The Flash: A TVCU Quickie

What's a quickie?  See this blog.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Flash is a name of a fictional comic book superhero from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940).^[1]

Nicknamed the Scarlet Speedster and the "Crimson Comet" all incarnations of the Flash possess "super-speed", which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes and seemingly violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, four different characters—each of whom somehow gained the power of "super-speed"—have assumed the identity of the Flash: Jay Garrick (1940–present), Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Wally West (1986–2006, 2007–2012), and Bart Allen (2006–2007, 2009–present). Before Wally and Bart's ascension to the mantle of the Flash, they were both Flash protégés under the same name Kid Flash.

The second incarnation of the Flash, Barry Allen, is generally considered the first hero of the Silver Age of comic books and the superhero has remained one of DC's most popular ever since. Each version of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: theJustice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans. Wally West has recently rejoined the Justice League, and Barry Allen recently returned to life in the pages of Final Crisis.

The Barry Allen version of the character (with Wally West elements) was featured in a live action television series in 1990, starring John Wesley Shipp. The Wally West version of the Flash (but with many elements of Barry Allen's story) is featured in the animated series Justice League. All four incarnations of the character have appeared in the Young Justice animated series, with the Wally West version of Kid Flash as a main character in the first season.

The Flashes have often been close friends with the various men who have been the Green Lantern; the most notable friendships have been forged between Jay Garrick and Alan Scott (the Golden Age Green Lantern), Barry Allen and Hal Jordan (the Silver Age Green Lantern) and Wally West and Kyle Rayner (the modern Green Lantern), Wally and John Stewart in the Justice League cartoons, as well as Jordan's friendship with West.

From me:

In the Television Crossover Universe, there have been three men who have been the Flash.  The first Flash was Jay Garrick.  He debuted in 1938, and retired in 1951.  He was a member of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron.  His inclusion is confirmed from his appearances in All-Star Squadron, which had crossovers with the silent film Metropolis and with Indiana Jones.  He was also in Young All-Stars, which had several crossovers.  

The second Flash was Barry Allen.  He is brought in via the Super Friends.  That also includes the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure segments and the Legends of the Super-Heroes specials, as well as the Super Friends and Super Powers comics.  Since the Super Friends and comics versions of Barry were so similar, we can assume he likely debuted in 1956, and was a founding member of the Justice League of America in 1960.  He probably took on Wally West as his sidekick Kid Flash in 1959, and met the golden age Flash in 1961.  

The TVCU Barry probably died in the Crisis still, even though the TVCU version of the Crisis is a bit different.  But since the Super-Friends ended in 1986, he must have died in 1986, from his life perspective, even though the Crisis started in 1985 but affected many time periods at once.  

Wally has been demonstrated to be a member of the revived Justice League of America in Superman/Bugs Bunny and JLA versus Predator.  Although Wally was a teen in the late 1960s, he appears to be about 25 in the year 2000.  Since there is no TVCU presence of Wally between 1970 to 2000, and because there are actual comic stories involving Wally getting lost in time, I'm going to have to assume that Wally of the TVCU in the early 1970s in some untold adventure, got shot forward in time about 25 years.  Finding himself in this new time, he likely learned that the world had forgotten about costumed heroes and villains (due to the Time Trapper's tampering during the after effects of the Crisis), but eventually encountered other heroes during a new crisis, and learned from those who remember that Barry had died, and that history had presumed Wally dead in the 1970s.  With these revelations, Wally likely resigned himself to his fate and when the idea for a new JLA came up, and agreed to stay and participate as a founder of this new version of the team.  

Meanwhile, the 1990s Flash television series likely takes place in the TVCU2.  Currently, Arrow is about to spin-off another version the Flash.  Since Smallville (which had its own Jay and Bart Allen) took place in the TVCU3 (the Threebootiverse), I guess Arrow and its spin-offs would take place in the Quatro (TVCU4?).  Man of Steel is a part of an upcoming DC Cinematic Universe, which will also include a Flash, possibly in his own film.  And then there are pooploads (pardon my language) of animated versions.  The Justice League series takes place in the Looniverse 2 or Earth-12.  Young Justice is part of the Old 52.  And then DC has released tons of unrelated animated movies.

