So who is the fastest man alive?

Photo Credits: pg 3- lead

Over the years, there have been various takes on the Speed Force and the ultimate speed of each speedster, namely Barry Allen and Wally West. Until an official answer is given, comic book fans will continue to debate who is fastest amongst not only the Flashes, but also amongst speedsters across DC Comics.

And while there are technically seven core members of the Flash Family — Barry Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Bart Allen, Jesse Quick, and Iris West II — for the purposes of this list, we’ve added four more characters who’ve been closely associated with said family. With that in mind, here are .

1. Iris West II

Seeing Iris West II, aka Impulse, as first on this list will come as a shock to virtually every fan, but here’s the thing, we’re not discussing theoretics, Impulse is the fastest speedster in the DC Universe. As previously mentioned, it was revealed prior to the New 52 reboot that Barry produces the Speed Force while everyone else merely borrows from it. Wally, on the other hand, mainlines from the Speed Force, thus making him faster than Barry.

With that in mind, the reason Iris West II is faster than both Barry and her father, Wally, despite never having run faster than either them, is because her potential is practically limitless. And that is because she is the living embodiment of the Speed Force, having the ability not only to run faster than anyone but also to control and manipulate both speed and time.

2. Wally West

Determining who is faster — Barry Allen or Wally West — is perhaps one of the most contentious subjects in comic book history. Still, judging by what we know of the Speed Force and past feats of both speedsters, we can assuredly say that Wally West is the faster Flash.

Barry has been shown struggling to break the time barrier, yet Wally has done it with ease, even once helping Barry cross that boundary by giving him a push in The Flash: Rebirth (2009).

3. Barry Allen

Barry Allen is by far the most recognizable Flash in DC Comics history. Having made his debut in 1956, Barry Allen became the Silver Age Flash, a reimagined version of the Golden Age superhero Jay Garrick. Barry was in many ways similar to Jay, but also fundamentally different. We didn’t realize how different until recently when it was revealed that Barry Allen isn’t just connected to the Speed Force. He is the Speed Force.

It’s because of Barry that we even have a Flash Family, and he’s why characters like Max Mercury and Jay Garrick are allowed to exist in the DC Universe. In fact, everything we know about the multiverse we owe to Barry, whose iconic comic Flash of Two Worlds introduced readers to alternate realities and successfully reintroduced Jay Garrick into continuity.As for his speed, most fans consider Barry to be the fastest man alive — and he very well might be — but we cannot confidently say that he is the fastest member of the Flash Family. Theoretically, Barry should be the fastest since he has the strongest connection and, thus far, an unquantifiable speed limit. However, Barry was never able to master the Speed Force — not like his longtime sidekick and friend, Wally West.

Bart Allen

Of all the speedsters on this list, Bart Allen is the only one blood-related to Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash. Being the grandson of The Flash comes with its perks and limitations, such as being born with powers of super-speed, but having to deal with the resulting hyper-metabolism. However, after traveling back in time and discovering a way to combat his advanced aging, Bart ended up becoming the superhero Impulse— but that’s only part of his story.Bart is known to have the highest potential to become the fastest man alive, due to his unique connection to the Speed Force following the events of Infinite Crisis. However, he has never proven to be consistently faster than Barry or Wally, even when he assumed the mantle of The Flash, his potential limited by his unstable link to the Speed Force.

As a child, Jay used to read pulp comics featuring the speedster Whip Whirlwind, who inspired him to don a superhero costume and become the Flash. Interestingly, due to the concept of the multiverse, Barry used to read stories of Jay Garrick and his fabled heroics, which is what in turn inspired him to become the Flash. However, despite being the original speedster, Jay was never able to surpass Barry in terms of speed, as it wasn’t until recently that he even obtained a connection to the Speed Force.Similar to her father, Jesse obtained super-speed by speaking the speed formula, a formula linked to the Speed Force. Furthermore, she obtained super-strength from her mother Liberty Belle, while also retaining her super-speed. Although she does have a connection to the Speed Force, she has come nowhere close to mastering it, which is why she is one of the slower members of the Flash Family.

Jay Garrick

New and casual comic book readers may not know much about Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, but that’s slowly changing with his inclusion on The Flash TV series. Long before Barry Allen and the introduction of the Speed Force, there was the speedster Jay Garrick, who was endowed with super-speed by inhaling heavy water vapors as a result of a lab accident. After being in a coma for several weeks, Jay woke up and discovered that he was capable of superhuman speed, something he quickly used to meet his future wife, Joan Williams.

Jesse Quick

Fans of the CW’s Flash TV series will undoubtedly be familiar with Earth-Two Harrison Wells’ daughter, Jesse Wells, whom he affectionately calls Jesse Quick. While the show obviously plays around with the source material, her character is based off a real comic book speedster, Jesse Chambers, who also goes by the name Jesse Quick.

Max Mercury

Of all the speedsters on this list, Max Crandall’s origin is perhaps the most intriguing. He was a US Cavalryman in the 1830s who was endowed with the power of super-speed by a dying shaman of a local Native American tribe. Following the event that granted him his powers, Max became a local superhero who went by the name Windrunner.

Although his powers are derived from the Speed Force, he, like several other speedsters, does not have a strong connection to the extra-dimensional energy. In fact, he’s never entered the Speed Force, nor drawn energy from it to power his speed. However, he has occasionally been able to intuitively harness the power of the Speed Force to travel forward through time.