The Flash by Mark Waid — Book Two (featuring “The Return of Barry Allen”)

Our look at Mark Waid’s legendary run on The Flash continues! After taking on his first major assignment as a writer, retelling Wally West’s origin, and paring down the supporting cast to help focus on Wally’s journey to maturity, Waid goes for broke with an epic, life-changing event storyline that today we know as “The Return of Barry Allen.” If Wally’s beloved mentor is back from the dead, where does that leave our no-longer fastest man alive? This very cinematic storyarc is perhaps the peak of Waid’s run, and along the way, we’ll also discuss penciler Greg LaRocque’s contributions to these issues, the development of the Wally West-Linda Park romance, and what makes Jay Garrick such a cool guy.

Discussed in this episode: Flash #69-79, plus Flash Annual #6 (1994) and Green Lantern #30-31 and 40.