- This article is about the first Flash, Jay Garrick. For the second, see Barry Allen.
Jay Garrick (b. August 27, 1918) is the original Flash. He was a member of the Justice Society of America. After decades of retirement, he has joined the Justice League. He is Bart Allen's legal guardian.
Physical appearance[]
Jay Garrick is an elderly yet a remarkably well-preserved Caucasian male with brown hair and blue eyes. Despite graying around the temples, he still retained most of his original hair color.[4]
While active as the Flash, he wore a simple uniform, consisting of blue pants, a red long-sleeved shirt emblazoned with an upside down lightning bolt, red boots with small stylized wings, and a tin doughboy helmet that also sported stylized wings on the side.[5]
Personality[]
Jay is friendly, kind and caring man, devoted to his wife Joan. He is willing to put his life on the line to protect others, donning his old uniform at a moment's notice to help[6]. However, he is also fiercely protective, worried about Bart operating with the Outsiders.
History[]
Early life[]
Jay was born on August 27, 1918.[1] He met his future wife, Joan, before he became the Flash, and immediately knew she was the one for him and made his move quickly.[7]
Jay gained the power of super speed in a freak lab accident at Lampert laboratories. He became the Flash, the fastest man alive, in 1940.[5][8] He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America. [9]
In 1945, at the base of the All-Star Squadron at the 1939 New York World's Fair site,[10] Flash was a witness to the death of the heroine Firebrand. Firebrand blocked a shot from Dragon King aimed at him.[11]
With the other members of the Society, he publicly inducted Red Tornado into the group.[11] He married Joan on February 28, 1946.[6]
He eventually went into semi-retirement in 1951.[8] During this time he no longer actively patrolled the city, but he would react when he felt needed.[12] Jay met Barry Allen around fifty years later, and announced his official retirement as the Flash when Barry started his career as the Flash a year after that.[8]
2010[]
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Jay attended the funeral of Kent Nelson at the Tower of Fate.[13]
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Jay and his wife, Joan, attended his birthday party at the home of Rudy and Mary West. Also attending were the Wests' son, Wally, as well as Barry Allen and his wife Iris. Both Wally and Jay were shown up by Barry's manners and helpfulness at cleaning the table, something they rarely did. Also, Wally ate all the ice cream.[4]
2016[]
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Joan and Jay were invited to the Allens' house to celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary. Like everyone else, he was surprised to see the unexpected guest Bart Allen, or Impulse.
Bart, Barry and Wally went off to fight the new threat Neutron. Jay stayed behind, but decided to go after them. He figured Joan would chastise him for putting on his costume, but felt it necessary to help Barry out. With Kid Flash, he carried the two other speedsters out of Neutron's blast radius. Flash was concerned that his predecessor had endangered himself, but Jay was more afraid of Joan's reaction than the danger—or so he claimed.[6]
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After Impulse had stopped Neutron's rampage, he claimed he was ready to go back to his own time. Jay accompanied Bart and Barry to the Cave to see him off. Impulse got back in the time machine, but it didn't work.[6] Bart stayed with the Garricks.[14]
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When magnetic field disruptors planted by the Reach threatened the Earth, Jay Garrick joined 39 other heroes of Earth in a briefing in Metropolis. The heroes would use a computer virus provided by Lex Luthor to safely disable the devices. The heroes were paired off with another into twenty squads: one member would run interference against Beetle-tech Drones guarding the disruptors, allowing the other to get close enough to plant the virus.[15] Jay was assigned to Lambda Squad, and worked alongside Red Tornado.[16] Within thirty minutes, all squads had succeeded in their mission.[15]
In late June,[17] Jay attended Wally West's funeral.[18]
2018[]
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Jay was by his wife's bedside at the hospital. He saw news reports on the Outsiders' first mission in Brooklyn, Maine.[19]
Joan passed away. Her funeral was held on December 21.[20]
2019[]
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Jay, Helena Sandsmark and Eduardo Dorado Sr. went to the Premiere Building to revoke their permission for the minors in their care to be part of the Outsiders. All were concerned about the added danger they were in as part of a public team. Jay invoked the death of Wally West among other young heroes, but Bart argued that he was really still reeling from losing Joan. Eventually the younger heroes were able to convince their guardians that the importance of their work with the Outsiders outweighed the risks.
