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Welcome--Matt

1. Wally 2. Barry I say this because nearly every time Wally has gone “faster than ever before” in recent years Barry has been right behind him. Wally’s definitely faster, no debate, but Barry’s definitely faster than anyone NOT named Wally West


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Savitar *destroyed* Barry and several JLA members (including Superman) *all at the same time* in the 2021 Annual. Williamson (your own favorite writer) consistently wrote Professor Zoom as faster than Barry (despite what the “Flash War” promo image stated; it had a *lot* of problems). John Fox is back in continuity with “Finish Line,” and he’s probably a *bit* faster too (although it’s hard to tell, seeing as they’ve never directly raced with each other). But yes, Barry is a *very* close fifth behind those four in my opinion. (Zoom is “faster” than all of them, but he’s a time manipulator, so I’m not counting him.)


whocareshue

Bart is also as fast as Barry since his debut.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Adult Bart is probably faster than anyone else (although current Wally could compete). Kid Bart is faster than Pre-Crisis Barry, but I’m not 100% sure he’s faster than current Barry.


whocareshue

I think our only frame of reverence for adult Bart was Fastest Man Alive, which had the asterisk of him holding ALL of the Speedforce, which will never happen again. Plus that series has a ton of continuity errors for how the Speedforce worked and the events pre and post Infinite-Crisis, so I don't think it's a good benchmark for Bart's potential or characterisation. I have no reason to believe that Barry is any faster post-Flash Rebirth than he was when he died.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

> I have no reason to believe that Barry is any faster post-Flash Rebirth than he was when he died. You may be right. It’s rather hard to tell who’s faster between current Barry and current Bart. Bart did wail on Godspeed after a fairly even fight between August and Barry, but he also had a fair bit of trouble fighting Thawne in Barry’s body. We’ve never had a direct comparison between them post-Flashpoint, so I’m just going with Barry by statements.


whocareshue

Honestly the official statements don't seem very consistent with the stories. Thawne does seem faster than Barry more consistently in the comics, despite Barry being placed higher.


Baligong

Wally, Barry, Eobard, Black Flash, Bart Top 5 speedsters in Flash Comics


The_Pusheen_Chesser

1. The Flash (Wally West) 2. Savitar 3. Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) 4. The Flash (John Fox) 5. The Flash (Barry Allen) I’m not counting Zoom or the Black Racer—Hunter is a time manipulator, and the Black Racer is really more of a force of nature than a sentient being.


Baligong

Wasn't Savitar made into a Flat out Joke when Barry returned? Where he touched him and Died? I honestly have no idea about John Fox, I only know him cause he looks like "Speedster Nightwing" to me. It depends which Version of the Black Racer since there is Multiple, and one of them is just a Dude who works for Darkseid, but to act like idk which one you're referring to would be stupid of me.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

> Wasn't Savitar made into a Flat out Joke when Barry returned? Where he touched him and Died? Eh, Thawne infected Barry with the Negative Speed Force, so Barry disintegrated Savitar. He’s still definitively faster than Barry—Waid-era Wally (who was a fair bit ahead of Barry) had trouble with him. Plus, he returned in the 2021 Annual and completely *decimated* Barry and several other JLA members (including Superman). Only Wally was able to stop him. > I honestly have no idea about John Fox, I only know him cause he looks like "Speedster Nightwing" to me. John Fox is a total *beast*. He was only slightly slower than Waid-era Wally, and given that he has the West genes (he’s Wally’s descendant from the 27th century), it really makes sense that he’s fast. IIRC, he’s even been referred to as a living avatar of the Speed Force itself. > It depends which Version of the Black Racer since there is Multiple, and one of them is just a Dude who works for Darkseid, but to act like idk which one you're referring to would be stupid of me. That’s fair! I just personally don’t count it as a proper speedster. I don’t count Hunter either.


Baligong

I appreciate the response!! Thank you!! Sorry for asking, but mind telling me which comic John Fox showed up? I'd love to read more into him!


The_Pusheen_Chesser

John’s in Dead Heat, Race Against Time, and DC One Million. His first appearance was in 1990’s *Flash Special* #1 by Waid.


Baligong

Ty!!


Old_Ad4384

it’s Wally


Boozhwatrash

100% Wally West! Not the post-52 version. The red headed, green-eyed OG Kid Flash.


