The Flash: 80 Years of the Fastest Man Alive The Deluxe Edition #[nn]

In this origin tale from *The Flash: 80 Years of the Fastest Man Alive Deluxe Edition*, Jay Garrick—fresh from a lab accident that granted him super-speed—steps into his role as The Flash when a mysterious quartet of villains known as the Faultless Four kidnaps Joan Williams’s father to steal his atomic bombarder. With the help of Professor Hughes and the determined Joan, Jay must race against time to stop the scientists before their deadly plan unfolds.

In "The Flash and the Thorn-Stalk!", Jay Garrick tries to comfort Rose Canton, a grieving sister mourning her lost sibling—unaware that the woman he’s speaking to is, in fact, the very villain known as the Thorn. The line between ally and enemy blurs as secrets from the past rise like waves from the deep.

In "Strange Confession," The Flash [Jay Garrick] faces a familiar foe in a shocking twist: The Thorn [Rose Canton], whose identity as a split personality reveals a deeper, more personal conflict. As the battle unfolds, Jay must confront the truth behind Rose’s dual nature and seek help from the Justice Society, with Green Lantern [Alan Scott] guiding him toward a mysterious cure on Transformation Island.

Barry Allen’s life changes in an instant when a lab accident with lightning and chemicals grants him super-speed, launching him into a legacy rooted in the 1940s Flash comics. Now wearing a costume inspired by his hero’s golden age adventures, he must confront a new threat: the Turtle Man, a villain known as “The Slowest Man Alive,” whose very presence defies the speed Barry now wields.

In "Menace of the Super-Gorilla!", The Flash [Barry Allen] races to uncover the truth behind a series of mysterious blackouts and a rampaging gorilla terrorizing Central City. When the city’s newest sensation, Fred Pearson, becomes entangled in the chaos, Barry teams up with Solovar to stop the sinister Gorilla Grodd, whose mind-altering powers threaten to plunge Gorilla City—and Earth—into darkness.

When young Wally West visits his Aunt Iris, he gets more than he bargained for—meeting the Flash himself, only to find his life changed in an instant when a lab accident grants him super speed. Now the new Kid Flash, he’s thrust into his first mission: stopping a chaos of escaped zoo animals before they cause trouble across Central City.

In "Flash of Two Worlds!", Barry Allen’s visit to a Central City community center takes an unexpected turn when he’s whisked to Keystone City—home of the original Flash, Jay Garrick. The two speedsters, each from a different Earth, must navigate their shared legacy as the Flash while confronting a sudden surge of villains from Jay’s world, including the Fiddler, the Thinker, and the Shade.

In "The Gauntlet of Super-Villains!", Gorilla Grodd hijacks Central City’s chaos by swapping bodies with a zoo gorilla, then unleashes Flash’s most dangerous rogues—Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, The Top, Pied Piper, and even the enigmatic Solovar—on a relentless pursuit of Barry Allen. With the city on edge and Flash’s mind the ultimate prize, the race isn’t just about speed, but survival against a symphony of villains unleashed by Grodd’s cunning.

Flash wakes up in a hospital in 1981, disoriented and convinced he’s lived a life where the lightning strike never granted him powers—only left him scarred and broken. As he grapples with a reality where he’s just a man, not the Flash, the past begins to unravel in ways that blur time, memory, and identity.

After defeating Rainbow Raider at Central City Airport, Barry Allen helps stranded holiday travelers find their way home, then shares a quiet moment with a lonely Wally West as they both reflect on what Christmas means. Amid the season’s warmth and the city’s usual chaos, two Flashes—one a legend, the other a guardian—find connection in the smallest of gestures.