Later the guardians all appeared in social media posts supporting the Outsiders. Jay opened a Flitter-International account, @Jay_Garrick_JSA, were he posted a video with Flash and Kid Flash. The posts received coverage that evening during an interview with Lex Luthor on The G. Gordon Godfrey Show. Jay used his account to respond to Luthor's suggestion of a hero registry, calling it "fascist" and noting the failure of a similar measure in the 1950s.[3]
2020[]
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Jay walked out of his home, unaware Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy were waiting to visit Kid Flash.[21]
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Aboard the Javelin, Jay broke Rocket out of her introspection, excited to get off the Javelin and begin his first Justice League mission, a negotiation between the League, the New Gods and the Green Lantern Corps. They received a comm from Orion, who welcomed them.[22]
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After setting down in Supertown, the League delegation were introduced to Lightray, Highfather, Highmother and Orion. They were then taken to their quarters to await the arrival of the Green Lantern's representatives the next day. En route, Orion was alerted to a theft in the secure warehouse. Rocket volunteered to join Orion, who reluctantly agreed and they boom tubed off, but were unable to apprehend the thief.
The Leaguers and the New Gods looked at security footage of the thief, who had taken a Ruction Cell, a dangerous piece of obsolete tech. Forager determined she was a female of the Mountain Hive.[22]
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Flash, Rocket, Forager, Orion and Lightray went to the hive. The Bugs initially pretended to know nothing about the Cell, but Forager was able to convince the thief of the danger. However, two of the hive's larvae had run off with Cell. Flash and Lightray ran search patterns. Rocket and Orion found them first, but the Cell was malfunctioning and emitting random bursts of energy. Rocket had Flash take the larvae to safety.
Back at Supertown, Flash explained to Forager that the now dormant but still dangerous cell would be taken to Metron's Inter-Dimensional Vault. He commended Forager on his work with the Bugs.[22]
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Orion officially welcomed Flash and Rocket to the summit. Vykin arrived as New Genesis's other representative, with Tomar-Re and Kilowog representing the Green Lantern Corps. Rocket took the lead in the talks, and asked what New Genesis planned to do about Apokolips's interference on Earth, and was disappointed they would do nothing. Vykin explained that the truce between Apokolips and New Genesis prevented them from taking overt action. Instead, they wanted a neutral party, the Green Lantern Corps to mediate. Rocket also asked both parties for help stopping off-world meta-human trafficking, but the Lanterns could not do more as they had a whole galaxy to police. Rocket was interrupted by her phone before she could argue further and left to take the call.
Flash and the others heard explosions from outside and went to investigate. They found the female Forager badly injured amid the rubble of destroyed statues. Razer, who had inadvertently caused the damage while fighting Metron, realized his mistake, and ended up regaining his Blue power ring while retaining his Red one. He used to the Blue ring to heal Forager, and then repaired the statues, before leaving.
