Ever since his introduction, Superman has been pushing the idea of what’s possible. He’s the hallmark of the superhero genre, the person who did whatever anyone could imagine to save the day. Back in the Silver Age, especially, he was capable of doing quite literally anything he needed to, from contouring his body into practically any shape to vibrating at just the right frequency to move every living thing on Earth except Lex Luthor and himself into an alternate dimension. He’s called the Man of Tomorrow because he is the living embodiment of the potential and infinite possibilities of a better future.
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However, there’s someone else at DC who might exemplify that spirit of moving the DC Universe forward even more. The Flash is one of DC’s most important characters, and while he hasn’t been around as long as Superman, whenever DC needs its universe to change fundamentally, the Fastest Man Alive is at the center of it more often than not.
The Man Who Runs Towards the Future
Superman is the character around whom DC structures its mythos. He’s the central point from where all stories and timelines originate, but in becoming that figure, he’s lost a bit of the push that his character originally had. When the superhero genre was still young, Superman carved out what it was about with every new issue. Now, however, he’s the standard and status quo personified. He’s still showing us how to be a hero and what a better tomorrow looks like, but he’s not pushing the universe to that nearly as much.
Meanwhile, the Flash has been DC’s instrument of change across decades. When the Silver Age began and so many of their classic characters were reimagined, the very first character in that new generation was the Flash. Barry Allen’s first issue is considered the de facto start of the Silver Age of Comics. When they introduced the concept of the multiverse, they did so by having Barry Allen and Jay Garrick meet, which has informed the structure of DC since it happened. Much later, when Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out the multiverse, it was Barry’s sacrifice that stopped everything from dying.
Wally West becoming the Flash is the first time an A-list hero’s identity became a legacy. The New 52 reboot occurs in a direct response to Barry going back in time and causing Flashpoint. Wally’s return is the kickstart of the Rebirth era, showing a return to the classic continuity. There are even more examples than this, but the point is proven. The Flash is DC’s agent of change. He is the character that advances the universe forward in way, inventive ways more so than anyone else.
Superman is the ideal that shows us what we could be, but the Flash is the character that runs full speed at the ideal. If no road leads to it, he’ll just make his own. Superman is the man who lives with all the abilities and nature of the future now, while the Flash is the person who is showing us how to get to that tomorrow. The Flash is just a man like anyone else, but with the desire to race towards the future, today. The Flash is DC’s Man of Tomorrow in the sense that he will help us reach it by showing us all the way there.
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