Come join the discussion about the Flash or other TVCU related topics here.

Read here for the Flash of Toobworld.

TVCU Mini-Chron:  (Note that this is not a full chron.  It's a only a partial, because, you know, quickie.  This is a sampling of the Flash TVCU crossovers.  If you know of any Flash crossovers involving television and film not mentioned in this blog, please feel free to comment below or in the discussion forum mentioned above.)

1888--JLA:  THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (DC COMICS)--The original story of the Island of Doctor Moreau is conflated with the Justice League of America.  This is an alternate universe that must be part of the Horror Crossover Multiverse.  Fortunately, it means I don’t have to explain more super-heroes in the HCU, especially ones created by Moreau!!!

Summer 1942--ALL-FLASH QUARTERLY # 5--"The Case of the 'Patsy Colt'"--The trio move to Keystone City where they encounter the Flash for the first time.  They would come back to Keystone City often to encounter the Flash many times in the coming years as well as to have their own misadventures there.

December 1960--THE FLASH--"The Madcap Inventors of Central City"--The trio take a trip to Central City where they encounter the new Flash.

Spring to Summer 1973--SUPER FRIENDS--Batman II (Dick Grayson) becomes an instructor along with Robin II (Bruce Wayne Junior), Superman (Kal-El/Clark Joseph Kent), Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to train new heroes Marvin and Wendy (and later Zan and Jayna).  They also work as part of the Justice League of America.  The team is nick-named the Super Friends, and later will be code named the Super Powers Team.  The team works secretly for the U.S. Government and the United Nations.  The team was actually founded in 1967 and disbanded in 1985.  It's entire roster over it's long run included:  Aquaman, Batman II, Robin II/Batman III, Robin III, Superman (Kal-El/Clark Joseph Kent), Wonder Woman, Atom II, Cyborg, Firestorm, Flash II, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Hawkgirl II, Hawkman II, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, El Dorado, Rima the Jungle Girl, Samurai, Green Arrow II, Plastic Man, Wendy Harris, Marvin White, Wonderdog, Zan, Jayna, Gleek, Captain Marvel I, Huntress II, Black Canary II.  See the end of this blog, where I will go through all the super-heroes (and villains I have brought in so far with little bio info on each.  I want to make clear that even though the shows for the most part appear just like you see them, in general the public isn't aware or clear of the activities of these heroes.  The primary foes of the Super Friends would be the Legion of Doom:  Bizarro, Black Manta, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Giganta, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Lex Luthor, Doctor Natas, the Riddler I, the Scarecrow II, Sinestro, the Toyman II, Mordru, and Dr. Sivana.  During their final years, they mostly fought Darkseid and his minions.  Additional bad guys they faced were:  Bizarra, Joe Chill, the Crime Syndicate of America, Felix Faust, Gentleman Ghost, Joker Junior, Mirror Master, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Penguin II, Royal Flush Gang, the Shark, Dracula, Frankenstein, Orville Gump, the Phantom Zone villains, and Zy-Kree.



July 2000--SUPERMAN & BUGS BUNNY--Mr. Mxyzptlk of the DC Universe (during the time that is best categorized as Superman's 16th year in costume) discovers the Looniverse and the Dodo.  Both the Dodo and Mxyzptlk create chaos for both realities, causing Bugs and his friends to work with the Justice League of America to stop the two mischief making god like beings.  (One of my favorites.  It worked incredibly well playing both groups of characters in their normal character.  The best parts were watching the Martian Manhunter meet Marvin the Martian, watching the Flash find that he's slower than both the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales, and watching Tweety single handedly take down a giant robot being controlled by the Toyman.  This series also revealed that the stories in the Looney Tunes cartoons that take place in the past, such as when Bugs and Yosemite Sam are knights, actually take place in the past, and that these are not the same characters from the present.  They are ancestors.)

