CSBG Archive
The Greatest Flash (Barry Allen) Stories Ever Told! – Voting
Here’s the latest of the daily voting threads for The Greatest ____ Stories Ever Told!
Our next character up for voting is Flash (Barry Allen).
The hero credited with the advent of the superhero comic Silver Age, Barry Allen was a founding member of the Justice League of America and served as Flash for decades before seemingly meeting his maker in the crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths. He returned in the crossover event, Final Crisis, and after the events of Flashpoint, he is currently the only Flash in the new DC 52!
You have until 11:59 PM Pacific time, November 22nd to vote for your top ten favorite comic book stories starring Barry Allen! Your choices will be revealed on November 23rd. I will leave what “starring” entails up to you.
You vote by sending your top ten choices to bcronin@comicbookresources.com (make the subject heading clear that it is about The Greatest Barry Allen Stories Ever Told Voting) by that time (you send your votes by e-mail, not in the comments to this piece). If you can’t think of ten stories, I’ll still allow the ballot if you can think of at least six stories.
Be sure to first click here to read about the rules and guidelines for the voting (so you don’t vote for stuff that is ineligible, like you can’t vote for “John Broome’s Flash run” you have to pick a specific story or story arc).
I’d prefer you not share your votes in the comments section – please let’s keep it a surprise until the results go up. You can share your votes then if you’d like!
Have fun voting and be sure to check back November 23rd to see the results!
17 Comments
buttler
November 16, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Man, I may run out of space with just the ones where he’s being turned into a puppet, or super fat, or has a giant head.
Actually, this one should be just my speed (no pun intended), because I can automatically ignore anything after the 1980s.
Dean
November 16, 2011 at 4:52 pm
My prediction: Crisis on Infinite Earths will be #1.
Zach
November 16, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Wait, there have been good Barry Allen stories?
Dr. H. Doofenshmirtz
November 16, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Well Zach, since you’re obviously new to comics, I’ll give you some good places to start with good Barry Allen stories. Flash of Two Worlds, JLA Year One, Crisis(both Infinite and Final), and a ton of classic silver-age issues that introduce many classic villains and ideas. The new relaunched series is very good as well.
Third Man
November 16, 2011 at 8:50 pm
I’ve only ever read 2 1/2 Barry Allen stories that I’ve enjoyed: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Manapul’s New 52 series (which I enjoy infinitely more for its art and story-telling style than I do for the character work), and “The Return of Barry Allen” (which isn’t even a Barry Allen story, hence my counting it as the 1/2).
Steve
November 17, 2011 at 12:38 am
The issues of Marvel’s “Quasar” that featured the amnesiac extra-dimensional speedster who thought that his name sounded something like “Buried Alien”. Classics.
DanCJ
November 17, 2011 at 5:24 am
Honestly I think the current DCNU story is already the best I’ve read.
Paul
November 17, 2011 at 6:03 pm
If we are voting on the Flash, why does he mention Nick Fury? a’You have until 11:59 PM Pacific time, November 22nd to vote for your top ten favorite comic book stories starring Nick Fury! Your choices will be revealed on November 23rd. I will leave what “starring” entails up to you.a’
So confusing!!
Zach
November 17, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Dr. H, not new to comics, been reading for like 18 years now. The question was facetious.
Vote for the Greatest Barry Allen Stories Ever Told « Speed Force
November 20, 2011 at 10:02 am
[...] a poll all month for the greatest ____ stories ever told. Currently up for voting: Barry Allen. Send in your top 10 choices to CSBG by Tuesday, November [...]
Dr. H. Doofenshmirtz
November 20, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Oh, so you were just being a jerk for no reason then, my bad.
Chris
November 21, 2011 at 6:59 am
Death of Iris Allen is incredible, and I would not count Flashpoint out
T.
November 21, 2011 at 8:36 am
Eh, if the guy feels there have been no good Barry Allen stories ever, he’s entitled to his opinion. It doesn’t make him a jerk.
Kel-Al
November 21, 2011 at 9:19 pm
- Secret Origins Annual Number 2 (Carmine Infantino artwork, great story, retells the origin and life of The Flash, was my first comic, older than me but I still love it)
- DC: The New Frontier (all the bits with Barry in this are great and exactly how he should be written IMO, check out the expanded edition for a great pice definitely worth checking out)
- JLA: Year One (Mark Waid’s storytelling here is great, and Barry Kitson’s art is fantastic)
- The Flash and Green Lantern: The Brave and The Bold (same team as above, but it jumps from all different eras of the Barry/Hal partnership, great stuff)
- The Life Story of The Flash (written by Mark Waid again, it reads like a biography more than a typical comic, great stuff tho)
- Trial of The Flash (people love or hate this one it’s up there for me because of the craziness and twists of the story, also Infantino’s artwork really changed towards the end here)
- Flash of Two Worlds (how can this not be on here?)
- Final Crisis (Grant Morrisson does a great job writing Barry, his fave character, I’d love to see him do a Flash project one day)
- Crisis on Infinite Earths (It’s known more for it’s impact on comics but it’s worth a read at least once)
Kel-Al
November 21, 2011 at 9:20 pm
The new Flash series is the best of the new 52 IMHO….really great stuff. Hope they keep it up!
Kel-Al
November 21, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Oh shit….didn’t see that about not showing the votes. Ah hell I showed up too late anyway and did not get to vote so I guess it doesn’t really count for me…
Realitätsprüfung
November 22, 2011 at 10:49 am
There are so many classic Flash stories, it’s hard to pick. But the longevity of the character and disparity of the styles in the various eras will make any top 10 list a bit unbalanced; the few good modern stories about Barry Allen vs. the classic stories from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
In any event, I think the Death of Iris Allen story is one of the best “big” Flash story arcs ever done. After that you have all the old stuff, from Flash of Two Worlds to Crisis. Though the new Manapul series may end up taking a place up high on that list, eventually.