The Black Flash is a fictional

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. Created by writers

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

and Mark Millar, and artist

Ron Wagner Ron J. Wagner is an American comics artist who has drawn for titles such as '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', '' The Punisher'', '' Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja'', and '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight''. He is also an animation storyboard ...

, the character had cameos in ''The Flash'' vol. 2 #138 (June 1998), before appearing in full in ''The Flash'' vol. 2 #141 (September 1998).

Fictional character background

Original depiction

The Black Flash essentially fulfills the same role as

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

for those who possess super-speed in the DC Universe, returning the speedster to their power source: the

Speed Force A Speedster is a character, primarily in superhero comics, whose powers primarily relate to superhuman speed (also known as superspeed). Primary abilities shared by all speedsters include running at speeds far in excess of human capability (to var ...

. It is reportedly seen before the deaths of Barry Allen and

Johnny Quick Johnny Quick are two fictional DC Comics characters, each with the power of superhuman speed. The first was a superhero who first appeared in '' More Fun Comics'' #71 (September 1941) during the Golden Age. The other was a supervillain, an evil ve ...

. Max Mercury, having had several near-death experiences, has also seen the Black Flash. It came for

Wally West Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash (DC Comics character), Flash. His power consists mainly of speedster (fiction), superhuman speed. ...

to draw back to the Speed Force, but instead took

Linda Park Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life Park was born in South Korea and ...

. Having seen portents of Wally's death, Max Mercury and Jesse Quick intercepted Wally before reaching the museum where Linda was waiting, with Linda thus being struck by the lightning that was meant to kill Wally. It later returns to try to take Wally again, freezing time except for those who possess a connection to the Speed Force. Max Mercury,

Jay Garrick Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first superhero known as Flash (DC Comics character), the Flash. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. ...

, and Jesse Quick all attempt to assist Wally by distracting the Black Flash; Wally finally defeats the Black Flash by racing the creature to the end of time, to a point where Death would have no meaning, causing the creature to dissipate. The Black Flash appears to Bart Allen when the Flash loses his powers while battling the Rogues at the Getty Center. Despite a clash with

Inertia Inertia is the idea that an object will continue its current motion until some force causes its speed or direction to change. The term is properly understood as shorthand for "the principle of inertia" as described by Newton in his first law ...

(another possible candidate for the Black Flash), Bart is killed shortly thereafter by the panicked Rogues when it appears Bart would win, even without powers. Most recently, the Black Flash is revealed to represent the dark aspect of the Speed Force, which is responsible for the empowerment of Wally's children. His connection to death is limited to those connected to the Speed Force. While an issue of ''

Captain Atom Captain Atom is a superhero appearing in American comic books, first in the 1960s by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. Captain Atom has existed in three basic incarnations. Publication history Captain Atom was crea ...

'' suggests Death of the Endless, the Black Racer, and Nekron are all aspects of the same force, Neil Gaiman (creator of Death of the Endless) disagrees with this idea, stating that his creation is the ultimate personification of Death. During the '' Final Crisis'', Wally theorizes that the Black Racer pursuing himself and Barry is in fact the Black Flash. A charred corpse, appearing to be the Black Flash, was found in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

by two boys in '' The Flash: Rebirth''. When the Force Barrier was destroyed and the other forces were unleashed, the Black Flash was sent to hunt down the conduits of the unleashed forces. The Black Flash arrives in the Speed Lab within the Flash Museum and attacks Steadfast, the Still Force avatar. After

Hunter Zolomon Hunter Zolomon, otherwise known as Zoom and the Reverse-Flash, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The second character to assume the " Reverse-Flash" mantle, he serves as the archnemesis of Wally West an ...

(now as "The Flash") takes Barry into the timestream (called the "Forever Force") built by the Speed Force, the Black Flash continues to chase them in order to kill them (in the hopes of healing the Speed Force). Hunter sacrifices himself to the Force Barrier in order to finally heal the Speed Force and keep the Black Flash from going after Steadfast and Fuerza, as he had already killed Psych. Due to the sacrifice, the Forever Force broken down trapping the Black Flash inside, while Barry escaped.

Barry Allen

Later when discovering the body, Barry Allen is transformed into the next Black Flash, but the state is reversed. It's revealed that Professor Zoom has altered the Speed Force which results in Barry's Black Flash transformation.

Eobard Thawne

The broken-necked corpse of

Eobard Thawne Eobard Thawne, otherwise known as the Reverse-Flash and Professor Zoom, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in '' The Fl ...

is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Equipped with a black power ring, Thawne declared himself as the Black Flash, until Thawne's corpse is brought back to life.

Other versions

The '' Ame-Comi Girls'' universe version of Black Flash is Jesse Quick.

In other media

Television

An adapted depiction of the Black Flash appears in TV series set in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

. * Introduced in '' The Flash'', this version was originally Hunter Zolomon / Zoom (portrayed by

Teddy Sears Edward M. Sears (born April 6, 1977) is an American actor, known for his roles as Richard Patrick Woolsley on the TNT legal drama series ''Raising the Bar'', Patrick on the first season of FX anthology horror drama ''American Horror Story'' ( ...

) transformed in the second season's end by Time Wraiths to serve as the Speed Force's Grim Reaper-esque enforcer by hunting down speedsters who attempt to change the timeline and erase them from existence. In the third season, the Black Flash is sent to erase

Savitar Savitar may refer to: *Savitr, or Savitar, a Vedic solar deity associated with the Aditya class of divinities *Savitar (comics), a supervillain published by DC Comics *Savitar, a character from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series *''Savitar'', th ...

before the latter can enact a plan to be a god, only to be destroyed by

Killer Frost Killer Frost is a name used by several female supervillains and superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics: Crystal Frost, Louise Lincoln, and Caitlin Snow. Each different individual in the DC Universe assuming the Killer Frost ...

. * Throughout the second season of ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American time travel superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, who are also executive producers a ...

'', the Black Flash pursues a time aberration of Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash to erase and correct the current timeline. After the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univer ...

and locate the

Spear of Destiny A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

to change reality and succeed, Thawne traps the Black Flash until Sara Lance undoes this, allowing the Black Flash to erase Thawne from existence before returning to the Speed Force.

Video games

* The Black Flash appears in '' Justice League Heroes: The Flash''. When the player dies, Wally West / Flash is chased by the Black Flash. After each death, escaping the Black Flash gets increasingly difficult. * The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Black Flash appears as an alternate skin for

Barry Allen / Flash Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...

in '' Injustice: Gods Among Us''. * The Black Flash appears in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''. * The Black Flash appears in '' DC Legends''.

Miscellaneous

* A demonic Black Flash (also known as the Speed Demon and Black Racer) appears in ''

Smallville Season 11 ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/Gough ...

''. It seeks out

Impulse Impulse or Impulsive may refer to: Science * Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time * Impulse noise (disambiguation) * Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...

and

's souls, but comes into conflict with the former and Superman. Due to being the fastest between Bart and Garrick, the Black Flash primarily focuses its attention on Impulse until the latter sacrifices himself to destroy it. This goes on to inspire Garrick to come out of retirement and form the

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gai ...

. ''Smallville Season 11'' #12

References

External links

Profile on Black Flash
{{Grant Morrison Characters created by Grant Morrison Characters created by Mark Millar Comics characters introduced in 1998 DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Fictional characters who can manipulate time Fictional monsters Fictional personifications of death Zombies in comics Flash (comics) characters