Flash (Jay Garrick)

Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character known as the Flash. The character first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940), created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. Garrick gained the ability to move at superhuman speed due to a laboratory accident. Jay chose to fight crime as a costumed vigilante, while calling himself "the Flash". Jay Garrick has made numerous appearances in other media. The character made its live-action debut as a cameo in the television series Smallville, played by Billy Mitchell. John Wesley Shipp later appears as a recurring character in the Arrowverse The CW television series The Flash, and in a guest capacity in the unrelated television series Stargirl. In an interview, co-creator Harry Lampert commented on the character's creation. "The idea of the Flash was Gardner Fox's idea...it was supposed to be based upon the god Mercury...I went into the dictionary and there's the most beautiful rendition of Mercury and then I took my Flash and superimposed [them together] and they were almost identical, the pose is the same except a few doodads, and as I did it, I kept it as close as possible to that graceful attitude." The character of Jay Garrick was created by Gardner Fox (Writer) and Harry Lampert (Artist). His first appearance was in Flash Comics #1, the pilot issue of Flash Comics, which was published in 1940 by All-American Publications. He was soon featured in All-Star Comics as part of the Justice Society of America. In 1941, he got his own solo comic book series, All-Flash. After World War II, superheroes declined in popularity, causing many of the Flash's comic book series to be canceled. All-Flash was canceled in 1948 after 32 issues. Flash Comics was canceled in 1949 after 104 issues. All-Star Comics was canceled in 1951 after 57 issues, marking Garrick's last Golden Age appearance. Garrick would not appear again for ten years and never got another solo series.