Here is an archive of all the past top five lists I've done over the years.

Let's look at the top five races between Superman and the Flash (Barry Allen)! I'm excluding Wally West because he only raced with Superman once and although it was an awesome story, Superman and Barry have had five races, so it just seems perfect, ya know?

5. World's Finest Comics #198-199

This two-parter by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Joe Giella came out during the brief period that World's Finest had become a Superman team-up book just like how Brave and the Bold was a Batman team-up book. So this story was Superman "teaming up" with Flash. As it turned out, some messed up time robots were wreaking havoc on the timeline, and Jimmy Olsen was personifying that havoc as he kept getting hurtled through time, including to a Roman chariot race. So the Guardians of the Universe explain to Superman what needs to be done to save the universe...





However, they're attacked while trying to complete the race. This leads to them continuing the race the next issue, which has a awesomely bizarre Neal Adams cover.



I just adore them showing little kids crying over the ending of the issue. "Suck it, little kids!"

Okay, as it turns out, this is all a plot by the Phantom Zone folks, as if the timeline is messed up, it will result in the Phantom Zone being opened up. So they capture Superman and Flash on a planet with a constantly-changing red and yellow sun...



They escape but are both shot, leaving them temporarily without the use of their legs. So to stop the bad guys, they're going to have to CRAWL! Which they do...





Weird victory there, Flash.

4. Flash: Rebirth #3

So in this series (by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver), the Speed Force is all messed up after the return of Barry Allen and it is even KILLING other speedsters! Barry presumes it is his fault, so he decided to run into the Speed Force to sacrifice himself to fix it. His Justice League buddies are all, like, "Dude, no!" But Barry won't listen, even when Superman tries to catch up to him to stop him...







Nice moment. Not really as much of a "race" as the other ones on this list, though.

3. DC Comics Presents #1-2

This debut storyline for the new Superman team-up book, DC Comics Presents, has brilliant Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dan Adkins artwork but the story by Martin Pasko (presumably directed by Julius Schwartz and E. Nelson Bridwell) is a bit overly complex. Just check out the recap page in #2 of the set-up. Note that this is the RECAP. This is supposed to explain the story so readers can understand it.







Did you all follow that? So anyhow, Superman and Flash are SEEMINGLY racing for opposite sides to either help or catch the alien from hitting the time barrier, but secretly Superman is only pretending to play along. After getting through a number of obstacles (and they are fun obstacles - this is a complicated story, but it's also a real treat, as Pasko works in pretty much all of the characters from the future into the story, including Professor Zoom, the Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman facing off against Superboy), the guy they are chasing goes through the time barrier (so Flash "wins"), but they follow him and stop him...









That's some awesome Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez artwork. DC Comics Presents was a really fun comic book.

2. Superman #199

Here's the original 1967 race, from Superman #199, with the world-famous Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson cover (which, as I revealed in an old CBLR, had an error on it).



Written by a young Jim Shooter (whose early career was sort of personified by "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if ___ happened?") and drawn by Curt Swan and George Klein, this original race was proposed by the United Nations...





However, the gamblers of the United States and Europe got involved...



They succeeded in separately capturing Superman and the Flash and sending duplicates in their place to lose the race for their respective side...



Superman and Flash escape and then finish the race, but intentionally tie to screw over the gamblers...



Cop-out ending!

1. Flash #175

That same year, the fans got a rematch in Flash #175, by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, as some intergalactic gamblers force them to re-run the race...







However, all throughout the race, they keep getting attacked by death traps. In the end, the race finishes and we see how Superman and the Flash learned what was really going on...







Slightly less of a cop-out ending! Who do YOU think won? I think it sort of looks like the Flash won.

That's the list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!