abiThe Flash hasn’t received the best treatment on screen, which is strange considering they’ve starred in numerous amazing comics. They’re one of the oldest superheroes and has starred in or appeared in over a thousand comics. As such, it can be difficult to determine what the best Flash comics are. Our list covers some of the hero’s classics and provides an excellent jumping-off point to continue reading.
Best Flash comics as of 2025
The Flash was introduced early in the Golden Age of comics, and aside from a brief cancellation in the 1950s, has remained a DC staple ever since. All the characters who have donned the mantle have the same thing in common: they’re able to move super fast. It’s a simple concept, but one that’s been used to great effect throughout the hero’s history.
The Brave and the Bold
Image Credit: DC
Okay, so technically, it’s a crossover with Green Lantern, but this one’s excellent. Set just before Crisis on Infinite Earths, this six-issue limited series follows Hal and Barry as they team up across the DC Universe. Released between 1999 and 2000, it’s a Silver Age hero bromance that’s become a fan-favorite over the years.
Written by Mark Waid with art by Barry Kitson, The Brave and the Bold takes us from their first meeting through wild adventures, time-travel hijinks, classic team-up brawls, and even time manipulation that puts their friendship to the test. It’s just a fun, good-time read from start to finish.
Buy it on Amazon
Flashpoint
Image Credit: DC
Have you ever had one of those dreams as a kid where you wake up and something’s off? Not like, bad day kind of off — more like your dad is your dad, but he’s got someone else’s freaky face. That kind of reality distortion is exactly what Flashpoint taps into in this alternate timeline story from comic legend Geoff Johns. In this world, Barry Allen’s mother, who’s dead in the main continuity, is alive. But Superman is missing, Bruce Wayne died in Crime Alley, and his father, Thomas Wayne, is a much more brutal version of Batman.
As the story unfolds, we find out why this reality exists and what Barry has to do to fix it. Because, as anyone who’s ever seen a time-travel movie knows, messing with the past doesn’t just change one thing. And while the premise is already unsettling, what makes this a great comic is that it’s a perfect entry point into the world of the Flash. You don’t need to know any profound lore. Part of the fun is figuring out what should be based on what currently isn’t. Everyone starts at the same place.
The art by Andy Kubert deserves admiration. It’s gritty, cinematic, and, at times, has this hazy, dreamlike distortion that mirrors the broken world Barry’s trapped in. It swings between sharp detail and ghostlike surrealism. The artwork alone lands a spot on this list. If you want to check out the animated film that was adapted from this, you should check out the Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
Buy it on Amazon
Blitz
Image Credit: DC
Blitz, from The Flash Vol. 2, issues 192–200, closes out Geoff Johns’ first run on The Flash. With art by Scott Kolins, the Blitz storyline is one of the most essential Wally West arcs. In this one, Wally has to deal with one of the worst kinds of villains: the kind that uses the people you love as weapons against you.
The villain here is Hunter Zolomon, an FBI profiler and close friend of Wally’s who becomes Zoom. After suffering a tragedy, Hunter believes Wally has never experienced actual loss and decides it’s his responsibility to fix that. Unlike previous speedster villains, Zoom manipulates time instead, messing with speed on a whole different level. Distorted and messy, this one is a standout.
Blitz was not only one of the best arcs for Wally West, but also gave us one of the best villains. Going from friend to foe hits close to home for many of us, and seeing it play out here makes you feel less alone.
Buy it on Amazon
Human Race
Image Credit: DC
This one kicks off when a few cosmic entities force a contest, which is an odd choice of words since there’s not so much consent involved, where the prize is that your planet gets to survive. If you’re human, you might feel pretty good about your odds with the Flash as your champion. But the bad news is, there are other super-speed racers out there, and there’s always the ultimate competitor: time itself. And while you can’t conquer time, you might be able to outrun it if you’re Wally West, anyway.
While this premise first showed up in the 1960s, writers Grant Morrison and Mark Millar ramped up the tension and emotional turmoil in their 1998 version. Morrison’s work can be a little polarizing among fans, so this one sometimes lands on those “worst of” Flash lists. Now, why would you put a polarizing comic on the list of the best Flash comics, you ask? Because reading polarizing material can be good for you. Go ahead and give it a whirl.
Buy it on Amazon
The Black Flash
Image Credit: DC
Another one from Morrison and Millar, the Black Flash, is a character who first appeared briefly in The Flash Vol. 2 #138 but made his full debut in the three-part story arc spanning issues #139–141.
Just as Wally West is getting ready to propose to Linda Park, he starts noticing a strange blur appearing in the corners of the photos. Max Mercury has seen it before. So has the Speed Force. It’s the Black Flash, an omen of death for speedsters. At first, it seems like it’s coming for Linda, but Wally realizes it’s turning its sights on him.
This one plays like a supernatural thriller, with a cosmic entity slowly closing in. But it also leans into that overwhelming, makes-you-feel-small-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things feeling as Wally runs to the edge of the universe, where neither death nor time can exist. In doing so, the entire DC Universe briefly collapses in on itself. It’s a real brain-breaker.
Buy it on Amazon
How we chose the best Flash comics
As with most of our best-of lists, we like to factor in fan reception and the importance of the character’s development, both in terms of writing and their place in the larger universe. And since we’re talking comics, the artwork earns big points, too. Generally, we like to include comics you’d want to pull off the shelf and hand to someone just getting into the universe.
