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Comics : Comics 101
Last Updated: Oct 20, 2009 - 7:25:21 AM




The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Four - A Normal Life
By Cury
May 6, 2003 - 19:05:00 PM

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...As was the idea since Flash #1. So far as Flash's 3rd issue, Wally doesn't have a secret identity per se, he just doesn't care- but the public in general isn't aware he's the Flash (or aware of "the Flash's real name" if you will).

In Flash #5 (10/87), after moving in from his shabby Brooklyn apartment to a mansion in Southampton, Long Island (bought with some of the lottery money), Wally is surprised by the editorial of a local newspaper, about the town's liability insurance being cancelled since Wally moved in. Enraged, Wally meets the President of the City Council in a nearby restaurant:

City Council President: "(...)The truth is, Mr. West, your realtor was under obligation to tell us that he was selling that property to a super-powered individual(...)"

So there you go. By the time of Flash #5, the hero's identity is no longer a secret to the world at large. But can we say the Flash revealed his identity in that issue? No!

What about the other issues? No- there isn't a specific moment he revealed his identity as the Flash to the world- it was a gradual process since #1. (I'll get to Flash Annual #8's controversial "Year One" tale... and then return to Green Arrow #17, fellow Flash-fans... just hang in there!)

In fact... ever since he finished High School, Wally wasn't very comfortable with his secret identity. Take a look at the 1978 "Dollar Comics" Flash Spectacular (written by Cary Bates). Upon his imminent graduation, Wally chooses to tell his parents he's Kid Flash- and once the ceremony is over, he actually tells Barry (then the Flash) that he is planning to drop his super-hero career once he finishes College!

There are echoes of that story in Secret Origins Annual #2 (again), when Wally recalls a time during the trial of the Flash (when Barry- as the Flash- was in jail for the murder of Professor Zoom) in which he's talking to Barry and says he's quitting being Kid Flash once he's gone to College- that he wants to lead a normal life, lead a family, etc. (Interestingly enough, this same Flash Spectacular featured Jay Garrick, the original Flash, then of Earth-2, revealing his secret identity to the general public in a magazine article for the first time!)

But on to Barry's death & beyond:

Barry, as the Flash, died in the Crisis- but we never got to see his funeral nor anything. Barry's widow Iris Allen's book The Life Story of the Flash (late-1997, written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn) doesn't mention a thing about secret identities or Barry's funeral- but (and I'm nitpicking here) there is a picture of a Daily Planet (newspaper) of the time, with the headline, "Flash perishes."

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Read related reviews such as:

Captain Cold
Mirror Master
Justice league Flash
Silver Age Flash and Kid Flash Set



Related Articles:
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Two - Impostor Syndrome
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Three - Let Me Tell You a Secret
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Four - A Normal Life
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Five - The Museum Knew
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Six - Kid Flashes City
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Seven - Saving Grace
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Eight - What About Barry Allen?
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Nine - Barry's Puzzle
The Flashes' Secret Ids Going Public: Part Ten - Barry's Parents



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