2001--ELEKTRA WOMAN AND DYNAGIRL--The duo come out of retirement.  Aquaman appears and Flash , Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all mentioned as real people.

October 2007--SOUTH PARK--"Imaginationland"--The boys discover Imaginationland.  This is actually simply a portion of the Looniverse where Anomaly sometimes teleports real beings from the multiverse due to the nature of the Looniverse and it's Tulpa state.  Thus, we can consider this a major crossover event.  In Imaginationland, the Council of Nine (the true leaders of the land) are:

• Aslan the Lion (The Chronicles of Narnia)
• Gandalf the Grey (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
• Glinda the Good Witch (The Wizard of Oz)
• Jesus Christ (The Bible)
• Luke Skywalker (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope)  Characters from Star Wars have also appeared to interact with people from Quahog, Rhode Island and Springfield, but Bongo Universe often pulls people randomly through time and space and then returns them with no memory of what happened, so it's uncertain of these people were pulled from Imaginationland or from a galaxy far far away.
• Morpheus (The Matrix)
• Popeye (Popeye)
• Wonder Woman (DC Comics)
• Zeus (Greek Mythology)

The other good guys are:

• Astro Boy (Astro Boy)
• Baby Mario (Mario)
• Boo Berry
• Br'er Rabbit
• Calvin & Hobbes
• Care Bear (Care Bears)
• Captain Planet
• Cheetara (Thundercats)
• Cinderella (Cinderella)
• Count Chocula
• Crest Toothpaste
• Dorothy and Toto (The Wizard of Oz)
• Franken Berry
• Franklin (Franklin)
• Garuda (Buddhism/Hinduism)
• Gizmo (Gremlins)
• God (The Bible)
• Mad Hatter (Alice's Adventure in Wonderland)
• Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
• Link (The Legend of Zelda)
• Mayor of Imaginationland
• Mr. Clean
• Mr. Tummnus (The Chronicles of Narnia)
• Optimus Prime (Tranformers)
• Orko (He-man)
• Pacman (Pacman)
• Perseus (Greek Mythology)
• Peter Pan
• Puss in Boots (Shrek 2)
• Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
• Raggedy Ann and Andy
• Rapunzel
• Rockety Rocket
• Rocky and Bulwinkle (The Rocky and Bulwinkle Show)
• Ronald McDonald (McDonald's Restaurant)
• Santa Claus
• Scarecrow (the Wizard of Oz)
• Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)
• Smurf
• Smurfette
• Snarf (ThunderCats)
• Strawberry Shortcake (Strawberry Shortcake)
• Super Best Friends
• Super Mario (Mario series)
• Superman
• The Cowardly Lion (The Wizard of Oz)
• The Flash
• The Lollipop King
• The Scarecrow (The Wizard of Oz)
• Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)
• Twinkie the Kid (Mascot for Twinkies)
• Voltron (Voltron)
• Wild Thing (Where The Wild Things Are)
• Waldo (Where's Waldo?)
• Yoda (Starwars)

And the bad guys:

• Akuma/Gouki (Street Fighter II)
• Sagat (Street Fighter)
• Bluto (Popeye)
• Bowser (Mario series)
• Br'er Fox
• Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
• Cards (Alice's Adventure in Wonderland)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (Creature from the Black Lagoon)
• Darkseid (DC comic)
• Flying Monkeys (The Wizard of Oz)
• Frankenstein (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)
• Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
• Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda)
• Goro (Mortal Kombat)
• Headless Horseman (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)
• Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
• ManBearPig
• Orc (The Lord of the Rings)
• Predator (Predator series)
• Pinhead (Hellraiser)
• Sinistar
• The Woodland Critters
• The Minotaur (Greek Mythology)
• Venom (Spider-Man)
• Wario (Mario series)
• The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)
• The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia)
• The Wolfman
• Tripod (war of the worlds)
• Xenomorph (Alien series)

2270--STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES--Both sets of main characters are from the TVCU.  In the altered timeline that gets created when Vandal Savage/Flint captures Q, the Earth Empire of this "mirror" universe have a collection of time machines from DOCTOR WHO, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, THE FLASH, PRINCE OF PERSIA, STAR TREK, STARGATE, STAR TREK:  THE NEXT GENERATION, STAR TREK:  VOYAGER, VOYAGERS, RIP HUNTER, BACK TO THE FUTURE, THE TIME TUNNEL, TIME AFTER TIME, THE TIME MACHINE, and TIME COP.  

