I have very limited comic book knowledge but have heard lots of people say that superman is the fastest character in comics. I have also heard people say that the Flash is faster than instantaneous. So who really is faster? Also i couldn't find this posted before but if it was somebody tell me in the comments and i will link it.
The latest issue of The Flash confirms once and for all who is faster - the DC speedsters of the Flash Family, or Superman himself.
Warning: SPOILERS through The Flash #49
The latest issue of The Flash has finally answered a question that has sparked endless debate among comic book trivia fans for years. Who is the true Fastest Man Alive - The Flash or Superman?
The official answer to this question has changed repeatedly since the two heroes first raced around the world for charity in Superman #199 in 1967. The two heroes have raced several times since then, in the comics, cartoons and movies. As a general rule, the comics claim that The Flash is the faster hero, with Barry Allen, Wally West and even an octogenarian Jay Garrick having outrun Superman over the years. Other media tend to portray Superman as the fastest, with the Justice League movie showing Superman being able to see The Flash coming and countering his super-fast attacks.
Related: The One TRUE Flash is Coming To DC Comics
The Flash #49 sees Barry Allen and Wally West engaged in a high-speed chase that threatens to destroy the Earth, as the shockwaves through The Speed Force begin to affect other aspects of reality. In order to stop Amanda Waller and ARGUS from enacting a lethal sanction against them, the Justice League and the Titans move to stop the two speedsters.
This leads to Superman flying after both Flashes, in an effort to find out what has them so stirred up that they're moving so quickly.
Within a few seconds, Superman returns to his allies and the ARGUS group under Amanda Waller's command. Shockingly, Superman is out of breath and panting, having to take a moment to compose himself before he can speak. His hair also appears disheveled and his face is flushed and sweaty. Finally, Superman gasps that he was unable to get close enough to The Flashes for them to hear him and admits that he couldn't catch up to them.
While this story is unlikely to dissuade those Superman fans who insist that he is the most powerful superhero in the universe in every arena and "can do anything," as in the song by R.E.M., it does put another feather in the cowls of both Barry Allen and Wally West. It remains to be seen which version of The Flash will prove to be the true Fastest Man Alive - a question that will surely be answered as the Flash War event continues.
More: Superman's New Villain Just Slaughtered an Entire [SPOILER]
The Flash #49 is now available from DC Comics.
Related Topics
- Comics News
- superman
- the flash
- dc comics
Matt Morrison (1907 Articles Published)
Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word "blogging" was coined. He got his start writing for the legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing, before receiving his own column, The Mount. He went on to write for over a dozen websites, including 411 Mania, Comics Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions in the United States and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog – My Geeky Geeky Ways – which hosts his extensive Arrowverse episode guide well as his comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You can follow his adventures on Twitter, @SenseiStarman.
More From Matt Morrison
Ever wondered who the fastest man alive is? Your local advertising office will most certainly say The Flash (it’s a brand thing, trust us), but your neighbor from down the hall might say it’s Superman. Both are certainly fast, but who’s faster, The Flash or Superman?
The Flash is faster than Superman. He has won five of their nine races, with three ties and only one win from Superman. Still, even the fastest Speedster, Wally West, stated that given enough motivation, Superman could get a big enough boost to gain extra speed and become faster than any of the Speedsters.
In the rest of the article, we will take a closer look at the races that have occurred between The Flash and Superman and how fast exactly are two of the most popular characters from the DC universe.
Who Is Faster: Superman or The Flash? [Detaily Explained]
Both Superman and Flash are known for their speed. And while the Man of Steel has a lot of other qualities, speed is The Flash’s primary skill and power. Superman can be fast, but can he be fast enough to cope with the fastest man alive?
A Brief History of the Rivalry
Whether you may believe it or not, the debate on whether Superman is faster than The Flash is pretty old. The two superheroes raced each other on several occasions, sometimes for the sport of it, sometimes because of an important reason, but whatever the reason might have been – it was always an interesting thing to see.
