Iris West Allen's "Life Story of the Flash"

(A Suspended Animation "classic" from 1998.)


A book whose "existence" has been known for years to fans of the superhero Flash has finally been published. For $19.95, collectors can acquire a hardback copy of Iris West Alien's "Life Story of the Flash" (DC Comics, 1997).

Of course, it's a hoax. In 1993, in flash #79, we learned that the book had been/would be published in 1997. The existence of the book has figured prominently in Flash stories; it also serves as a terse summary of the careers of Barry Allen, Wally West and others.

Several prominent figures helped create the alleged biography: Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn share the script while Gil Kane, Joe Staton and Tom Palmer provide the art. Anything by Kane is worth examining, and Palmer is one of our best inkers, but this is not their best work.

The balance of prose and illustration is about right.

Of interest is the revising of the classic "Flash of Two Worlds" story. Since the Crisis on Infinite Earths series destroyed established continuity, we have known the first meeting of Jay Garrick and Barry Allen needed revision. The first version was more credible.

Much of the book deals with the career of Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash. How Iris West explains her memories of the day Zoom killed her is a problem rarely faced by biographers.

The Zoom section disagrees somewhat with the 1993 story line, "The Return of Barry Allen" in Flash #s 74-79. How much did Zoom really learn about himself from reading the biography? I have a suspicion that Zoom might be Barry Allen in yet another time paradox.

Flash #79 ended with Wally West destroying Zoom's copy of the biography four years before it would be published. He did so to avoid knowledge of his own future. The book ends with ambiguous references to crises facing Wally and Impulse.

This is probably worth the price for the revisions of continuity.

Dr. John Suter