Reverse-Flash

The Rival. Art by Carlo Barberi and Terry Austin.

Reverse-Flash is a title that has been taken by three supervillains in DC Comics. All of them have super-speed and are enemies of the Flash dynasty.

Fictional character biography

Golden Age

The Rival first appeared in Flash Comics #104 (February 1949). He is Dr. Edward Clariss, a professor at the university attended by the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. He believes he has recreated the formula that gives Garrick his speed, which he calls "Velocity 9." He heard Joan one night talking about how the Flash got his speed to another student, which helped him get the last formula. Bitter at the rejection of his claims by the scientific community, though he had become famous for other inventions in Europe, Clariss becomes a criminal, wearing a darker version of the Flash's outfit and giving it to several other criminals. He fakes his kidnapping to avoid suspicion. He then uses a machine to project his voice to the location. His men capture the Flash and bring him to the hideout. He tries to make the Flash the slowest man alive with a different formula, but the Flash uses his original formula to get his speed back. The Rival's version of the formula, however, proves to be temporary, and he is defeated with his crooks during an attempted bank robbery when it is expended and he is jailed.

JSA #16 (November 2000) reveals that the Rival battled the Flash several months after his first appearance; in doing so he reaches lightspeed and vanishes into the Speed Force. Following the reformation of the Justice Society of America 50 years later, Clariss is retrieved from the Speed Force (which had been revealed as the Valhalla of fallen speedsters, good or evil, as well as their source of power) by Johnny Sorrow, who invites him to join the new Injustice Society. The Rival, driven to insanity by his time in the Speed Force, races across the country on a super-speed killing spree. The Flash realizes that the Rival's path across the country spells out Clariss' name, and that the final murder will be Jay's wife Joan. The Flash is unable to prevent the Rival killing a young boy, but manages to absorb the Rival's speed before he can kill Joan.

The Rival returns in Impulse #88 (September 2002), posing as Joan Garrick's doctor. Now pure speed energy, he possesses Garrick's fellow Golden Age speedster Max Mercury. After battling Jay and Impulse, the Rival escapes, still in possession of Max Mercury's body. He has not been seen since.

There is another Golden Age Reverse Flash, a robot who wears a reversed-color version of Garrick's costume. The robot's only appearance was in one panel in The Flash vol. 2, #134 (February 1998), in which he is easily defeated by Garrick.

Silver Age

Main article: Professor Zoom

Pre-Crisis

Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom, first appeared in The Flash #139 (September 1963). Originally, he is a criminal from the 25th century, who found a time capsule containing the Silver Age Flash's costume. He is able to use a machine to amplify the suit's speed energy, giving himself the abilities of the Flash as long as he wears it. In the process, the colors of the costume reverse, with the suit becoming yellow, the boots and lightning bolt highlights turning red, and the chest symbol's white circle becoming black. He uses his speed powers to commit crimes. Flash had travelled to the Future as he discovered an atomic clock in the capsule would become an atomic bomb due to the process, and he defeated the Reverse-Flash by making his friction-protection aura burn away, and stopped the bomb from exploding. Despite destroying the costume Zoom is still able to cause trouble for him. His knowledge of Allen’s dual identity enables him to strike at him by killing his wife, Iris, after she refuses to marry him he vibrates his hand through her skull, causing a hunt to discover the murderer, and later attempting to kill his fiancée Fiona. It was in saving Fiona’s life that the Flash broke Zoom’s neck, killing him.

Post-Crisis

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Professor Zoom's origin was revamped. As seen in the Return of Barry Allen storyline in The Flash (vol. 2) #74-79, Eobard Thawne started out as a fan of the Flash. After gaining super-speed by replicating the electrochemical bath that gave Barry Allen his powers - even undergoing surgery to make himself look like Barry -, he traveled backward in time using the Cosmic Treadmill to meet his hero. However, Thawne became mentally unstable upon discovering he is destined to become a villain, though the true name of the greatest foe of the Flash was not known in his time it was known here, his mind - already disoriented by the stress of time travel as the Treadmill had changed over the years meaning he arrives years after when he intended to - seeking escape by convincing himself that he is Barry Allen. However, his true nature is eventually revealed due to his more violent nature, "Barry" attacking Central City in 'revenge' for 'forgetting him', until he is ultimately defeated by Wally West and he tricks Zoom into returning to his proper time.

Even though Thawne retained no memories of his trip through time, he was now left with a deep and bitter hatred of Barry Allen. This was due to feeling "betrayed" by Barry. Thawne began traveling back in time to battle the Flash to get revenge on him, using his knowledge of "history" to his advantage.

