The Reverse-Flash is a name used by several
supervillain
A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...
s appearing in
American comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s published by
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
. Each iteration of the character serves as a foil and an enemy of
the Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
.
Characters
Edward Clariss
Edward Clariss (also known as the Rival
and the Rival Flash) first appeared in ''
Flash Comics'' #104 (February 1949), and was created by
John Broome and
Joe Kubert
Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawk ...
.
Publication history
Edward Clariss first appeared in
Jay Garrick
Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character known as the Flash. The character first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (January 1940), created by writer Gardner Fox and ...
's final appearance in ''
Flash Comics'' #104 (February 1949), and was created by
John Broome and
Joe Kubert
Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawk ...
as an
evil counterpart of Garrick during the
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...
. He would be revived by
Geoff Johns
Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...
and
David Goyer in a story called "Injustice Be Done" from the
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...
comic books through the
Modern Age of Comic Books
The Modern Age of Comic Books is a period in the history of American superhero comic books which began in 1985 and continues through the present day. During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesi ...
.
Fictional character biography
Although not called the Reverse-Flash, Dr. Edward Clariss was a professor at the
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
attended by the
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...
Flash, and had recreated the formula which was behind
Jay Garrick
Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character known as the Flash. The character first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (January 1940), created by writer Gardner Fox and ...
's speed. He hears Joan Williams (Garrick's girlfriend) talking about how the Flash's own speed was given to another student, which helped him develop the formula. Bitter at the scientific community's rejection of his claims, Clariss becomes a criminal. A darker version of the Flash with a mask over his head, he gives the formula to other criminals. The Rival's version of the formula is temporary, and he is captured and jailed (later stories have indicated a possible link between the Clariss formula and the Velocity 9 created by
Vandal Savage
Vandal Savage (Vandar Adg) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is said to be a Cro-Magnon warrior who gained immortality and advanced healing abilities after encountering a strange meteorite during prehis ...
, but thus far no such link has been conclusively proven).
''JSA'' #16 (November 2000) contains a flashback to 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
A speedster is a character, primarily in superhero comics, whose powers primarily relate to superhuman speed (also known as superspeed). Primary abilities shared by all speedsters include running at speeds far in excess of human capability (to var ...
. After the
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...
's reformation 50 years later,
Johnny Sorrow retrieves Clariss from the Speed Force and invites him to join the
Injustice Society
The Injustice Society (a.k.a. the Injustice Society of the World) is a group of supervillains in the . They are the main antagonists of the Justice Society of America.
The Injustice Society first appears in '' All Star Comics'' #37 (October 1947 ...
. 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.
The Rival returns in ''Impulse'' #88 (September 2002), posing as Joan's doctor. Now pure speed energy, he possesses fellow Golden Age speedster
Max Mercury
Max Mercury (Maxwell Crandall), also known as Windrunner, Whip Whirlwind, and Lightning, is a DC Comics superhero similar to Quality Comics' Quicksilver. Initially an obscure speedster, the character was rebooted by Mark Waid in 1993 in the page ...
. After battling Jay and
Impulse, Max time-travels to an unknown destination. In ''
The Flash: Rebirth'' #4, Max escapes from the Speed Force and is rejuvenated by Wally West's energy; this allows him to return to Earth in a new body. Another Golden Age Reverse-Flash is a robot whose only appearance was in one panel of ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' #134 (February 1998), where he is defeated by Garrick.
Return
After the events of ''
Doomsday Clock'', Clariss returned to continuity, having faced Garrick in the 40s.
Eobard Thawne
Professor Eobard Thawne (commonly known as Professor Zoom) first appeared in ''The Flash'' #139 (September 1963). The
archenemy
In literature, an archenemy, (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) or nemesis is the main enemy of the protagonist — or sometimes, one of the other main characters — appearing as the most prominent and most-known enemy of the hero.
Etymolog ...
of
Barry Allen
Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character known as the Flash, following Flash (Jay Garrick), Jay Garrick. The character first appeared in ''Showcase (comic ...
, he is the first supervillain to be called the Reverse-Flash. While other speedsters cannot change the past without dramatic consequences, his ability to travel and manipulate time is able to drastically alter history and completely erase people from existence is due to having corrupted the Speed Force which created a negative version.
Wally West
Wally West briefly impersonated Professor Zoom aka the Reverse-Flash.
Hunter Zolomon
Hunter Zolomon (also known as Zoom) first appeared in ''The Flash: Secret Files & Origins'' #3 (November 2001). The archenemy of
Wally West
Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash (DC Comics character), Flash. His power consists mainly of speedster (fiction), superhuman speed. T ...
