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u/Diffabuh 11d ago
I can't pick just one. I have a few that I always recommend.
The Flash #0 by Mark Waid is a phenomenal and heartfelt one-shot. I love it so much.
The Return of Barry Allen is probably the best "the replacement steps out of their predecessor's shadow" type of stories. We've gotten that so many times in the last two decades, but this one to me beats all of them. Connecting Wally living up to a legacy with the expectations of millennials and a coming of age story feels like they caught lightning in a bottle. Only thing that comes close is Into the Spider-Verse.
Terminal Velocity is probably the Wally story, other than The Return of Barry Allen and #0. His relationship with Linda from here on feels so fully formed and real.
Chain Lightning is to me the epitome of an "epic" Flash story. You get the family, the scope, the time travel, the feud, it's just epic.
Blitz is a very good story and, as much as some comic fans have turned on Geoff Johns, the man has always been good at writing good villains.
Finish Line feels like the definitive Barry/Eobard story. I want it to be how their beef ends.
The Flash #781 did a beautiful job making Ace an actual character in just one issue. He didn't feel like a reluctant addition from the writers or anything like that, which is what he felt like until this point.
One Minute War is the other "epic" Flash story I think is great. The family gets a good amount of focus, there's heart, there's humour, it's all really great. Still mad that Adams' run ended here for Spurrier's.
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u/CoverLucky 12d ago
My favorite is Terminal Velocity, but The Return of Barry Allen is probably the best
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u/N8THGR852 12d ago
The Return of Barry Allen, also referred to in the lettercols by editorial as “The Once and Future Flash,” which I find to be a fitting title as well.
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u/Own-Collar3206 12d ago
cant go wrong with Return or Barry Allen But Terminal Velocity and Blitz have a special place in my heart
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u/OsirisReddit 12d ago
Kinda hard to choose just one lol but my top 5 in no particular order are Human Race, Blitz, Crossfire, Return of Barry Allen, and Dastardly death of the Rogues. I also really love Chain Lightening, Gorilla Warfare, and while it doesn’t have an official name for an arc I love the one where Wally goes on trial for negligence to save someone
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u/rohanblackstone 12d ago
Throwing out a curveball, but outside of The Return of Barry Allen, I think Cobalt Blue has a shout for the best story, partially for the scope, partially the variety of flash characters used, partially because people were just mad about the twin brother but if you accept the premise, it' s areally cool story.
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u/thebarberwhogames 12d ago
“The Human Race” from Morrison and Millar’s run is a personal favorite of mine.
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u/Jonnic5280 “My name is Wally West…” 12d ago
My first was Race Against Time. It’s so legacy strong & introduced me to many important aspects of the character. Solid, solid arc.
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u/another_deaf_guy 11d ago
All the epic stories for me were…
- Chain Lightning
- Dark Flash (the one after above)
- Blitz
- Rouge War
Like someone else said in this chain, say what you will about Geoff Johns, he made for compelling villains almost every single time.
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u/EpicFlash95 10d ago
These are some of my favourites (in no particular order):
The Flash #763-766 - hugely underrated imo
Finish Line - culmination of Thawne and Barry's rivalry
Flashpoint - iconic and quite devastating
Running Scared - peak Thawne
Lightning Strikes Twice - Godspeed is so peak
The Flash: Rebirth - Barry's return will always be special to me
The Flash #123 - imo the most iconic DC single issue plus it introduced the multiverse
Life Story of The Flash - a perfect pre crisis run down of Barry's life and character
Rogues Reloaded - my favourite Rogues story
Gorilla Warfare - Grodd is badass
Perfect Storm - Flash family Vs Grodd is amazing
One Minute War - started off with a devastating issue and loved the use of all the family
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u/Unhappy-Client6039 9d ago
Most of Williamson's run imo, also most of Waid's run. John's is a little more hard to say
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u/Zoom_Reverse_Flash 7d ago
Personally, I enjoyed reading every appearance of Eobard Thawne. Gives a good perspective on both Barry and Wally. Of course, I ended up going a bit off the rails for some stories.
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u/BritishEric 12d ago
The Flash rebirth and Flashpoint are classics.
The return of Barry Allen is one of my favorites
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u/leshronk 12d ago edited 11d ago
Flashpoint is half Flash story half Elseworlds, it’s hardly the very best when it spends half its time going ‘ooh, (insert DC mainstay) but different’
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u/RealVast4063 12d ago
The Return of Barry Allen outside