Professor Zoom has returned as the main villain in the mini-series Flash: Rebirth. Zoom claims to have a resurrection coming up soon, referencing the Blackest Night. In this appearance, Zoom claims to have not only traveled back in time, but also to have engineered Barry's return from the speed force. Zoom once tried to stop Barry becoming the Flash, hoping to get struck by the lightning, but nearly phased out of existence causing the lightning to pass through him and transform Barry, and realized Barry needed to become the Flash for him to become the Reverse-Flash. He erased Barry's best friend from existence, and murdered Barry Allen's mother, framing his father. He is behind the reality changing event Flashpoint, and mocked Barry, who remembers how things should be, by placing a Reverse-Flash costume inside his ring. he appears briefly in Flashpoint #1, telling Barry's mother how nice it is to see her alive again, before appearing in the next panel traveling at superspeed. He finally appears in Flashpoint #4, confronting the Flash after Billy Batson is killed. He tells the Flash what really happened. Barry Allen travelled back in time to prevent Zoom killing his mother and pulled the entire speed force into himself. However this transformed history. He resets Barry's internal vibrations, allowing him to remember this. Zoom says this makes him a living paradox, he is not connected to any timeline and can kill the Flash. However he is stabbed by Thomas Wayne from behind and apparently killed. Later the timeline is restored to a more similar one to the original.

Modern Age

Main article: Zoom (comics)

Hunter Zolomon aka Zoom first appeared in The Flash: Secret Files & Origins #3, created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins.

After arriving in Keystone City, Hunter Zolomon was hired as a profiler, working with the police in their Department of Metahuman Hostilities. His work put him in constant contact with the Flash (Wally West), and the two became good friends. His insight was critical in solving a number of cases, but he always resented being stuck behind a desk.

One day, Hunter was severely injured in an attack by Gorilla Grodd, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He asked Wally West to use the time-travelling cosmic treadmill in the Flash Museum to prevent this from occurring. West refused, saying that he couldn't risk damaging the timestream. Zolomon then broke into the museum and attempted to use the treadmill himself. The resulting explosion destroyed the museum (as well as his remaining sanity) and shifted Hunter's connection to time. He could now alter his personal timeframe, giving the effect of super-speed.

Zolomon concluded that West wouldn't help because, unlike Barry Allen, he had never suffered personal tragedy. Zolomon decided that if he became the new Zoom and killed West's wife (Linda Park), this would help the Flash become a better hero.

Other versions

Tangent Comics

The evil Reverse-Flash from Tangent Comics.

• In DC's Tangent Comics reality, Reverse Flash is an evil holographic duplicate of Lia Nelson (the Flash), created by a sinister government agency. She was charged with negative ionic energy to disperse Flash's photon-based form. However Flash's lightwave powers outmatched Reverse-Flash's and Reverse-Flash was destroyed.

In other media

Television

• In the live action series The Flash (1990), Barry Allen temporarily takes the false name Professor Zoom while investigating the Mirror Master in the episode "Done With Mirrors." In the episode "Twin Streaks," a scientist Jason Bressell and his assistant Ted Witcome create a clone of Barry they name Pollux. Though this blue-suited character bears a resemblance to the Reverse-Flash, Pollux has no direct relation to any comic anti-Flash, but more similar to Bizarro.

• In the Justice League Unlimited episode, "Divided We Fall", Brainiac/Lex Luthor creates robotic copies of the League's villainous counterparts, the Justice Lords; since the Flash died before the Lords were formed, instead Brainiac/Luthor creates a duplicate wearing the red-on-yellow costume of the Reverse-Flash.

• In the TV show Robot Chicken, a Reverse-Flash (voiced by Seth Green) made an appearance robbing a bank, while Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman stand idly by, commenting about how "lame" they think opposite-themed villains like Reverse-Flash, Bizarro and Negative Wonder Woman are.

Video games

• Zoom appears in the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS game Justice League Heroes: The Flash, as the fourth level boss.

• Zoom appears as a mini-boss in DC Universe Online in the Gorilla Grodd Duos instance.

See also

• Blur, a White Martian/Human hybrid who appeared in the Son of Vulcan mini-series.
• Züm, a White Martian with super-speed and member of the Hyperclan.
• Inertia, The Reverse-Impulse, an evil clone of Bart Allen.
• Johnny Quick, the Flash's evil counter part from the anti-matter Earth
• List of Flash enemies

External links

• Crimson Lightning - An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.
• Justice League Unlimited at the Internet Movie Database
• The Flash at the Internet Movie Database