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Reverse-Flash

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TheReverse-Flashis a name used by severalsupervillainsappearing inAmericancomic bookspublished byDC Comics.Each iteration of the character serves as a foil and an enemy ofthe Flash.

Characters

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Edward Clariss

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Edward Clariss
The Rival, the proto-Reverse-Flash, by Stephen Sadowski (penciller), Michael Bair (inker), and John Kalisz (colorist)
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceFlash Comics#104 (February 1949)
Created byJohn Broome
Joe Kubert
In-story information
Team affiliationsInjustice Society
Notable aliasesRival
AbilitiesFlash

Edward Clariss(also known asthe Rival[1]andthe Rival Flash) first appeared inFlash Comics#104 (February 1949), and was created byJohn BroomeandJoe Kubert.[2]

Publication history

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Edward Clariss first appeared inJay Garrick's final appearance inFlash Comics#104 (February 1949), and was created byJohn BroomeandJoe Kubertas anevil counterpartof Garrick during theGolden Age of Comic Books.He would be revived byGeoff JohnsandDavid Goyerin a story called "Injustice Be Done" from theJustice Society of Americacomic books through theModern Age of Comic Books.[3]

Fictional character biography

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Although not called the Reverse-Flash, Dr. Edward Clariss was a professor at theuniversityattended by theGolden AgeFlash, and had recreated the formula which was behindJay Garrick'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 byVandal Savage,but thus far no such link has been conclusively proven).[3]

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 theSpeed Force.After theJustice Society of America's reformation 50 years later,Johnny Sorrowretrieves Clariss from the Speed Force and invites him to join theInjustice Society.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.[3]

The Rival returns inImpulse#88 (September 2002), posing as Joan's doctor. Now pure speed energy, he possesses fellow Golden Age speedsterMax Mercury.After battling Jay andImpulse,Max time-travels to an unknown destination. InThe 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 ofThe Flash#134 (February 1998), where he is defeated by Garrick.[4]

Return

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After the events ofDoomsday Clock,Clariss returned to continuity, having faced Garrick in the 40s.[5]

Eobard Thawne

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Main article:Eobard Thawne

Professor Eobard Thawne (commonly known as Professor Zoom) first appeared inThe Flash#139 (September 1963). ThearchenemyofBarry Allen,he is the first supervillain to be called the Reverse-Flash.[6]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.

Hunter Zolomon

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Main article:Hunter Zolomon

Hunter Zolomon (also known as Zoom) first appeared inThe Flash: Secret Files & Origins#3 (November 2001). The archenemy ofWally West,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

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Thaddeus Thawne(a.k.a.Inertiaand laterKid Zoom) first appeared inImpulse#51 (August 1999), and was created byTodd DeZagoandMike Wieringo.Another character not called the Reverse-Flash, he is acloneofBart Allen.Inertia first fought Impulse. When Bart aged five years afterInfinite Crisisand 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 theFlash Museum.InFinal Crisis: Rogues' Revenge,he is used byLibraand Zoom to try to get the Rogues to join theSecret Society.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 Sciverwrote that he could only accept five percent of the credit; the remaining credit belonged toMike Wieringo(20 percent),Grant Morrison(25 percent) andTodd DeZago(50 percent). According to van Sciver, Inertia's appearance is an inverted depiction of Impulse.[7]

Inertia initially appeared inImpulse#50: "First Fool's" (July 1999), followed by #51: "It's All Relative" (August 1999). His greatestcharacter developmentwas in #53: "Threats" (October 1999). Inertia was not featured again untilImpulse#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 inThe Flash: The Fastest Man Alive#5: "Lightning in a Bottle, Part 5" (December 2006). In addition to hisFlashappearances, he appeared inTeen Titans(vol. 3) as part ofTitans East,an enemy team, beginning inTeen 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 aspeedster,remaining disconnected from the Speed Force afterInfinite Crisisand injecting himself with Velocity 9. Although Velocity 9 has been unstable,Deathstroke's new variety seems to have no negativeside effects.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.[8]

Inertia was later resurrected due toDoctor Manhattan's modifications on the timeline, but is currently 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.[9]

Daniel West

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Main article:Daniel West (character)

Daniel "Danny" West first appeared inThe Flash#0 (November 2012). The most recent individual to be called the Reverse-Flash, he is younger brother ofIris West,the biological father ofWallace West,and an enemy of Barry Allen.

