WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #751, by Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, Hi-Fi and Steve Wands, on sale now.
The Flash may be the fastest character in the DC Universe, but the one thing that none of DC's speedsters can outrun is death itself. From metaphorical limbo to outright disintegration, various versions of The Flash have all faded away or perished for one reason or another.
In The Flash #751, Recently, the Barry Allen version of the character has seemingly been killed again by a villain named Paradox. While the Flash's numerous confirmed upcoming appearances make it unlikely that the event is permanent, it's hard the first time Barry Allen or another Flash has run to their respective demise. Now, we're going to take a closer look at some of the many passings of DC's fastest man alive, whether it involves going out like a hero or being forgotten to everyone in the DC Universe.
The Deaths of Barry Allen
The most iconic death in the Flash family still belongs to Barry Allen in Marv Wolfman and George Perez's Crisis on Infinite Earths. The landmark 1986 story saw Barry captured by the Anti-Monitor, since the villain feared his ability to travel to other Earths whenever he wanted to. Barry eventually escaped and used his immense speed to stop the Anti-Monitor's plan to use an anti-matter cannon to destroy the Earth. By creating a speed vortex, Barry was able to draw the energy into himself, but the intensity of its power became too much, even for him. After saving the universe one last time, Barry was disintegrated by the energy.
The Flash's death would have a dramatic influence on the DC Universe and his nephew/sidekick Wally West, who took over Barry's role as the Flash. Unlike most comic book characters, this death stayed in place for years, It wasn't undone until 2008's Final Crisis, over 20 years later. This same death was also essentially given to Barry Allen in the CW's adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths, though the Barry that dies is the one from the '90s The Flash TV series.
Barry Allen's most recent demise occurred in The Flash #751 starts with him and his fellow speedster Godspeed teaming up against a villain named Paradox. Paradox is empowered by Crisis energy itself, which gives him the ambition and the means to become a god in the multiverse. He talks about Barry Allen's selfishness in causing Flashpoint and says that Barry hasn't done anything important since his original death in Crisis. Intent on gaining more energy by erasing the Flash's legacy, Paradox shoots a wave of his power at Barry, seemingly erasing him from existence.
Wally West
For many people, Wally West is the definitive Flash. Throughout his tenure as the Scarlet Speedster, he never actually faced a tragic death like Barry did. But due to the continuity altering machinations of Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan, Flashpoint resulted in the DC Universe being rebooted without some of its most iconic elements. One of these characters was the original Wally West, who saw not only his tenure as The Flash, but his entire life ripped from existence. Not only was his life no longer a factor in the DC Universe, but his relationship with his wife Linda and their two children were completely removed as well, until DC Rebirth began bringing Wally and his history back.
However, Wally West did in fact die in the second season finale of Young Justice, when this younger version of the character was still Kid Flash. In this show, Wally is noticeably slower than both Barry Allen and his cousin Bart Allen, which leads to his unfortunate demise in season two. The alien Reach planted 21 devices around the world that would destroy the planet, if not for the actions of Wally and his girlfriend Artemis. The final device requires the immense speed of Barry and Bart, however, though Wally joins them to help out. Sadly, his slower speed turns him into a release valve for the device's energy, killing him when it goes off. This was meant to be a reverse of the classic climax of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Bart becomes Kid Flash afterward to honor Wally's memory.
Bart Allen
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, Bart Allen would be the new Flash, having been aged up after spending four years in an alternate version of Keystone City. This short lived role as the Scarlet Speedster would lead to possibly the most tragic Flash death of them all.
The Rogues team up with Bart's old rival of Inertia, who creates a machine built to drain the Speed Force from others. This proves successful on Bart, who is promptly stripped of his powers while surrounded by the Rogues. Valerie Perez, Bart's love interest, was able to release the Speed Force from the machine, keeping it from destroying the West Coast in the process. In a panic, The Rogues retaliate by eschewing their typical convictions about murder and mercilessly killing Bart. This made Bart's run as The Flash the shortest of the four men in the mainstream comics universe, and the one whose death was far from one befitting a hero.
Jay Garrick
Like Wally, Jay Garrick would never have an official death in the comics. But also like him, he would be forced into the even worse fate of limbo many times. The first time this happened was in The Last Days of the Justice Society of America. This story, which shelved the JSA and other elderly Golden Age characters in the new, rebooted Post-Crisis universe, saw Jay and the Justice Society enter limbo to fight for eternity to keep Ragnarok from occurring.
Due to fan demand and a growing interest in the Golden Age characters, however, the JSA was eventually brought back and given a new focus. From there, Jay would go on to mentor younger speedsters such as Wally West and especially Bart Allen, who he had more of a grandfatherly relationship with than Bart's actually grandfather, Barry. This version of Jay Garrick would seemingly be wiped out following the reality-altering Flashpoint, along with the rest of the JSA, but Doomsday Clock saw the team make their triumphant return to reality.
To one extent or another, Jay, Bart and Wally are all back in some capacity in the current comic book continuity. And now, Barry Allen is the Flash who has to outrun his own mortality one more time.