Reverse-Flash
The Reverse-Flash is the name of several characters in the DC Universe.
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Reverse-Flash (Golden Age)
- Main Article: Edward Clariss
Edward Clariss was a chemistry professor at the university attended by Jay Garrick. He believed he had recreated the formula that gave Garrick his speed. Bitter at the rejection of his research claims by the scientific community, Clariss became a criminal, wearing a darker version of the Flash's outfit. The effects of his version of the formula, however, proved to be temporary and he was defeated when it was expended. (Flash Comics v1 #104)
A battle between the Rival and the Flash several months after the former's first appearance. Now that he has inexplicably regained super-speed, Clariss reaches light speed during the fight and vanishes into the Speed Force. After the Justice Society of America's reformation 50 years later, Johnny Sorrow retrieves Clariss from the Speed Force and invites him to join the Injustice Society. Driven insane in the Speed Force, the Rival races across the country on a killing spree. The Flash realizes that the Rival's path across the country spells out Clariss's name and the final murder victim will be Joan; Jay absorbs the Rival's speed before he can kill Joan. (JSA v1 #16)
Reverse-Flash (Silver Age)
- Main Article: Eobard Thawne
Origin
Eobard Thawne was a native of the year 2463 where he knew of the historical hero known as the Flash and admired him but hated him as well. This was because he saw him as a force of law whilst Thawne himself was the reverse. He came to admire the superhero's super-speed with him operating as an ordinary thief with imagination where due to his scientific leanings meant that he was known to the police and fellow crooks as the Professor. Thawne decided to make his admiration of the Flash's super-speed a reality and used technology to travel back to the 20th century in order to get a copy of his suit. This was because he believed it contained super-speed wave patterns prevent in it that he could replicate to give himself similar powers using 25th century science. Once done, he gained super-speed abilities and fashioned a suit that was the reverse of the Flash's whereupon he adopted the name Professor Zoom. (The Flash v1 #139)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new timeline of events was created as a result of changes in history. He was a native of the 25th century where he was an only child and his parents died in a tragic accident. He had no family or friends but became a fan of the Flash with him studying the historical records of his idol. Thawne wanted to be like his hero and managed to find a time capsule with a Flash costume where he even managed to harness residual traces of the Speed Force from Barry Allen's old suit to give himself speedster powers. He attempted to become a hero by becoming the Flash of the 25th century. (The Flash v5 #25)
Reverse-Flash (Hunter Zolomon)
- Main Article: Hunter Zolomon
Origin
Hunter Zolomon was a male human who came to be an F.B.I. profiler in the modern age and was part of the Metahuman Behavioral Science Unit. Looking to prove himself, his success led to him becoming overconfident in his skill as a Metahuman criminal expert. Zolomon joined a squad consisting of Ashley and her father in Kansas City that were stuck on a case involving six people electrocuted on rooftop and thrown off rooftops. Hunter managed to determine that the culprit was Lyle Corley aka the Clown who had been killing former members of a small circus in Central City. They managed to track down the culprit to his hideout and Hunter determined that Corley had a child complex with him not ready to face the consequences of an adult life. Thus, he concluded that the Clown was not armed and that they should rush in with Ashley's father agreeing to the tactic. However, upon entering, they found Corley with a gun who killed Ashley's father and shot Zolomon in the leg. Ashley killed the Clown but the incident scarred Hunter for the rest of his life with his mistake never forgiven. The F.B.I. let him go and Ashley filed for divorce as she blamed him for the death of her father. (The Flash v2 #197) Moving to Central City, he came to befriend the Flash Wally West but came to be crippled in the line of duty. Zolomon attempted to convince the Flash to use the Cosmic Treadmill and avert the accident that crippled Zolomon. Despite his pleas, West refused and commented on the dangers posed by affecting the timestream with Hunter angry at his friend's response. Afterwards, he broke into the Flash Museum in order to access the Cosmic Treadmill in order to use it to travel back in time to change history himself but his tampering led to an explosion. (The Flash v2 #196) The explosion destroyed the museum with Hunter being taken from the debris and moved to the hospital once again with people believing that he was an innocent bystander caught in the incident. (The Flash v2 #198) After the incident, he came to find himself at the hospital where he was still determined to change his past. It was then that he learnt that he had gained powers from the explosion involving the Cosmic Treadmill. This led to Hunter setting himself up as the opposite and reverse of the Flash in an effort to make Wally West a better hero. He believed that only through tragedy that Wally was able to achieve his true potential and he adopted the supervillain identity of Zoom. (The Flash v2 #197)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Reverse-Flash (Thaddeus Thawne)
- Main Article: Thaddeus Thawne
Origin
Thaddeus Thawne
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Reverse-Flash (Daniel West)
- Main Article: Daniel West
Daniel West was the youngest son of William West who came to be an abusive father after the death of his wife. Whilst growing up, Daniel came to fall into a life of crime and by adulthood he crashed the car he was driving into a Speed Force battery that was being teleported out of Mirror World. The resultant explosion that brought him back to the real world had led to pieces of the train track where the Speed Force battery was located to meld into his body but Daniel survived. He had also been transformed from the incident into a speedster with a tie to the Speed Force. (Flash v4 #23.2)
As the Reverse-Flash, he looked to gather enough power to go back in time and needed to siphon this power from those touched by the Speed Force. Thus, he travelled into Iron Heights prison in order to steal the power from Marissa Rennie which killed her in the process. (Flash v4 #20) He then tracked down the fleeing Floyd Gomez and similarly murdered him to drain his body of the power. (Flash v4 #21) The Reverse-Flash then learnt that noted Central City scientist Darwin Elias had been collecting Speed Force energy in his laboratory with West targeting it. He then proceeded to drain the power with Elias attempting to stop him but the Reverse-Flash reversed time to escape being shot. Before he could snap Darwin's neck, the Flash intervened leading to the first encounter between the pair. (Flash v4 #22)
Overview
In appearance, the Reverse-Flash was a persona assumed by an individual who stood in opposition to the superhero known as the Flash. Similar to the Flash, the persona of the Reverse-Flash tended to have superspeed abilities and their costume tended to be an inversion of the hero's version. (The Flash v1 #139)
Notes
- The concept of the Reverse-Flash was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino where it made its first appearance in The Flash v1 #139 (September, 1963).
- In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #74 (1967), Bizarro on Bizzaro World sought to create his own version of the Justice League with the use of his duplicator. During his attempt to make one of the Flash, the process created a more human looking version with a yellow costume and a gavel symbol on the chest whose intense vibrations could cause objects to heat up as well as catch on fire. The Bizarro-Flash was seen as imperfect and banished from the planet where he was sent towards Earth where he was awoken after a kiss from Lois Lane. He did not reveal his origins and simply referred to himself as Hero whilst he and Lois attempted to form a relationship. However, his Bizarro nature caused him to reach to situations in unpredictable ways before Superman uncovered his origins. The process that created him then completed where he was transformed into a Bizarro whereupon he left Lois Lane rather than pursue a relationship with her.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, the Reverse-Flash identity appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse.
Appearances
- The Flash v1: (1963)
- The Flash v2:
