The Flash

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The existence of multiple Flashes was initially a narrative device born from continuity challenges. In the Silver Age, writers introduced Barry Allen as a new Flash while the original Golden Age hero still existed on Earth-Two. This duality required the invention of the Multiverse to allow both characters to coexist without erasing their respective histories. The pivotal moment occurred in Flash #123 (1961), titled "Flash of Two Worlds," where Barry Allen traveled to Earth-Two and met his older counterpart. This event established designations like "Earth-One" and "Earth-Two," which were even used by the characters themselves. The Multiverse concept allowed for a rich tapestry of alternate realities, enabling stories that crossed universe boundaries and explored different versions of heroes facing cross-universe threats.

In Their Own Story

The turning point for Flash continuity arrived with Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. As DC publications accumulated decades of inconsistent stories, editors found the varied continuity of multiple Earths too difficult to track. This miniseries merged universes and characters, reducing the Multiverse to a single unnamed universe with a collapsed earth and one continuous history. Later, The Kingdom reintroduced alternate versions via Hypertime in 1999, but it was not until Convergence (2015) that the Multiverse was officially re-established as existing again. In 2011, the Flashpoint crossover storyline provided a jumping-off point for The New 52 reboot, where Barry Allen's actions significantly altered the timeline. This era compressed histories for some characters while wildly changing others, though DC later moved to reintroduce pre-Flashpoint concepts through the DC Rebirth initiative in 2016.

Reader's Guide

To understand The Flash within the provided source material, one must focus on two distinct eras: Earth-Two (Golden Age) and Earth-One (Silver Age), which were separated by the Multiverse concept established in 1961. Barry Allen represents the Silver Age iteration, introduced in the 1950s/60s with a new history distinct from his predecessor. Readers should note that while early stories had little regard for continuity, Flash #123 (1961) became the cornerstone of DC's multiverse structure by allowing these versions to meet. Major events like Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) attempted to merge these timelines into a single history, but later storylines like Convergence (2015) confirmed the Multiverse still exists. The New 52 (2011) and DC Rebirth (2016) further modified how these histories were presented, with Rebirth specifically aiming to build on everything published from Action Comics #1 through The New 52.

Did You Know?

• The Multiverse concept was introduced in Flash #123 (1961) to explain how the Silver Age Flash could meet his Golden Age counterpart.
• Earth-One served as the primary world of the Silver Age publication era, distinct from Earth-Two.
• Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) merged multiple universes into a single unnamed universe with one history.
• The New 52 reboot in 2011 used the Flashpoint crossover storyline as its jumping-off point for revised continuity.
• DC Rebirth launched in June 2016 to reintroduce concepts from pre-Flashpoint continuity that were lost during The New 52.