, he is the second supervillain to be called the Reverse-Flash. Unlike all other speedsters, he did not gain his superspeed from the Speed Force but due to an accident with the Cosmic Treadmill where he was essentially "derailed" from the time line which allowed him to control the rate at which he moves in time and make him faster than any speedster.
Thaddeus Thawne
Thaddeus Thawne (a.k.a. Inertia and later Kid Zoom) first appeared in ''Impulse'' #51 (August 1999), and was created by
Todd DeZago and
Mike Wieringo. Another character called the Reverse-Flash, he is a
clone of
Bart Allen
Bartholomew Henry "Bart" Allen II is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A speedster (fiction), speedster, he first appeared under the alias Impulse and later became the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash (c ...
. Inertia first fought Impulse. When Bart aged five years after ''Infinite Crisis'' and became the Flash, Inertia fought his genetic template again. Inertia was responsible for Allen's death; Wally West returned, taking revenge by paralyzing Inertia and imprisoning him in the
Flash Museum. In ''
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge'', he is used by
Libra
Libra generally refers to:
* Libra (constellation), a constellation
* Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation
Libra may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo
Musi ...
and Zoom to try to get the Rogues to join the
Secret Society
A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
. Inertia steals Zoom's powers, calls himself Kid Zoom, and is killed by the Rogues, who blamed him for making them kill Bart.
When asked who created Inertia,
Ethan van Sciver
Ethan Daniel Van Sciver (No date on article; date appears in the website') (; born September 3, 1974) is an American comics artist. He illustrated and drew covers for a number of superhero titles in the 2000s, primarily for DC Comics, including ' ...
wrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit; the remaining credit belonged to
Mike Wieringo (20 percent),
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...
(25 percent) and
Todd DeZago (50 percent). According to van Sciver, Inertia's appearance is an inverted depiction of Impulse.
Inertia initially appeared in ''Impulse'' #50: "First Fool's" (July 1999), followed by #51: "It's All Relative" (August 1999). His greatest
character development was in #53: "Threats" (October 1999). Inertia was not featured again until ''Impulse'' #62 and #66: "Mercury Falling" (July, November 2000), and again for another five years.
He then began making regular appearances, primarily due to Bart being the Flash. Inertia appeared in ''The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive'' #5: "Lightning in a Bottle, Part 5" (December 2006). In addition to his ''Flash'' appearances, he appeared in ''
Teen Titans
The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
'' (vol. 3) as part of
Titans East
Titans East is the name of several DC Comics superhero teams. The teams appear in the ''Teen Titans'' comic books and Teen Titans (TV series), animated series. The comic book incarnation of Titans East first appeared in ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) # ...
, an enemy team, beginning in ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #43 (January 2007). The storyline concluded with (vol. 3) #46 (April 2007). Gathering the Rogues, he attempted to drain Bart's powers for himself; the plan backfired when Wally returned and Inertia's equipment drained the Speed Force, making the Rogues accidentally beat Bart to death. As Inertia tried to escape, he was captured by Wally who steals his speed, leaving him immobile.
Inertia is primarily a
speedster, remaining disconnected from the Speed Force after ''
Infinite Crisis
"Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...
'' and injecting himself with Velocity 9. Although Velocity 9 has been unstable,
Deathstroke
Deathstroke is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character first appeared in ''The New Teen Titans'' #2 (December 1980) as Deathstroke the Terminator. In his co ...
's new variety seems to have no negative
side effects
In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects.
A drug or procedure usually used ...
. Inertia briefly shares his powers before his death with Zoom, who lends him his speed to pressure him into becoming a new Kid Flash. As the maddened Kid Zoom, he masters human time streams and reverts Zoom to the powerless Hunter Zolomon before he is killed by the Rogues.
Inertia was later resurrected and trapped in the Speed Force. Inertia tries to stop Barry Allen, Max Mercury, and Jesse Quick from escaping the Speed Force, revealing that Eobard Thawne promised to release him and let him take over Bart Allen's body once the former succeeded in his plans. After Barry tries to appeal and talk sense into him, Inertia stops his attacks and runs off.
Daniel West
Daniel "Danny" West first appeared in ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' #0 (November 2012). The most recent individual to be called the Reverse-Flash, he is younger brother of
Iris West
Iris Ann West-Allen is a fictional character, a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She has been the main love interest and later wife of Barry Allen, the alter ego of the Silver Age version of the supe ...
, the biological father of
Wallace West, and an enemy of Barry Allen.
