the Three Dimwits Through a Disability Studies Lens
Cathy Leogrande 7
The Birth of the Silver Age Flash: Reasons and Influences
Liam T. Webb 27
“I’m Covering the Story! Wait Here for Me”: The Two- Career Couple in the Pages of The Flash
Charles W. Henebry 38
Barry Allen’s Social Awakening in the 1970s
Peter W.Y. Lee 63
From Riches to Rags: The Rise and Fall of Wally West
Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns 80
Wrestling with Legacy: How “The Return of Barry Allen”Shaped DC Superheroes in the 1990s
Tom Shapira 91
Flash Back to the Future: Mark Waid’s Counter- Narrative to the Superhero Dark Age
John Darowski 106
Impulsive Students, Speedster Teachers and Education in the 1990s
Daniel J. Bergman 119
An Impulsive Teen from the Future: Imagining Youth, Virtual Reality and the Digital Future at the Turn of the Millennium
Louie Dean Valencia- García 138
Restraining Deconstruction: Geoff Johns’ Reframing of The Flash
Christian Jimenez 151
Profiling the Rogues: Seeking Criminal Intent in The Flash of Geoff Johns
Matthew J. Smith and Tod W. Burke 158
Minds in the Gutter: The Persistence of Vision and the New 52
Sara K. Ellis 172
About the Contributors 183
Index 185

• “Goes into extensive detail about the individual characters starting from their origins and their transition and evolution through the decades…makes for fascinating reading”—Collector’s Corner.