Top 10 Flash Comics You Should Read

#10: "Still Life in the Fast Lane" (1998)

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Grant Morrison’s 1990s stint on The Flash produced a number of gems, including this delicate and touching adventure. Jay Garrick, the original Flash, has to come out of retirement to fill in for future Flash Wally West, and has a grand time reliving his glory days. The joyous story takes a serious turn, though, as Jay tries to help save the life of an old foe, the Thinker. But the Thinker is satisfied that his time is up and refuses Jay’s help. Confronted with this acceptance of mortality, Jay learns to value his own time on Earth.

The years of Wally West’s Flash produced a number of classic stories, including this beauty by Mark Waid. While traveling through time, Wally sees something that makes him worry about the safety of his girlfriend, Linda. He also discovers that his use of the mysterious speed force is having a de-humanizing effect on him and worries he may become part of the force itself. “Terminal Velocity” deals with these issues, as well as a threat from the villain Kobra. But it’s ultimately about love – between friends as well as lovers – and about the lengths one goes to protect loved ones.

#8: "Nobody Dies" (1991)

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One of the most distinctive features about the Flash is his ability to be both lighthearted and serious at the same time. This mini-masterpiece is a fine example of that. It opens with Wally West diffusing a dangerous situation with a simple statement -“Nobody dies. That’s a rule.” But it goes on to show just how serious Wally can be about that. When an airline stewardess gets sucked out of a plane, Wally has to go to extraordinary lengths to save her – at the risk of his own life. In plain yet powerful terms, the story demonstrates what really makes a hero.

#7: "Rogue War" (2005)

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Flash’s rogues gallery is one of the most colorful and entertaining in all of comicdom and they take center stage in this Geoff Johns story. Basically, half of the rogues are trying to bring the other half to justice – and neither side is happy about it. In the midst of this, Flash is dealing with a diabolical new plot from his enemy Zoom that really is tearing the speedster up. Howard Porter’s art is stunning, but it’s Johns’ masterful storytelling and keen grasp of character that sets “Rogue War” apart and makes its worth reading over and over.

Every version of the Flash has always had at least one enemy with superspeed. For the Wally West version, the role is filled by the incredibly villainous Zoom. Except Zoom doesn’t exactly have superspeed. He can just manipulate time so that he appears to be going faster. That actually makes him even more dangerous however. Zoom, whose real name is Hunter Zolomon, came about because Wally refused to go back and change time for him. When Zolomon gains his powers, he plans to cause Wally the same level of personal pain that he himself suffers from.

#5: "Flash: Rebirth" (2009-2010)

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Not the first time Barry Allen would give up, only to resume the mantel of the Flash, the speedster felt strangely ambivalent about his return in 2009’s Flash: Rebirth. Geoff Johns tells a tale of a reborn Barry Allen who is missing many memories and doesn’t feel at home in the world anymore. What is initially a melancholy meditation becomes a story of diabolical cruelty as Flash encounters his old arch-enemy, the Reverse Flash. His eternal foe relishes Barry’s pain, and why not? He reveals that he has been the force behind almost every tragedy in Barry’s life. “Rebirth” marked a new maturity in the way Barry’s story was to be told.

#4: "A Flash of the Lightning" (1985)

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“Crisis on Infinite Earths” was a landmark series for DC, filled to the brim with heroes and fighting. But the most impactful issue was on a decidedly smaller scale. While heroes across the multiverse battle for survival, the Flash must face off against the villain powerful enough to destroy them all. And while the Scarlet Speedster wins the battle, he loses the war – and his own life. Barry Allen’s incredibly poignant death, happening all alone and unobserved by his colleagues, remains one of the most chilling moments in comic book history.

#3: "The Return of Barry Allen" (1993)

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While multiple people have carried the title of The Flash, Barry Allen is by far the person most well associated with the role and seemingly always returns to it. This Barry Allen is more jealous and angst-filled than Wally remembers him – and it shakes Wally up. Of course, it turns out it isn’t really Barry after all, but his enemy Professor Zoom. The trick identity gimmick makes the story work on a superficial level, but it’s the way that writer Mark Waid uses the device to explore character and relationships that really marks the story as a winner.