Barry Allen, question

[Jeff Shabazz]

I've always been confused about one thing: is Barry Allen in fact deceased, or did he escape to the future somehow?

[KevinTBrown]

The answer to both of those questions is YES.

[Human Bong]

He escaped to the future with Iris at the end of his series. Crisis on Infinite Earths came along, so he donned the costume one last time and he died saving the day.

[Jeff Shabazz]

Thanks, I never really understood how he could be dead, but know Bart in the future and pop into IC in the present. Man what a mind job he must have to deal with.

[Mackaybear]

Actually Barry escaped to the future and isn't coming back to our time until he knows DiDio is no longer at DC. He knows the guy doesn't like him...heh....

[RJ Squires]

Actually Barry escaped to the future and isn't coming back to our time until he knows DiDio is no longer at DC. He knows the guy doesn't like him...heh....

Mackaybear

Classic!

[Forrest]

There was never a body, correct?

In a JSA Injustice League arc from the JSA ongoing (in the mid-teens... forget the #s, but just before the Return of Hawkman stuff), we saw one of Jay's former villains return after being stuck in the speed force for a number of decades.

Why should we think that Barry is dead, rather than just hanging out in the speed force, vibrated to another dimension/time, etc. His abandoned costume and ring, and the images that some heroes saw (COIE) doesn't mean he is dead...

[Stephen Henel]

There was never a body, correct? In a JSA Injustice League arc from the JSA ongoing (in the mid-teens... forget the #s, but just before the Return of Hawkman stuff), we saw one of Jay's former villains return after being stuck in the speed force for a number of decades. Why should we think that Barry is dead, rather than just hanging out in the speed force, vibrated to another dimension/time, etc. His abandoned costume and ring, and the images that some heroes saw (COIE) doesn't mean he is dead...

Forrest

There was a body, or at least parts of it. He didn't dematerialize so much as disintegrate. If he is in another dimension, he's probably going to need more than a few obliging organ donors.

Still, with the magic of comic retconning, this macabre scene could be about as fatal as a papercut, so I'm sure some explanation could be dreamt up if they decide to bring him back.

[TJLamb0518]

Okay,see....in CoIE, Barry was hit by a stray bolt of lightning that sent him back to 1885. Since he didn't want Wally to worry, he sent a Western Union telegraph to be delivered at the exact moment Wally saw Barry disappear. Barry also asked in this letter that Wally not come and look for him, that he (Barry) was very happy in the Old West and had set himself up as a blacksmith/forensic scientist.


All would have been well if Wally hadn't found out during Infinite Crisis that Barry died 3 days after the letter was written. According to the history books, Barry was revealed to have been killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Thawne, a descendant of Eobard Thawne. Armed with that knowledge, Wally went off to save Barry, taking his wife and newborn kids with him and going "somewhere else".


Why DC is telling Bart's story instead of this rousing tale of super speed in the old west, I'll never know.

[particleman]

Okay,see....in CoIE, Barry was hit by a stray bolt of lightning that sent him back to 1885. Since he didn't want Wally to worry, he sent a Western Union telegraph to be delivered at the exact moment Wally saw Barry disappear. Barry also asked in this letter that Wally not come and look for him, that he (Barry) was very happy in the Old West and had set himself up as a blacksmith/forensic scientist. All would have been well if Wally hadn't found out during Infinite Crisis that Barry died 3 days after the letter was written. According to the history books, Barry was revealed to have been killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Thawne, a descendant of Eobard Thawne. Armed with that knowledge, Wally went off to save Barry, taking his wife and newborn kids with him and going "somewhere else". Why DC is telling Bart's story instead of this rousing tale of super speed in the old west, I'll never know.

TJLamb0518

I just hope Wally remembered to take his hover board (I have a feeling that will come in handy).

Guys, don't we have to assume Barry is fine and just kickin' back in the speed force? As far as I'm concerned he's far from dead. He grabbed onto SBP, right? He must have some tangible, physical body of some kind to do that. I think that with the creation of the speed force Barry didn't die in COIE, just merely sucked away.

[Ian Larsen]

I just hope Wally remembered to take his hover board (I have a feeling that will come in handy). Guys, don't we have to assume Barry is fine and just kickin' back in the speed force? As far as I'm concerned he's far from dead. He grabbed onto SBP, right? He must have some tangible, physical body of some kind to do that. I think that with the creation of the speed force Barry didn't die in COIE, just merely sucked away.

particleman

Have you seen his death scene? He's a freakin skeleton. Sorry. Barry's done.

Now, what's to stop him from coming back in the future to now before he came back from the future to save the world? Nothing. In fact, it's happened. Chain Lightning. [although... I think that was at another time in the future... oh wait, was it barry's future? I can't remember.]

[Heatwave the Rogue]

Have you seen his death scene? He's a freakin skeleton. Sorry. Barry's done.

Ian Larsen

Anyone who's read some of Barry's old stories knows that the guy had complete control over his molicules. Body destruction wouldn't mean to much for Barry Allen to reassemble himself. If fact, I think it's safe to say that Barry Allen's body might very well have taken more punishment than any hero. Period.

[Stephen Henel]

Anyone who's read some of Barry's old stories knows that the guy had complete control over his molicules. Body destruction wouldn't mean to much for Barry Allen to reassemble himself. If fact, I think it's safe to say that Barry Allen's body might very well have taken more punishment than any hero. Period.

Heatwave the Rogue

If it were a simple chemical change like cremation, I'd say there's a shot of that, but Barry was caught in an antimatter explosion...when matter and antimatter collide, they totally annihilate, am I right? Or at the very least become completely altered.

Don't forget, Marv Wolfman's trapdoor is still in play, Barry was time jumping then - so Barry pops out mid-run in the present day knowing that, at some point, he has to return to the Anti-Monitor's lair to finish the run.

Argent

Right, he can return without negating the fact that he dies in Crisis.

[RJ Squires]

Have you seen his death scene? He's a freakin skeleton. Sorry. Barry's done.

Ian Larsen

Seems to me so was HOURMAN I.

[Not My Real Name*]

I think that with the creation of the speed force Barry didn't die in COIE, just merely sucked away.

particleman

Actually, he did that during The Trail of the Flash.

[Jeff Shabazz]

Okay,see....in CoIE, Barry was hit by a stray bolt of lightning that sent him back to 1885. Since he didn't want Wally to worry, he sent a Western Union telegraph to be delivered at the exact moment Wally saw Barry disappear. Barry also asked in this letter that Wally not come and look for him, that he (Barry) was very happy in the Old West and had set himself up as a blacksmith/forensic scientist. All would have been well if Wally hadn't found out during Infinite Crisis that Barry died 3 days after the letter was written. According to the history books, Barry was revealed to have been killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Thawne, a descendant of Eobard Thawne. Armed with that knowledge, Wally went off to save Barry, taking his wife and newborn kids with him and going "somewhere else". Why DC is telling Bart's story instead of this rousing tale of super speed in the old west, I'll never know.

TJLamb0518

Dude you kill me