Flash I: Jay Garrick (Golden Age) (original) (raw)

[[The Original Flash - Who’s Who]](bigimages/jay1.jpg)

Real Name: Jason Peter “Jay” Garrick
Known Relatives: Joan Williams Garrick (wife), Major Arthur Williams (father-in-law, deceased?), unnamed adopted son (deceased)
Group Affiliation: Justice Society of America (founding member)
Past Group Affiliation: All-Star Squadron
Occupation: Research Scientist, part-time Director of Garrick Laboratories
Base of Operations: Keystone City, Kansas
Hair: Brown (white at temples)
Eyes: Blue
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)
Created By: Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert
Origin: 1938
Identity: Secret until late in Barry Allen’s career, now public knowledge (Flash Spectacular 1978).
Flashes: Next (Barry Allen)
See Also: Earth-2

College student Jay Garrick was investigating an experimental form of heavy water, when an accident released hazardous fumes that rendered him unconscious. After inhaling the fumes all night, he awoke in the hospital to discover he could move and react at superhuman speed. He became a crimefighter and a scientist in Keystone City—two roles that intersected surprisingly often, as his civilian life and research would often lead him into adventures as the Flash.

The Flash was a founding member of the Justice Society of America and fought in World War II as part of the All-Star Squadron. Eventually he retired from super-heroics and married his long-time sweetheartJoan Williams. (In recent years, Jay has realized that this decision kept him from brushing up against the speed force.) Early in their marriage, Jay and Joan adopted a baby who subsequently died of pneumonia. For decades Jay refused to talk about him, even to Joan or his teammates, but he has taken strongly to the role of mentor to younger generations of heroes. (Note: Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 states that Jay and Joan married much earlier, within months of him becoming the Flash.)

Retirement

The Garricks spent several years frozen when the Thinker, Fiddler, and Shade pulled Keystone City out of phase with the rest of the world, keeping the populace in a sleepwalking-like state. The second Flash, Barry Allen, discovered the forgotten city and awakened Jay, and the two heroes rescued the city together. While Jay was happy to let his successor take care of the twin cities, he would come out of retirement from time to time to work with Barry and his sidekick, Kid Flash...and of course theJSA. It was during this time that Jay Garrick publicly revealed his identity (Flash Spectacular 1978).

Shortly after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Flash and most of theJSA were trapped in limbo. Freed years later, they briefly re-formed the team. Old age was catching up on many of them, though. Many of the JSA heroes (and fortunately their spouses as well) had been kept relatively young by various spells they had encountered on their adventures. These were subsequently removed by the villain Extant. Jay had an extra advantage, though: the speed force itself has kept him young. In his mid-eighties, Jay is physically in his late forties.

Even without super-heroics, Jay stayed extraordinarily active. He continued to run Garrick Laboratories until it was bought out—at three times market value—by WayneTech, after which he stayed on as a part-time director. He’s picked up dozens of languages over the years, and reads nearly every magazine, newspaper, or journal on the planet.

Elder Statesman

Over the next few years, Jay would occasionally help out the third Flash,Wally West, when he faced threats too big for one hero to handle. He mainly took to the role of elder statesman among super-heroes. Eventually a new JSAwas formed with a mix of first- and second-generation heroes, and Jay decided to come completely out of retirement.

A year or two ago, Jay and Joan temporarily relocated to Denver in order to better treat Joan’s leukemia. While there, they took in Bart Allen (Impulse, later Kid Flash). With Joan’s cancer in remission, the Garricks and their young charge returned to Keystone.

Crisis

Infinite Crisis left Jay as the only remaining Flash†. He continued to protect Keystone City, powered by a metagene, but with the speed force inaccessible, he was limited to Mach 1 (Infinite Crisis #7, 2006). After it returned, he was back up to full speed (Justice Society of America v.3 #8, 2007).

Text by Kelson Vibber. Do not copy without permission.

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Art

Origin Tales

Profiles

Series Regular In...

During the 1940s, the Flash appeared in solo adventures in Flash Comics, Comic Cavalcade, All-Flash and the first few issues of All Star Comics. He was bumped from All Star when All-Flash launched, but returned a few years later.

Bronze Age Solo Flash Appearances

(Does not include reprinted Golden-Age stories.)

Significant Silver-Age & Bronze-Age Flash Appearances

Significant Legacy-Era Flash/Impulse Appearances

Significant One-Year-Later Flash Appearances

Significant Rebirth-Era Appearances

Notes

* Jay’s first appearance in Flash Comics #1 is reprinted in_The Golden Age Flash Archives Volume 1_ and The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told. See Golden-Age Reprints for a complete(?) list of reprinted stories.

Thanks to Doug Nasluchacz for the info on Jay and Joan’s son.

Note on Time Travel. Like other speedsters, Jay can travel through time using his speed. Without guidance, such as the Cosmic Treadmill, he cannot control where he ends up. There are, however, at least two Golden-Age stories in which Jay travels through time with perfect control. One appears in the Flash Comics Miniature Edition (1946), “The Criminal from Tomorrow!” (see Dmane and the 70th Century). The other is the unpublished JSA story, “The Will of William Wilson” (thanks to Marcelo Cury for pointing that one out). A third story, “A World With Two Futures” (All-Flash #23, 1946; see Karma), shows him traveling through time but overshooting his destination several times. These stories may no longer be in continuity, or Jay may have simply lost the ability as he grew older. (See the statement on Golden Age accuracy).

† One Year Later, Jay indicates that with the speed force gone, he is once again the fastest man alive. This may not be strictly true. Zoom II’s powers are based on stretching or shrinking time, simulating super-speed, and were clearly not affected. Several other speedsters have been seen during that year, though it is of course possible that Jay remains faster.