DC Comics created superheroes in the Golden Age. Superman and Batman were the standard bearers for this “new” (they were really just a combination of the “action hero” of men’s adventure stories and the detectives of noir) type of hero, and they’ve become two of the most popular fictional characters of the 20th century. They are considered two of the greatest of all time, and loads of heroes have been based on them in some way. They are brilliant characters who have proven to be infinitely malleable. However, as great as they are, they aren’t the greatest characters of DC’s Golden Age. There’s another GOAT from those days, and he’s become a fan-favorite numerous times over the generations: the first Flash, Jay Garrick.
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Jay Garrick first appeared in The Flash Comics #1, and eventually joined the Justice Society of America. He was a new kind of hero for the time, breaking ground that many heroes heroes would be built on. He became the first Golden Age original (not counting the Trinity) to make an appearance in the Silver Age, and opened the door for the multiverse concept to come to superhero books. His adventures in the modern day have been some of the best of all time, and he has slotted into a very important role in the DC superhero community. Garrick represented the Flashes in the current blockbuster event DC K.O, showing that he’s still vital all these years later. He’s a legend and it’s about time he got his flowers.
Jay Garrick Changed the Comic Industry in Numerous Ways
So, we’re going to start with his origin, because this plays a big role in how important the character is to comic history. Jay Garrick was just a college student, who accidentally gained powers because of a science experiment radioactive hard water. He was an everyman in a time when most of the headlining heroes of DC were aliens, wealthy people of some kind, reincarnated princes, magicians, and the like. Jay wasn’t one of those. He was a college student who had an accident with radiation. He was basically a Silver Age Marvel-style hero in 1940, breaking ground that would make the House of Ideas into a juggernaut.
He was the first Flash, creating a legacy that would become one of the most important well-known in comics, and Barry Allen’s origin is basically just a modification of his. Super speed wasn’t as refined as it is today, and it was amazing to see a hero with his kinds of power back then. His costume was also different from the standard, a simple outfit with cool headgear that was missing a big part of Golden Age superhero costumes. Capes were the standard back then, and he broke that rule (the first Sandman also didn’t have a cape, and came before Jay but he didn’t really have a traditional costume). His sleek, cool costume would become the standard in the years to come, with Jay breaking ground for the future once again.
I’m not going to sit here and say Golden Age Jay was some kind of deep character, but he broke the then-current mold of superheroes, and his return in the Silver Age would see that happen again. The Flash #123 saw the beginning of the DC Multiverse, and would see Jay take on the role he is known for today: the loving and lovable elder statesmen. Throughout the Silver Age, he appeared in numerous books as the stalwart old man, the everyman fighting evil because it was the right thing to do. However, the character wouldn’t really pop for readers until the modern age.
Jay started appearing in The Flash (Vol. 2) and Impulse as the grandpa of the Flash family, the characterization that would make him a star and carry him to the present day. He took up the same role in JSA and Justice Society of America, except this time he was everybody’s grandpa. He didn’t let his age slow him down, and threw himself into situations that he was sure to lose just so he could save others. The introduction of Jay’s daughter the Boom in Stargirl: The Lost Children finally made him into the father he had always been, and led to the stellar Jay Garrick: The Flash. Jay is a trailblazer, and has had one of the best stretches of quality in the 21st century; basically every comic that he’s played a major role has been outstanding, something that very few heroes can claim.
Jay Garrick Is the Most Underrated Icon of Them All
DC’s Golden Age is integral to the success of the comic industry. Everyone praises Marvel’s Silver Age, but without DC in the Golden Age, there would be no Marvel. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without Jay Garrick specifically, there would be no Marvel Universe. He was, in a lot of ways, a proto-Silver Age Marvel character before anyone else. The everyman struggling to make heroism and a regular life work wasn’t created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert.
He played an integral role in the multiverse stories of the Silver Age, which themselves would become the basis for the modern event comic. Since then, he’s been the coolest grandpa in comics, the definition of an elder statesman for the superhero community, and has starred in some of the best team comics of the last 26 years, if not the best. Fans loved the fact that he got to be in DC K.O., showing that he’s easily the best Golden Age character. Jay Garrick might not seem like it, but he is truly a revolutionary character, and deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
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