Later, Jay attended a small celebration for his 102nd birthday.[1]
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The conference resumed, and continued to go poorly. Orion complained that the League had not taken the New Gods' request to have Halo and Cyborg stay with them seriously. The meeting was then interrupted by Bear, who wished to see his old friends Rocket and Forager, express his condolences over Superboy's death, and discuss the rumors he had heard about Forager being romantically involved with another Forager. Jay and Bear took a moment to talk about time in relationships and their respective ages. They were interrupted once more by the arrival of Metron, who boom tubed in with a dire warning of galactic peril.[7]
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Metron called a meeting with Orion, Rocket, Flash, the Foragers, Kilowog, Tomar-Re and the Forever People. After he (finally) finished explaining the threat posed by Lor-Zod and the Phantom Zone Projector, he explained that Highfather had the Divine Guard protecting power sources on Supertown, while they would have to split up and defend the two potential sources on New Genesis's surface. Flash went with Orion, Rocket, Tomar-Re and the Foragers.[23]
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They arrived and quickly found they were at the right location. They were spotted and Ma'alefa'ak brain blasted them, knocking them from the sky. Tomar-Re caught everyone with a construct, and they renewed their approach. Flash was caught by one of the Kaizer-Thrall's beams and held in a tortured state until Forager freed him. Flash formed a tornado to cover the portal opened by the Projector. Once the battle ended, everyone gathered around Tomar-Re's body.[23]
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As the Justice League contingent prepared to leave, Flash talked with Vykin and Kilowog. They told him the treaty was agreed in principle and could be considered signed. They also discussed the fates of Mantis and the Kaizer-Thrall, who were captured during the battle. Flash was eager to work together to find Tomar-Re's killers.[23]
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Jay returned home, but found Bart missing.[23]
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Flash arrived with other members of the Justice League and Outsiders to respond to Dru-Zod's attack on Planet Circle, only to find the situation resolved.[24]
Powers and abilities[]
Super speed: Jay Garrick's main ability is being able to run at superhuman speeds. His wife thinks his speed has diminished with age.[4] Nevertheless, he was fast enough pick up Impulse and outrun an explosion generated by Neutron.[6] He also serves as an active member of the Justice League.
- Accelerated healing: Jay heals faster than the average human. He recovered quickly from the Kaizer-Thrall attacking him.[23]
- Aerokinesis: Jay can use his speed to manipulate air currents and create vortexes that can levitate and/or suffocate others.[23]
- Superhuman agility: Jay has superhuman levels of balance and bodily coordination, which allows him to easily manoeuvre while moving at super speed.
Abilities:[]
- Chemistry: Jay was a research scientist at Lampert laboratories where he gained his powers in an accident.[5]
- Diplomacy: While not a superhuman ability, Jay was chosen alongside Rocket to lead a diplomatic mission to New Genesis.
Appearances[]
- Season 1
- Season 2
- 06. "Bloodlines"
- 11. "Cornered" (picture)
- 20. "Endgame" (no lines)
- Season 3
- 17. "First Impression" (no lines)
- 19. "Elder Wisdom"
- Season 4
- 11. "Teg Ydaer!" (flashback, no lines)
- 15. "Ebb Tide" (no lines)
- 18. "Beyond the Grip of the Gods!"
- 19. "Encounter Upon the Razor's Edge!" (no lines)
- 20. "Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!"
- 21. "Odyssey of Death!"
- 26. "Death and Rebirth" (no lines)
- Companion comics
- 05. "What's the Story?" (flashback, no lines)
- 11. "The Pit..." (no lines)
- YJT 06. "Last Rights" (flashback, no lines)
Background information[]
- Jay Garrick first appeared in Flash Comics #1, dated January 1940. He was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. He was a science student at Midwestern University when he accidentally fell asleep during an experiment. He was exposed to hard water gasses and gained the power of speed. He was one of the first super powered heroes who did not have super strength. Jay soon became one of All-American Comics' main heroes, and formed the first crossover team, the Justice Society, with Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Wonder Woman.
- Both Jay's creators, as well as his first appearance, have been referenced. In "What's the Story?", Jay is shown to be working for a company named Lampert, and he signs a picture that is the cover of Flash Comics #1. In "Bloodlines", reference is made to a shelter on "Fox and Gardner".
- This is Jay's third animated appearance. He had a small cameo in the opening credits of Justice League: The New Frontier, and several speaking appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. A hero based on him, the Streak, appeared in Justice League, and his helmet was also shown in the Justice League Unlimited episode, "Flash and Substance".