Great article on The Flash
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-flash-is-the-best-dc-superhero-2015-5#ixzz3b6qV8hfo
This week on The CW, “The Flash” wrapped up a
stellar first season, ending a string of
bright, colorful, and unabashedly fun episodes with an
emotional finale and a hell of a cliffhanger. Like it’s titular hero, “The Flash”
bolted out of the gate at top speed, with remarkably few stumbles in its freshman year. It also gave viewers a taste of something longtime DC Comics readers have known for years: That while he isn’t a part of the famed trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, The Flash is secretly the most important character in the entire DC Universe.
It isn’t even really a matter of opinion — sure, personal taste will dictate how much you
enjoy any given Flash story, but the character’s importance is about as objective as you can get in comic books. It was The Flash that comics creators used to introduce or popularize a number of ideas that are now integral to the DC Universe, and comics as a whole. It's quite possible to chart the history of DC Comics, and to a lesser extent, mainstream superhero comics, using the Flash as a measuring stick.
The Flash made his debut in January 1940, the third of DC’s most-recognizable characters to be created in the Golden Age of comics, coming after Batman but just before Green Lantern. He was also an entirely different character than the one you might know from the current main “Flash” comic being published by DC, on the CW TV series, or the upcoming movie set to star Ezra Miller. Those are all about another Flash — Barry Allen. We’ll get to him in a moment.
The first Flash, however, was a guy named Jay Garrick.
An early issue of Flash Comics.
While his origin was different and his costume goofier than his more recognizable successor, the important part is pretty much the same: He’s a superhero who runs really fast. You don’t really have to read his stories unless you’re a die-hard Flash fan and a completist — most Golden Age comics aren’t all that great — but there are two things that are important about him. The first is a fun bit of trivia — he becomes a part of the first superhero team ever, the Justice Society of America. The second, however, is much more interesting.
The first reboot in comics
In 1956, DC Comics did something crazy: They introduced an entirely new Flash in their variety book “Showcase
,” issue
#4.
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<snip!>
Flash meets Flash
When Barry Allen took over as the Flash, he was originally intended to replace Jay Garrick entirely. After his first appearance in “Showcase” was deemed a success and he was placed in his own book, “The Flash,” the new series picked up where the Jay Garrick-starring “Flash Comics” left off — with issue #105.
Funny story, though — Jay Garrick wasn’t entirely wiped from existence. Instead, he was a comic book character that Barry Allen read, a character that Allen would name himself after.
And then they meet.
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What does this have to do with The Flash? Everything. Barry Allen plays a crucial role in “Crisis,” one that leads to his heroic death at the beginning of the miniseries’ final act. It’s a bit of a poetic, if not tragic, end for the character: The hero whose origin marked the start of the Silver Age would die at its end.
In doing so, Allen and his story would solidify the one thing that most differentiates DC from its chief competitor, Marvel.
It’s all about legacy
<snip!>
Which brings us back to “The Flash." While it’s not entirely without fault, the CW’s “Flash” series is bridging this gap, bringing a sense of
unbridled joy and heroism to the small-screen adventures of Barry Allen. It is a
complete breath of fresh air, and totally embraces it’s often-campy comic-book roots where other superhero adaptations would have played them down. Its first season concluded in a way that every superhero story should end:
With the feeling that anything could happen next.
It’s been a long time since a live-action superhero story has been able to pull that off so effortlessly.
Once again, The Flash has heralded a watershed moment for comic books.
Run, Barry, run. 
