The Flash has always had an impressive rogues’ gallery, filled with brightly costumed villains. However, there is nothing more menacing than the manipulation of Flash’s trademark red and yellow. This often implies that an evil speedster has made an appearance. The intimidating yellow costume of Reverse-Flash often comes to a reader’s mind, but there was another dark rival before Barry Allen met Eobard Thawne. The Rival, a mad university professor, was the final test of Jay Garrick in a story by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in Flash Comics #104. It was a fitting finale and the Rival would have a lasting impact on The Flash that readers still recognize today.
Jay Garrick appeared to be a normal college student from Keystone City, but, in reality, he was a superhero known as the Flash. He saved innocent citizens from danger at a blinding speed and was adored by all. Meanwhile, professor Edward Clariss claimed that he had created a formula that replicated Flash’s speed. Denied and embarrassed repeatedly by his peers, Clariss decided to prove that his formula could best the Flash. Darkening the hero’s red costume to a menacing maroon and wearing the same type of helmet, this new criminal called himself the Rival.
Clariss’ formula was impressive, but also temporary. To improve his chances against the hero, the Rival distributed the speedster formula to other criminals. While proving to be a challenge to the Flash at first, Garrick's experience and longevity were too much for the new villain. The Rival and his fellow criminals were defeated. Embarrassed once again, Edward Clariss was thrown in jail.
Edward Clariss would not appear again for five decades, but another speedy criminal made their debut in the interim. Almost 15years later, fans were given a 25th century criminal that had access to Barry Allen’s Flash costume. The remaining power from the suit turned Eobard Thawne into Professor Zoom, also known as Reverse-Flash. Recognizable by his inverted costume coloring, Thawne is now known as Barry Allen’s archenemy.
The Rival was the first taste of what readers now understand is the Flash’s most dangerous challenge: a villain that may be faster than the hero. The Flash has had ingenious and terrifying villains, but the Rival presented a true physical challenge. No one had questioned the Flash’s speed, but now there was an actual threat to his quickness. Reverse-Flash took this to a new level. He consistently tries to embarrass the Flash and prove that Barry Allen’s speed is inferior. For Thawne, it is a race with fatal consequences to civilians. Flash fans are accustomed to Thawne’s twisted challenges, but the test of speed began with the Rival.
Speedsters that challenge the Flash also present a demented twist on the hero’s costume. Whether it is darker, reversed, or black, the alternate costume always implies a dangerous mission. The colors in The Flash are very important. Bright and vivid, the colors make Keystone City and Central City feel real and the villains feel dangerous. Most importantly, the colors animate the Flash’s speed. When artists began twisting these colors on villainous speedsters, the readers know it will be a deadly race.
The Rival made his costume darker, representing a Flash with evil intentions. Professor Zoom did something similar by inverting the color scheme. Fans knew he was as fast as the Flash, but that vibrant yellow was off-putting and scary, and these new colors implied that the Flash may be beaten.
The Rival would make another appearance in the early 2000s, with references to his battle with Jay Garrick in 1949. More recently, he also appeared in the Arrowverse on The Flash as the would-be nemesis of Wally West's Kid Flash. In his mostly black costume, Clariss menaced the young speedster in both the Flashpoint and Post-Flashpoint timelines before he was killed by Savitar.
Still, the Rival’s most provoking appearance was his first. It was a battle of speed against a Flash that he believed was inferior, and that goal defined how evil speedsters would attack the Flash forever.