Other versions

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Tangent Comics

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Female villain
Reverse-Flash /Lia Nelsonin Tangent Comics

In DC'sTangent Comics,the Reverse-Flash is an evil, holographic duplicate of her Earth's Flash,Lia Nelson,who was created by a sinister government agency. She was charged with negative ionic energy to disperse the Flash'sphoton-based form. However, the Flash's light-wave powers outmatched the Reverse-Flash's and the latter was destroyed. This Reverse-Flash appeared in only one issue:Tangent Comics: The Flash#1 (December 1997).

Impulse

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A 31st Century version of Thaddeus Thawne became President in the pages ofImpulse.[10]

In other media

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See also:Eobard Thawne § In other media,andHunter Zolomon § In other media

Television

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Film

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The Eobard Thawne incarnation of the Reverse-Flash appears inLego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash,voiced byDwight Schultz.

Video games

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See also

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References

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  1. ^"The Flash's 10 Fastest Villains, Ranked".CBR.22 April 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2019.Retrieved1 May2019.
  2. ^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016).The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe.DK Publishing. p. 248.ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. ^abc"The Flash Season 3: Who is The Rival?".Den of Geek.Archived fromthe originalon 1 May 2019.Retrieved1 May2019.
  4. ^Shiach, Kieran (26 April 2016)."Dark Reflections: The History Of Zoom And The Reverse Flash".ComicsAlliance.Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2019.Retrieved2 May2019.
  5. ^The Flash#750
  6. ^Wells, John (2015).American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64.TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 125.ISBN978-1605490458.
  7. ^"Inertia...! - Page 4 - The Comic Bloc Forums".Comicbloc. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-18.Retrieved2011-04-25.
  8. ^Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge#3
  9. ^The Flash#760
  10. ^Impulse#25
  11. ^"'The Flash' showrunner reveals how Tom Cavanagh returns in series finale ".Entertainment Weekly.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-05-08.Retrieved2023-10-10.
  12. ^"Zoom Confirmed As Flash Season Two's Villain".ComicBook.July 12, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on September 3, 2015.RetrievedAugust 24,2015.
  13. ^Ching, Albert (August 31, 2015).""The Flash" Casts the Voice of Zoom for Season 2 ".Comic Book Resources.Archived fromthe originalon September 2, 2015.RetrievedAugust 31,2015.
  14. ^"15 CW Speedsters Ranked From Slowest To Fastest".CBR.4 January 2018.Retrieved2 May2019.
  15. ^Young, Sage (11 October 2016)."Clariss Is An Old-School 'Flash' Bad Guy".Bustle.Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2019.Retrieved2 May2019.
  16. ^Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 23, 2016)."'Flash' Season 3 Casts Todd Lasance as The Rival, Promo Teases Savitar ".TVLine.Archivedfrom the original on August 24, 2016.RetrievedAugust 24,2016.
  17. ^"The Rival: Who Was the ORIGINAL Dark Flash?".18 September 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-12-09.Retrieved2023-10-10.
  18. ^"Armageddon Gives the Reverse-Flash His Own [Spoiler]".9 December 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-28.Retrieved2023-10-10.
  19. ^Romano, Sal (2017-01-17)."Injustice 2 story trailer, Darkseid pre-order DLC and special editions announced".Gematsu.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-01-18.Retrieved2017-01-17.
  20. ^Skrebels, Joe (2017-01-18)."Injustice 2: 3 Extra DC Characters Added as Alternate Skins in Special Edition".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-01-18.Retrieved2017-01-18.
  21. ^"Lego DC Super-Villains Screens Reveal New Details".Archivedfrom the original on 2018-06-12.Retrieved2023-07-20.
  22. ^"- YouTube".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-08-23.Retrieved2023-07-20.
  23. ^"Lego® DC Super-Villains Reveals Darkseid's Villainy in Action in New Clip".Archivedfrom the original on 2023-07-08.Retrieved2023-07-20.
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