The Flashpoint Paradox Print

The Flash (or simply 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 January 1940/release month November 1939). Nicknamed the "Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run, move, and think extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, at least four different characters—each of whom somehow gained the power of "the speed force"—have assumed the mantle of the Flash in DC's history: college athlete Jay Garrick (1940–1951, 1961–2011, 2017–present), forensic scientist Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Barry's nephew Wally West (1986–2011, 2016–present), and Barry's grandson Bart Allen (2006–2007). Each incarnation of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans. The Flash is one of DC Comics' most popular characters and has been integral to the publisher's many reality-changing "crisis" storylines over the years. The original meeting of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Silver Age Flash Barry Allen in "Flash of Two Worlds" (1961) introduced the Multiverse storytelling concept to DC readers, which would become the basis for many DC stories in the years to come. Like his Justice League colleagues Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the Flash has a distinctive cast of adversaries, including the various Rogues (unique among DC supervillains for their code of honor) and the various psychopathic "speedsters" who go by the names Reverse-Flash or Zoom. Other supporting characters in Flash stories include Barry's wife Iris West, Wally's wife Linda Park, Bart's girlfriend Valerie Perez, friendly fellow speedster Max Mercury, and Central City police department members David Singh and Patty Spivot. A staple of the comic book DC Universe, the Flash has been adapted to numerous DC films, video games, animated series, and live-action television shows. In live-action, Barry Allen has been portrayed by Rod Haase for the 1979 television special Legends of the Superheroes, John Wesley Shipp in the 1990 The Flash series and Grant Gustin in the 2014 The Flash series, and by Ezra Miller in the DC Extended Universe series of films, beginning with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Shipp also portrays a version of Jay Garrick in the 2014 The Flash series. The various incarnations of the Flash also feature in animated series such as Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice, as well as the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is a 2013 direct-to-video animated film adaptation of the 2011 comic book crossover "Flashpoint" by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. It is scripted by Jim Krieg and directed by Jay Oliva. The film stars Justin Chambers as Barry Allen / Flash, C. Thomas Howell as Eobard Thawne / Professor Zoom, Michael B. Jordan as Victor Stone / Cyborg, and Kevin McKidd as Thomas Wayne / Batman. The film also sees actors reprising roles from other DC animated properties, including Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, Ron Perlman as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, Dana Delany as Lois Lane, Vanessa Marshall as Princess Diana / Wonder Woman and Dee Bradley Baker as Etrigan. It is the 17th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series and the first film of the DC Animated Movie Universe, a shared film universe. It was released on July 30, 2013, then re-released on September 10, 2013, as a 2-disc special edition. Flashpoint is a 2011 comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011. The core miniseries was written by Geoff Johns and pencilled by Andy Kubert. In its end, the series radically changes the status quo for the DC Universe, leading into the publisher's 2011 relaunch, The New 52. Flashpoint details an altered DC Universe in which only Barry Allen seems to be aware of significant differences between the regular timeline and the altered one, including Cyborg's place as the world's quintessential hero, much like Superman is in the main timeline, with Superman himself being held captive as a lab-rat by the United States government within an underground facility in Metropolis. In addition, Thomas Wayne is Batman, and a war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman has decimated western Europe. Consisting of a 61 issue run, the series crossed over with Booster Gold, sixteen separate three-issue miniseries, and a number of one-shots beginning in June 2011. DC announced that Flash #12 would be the last in the series; a thirteenth issue had been announced for sale on May 25, 2011, but was withdrawn. The storyline is adapted in the film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox as well as in the third season of The CW network television series The Flash. Elements of the Flashpoint storyline will be adapted into a feature film adaptation of The Flash as part of the DC Extended Universe. Andrew Kubert (/ˈkjuːbərt/; born February 27, 1962) is an American comics artist, letterer and writer, son of Joe Kubert, and brother of Adam Kubert, both of whom are also artists, and the uncle of comics editor Katie Kubert. He is a graduate of and an instructor of second-year classes at The Kubert School, founded by his father who also taught there. 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 and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He served as Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of DC Entertainment from 2010 to 2018 and as President and CCO from 2016 to 2018. He is the co-founder and former co-chairman of DC Films and former co-runner of DC Extended Universe until 2018. In film, he was a producer or executive producer of Green Lantern (2011), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Shazam! (2018), Birds of Prey (2020), co-wrote and produced the story for Aquaman (2018) and wrote the screenplay for Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). Geoff involvement with DC Entertainment as producer, writer and executive has helped turn the DC Extended Universe franchise into the eleventh-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $5.6 billion at the global box office. The franchise's highest-grossing film to date is Aquaman, written and produced by Johns, which earned over $1.15 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing DC film to date. He co-developed the TV series The Flash (2014–present), Titans, (2018–present) and Doom Patrol (2019–present) and created and produced the TV series Batwoman (2019–present), Stargirl (2020–present) and Superman & Lois (2020–present). His other work in television includes writing and producing various episodes of Blade, Smallville and Arrow. In 2018, he stepped down from his executive role at DC Entertainment to open a production company, Mad Ghost Productions, to continue to work with Warner Bros on writing and producing film, television and comic book titles based on DC Extended Universe and other DC properties such as the upcoming films Batgirl, Green Lantern Corps and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Source: Wikipedia