Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
Pre-Crisis
Jay Garrick
Flash came upon honest officer Mike Moran arresting crooks Butch and Bully, but shockingly their personalities had been reversed. Mike refused to rat on the crooks, and Butch and Bully insisted on turning themselves in. Flash took them all to jail for their own good until he could get to the bottom of the mystery. He found that his new friends were the Three Dimwits had unwittingly invented a Personality Ray. Flash was amazed by their invention, but worried about the implications of its use. He watched them use it on a husband and wife, and a socialite and chauffer, and decided that he had no right to interfere in other people’s decisions to alter their personalities, but the Personality Ray still did not sit right with him. Underworld figures Big Louie and Trigger Tom suddenly regretted turning down the Three Dimwits as hired help, and tried to recruit them. Flash sent them scurrying, and warned the Dimwits to stop getting mixed up in criminal enterprises. He sent them on a lecture tour at Columbine University, NYC to keep them occupied. Their lecture was interrupted by their clients, all of whom had decided that the grass was not greener. Louie and Tom took thew opportunity of the distraction to steal the Personality Ray. Flash, caught them, but worried he’d have to keep watching over the Dimwits his entire life, so he had his civilian identity’s girlfriend Joan Williams lend him her social case Red Grant, who operated the Personality Ray to give the Dimwit’s a bit of Flash’s bravery, morals and courage. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what he was doing, and a full personality switch took place. Louie and Tom stole the Ray again, and switched D.A. Belmonts’ personality with Louies’. They then switched the entire Keystone police forces’ personalities with the crooks in lockup, and set them loose on the city. Red helped switch Flash and the Dimwits back to their proper personalities, and Flash recruited the criminals of Keystone jails to jail the police that had their personalities. The Dimwits acquired a measure of bravado, and helped the Flash in his heroics. The Flash used the Personality Ray to switch everyone back to normal, and then smashed it so it could never be used for nefarious purposes again. Winky wanted to reinvent it, so the other Dimwits clobbered him, telling him it was too much of a headache. (All-Flash v1 #6)
Jay Garrick, accompanied by Joan, traveled to the Barnacle Beach Summer Resort to run chemical tests on the seawater, and they ran into the Three Dimwits, who’d opened up a hot dog stand. They admitted business was poor because of how far away from the beach they were located, and they’d foolishly chosen their location so they wouldn’t have to compete with vendors on the beach. Jay mentioned that seawater contained gold, and the Dimwits decided to become prospectors, bringing pans to the seashore. Noddy fell in the water and landed on a chest full of gold, but he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings because he was panicked, so when he surfaced he assumed his pan was full of gold from the seawater. He showed his discovery to Jay, who recognized the gold pieces as belonging to a collection heisted by criminal Spots Cordon years ago. Spots had been released from prison, and planned on collecting his underwater stash, but was furious seeing Noddy with some of his coins. He threatened Noddy, but Jay went into action as the Flash. Flash fought off the crooks while the Three Dimwits fled, but the scarlet speedster slipped on a rock and cracked his head. Spots and his gang found the Dimwits hiding on their rowboat and tied them up, before boarding their scow to recover the loot. Flash recovered and sped to the scow, and when the crooks jumped overboard Flash showed them he could swim as fast as he could run and quickly knocked them all out with a few well placed punches. (Flash Comics v1 #70)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis of Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Jay Garrick
In the mid-1940s, the Flash the JSA and Scarab came to Sandy's rescue when the lad was kidnapped by Johnny Sorrow. Sorrow opened a gateway to the Subtle Realms and unleashed the King of Tears on Earth, then disappeared. The Spectre devoured the King then cried him out into a vial created by Green Lantern I, trapping the King's essence. (JSA v1 #18)
At the end of World War II, the Flash and the Justice Society visited Auschwitz and learned the full extent of the Nazi's genocide. Spectre raged, and wanted to destroy every German in sight, but the Justice Society talked him down, telling him he had to rely on the justice of the Nuremberg war trials. (Spectre v3 #20)
He was out with Wally West when the pair confronted Abra Kadabra who had recently escaped from Iron Heights after regaining his powers. Citizen Abra then conducted a stage show in Metropolis where his powers overwhelmed the two speedsters with Superman entering into the fray as they were in Metropolis. During this time, Abra Kadabra infected Wally West with a 'curse' forcing him to run where he was slowly being aged to death. This forced Jay and Superman to participate in a race to catch up with him to save his life. In the race, Jay ended up leeching off Superman's speed in order to catch up with Wally and to transfer the 'curse' to himself as he felt the Flash was needed to stop Abra Kadabra. However, this was all part of Abra Kadabra's scheme as he then magnified the lightning field of the speedster to transport all of them to the 64th century where the villain intended to acquire new high-tech implants for himself that helped him simulate his magic. (DC First: Flash/Superman v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