Their first race happened way back in 1967, when Barry Allen organized a charity race around the world against Superman, at the behest of the United Nations. It was a truly epochal event as shown in the story “Superman’s Race With the Flash!”, published in Superman #199.
Despite all the excitement, the race ended as a tie, as both Superman and The Flash arrived at the finish line at the same moment.
That same year, Barry and Clark again raced, this time throughout the whole Milky Way Galaxy. This time, the stakes were higher because two aliens (which later turned out to be two disguised villains) threatened to destroy Central City (Flash’s hometown) and Metropolis (Superman’s hometown) in case they refused, while also holding the rest of the Justice League hostage.
Published in Flash #175, the story “The Race to the End of the Universe!” once again ended in a tie, despite the fact that Batman declared Superman the winner, while the rest of the Justice League saw Barry crossing the finish line first.
The two superheroes raced against each other seven more times, with Superman taking on every Flash except Bart Allen. Some of the races were important, some were just for fun and some weren’t even races, but the two of them did test each other’s speed.
Before we give you a list in table form, we can briefly state that out of the seven remaining races, Superman has won only once, along with one tie, meaning that the three Flashes won the five remaining races. Now let us see all of them:
| 1 | Superman #199 | 1967 | “Superman’s Race With the Flash!” | World | Tie |
| 2 | Flash #175 | 1967 | “The Race to the End of the Universe!” | Milky Way | Tie |
| 3 | World’s Finest #198-199 | 1970 | “Race to Save the Universe!” | Two galaxies | Flash (Barry Allen) |
| 4 | DC Comics Presents #1–2 | 1978 | “Chase to the End of Time!” | Time | Tie |
| 5 | Adventures of Superman #463 | 1990 | “Speed Kills” | World | Flash (Wally West) |
| 6 | DC First: Flash/Superman | 2002 | “Speeding Bullets” | United States | Flash (Jay Garrick) |
| 7 | The Flash #209 | 2004 | “Fast Friends” | World | Flash (Wally West) |
| 8 | Flash Rebirth #3 | 2009 | “Rearview Mirrors” | Central City – Metropolis | Flash (Barry Allen) |
| 9 | Superman #709 | 2011 | “Grounded, Part Seven” | Metropolis | Superman |
So, as you can see for yourselves – in almost every iteration of the famous rivalry, Flash was more successful. This is additionally confirmed by the recent The Flash #49, where Barry Allen and Wally West are engaged in a chase that could potentially destroy the planet.
Being the only character capable of challenging them, Superman tries to follow them to see what’s going on but ultimately has to stop – exhausted – stating that they were just too fast for him.
As far as the Flashes go, the fastest among them is Wally West. Barry Allen comes second, with Bart Allen in the third spot. Jay Garrick is the slowest among the four, but even he was quick enough to beat Superman in a race.
Who Is Faster
Based on what the comic books have taught us, The Flash is certainly faster than Superman. It is not much, as it was stated on multiple occasions that Superman is practically the only non-Speedster that can challenge the Speedsters, but as far as the comics go – it’s just not enough.
The issue here is that DC Comics never outright confirmed this, meaning that even though the comics cheer for The Flash, the publisher just doesn’t want to definitely solve the mystery, which is good when marketing is concerned, so we can understand the logic behind that reasoning.
Plus, a lot of derivative materials actually support the thesis that Superman is faster, despite the comics not providing any solid proof for that thesis.
An interesting thing, though, is that even some Speedsters remarked that Superman could beat them. Namely, generally speaking – Superman is slower, but even Wally West – who is the fastest Flash and has beat Superman in a race – has stated that given enough motivation, Superman could get a big enough boost to gain extra speed and become faster than any of the Speedsters.
Luckily enough for them, this has not happened so until it does, we can safely assume that the Flashes are faster than Superman.