Origin .
Jason Peter Garrick is a college student. Prior to 1940 (later retconned to 1938) while working for his academic advisor
Professor Hughes, Jay accidentally inhaled
hard water vapors after taking a smoke break in his laboratory where he had been working (later stories would change this to
heavy water vapors). As a result, he finds that he can run at superhuman speed and has similarly fast reflexes. Retcons imply that the inhalation simply activated a latent
metagene. After a brief career as a college football star, he dons a red shirt with a lightning bolt and a stylized metal helmet with wings (based on images of the Roman god
Mercury). He then begins to fight crime as the Flash. He sometimes uses the helmet as a weapon or a type of shield, as seen in
Infinite Crisis. He has also used it to direct a beam of light at
Eclipso. In
The Flash: Rebirth (2010), he used it to destabilize the
Reverse Flash. In the early stories, Jay's identity appears to be public knowledge. Later stories would show him as having his identity secret, and that he maintains it without the use of a mask by constantly "vibrating" his face, making him difficult to recognize or clearly photograph. Garrick ultimately revealed his identity as the Flash to the world. During his career, he would often find himself embroiled in semi-comic situations inadvertently initiated by
Winky, Blinky, and Noddy, a trio of
tramps known as the Three Dimwits, who tried their hand at one job after another, never successfully. His first case involves battling the Faultless Four, a group of blackmailers (Sieur Satan, Serge Orloff, Duriel, and Smythe), who plot to steal an atomic bombarder and sell it. It is later revealed that a professor named Edward Clariss found the last container of heavy water vapor and used it to gain super-speed, becoming the
Rival. He briefly takes away Jay's speed after capturing him, making him super slow, but Jay uses the gases again, allowing him to regain his super speed and defeat the Rival. Like the Flashes who followed him, Garrick became a close friend of
Green Lantern Alan Scott, whom he met through the Justice Society of America.
Justice Society of America The Flash soon became one of the best-known of the
Golden Age of superheroes. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America and served as its first chairman. He was originally based in
New York City, but this was later
retconned to be in the fictional
Keystone City. He left the JSA after issue #6 but returned several years later (issue #24, spring 1945). He had a distinguished career as a crime-fighter during the 1940s. Garrick's early history was largely the subject of retcons. A story explaining the retirement of the JSA members, including the Flash, explained that, in 1951, the JSA was investigated by the
House Un-American Activities Committee for possible Communist sympathies and asked to reveal their identities. This was later revealed to be partly caused by
Per Degaton. The JSA declined, and Garrick, who recently married his longtime girlfriend, Joan, retired from superhero life. As a trained scientist, he ran an experimental laboratory for several decades.
The All-Star Squadron Annual #3 issue states that the JSA fought a being named
Ian Karkull, who imbued them with energy that slowed their aging, allowing Garrick and many others – as well as their girlfriends and sidekicks – to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity. The 1990s
Starman series notes that
the Shade prompted Garrick to come out of retirement in the 1950s, but the details of his activities during this time are unclear.
Earth-Two Garrick emerged from retirement in 1961 to meet the
Silver Age Flash,
Barry Allen, from a parallel world. The rest of the JSA soon joined the Flash, although their activities during the 1960s (other than their annual meeting with Earth-One's
Justice League of America) were unrecorded, although it is clear that Garrick and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) were good friends. It is also established that Garrick has become a respected scientist on his Earth. Garrick was a key member of the JSA's 1970s adventures (as chronicled in
All-Star Comics and
Adventure Comics). Garrick also helped to launch the careers of
Infinity, Inc. Following the
Crisis on Infinite Earths, all the parallel worlds are merged into one, and Keystone City becomes the twin city of Allen's
Central City, with the two separated by a river. An updated story suggests that Keystone in this new continuity was rendered invisible and wiped from the memories of the world for many years through the actions of several
supervillains.
21st Century . In the early 21st century, many of Garrick's JSA cohorts have retired or died, but Garrick remains active with the latest incarnation of the group. He is physically about 50 years old, thanks to the effects of several accidental anti-aging treatments, but his chronological age is closer to 105. He is one of the few surviving members of the Justice Society of America after
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!. Of the three original JSA members still on the team (along with Alan Scott and
Wildcat), Jay takes a fatherly approach toward his teammates and the DC superhero community in general.
