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Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT intro to the life if the DEFINITIVE Silver Age hero.
Review: Barry Allen (The Flash) was the hero whose reappearance signaled the beginning of the legendary "silver age" of comics, the era of rejuvenation that saved the comics industry from an almost certain death and allowed comics to survive right up til today. That's not to say that ol' Barry did it alone, or that he was even the most successful hero in terms of sales (he wasn't), but his successful appearance in Showcase # 4 spurred OTHER heroes to return and brought new life to the dying few who survived since the forties (basically, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman). Barry was first (appropriate since he was the fastest man alive) and to a lot of us, he was best. In a comics world full of super-rich playboys like Bruce (Batman) Wayne and godlike paragons of human perfection (Superman and Wonder Woman), Barry Allen was a hero for the REST of us. He was one of us, an everyday guy who chanced into superpowers and who used his power and his quick scientific mind to defeat all comers. But no matter how fast the Flash became, poor Barry could never seem to be on time (how we can all relate to that during the morning commute). There's not much new here, but it does a great job of letting you get to know Barry. And if you're an old reader like me, it's like a nostalgic trip down memory lane, like looking at a photo album of a deceased friend who passed on circa 1985. Highly recommended (but hey, DC COMICS, how about a few more trades of the classic Barry stories. Sure, there's been several hardcover archives of the sixties stuff, but how about collecting the eighties "Trial of the Flash" or Barry's amazing ordeal when Iris was murdered? Those were just great comics!
Rating: 
Summary: I thought I knew who the Flash was
Review: Being a long standing Superman fan in recent years I branched out into JLA.This got me onto other characters so I decided to branch out...I only ever read the collected or Graphic novel editions so maybe I was missing big chunks of history.I got my Batman,Green Lantern collections up to date.then I thought time to start on Flash.Not cos I like him any less then the others but because he's harder to get hold of in the UK.I Knew Wally West had taken over from Barry Allen from refrences made in other stories etc so I thought..Hey this is a good place to start..Please dont make the same mistake I did.I expected a comic book but instead got a illustrated story book..this is a cash in book and nothing more in my opinion.Spend your money elsewhere.If you want a better read go for something like JLA year one..this is for those who only want to pad out there collection.
Rating:
Summary: Superlative overview of DC's sainted hero!
Review: First, the publishing of this book was, in a way, a fulfillment of a promise then-FLASH writer Mark Waid made to fans in the conclusion to "The Return of Barry Allen" storyline, now also available in trade. I won't spoil that story for you, as it's one of the current Flash's finest moments. If I can explain, this book existed as part of that storyline, so Mark Waid et al. have written a version of the volume which exists in the comic universe, so we can read that very volume for ourselves. In the comics, this book was written by Iris West Allen, the wife of the Flash whose life story this is.
The biography of Barry Allen, the second man to become The Flash, doesn't need to be read concurrently with the DC Comics series under Waid and Augustyn's direction (which lasted from 1992 until 2000, or issues #62 through 159 if you prefer), but it's interesting to note how the two dovetail and enhance each other when read in that way. For instance, the volume foreshadows the events in the storyline "Chain Lightning" with its opening line about Barry Allen being "one of twins." Similarly, it prognosticates a future meeting between Barry and Wally West, his successor, as well as a meeting between the Flash protege Impulse and his dark opposite. It's clear that the FLASH creative teams used this volume as a blueprint for adventures throughout their tenure.
If you're confused by these statements, don't be: you don't need to know any of that information to be able to enjoy this volume, which traces the published career of Barry Allen from his origin to the CRISIS where he died, and has some great supplemental artwork by comic greats Gil Kane and Joe Staton along the way (with some clever re-do's of famous panels throughout the years of FLASH comics). I give it my highest recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: A book that highlights the stupidity of the genre
Review: I went on a Gil Kane binge. I started by digging up his long-out-of-print non-superhero experiments, BLACKMARK, HIS NAME IS...SAVAGE!, and STAR HAWKS. These have good and bad points, but Kane's artwork is superb. Then I dug up Kane's old SPIDER-MAN work (in Japanese, believe it or not), which is also superb. Then I bought THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG, which I reviewed (very harshly) here at Amazon.com. My binge ended, tragically, with this. I can only speculate that Kane must have become disillusioned by this point, and had given up even trying to excel. If Kane did worse work than this, I don't want to see it. As for the story...well, this is something only a hopeless fanboy could love. (And I see that some of them do.) By so thoroughly and straightforwardly summarizing the career of the Flash (Mind you, that's the Barry Allen Flash, not one of a dozen or more other Flashes and Pseudo-Flashes), this book unintentionally illustrates just how inherently stupid the superhero-in-technocolor-longjohns genre is. The story is told by the fictional Allen's fictional journalist wife, Iris, whose best line in this book may be, "In time, Barry found my killer." Yes, like so many other comic book characters (I hear Spider-Man's Aunt May has been reincarnated), Iris Allen was killed, and then brought back to life. Parts of the book can be enjoyed as camp, but not so much that a non-fanboy would actually want to spend money on it.
Rating:
Summary: A book that highlights the stupidity of the genre
Review: I went on a Gil Kane binge. I started by digging up his long-out-of-print non-superhero experiments, BLACKMARK, HIS NAME IS...SAVAGE!, and STAR HAWKS. These have good and bad points, but Kane's artwork is superb. Then I dug up Kane's old SPIDER-MAN work (in Japanese, believe it or not), which is also superb. Then I bought THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG, which I reviewed (very harshly) here at Amazon.com. My binge ended, tragically, with this. I can only speculate that Kane must have become disillusioned by this point, and had given up even trying to excel. If Kane did worse work than this, I don't want to see it. As for the story...well, this is something only a hopeless fanboy could love. (And I see that some of them do.) By so thoroughly and straightforwardly summarizing the career of the Flash (Mind you, that's the Barry Allen Flash, not one of a dozen or more other Flashes and Pseudo-Flashes), this book unintentionally illustrates just how inherently stupid the superhero-in-technocolor-longjohns genre is. The story is told by the fictional Allen's fictional journalist wife, Iris, whose best line in this book may be, "In time, Barry found my killer." Yes, like so many other comic book characters (I hear Spider-Man's Aunt May has been reincarnated), Iris Allen was killed, and then brought back to life. Parts of the book can be enjoyed as camp, but not so much that a non-fanboy would actually want to spend money on it.
Rating:
Summary: All Flash fans need this book
Review: If you are unfamiliar with the Barry Allen Flash, as most current Flash fans are, you seriously need this book. I knew nothing about the guy before I picked this up and now I consider myself an expert. It's good readin, believe you me.
Rating: 
Summary: Silver Age Heroism
Review: The memory of the Silver age Flash is fading away and this is a good capsule of his exploits. