Flash (Barry Allen)

The Flash is a superhero published by DC Comics. Created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, the Flash first appeared in Showcase #4 (October 1956). His debut appearance is widely considered to herald the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books. A former chemist, Barry Allen is known for being very slow and often late, much to the frustration of Iris West, his fiancée. While he was working late on a new case one night, a lightning bolt strikes and shatters a case full of chemicals which drenched all over Barry, knocking him out. He would then discover that the chemicals gave him super-human speed and equally enhanced reflexes, senses, and healing. He later dons a red costume with a lightning bolt in the chest. Calling himself the Flash after his childhood hero, he became Central City's protector against the criminal elements.