Infinite Crisis and One Year Later Garrick and his wife, Joan, had guardianship of
Bart Allen after
Max Mercury's disappearance. During the events of
Infinite Crisis, Garrick states that the
Speed Force is gone after a battle in which many speedsters, living and dead, wrestle
Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force and disappear. Garrick is left behind on Earth by the other speedsters when he reaches his speed limit and cannot follow. Bart Allen returns, aged several years, having absorbed the entire Speed Force during his pursuit of the escaped Superboy-Prime. Garrick claims that without the Speed Force, his own power is less than before: like
Wally West in the
Crisis on Infinite Earths aftermath, he can only run close to the
speed of sound. He also states that, as the Speed Force is no longer slowing his aging, his speed is diminishing with time. After Bart leaves Keystone City for Los Angeles, Garrick, once again, is the city's sole guardian. After learning that Bart has been killed by the
Rogues, Garrick collapses with grief, consoled by Jesse Chambers. Garrick continues his work as a member of the reformed Justice Society of America, under the leadership of
Power Girl. After the death of Bart Allen, Garrick's full speed returns. Garrick is currently the mayor of Monument Point, where the JSA is now based. He faces problems due to the JSA being based in the Town, but after talking to another official, who says that, as Garrick is not a politician, he does not have to worry about being re-elected, Garrick gains confidence. Soon after this, he holds a funeral for
Alan Scott, who is killed defeating the villain D'arken, and tells the Justice Society that they must endure.
Velocity In the
Outsiders: One Year Later story arc, a clone of the character called Velocity appears as an antagonist, created by the
Brotherhood of Evil. He appears to be in his late 20s or early 30s and is brainwashed into working for the Malinese dictator Ratu Bennin. Velocity is defeated by the combined efforts of the Outsiders. He possesses Jay Garrick's super-speed, but none of his memories or expertise. His unconscious body is placed in the custody of Alan Scott,
Checkmate's White King, who states that the Outsiders could not be trusted. Because of lingering issues in the cloning process, made more unpredictable by the metagene itself, the clone is infected by a fast-acting version of the
clone plague deteriorating and shortening the lifespan of clones in the DC Universe. This makes it difficult for Checkmate to find a way to wake him and undo his brainwash, because, even with his special suit, tailored to stave the degenerating process, he would be doomed to a slow death whenever he awakens from his
suspended animation. In the following story, it is revealed that Scythe is the product of Nazi genetic engineering, and that Scott and Garrick had been tasked by the president with killing him back when he was in infancy during World War II. The two heroes could not agree on a course of action, and, as a result, Scythe was allowed to live. Doctor Mid-Nite discovers that the injuries Scott sustained have paralyzed Scott, and that any attempt to heal himself could break his constant concentration, which could result in the Starheart once again regaining control of his body. Jade visits her bedridden father in the Emerald City, and offers to use her abilities to help him walk again. Scott declines his daughter's offer, reasoning that if the Starheart were to once again take over his body, it could kill everyone in the city.
Eclipso attacks the city, which results in
Jesse Quick having to get Scott to safety. Later, the JSA tries to take down the villain D'arken, who has escaped from Monument Point and absorbed the powers of JSA members, but D'arken is too powerful for the JSA to take him down. Due to the entity's ability to absorb powers from superhumans in its vicinity, only non-superpowered and magical members fight D'arken. The JSA tells Alan Scott that unleashing the Starheart is the only way to destroy D'arken. However, Scott's body incinerates itself and he is presumed dead.
DC Rebirth Jay Garrick is not present following
The New 52 continuity reboot.
Doomsday Clock reveals this to be the result of
Doctor Manhattan altering the timeline and erasing the Justice Society from existence. However, he is restored when Superman convinces Manhattan to restore the timeline.
The New Golden Age storyline reveals that Jay and Joan had a daughter named
Judy who was the former's sidekick before being kidnapped by the
Time Masters. In the resulting
Jay Garrick: The Flash series, it is revealed that Jay's college professor Dr Hughes from
Flash Comics #1 (1940) was in fact the supervillain Doctor Elemental, who engineered the lab accident that made Jay into the Flash; Jay was the only survivor. Elemental was the
archenemy of Flash and Boom in forgotten 1960s adventures. After Boom is rescued by
Stargirl in the present day, she returns home to her parents, whose memories are restored. ==Powers and abilities==