Generations

Flash I: Jay Garrick Flash II: Barry Allen Flash III: Wally West Flash IV: Carrie Allen Flash V: Jay West

The idea of Superman & Batman: Generations was to imagine the DC Universe as it might be if time passed in the same way there as it does in the real world. The original series followed Superman, Batman and their followers through 8 decades, from 1929 through 1999. The sequel expanded the scope to more heroes and covered the years 1942 through 2019.

At first glance, you might think the Flashes wouldn’t need modification, since at the time we already had three generations of Flashes succeeding each other. However, Barry’s origin in the main timeline is fixed at about 10–15 years ago, leaving a huge gap between Jay’s 1940s career and Barry’s debut (which originally hit during the 1950s). Following the publishing timeline places Wally’s debut as Kid Flash in the early 1960s, opening up two more generations for the 1980s and the present day.

         (Ira West) -+- (Nadine)    (I. Jay  --- (Joan
                     |                Garrick)  Williams)
                 +---+---+
                 |       |
 II. Barry -+- Iris  (Rudolph -+- (Mary
     Allen  |  West     West)  | Rhodes)
            |                  |
            |           III. Wally -+- Magda
      IV. Carrie -+- (?)      West  |
          Allen   |                 |
                 (?)            V. Jay
                                   West

The Flash I

Real Name: Jay Garrick
Known Relatives: Joan Williams Garrick (wife)
Base of Operations: Keystone City
Group Affiliation: Justice Society of America
Years Active: 1940–1952 (est.)
Appearances: Doesn’t actually appear.
See Also: Jay Garrick (main profile)

The original Flash does not actually appear in either series, although it is mentioned in 1953 that he has retired, and Barry has an autographed picture of Jay by 1964. It is reasonable to assume that the original Flash in this timeline is essentially the same as the “real” Jay Garrick.

The Flash II

Real Name: Barry Allen
Known Relatives: Iris West Allen (wife), Wally West (nephew), Carrie (daughter)
Base of Operations: Central City
Group Affiliation: Justice Society of America, Justice League of America(?)
Years Active: 1956–1974 (est.)
Appearances: 1964 (G2 #2), 1969 (G1 #2), 2008 (G2 #4, retired)
See Also: Barry Allen (main profile)

The second Flash is Barry Allen, and appears to have followed the mainstream Barry’s life fairly closely with one exception (not counting the difference in years): This timeline appears not to have faced the Crisis, as Barry is alive and well in 2008.

Barry and Iris have a daughter, Carrie. While not explicitly stated in the book, the fourth Flash is the right age, and appears to be part of the family.

Kid Flash / The Flash III

Real Name: Wally West
Known Relatives: Barry Allen (uncle), Iris West Allen (aunt), Magda (wife), Jay West (son),
Base of Operations: Central City
Group Affiliation: Justice League
Years Active: 1974–1986 (est.)
Appearances: 1964 (G2 #2, as Kid Flash), 2008 (G2 #4, retired)
See Also: Wally West (main profile)

The third Flash appears to have started out roughly the same as his mainstream counterpart, if a few decades earlier, but a few differences emerged. His costume as Kid Flash was primarily red rather than yellow*, and he teamed up with Robin, Wonder Girl, and Supergirl to form the Justice League (rather than the Teen Titans). Wally does not appear in action as the Flash, but it seems likely that he wore a variation of either Barry’s outfit or his own Kid Flash outfit.

Wally eventually married a woman named Magda (last name unknown), and they had a son, Jay, who would become the fifth Flash.**

Notes

The Flash IV

Real Name: Carrie Allen
Known Relatives: Barry and Iris Allen (parents), unnamed son
Base of Operations: Central City?
Group Affiliation: Justice League
Years Active: 1986–2006 (est.)
Appearances: 1986 (G2 #3), 1997 (G2 #3), 2008 (G2 #4, retired)

The fourth Flash had only recently joined the Justice League in 1986 when she and other Leaguers tried to apprehend an increasingly unstable Batman. She remained active at least through 1997 and probably later.

Carrie appears along with the Wests and Allens in 2008, holding a toddler, presumably her son. Given this, and the fact that Iris appears to be pregnant in 1964, it seems likely that Barry and Iris might be her parents. This would make her about 21 in 1986, which is about right for a non-sidekick superhero debut. It’s unclear who the father of her child is, but she was seen flirting with Green Lantern Kyle Rayner in 1997—whether they (a) had a relationship and (b) continued it are unclear.

The Flash V

Real Name: Jay West
Known Relatives: Wally and Magda West (parents), Barry and Iris Allen (uncle and aunt)
Base of Operations: Central City?
Group Affiliation: Justice League?
Years Active: 2008–2025
Appearances: 2008 (G2 #4)
See Also: Jai West

The fifth Flash, while not as fast as his predecessors, nevertheless trained for years to succeed them. In 2008 he donned one of his uncle Barry’s old costumes and took up the mantle of the Flash. On his first case he went up against Metallo alongside Knightwing, Cyborg and Blackhawk.

• Art Credits
• Series Info

Art

• Flash I (Jay Garrick) - Who’s Who (first series) #8 (October 1985) - Eduardo Barreto
• Flash II (Barry Allen) - Superman & Batman: Generations 2 #2 (September 2001) - John Byrne
• Kid Flash (Wally West) - Superman & Batman: Generations 2 #2 (September 2001) - John Byrne
• Flash IV (Carrie Allen) - Superman & Batman: Generations 2 #3 (October 2001) - John Byrne
• Flash V (Jay West) - Superman & Batman: Generations 2 #4 (November 2001) - John Byrne

Series Info

• Superman & Batman: Generations (1999, 4 issues / TPB), John Byrne
• Superman & Batman: Generations 2 (2001, 4 issues / TPB), John Byrne
• Superman & Batman: Generations 3 (2003–2004, 12 issues), John Byrne

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