Ira West

Shortly after the Wests lost their infant daughter in childbirth, an infant from another time appeared. They adopted Iris, but kept her true origin a secret, raising her as their own.

When a professor at Central City University, Ira West was approached by his former graduate student, Barry Allen, with a stunning revelation: he had gained super-speed, and was asking Professor West (as someone he could trust) to help him create a costume to fight crime as the Flash. West developed the special expanding fabric and ring, but shortly after giving the speedster his costume, he suffered a concussion from a pair of burglars. The Flash stopped the burglars, but Professor West forgot the events of the previous day (and Barry’s secret identity), and has subsequently suffered from regular absent-mindedness.

Since that time, the Flash has occasionally asked Professor West for help on scientific matters, but always in secret. Ira has kept in some contact with his grandson, Wally.

• Primary Sources
• Art Credits
• Silver-Age Appearances
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• One Year Later Flash Appearances

Primary Sources

• “The Flash’s Wife is a Two-Timer!” - Flash #203 (February 1971), Robert Kanigher
• “The Origin of the Flash’s Uniform” - Flash (first series) #267 (November 1978), Cary Bates

Art

• Flash (second series) #65 (Late June 1992) - Greg LaRocque and José Marzan, Jr.

Significant Silver-Age Appearances

• Flash #134 (February 1963): “The Threat of the Absent-Minded Professor,” John Broome
• Flash #141 (December 1963): “Slowdown in Time!” John Broome
• Flash #152 (May 1965): “Case of the Explosive Vegetables!” John Broome
• Flash #159 (March 1966): “Big Blast in Rocket City!” John Broome
• Flash #161 (May 1966): “The Case of the Curious Costume,” Robert Kanigher
• Flash #165 (November 1966): “One Bridegroom Too Many!” John Broome
• Flash #172 (August 1967): “The Machine-Made Robbery!” John Broome
• Flash #176 (February 1968): “Professor West—Lost, Strayed, or Stolen?” John Broome
• Flash #197 (May 1970): “To the Nth Degree,” Robert Kanigher
• Flash #203 (February 1971): “The Flash’s Wife is a Two-Timer!” Robert Kanigher
• Flash #217 (September 1972): “The Flash Times Five is Fatal!” Len Wein
• Flash #221 (May 1973): “Time-Schedule For Disaster!” J. David Warner & Cary Bates
• Flash #235 (August 1975): “Vandal Savage—Wanted Dead and Alive!” Cary Bates
• Flash #236 (September 1975): “Nowhere on the Face of Earth!” Cary Bates
• Flash #237 (November 1975): “The 1,000-Year Separation!” Cary Bates
• Flash #259 (March 1978): “Black Hand—the Kill-Proof Criminal!” Cary Bates
• DC Special Series #11: Flash Spectacular 1978: “Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier,” Cary Bates
• Flash #267 (November 1978): “The Origin of the Flash’s Uniform!” Cary Bates
• Flash #277 (September 1979): “The Self-Destruct Flash,” Cary Bates
• (Illusion) Flash #300 (August 1981): “1981—A Flash Odyssey,” Cary Bates

Significant Legacy-Era Appearances

• Flash #62–65 (May–June 1992): “Born To Run,” Mark Waid
• Flash #101 (May 1995): “Going the Distance,” Mark Waid
• The Life Story of the Flash (1997), Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash #142 (October 1998): “Get Me To The Church On Time,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash #189 (October 2002): “Messengers,” Geoff Johns

Significant One-Year-Later Flash Appearances

• DC Infinite Halloween Special (December 2007): “The Speed of Life,” Mark Waid

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