DC comics have introduced several speedsters in the world over a century. Barry Allen has been known as the fastest man alive. But is he the fastest speedster? Well, the world of speedster extends beyond him. Here is our take on the eight fastest members of the DC Universe.
1) Wally West
Wally West a.k.a Kid Flash was first introduced to comic book readers as Barry Allen’s sidekick. He has over the years surpassed Barry Allen in many of the comic series in claiming the title. This is because Wally has a lot more ease in controlling the Speed Force than Barry. Wally has also managed to easily break the time barrier that Barry struggled with.
2) Barry Allen
Barry Allen is by far the most well-known member of the family. In fact, he is the reason that there is a Flash family. It was through Barry Allen’s readers got to know the existence of the DC multiverse. In the iconic comic Flash of Two Worlds, readers were introduced to alternate realities and successfully reintroduced Jay Garrick into continuity. But when it comes to Allen being the fastest, that title he does not hold. Mainly due to the fact that he could never fully control the Speed Force like Wally West could.
3) Bart Allen
Bart Allen is the grandson of the Silver Age’s The Flash Barry Allen. He is a confounding character in the family as he has connections with Barry Allen, Eobard Thawne, and Captain Boomerang, and becoming a superhero in the past ( Bart became the superhero Impulse after travelling back in time to find a way to stop his fast aging) He has, however never proved himself to be the fastest, due in part to his unstable link to the Speed Force.
4) Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick was the first Flash. He attained super-speed powers after inhaling heavy water vapors from a lab accident. He was the Golden age to Silver Age Flash’s Barry Allen. As Garrick never attained the Speed Force like Barry Allen did, he cannot be fully accepted as being faster than other members Wally and Barry.
5) Jesse Quick
Jesse Quick a.k.a Jesse Chambers is the daughter of family members Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. She has the speed of her father and the super strength of her mother. She was once the partner of Wally West during his run as The Flash. Jesse obtained super-speed by speaking the speed formula, a formula linked to the Speed Force.
6. Savitar
Savitar is known as a supersonic jet pilot who gained his superpowers after his plane was struck by the lightening. He has the power to wear down the speed of others, but Wally West was unaffected by it. Despite having a huge cult following and the fact that he has not appeared that much in comics, Savitar appeared as a major archenemy in CW’s Flash season 3.
7. Max Mercury
Max Mercury first appeared in Quicksilver: National Comics # 5 in 1940 and as Max Mercury:
Flash (vol. 2) # 76 in1993. Writer Mark Waid stepped forward and reinvented the character as the times traveling speedster. We have not seen him in past years, but DC’s mini-series, Flashpoint, introduced him as Windrunner.
8. Zoom
Created by Geoff Johns and Scot Kollins, Zoom first appeared in The Flash: Secret Files & Origins #3 in 2002, as Hunter Zolomon. He possessed his superpowers during an instance when he tried to use the Cosmic Treadmill of Flash, which later possessed the power of time-altering superpowers.