During World War II, he aided in the war effort where the President of the U.S. where he was later recruited alongside the Ray Happy Terrill for a mission into the Philippines to recover the Spear of Destiny. Whilst in the field, they came to be captured by Nazi agents headed by an operative name Parsifal who had the ability to shutdown another person's powers. This saw Garrick and Terrill being captured and interrogated where Happy believed that the pair of them would die. It was then that a bolt of lightning struck Jay Garrck where he came to be inhabited by the mind of Wally West from the future. He helped the Ray escape captivity where they continued their mission in stopping Adolf Hitler from acquiring the Spear of Destiny but had discovered that the Fuhrer had become empowered by the lightning with superpowers as well. Working together, they came to defeat Hitler and stop the Spear from falling into Nazi hands where the Ray saved the Flash from an explosion with Garrick's mind being returned to his body. (The Flash v1 #770)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Similar to other speedsters, he was able to steal the momentum of another person and compounding their kinetic energy with his own thus giving him a speed boost. A result of this process meant that the other person slowed down as their speed was taken away from them. (DC First: Flash/Superman v1 #1)
Notes
- The Jay Garrick Flash was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert where he made his first appearance in Flash Comics v1 #1 (January, 1940).
Alternate Versions
- In Earth 2 v1 #1 (2012), an alternate version of Jay Garrick appeared in the reborn Earth-2 as part of the new Multiverse. Jay Garrick dated a woman named Joan during college, but when they graduated she dumped him. She had a lucrative job offer from Tyler-Chem on the west coast, and said their time together was fun, but she was destined for big things and he was aimless, a screw-up and without a future. Jay felt wounded, but admitted to himself that she was right. That night he was drinking beers in a field when the Roman god Mercury crashed to earth nearby and told Jay that the world was in great peril and needed a hero. Mercury had aided the Wonders of the World during the Darkseid War, but was later captured by the new threat to Earth 2, and it took most of his power and lifeforce to escape. Mercury got annoyed that Jay kept peppering him questions and asking if he needed to be taken to the hospital. Mercury curtly told him that he was dying and the world would need new Wonders to rise up and save the planet. Jay tried to persuade him that he was a loser and a nobody, and he should pick someone else to be a hero, but Mercury was having none of it. Mercury passed off the last of his power to Jay before dying, transforming him into the Flash. The World Police flew overhead in a helicopter and demanded Flash surrender to them, so the new hero ran, making himself into a wanted man. He wandered around Michigan testing his new powers, saving a couple from Apokorats left behind after the Darkseid War. Afterwards Flash ran so fast, that after he brought himself to a halt he found himself in Poland. World Army metahuman Hawkgirl was waiting for him there and leveled a a hybrid crossbow/firearm at him. Flash asked Hawkgirl if she was an angel because she had wings, and she thought him quite naive. She was impressed with his power, but wanted to see if he could fight as well, and tested him in combat. Flash was still unfamiliar with his powers, and had no combat training, so she easily defeated him. She promised that she didn’t mean him harm, she just needed to test him, but Flash was skeptical. Hawkgirl was taken aback when the forest around them started withering and dying.
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, Jay Garrick did not appear in the 1990 live-action television series but was alluded to in the setting. This version was the older brother of Barry Allen who was named Jay Allen where he was portrayed by actor Tim Thomerson. After Jay was murdered, Barry came to be inspired to become a superhero leading to him adopting the masked identity as the Flash.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Jay Garrick appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Andy Milder.
- In Young Justice, Jay Garrick appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Geoff Pierson.
- In The Flash, Jay Garrick appeared in the live-action Arrow television series where he was portrayed by actor John Wesley Shipp.
Films
- In The Flash, Jay Garrick as the Flash made a cameo appearance in the setting of the 2023 live-action film.
- In Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One, Jay Garrick was referenced in the setting of the 2024 animated film.
Video games
- In Injustice 2, Jay Garrick appeared as an alternate premier skin for The Flash in the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Travis Willingham. He appeared in The Flash's ending when completing the story mode for the character.
Appearances
- Flash Comics: (1940)
- The Flash v1:
- The Flash v2:
- JSA v1:
- DC First: Flash/Superman v1:
- Earth-2 v1:
External Links
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