Other versions
Tangent Comics
An original incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears in ''
Tangent Comics: The Flash'' #1 (December 1997). This version is an evil, negative ionic energy-based duplicate of her Earth's Flash,
Lia Nelson, who was created by an evil government agency to disperse Nelson's
photon
A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
-based form. However, Nelson destroys the Reverse-Flash.
Impulse
A 31st century incarnation of Thaddeus Thawne who became president appears in ''Impulse'' #25.
In other media
Television
* Three variations of individuals who have used the Reverse-Flash moniker in the comics and one original incarnation appear in ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' (2014).
**
Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash primarily appears in the
first season and sporadically throughout subsequent seasons, portrayed by
Tom Cavanagh and
Matt Letscher
Matt Letscher is an American actor, director and playwright, known for his roles as Captain Harrison Love in '' The Mask of Zorro'' and Colonel Adelbert Ames in '' Gods and Generals''. He co-starred in '' 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Bengh ...
.
**
Hunter Zolomon / Zoom primarily appears in the
second season, portrayed by
Teddy Sears and voiced by
Tony Todd
Anthony Tiran Todd (December 4, 1954 – November 6, 2024) was an American actor known for his distinctly deep and gravelly voice. He amassed several credits on screen and in video games since the 1980s, including the Candyman (character), titl ...
.
**
Edward Clariss / The Rival appears in the
third season, portrayed by
Todd Lasance
Todd James Lasance (born 18 February 1985) is an Australian actor, best recognised for his roles in Australian television including Aden Jefferies on ''Home and Away'', Cam Jackson on '' Rescue: Special Ops'', Ben McMahon on '' Crownies'' and M ...
. This version is a black-suited speedster and archenemy of
Kid Flash in the
Flashpoint timeline. After the
Flash restores the original timeline, "
Alchemy
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
" restores Clariss' powers. The latter subsequently tries to kill the Flash, only to be defeated by him and later murdered by
Savitar.
**
Barry Allen
Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character known as the Flash, following Flash (Jay Garrick), Jay Garrick. The character first appeared in ''Showcase (comic ...
temporarily assumes the Reverse-Flash identity due to the "Reverse-Flashpoint" timeline in the
eighth season.
* The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash makes non-speaking cameo appearances in ''
Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...
''.
Film
The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears in ''
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash'', voiced by
Dwight Schultz
William Dwight Schultz (born November 24, 1947) is an American television, film and voice actor.
He is known for his roles as List of The A-Team characters#Howling Mad Murdock, Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action series ''The A-Te ...
.
Video games
* The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears as a playable character in ''
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham'', voiced by
Liam O'Brien
Liam Christopher O'Brien (born May 28, 1976) is an American voice actor, writer, and director. He is a regular cast member of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' actual play series '' Critical Role,'' playing Vax'ildan ("Vax"), Caleb Widogast, and Orym. ...
.
* The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears as a "premier skin" for the
Flash in ''
Injustice 2'', voiced again by Liam O'Brien.
* The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears in ''
Lego DC Super-Villains'', voiced by C. Thomas Howell.
See also
* Blur, a
White Martian/human hybrid who appeared in the ''
Son of Vulcan
Son of Vulcan is the name of two comic book characters, one created by Charlton Comics in 1965, the other by DC Comics in August 2005. Son of Vulcan was one of the characters DC Comics purchased from defunct Charlton Comics in 1983.
Publication ...
'' miniseries
*
Johnny Quick Johnny Quick may refer to:
* Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate)
* Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers)
See also
* Jonathan Quick, hockey player
{{dab ...
, the Flash's evil counterpart from Earth-3 and member of the
Crime Syndicate of America
The Crime Syndicate or Crime Syndicate of America (CSA, with America sometimes spelled Amerika) is a team of supervillains featured in DC Comics. The team is composed of evil Multiverse (DC Comics), parallel-universe counterparts of the Justice Le ...
*
List of Flash enemies
This article list all the known enemies of Flash (comics), Flash.
Golden Age
The Golden Age of Comic Books, Golden Age Flash enemies were all villains of the first Flash, Flash (Jay Garrick), Jay Garrick, later portrayed as living on Earth-Two aft ...
References
{{Suicide Squad
Villains in animated television series
Characters created by Mike Wieringo
Comics characters introduced in 1949
Comics characters introduced in 1999
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Fictional characters with body or mind control abilities
DC Comics metahumans
DC Comics robots
DC Comics supervillains
DC Comics male supervillains
Clone characters in comics
Fictional murderers
Flash (comics) characters
Fictional academics