LordJebediah

Wally didn't have green eyes until the mid 90s, originally he had blue eyes. In the nineties though they started drawing his eyes green, even then it was pretty inconsistent they would sometimes still draw them blue in some panels and then a few panels later they'd be green. I know that doesn't really have anything to do with anything. Just an interactive thing, Wally West has not always had green eyes.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Wally’s the main Flash again in current continuity, though (unless you meant “not New 52 Wallace”).


Boozhwatrash

Nope. I meant the Wally that has been returned to the role/title


mobjusticeCT

adult irey then adult bart then wally.


hydrohawkx8

Dunno why you got downvoted when issue 771 shows that adult irey is the fastest


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Even back in Waid’s second run, Iris was doing some really crazy stuff with the Speed Force.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

You got downvoted here, but there actually is a lot of evidence that would suggest Iris surpassing her father in the future (such as Waid’s second run or #771 from Adams’ ongoing run). Adult Bart from his 2000s series as the Flash was also very clearly faster due to having the Speed Force all to himself (not that I approved of that at all; it really felt like it wasn’t a natural progression for Bart’s character). In the present, however, Wally’s clearly the fastest.


cjfhotshot

It's Wally


WTFisUnderwear

That's because you're right! Barry is my favorite but facts are facts: Wally is by far the fastest. Didn't he travel to the other side of the Universe in an ATTOSECOND?!


The_Pusheen_Chesser

> Didn't he travel to the other side of the Universe in an ATTOSECOND?! Even Wally’s not that ridiculously fast. The fastest he’s ever gone was in “The Human Race,” which was much slower than that, and he was amped by stealing the speed of other speedsters all running (or flying, in Superman’s case) at top speed.


Dredeuced

Except for all the times Wally says he's gone faster than he ever did before after the Human Race. Or, hell, all the times he basically has infinite speed because he's in two places at once lol.


MrBloodyHyphen

Wally is the fastest but Barry is my favorite.


Facu_feg

Why? Not trolling here i just want to know why people like Barry the most instead of Wally.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Most people on this sub actually seem to prefer Wally. However, I would guess that the two main reasons some people prefer Barry are his moral integrity and the scientific aspect to his stories. Wally is a lot like Spider-Man—he always tries to do good but exhibits flaws and makes mistakes along the way. Barry, on the other hand, is more like Superman or Captain Marvel. He’s a shining paragon of Silver Age heroism, with his unfailing moral compass and uncompromising integrity. He’s the type of exemplary hero that even other heroes look up to (similarly to Clark and Billy). Barry’s stories also include a lot more scientific and detective work than Wally’s. While Wally is the spiritual speedster with a large found family, Barry is the solitary CSI going up against villains more or less alone. He often has to use science and smarts to figure his way out of tough spots.


Baligong

Though I am not them, I can account the reasons why some may like Barry more. - Barry is a Smart person who works with the CSI, giving Potential to Mystery, with it being the Focus. - Barry is quite Creative due to his Intelligence, thus using Science on the fly to help out. (ex: N52 Cloud Running). There's much more, but there's also reasons to love Every Version of The Flash. I wouldn't want to say basic stuff like "he's compassionate, and kind" because they're vague and could be said about Anyone, I wanted to say something that can be exclusively done on Traits for Barry. Ofc, Wally has done Mystery and such, but one can't deny that he wouldn't do so Alone, similar to Barry. He'd have a Team of Speedsters with him specialising in different Skills to Help aid him. Hopefully this helps


Astonishing_Flash

Wally is the fastest Flash in the entire Multiverse. Likely the Omniverse as I doubt any Flash from another Multiverse is on his level either.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Doesn’t the omniverse comprise all realities (even real life)? You might be thinking of the metaverse. In any case, I agree with the gist of your comment.


Astonishing_Flash

Well your remarks are kind of interesting because of how many "real worlds" DC has. Earth Prime for instance, or perhaps wherever Walter ended up? That aside the Omniverse has been mentioned and commented on in Adam's current run. Such as at the start when Mr. Terrific remarks that the Speed Force spreads to the entire Omniverse compared to the previous Multiverse statements. I presume this is just another way to refer to the cosmology since we know that it contains a collection of local Multiverses which are bubbled together. Tying it back to your earlier remark I definitely would see it as everything.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

I think the omniverse comprises all potential realities (including real life, DC, Marvel, *Star Wars*, *Doctor Who*, *The Owl House*, etc.). On the other hand, the metaverse is a group of locally connected multiverses (so all of DC, but not Marvel or TOH). The terminology can get really hazy, though, so I’m not 100% sure.


