Flash Museum

Flash Museum
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance The Flash #154 (August 1965)
In story information
Type Building

The Flash Museum is a fictional museum that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The museum is dedicated to the superheroes sharing the alias of the Flash, with its primary focus on Barry Allen. It first appeared in The Flash #154 (August 1965).

Fictional history

The museum has been destroyed and subsequently rebuilt several times during the careers of both Barry Allen and Wally West. The museum was originally located in Central City, but was relocated to Keystone City after the original was destroyed by Hunter Zolomon.[1] The museum was last destroyed in The Flash vol. 2, #196 (May 2003), and a rebuilt museum is shown in The Flash vol. 2, #208 (May 2004). After the death of the fourth Flash (Bart Allen), a statue of him was constructed with a candlelight vigil in his memory being held shortly thereafter.[2] Bart's statue was vandalized and later destroyed by Superman-Prime, who holds a grudge against Bart for his initial defeat during the events of Infinite Crisis.

The museum features various exhibits about the Flash, including his battles and his rogues gallery of foes. The museum also contains a working cosmic treadmill, the device that allows Flash to travel to other dimensions and across time. In addition to the exhibits, the Flash Museum houses a vast storage of various artifacts and weaponry that the Flash has encountered. Depending on the story, some of these weapons are actually part of public exhibits, and are occasionally used during a fight.

Reference to the Flash Museum in JLA/Avengers #1 (September 2003). Art by George Pérez.

The museum's curator since its founding is Dexter Myles, a former Shakespearean actor given the job by Barry Allen after his assistance in foiling a robbery.[3] The museum is depicted in JLA/Avengers #1 (September 2003), and is the site of a battle between the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver against Black Canary, Blue Beetle, and Hawkman to retrieve the Wand of Watoomb, which is won by the Avengers after the Witch uses her chaos magic to knock out the other fighters.

In Justice League: Cry for Justice, Jay Garrick, Ray Palmer, and Freddy Freeman arrive at a destroyed Flash Museum where technology from the cosmic treadmill was stolen, and three of Jay's friends were killed.

Future versions

In the Teen Titans story arc "Titans Tomorrow", set ten years in the future, the whole of Keystone City is converted into a huge Flash Museum. The adult Impulse uses the museum as a hideout.[4]

In the "Cobalt Blue" storyline, the Flash Museum is shown to exist in the 25th and 30th centuries. By the later era, the museum contains exhibits on the many Flashes of the previous 1,000 years. The new curators are a pair of robots named Dexter and Myles.[5]

Several years before the Legion of Superheroes are formed, the Flash Museum is a derelict wreck. This is because the current President of Earth, Thawne, despises the Allen genealogical line. Despite this, it hosts the functioning Cosmic Treadmill.[6]

Other versions

Flashpoint

In other media

Television

Video games

References

  1. ↑ The Flash vol. 2, #197 (June 2003)
  2. ↑ Countdown #43 (July 4, 2007)
  3. ↑ The Flash #154 (August 1965)
  4. ↑ Teen Titans vol. 3, #18 (January 2005)
  5. ↑ "Guided Tour: The Central City Flash Museum". The Flash Secret Files #1 (November 1997)
  6. ↑ "Impulse" #25 (May 1997)

External links