ALTERNATE REALITIES:  OK, now for the alternate Earths depicted on screen.  For an understanding of alternate realities in the TVCU, check out my intro blog simply titled "Television Crossover Universe".

EARTH-12 (DC ANIMATED UNIVERSE:

• 2001 to 2006--JUSTICE LEAGUE--A new League is formed.  The team is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, the Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl. 

And extra crossovers from Wikipedia:

• Comic book writers Cary Bates, Julius Schwartz, and Elliot S! Maggin have crossed over into their own comic books several times in the Justice League of America and The Flash comic books.

TVCU CREW REVIEW

Here's what the Crew has posted lately about the Flash.

Matt Hickman

the defenders of the earth are based in Central City just like the flash

For more Flash Lost Issues, click here.

James Bojaciuk

I bloody knew there had to be a reason I was slacking off on my Bill and Ted timeline. This is, as the link says, from the Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes #5. And there are more crossovers than I can name. But we have: The TARDIS Mark I (from Bill and Ted), the TARDIS Mark IV (from Doctor Who, and it is the Doctor's TARDIS), The Dagger from Prince of Persia, a Stargate, the Flash's old Cosmic Treadmill, The Time Machine from H.G. Well's The Time Machine, and the DeLorean from Back to the Future (which will be of special interest to Ted Gregory).

There are also a ton of time machines that I can't place. Since this crossover takes place in an alternate dimension caused by the villain's plan, it would seem that only time travelers were unaffected by the changeover into this universe. (Also, Tyler will get a kick out of this.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus.  Horror Crossover Universe! 

The DCU and TVCU are not part of the HCU, but there are still counterparts.

JLA:  THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (DC COMICS)

Release Date:  2002 (Setting is 1888)

Series:  JLA

Horror Crosses:  Island of Doctor Moreau

Non-Horror Crosses:  Justice League of America; Green Lantern; Black Lightning; Wonder Woman; The Flash; John Jones, Manhunter from Mars; Aquaman; Hawkman; Green Arrow

The Story:  The original story of the Island of Doctor Moreau is conflated with the Justice League of America.  

HCU Comments:  This is an alternate universe that must be part of the Horror Crossover Multiverse.  Fortunately, it means I don’t have to explain more super-heroes in the HCU, especially ones created by Moreau!!!

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 3: DANSE MACABRE “THE FAMOUS APE” (SHORT STORY BY CHRIS ROBERSON)

Release Date:  2007 (Setting is unknown and questionable)

Series:  Tales of the Shadowmen

Horror Crosses:  Island of Doctor Moreau

Non-Horror Crosses:  Nyoka the Jungle Girl; Babar; Curious George; The Flash; Zembla; A Report to an Academy; Kaspa the Lion Man; Ka-Zar; Jann of the Jungle; Tarzan; Bedtime for Bonzo; His Monkey Wife; Speed Racer; Magilla Gorilla; Grape Ape; Tintin

The Story:  Dr. Moreau continues his experiments in African jungles.

HCU Comments:  This story explains several anthropomorphic cartoon characters and seemingly more than usually intelligent animals as being the experiments of Moreau.  This story also unintentionally provides a lead-in to the Tarzan animated episode where Taran meets a descendant of Moreau in the jungle.  Several jungle heroes appear along with famous animals.  In regards to bringing in Hanna-Barbera characters, it may be true that the events of the original Magilla Gorilla and Grape Ape cartoons actually happened as seen on TV in the Horror Crossover Universe, but this doesn’t bring in all the rest of the Hanna-Barbera stock of cartoon characters.