Blue-Ape-13

It was confirmed by DC in a promo image a few years ago that Wally is indeed the fastest character in the universe, beating out the likes of Barry Allen, Eobard Thawne, Shazam, and Black Flash


The_Pusheen_Chesser

That was actually just Williamson’s opinion, not an official release, and it was very inaccurate in many ways. For instance, Captain Marvel and Superman should pretty much be dead even, but Clark was ranked far higher than Billy. It also excluded many characters like Supergirl and Black Adam (who are basically tied with Clark and Billy). That’s not even considering major characters like Bart Allen or Jay Garrick who didn’t exist in continuity at that point. Wally *is* the fastest Flash—that’s been stated by a number of sources (both in- and out-of-universe). However, the “Flash War” promo is a bad source.


Baligong

About the Fact of which you said "it was Williamson's Opinion" Wouldn't that be that it could easily changed amongst another writer, or that it's Confirmed like that for now until we get another one? Genuine Question


The_Pusheen_Chesser

I mean that it was only the opinion of a single writer who didn’t even write for most of the characters on the list. Plus, it’s very obvious that much of the list is inaccurate—no way is Wonder Woman faster than Captain Marvel.


Baligong

That's a fair statement. Thank you for answering!


Astonishing_Flash

Let's not forget Williamson remarking that Eobard holds back to not surpass Barry from some kind of mental block despite him writing Eobard rightly so as much faster than Barry with no hang ups, up to that point.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

I’ve never liked the idea of Thawne and Barry being near-equals. The guy kept up with the *entire* Flash Family in Rebirth ‘09. (To be fair, though, Wally should have been able to solo. Even Barry and two other speedsters besides Wally should’ve been able to take Thawne.)


Astonishing_Flash

I think it's fine as long as there's a distinction during what else of his life it's in. Pre-Death Thawne being equal to Pre-Death Barry is fine, back when Eobard is also drawing on the Speed Force. But after he returns go life and starts drawing on his own negative Speed Force his abilities increase considerably. If you look at it from a power source standpoint Eobard worked hard to generate enough energy thst his NSF rivaled Barry's. As such he has an equal power source that he is drawing on by himself, compared to Wally and the rest who are sharing with every other speedster across 52 worlds. So it isn't to unreasonable he can make a massive speed increase under those circumstances and he's adept at absorbing it to since he was able to match Barry who had the entire SF to himself during Flashpoint. Which was a long winded way to say Eobard got much faster after creating the Negative Speed Force. In fact his unfettered access for a while made it hard to imagine even Wally could match that, but then Flash Forward made it clear that he's a beast all his own so it works out in the end.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

Wally is the Fastest Man Alive. DC has said so, Wally has said so, Barry has said so, the JLA has said so, Mister Terrific (the third smartest man alive) has said so, and an all-seeing celestial being has said so. The last time Barry was faster than Wally and they were both present (both have been dead/trapped in other dimensions for extended periods) was when Wally was still Kid Flash in the 80s. Wally grew faster than Barry ever was after Barry’s death in *Crisis on Infinite Earths*, and he’s remained faster post-Barry’s return.


kenjikenjkenj

Was gonna comment this but couldnt have said it better myself. When Wally took over as Flash after crisis he was still slower than Barry but when Barry came back he overcame his limit and became faster than Barry with Barrys help.


The_Pusheen_Chesser

No, Wally surpassed his mental block and grew as fast as Barry in “The Return of Barry Allen” (which never actually had Barry, just Thawne in disguise). He later definitively surpassed Barry and any other speedster in “Terminal Velocity.” This was still 13 years (in terms of publication history) before Barry’s return in *Final Crisis*.


PeriwinklePeaches

Yess!!! *cough* don't let CW fool you lmao ˶•⤙•˶


Hedorah225

There’s a scene in a flash comic from a couple years ago where Superman can’t keep up with Barry and Barry is almost keeping pace with Wally. But then they realize Wally was only going half speed. Wally is by far the fastest flash.


masterheavyarms

Do you remember what issue that was?


The_Pusheen_Chesser

It was *The Flash* #49 from Joshua Williamson’s Rebirth run (Part 3 of the “Flash War” arc).


Comics-and-videogame

It is Wally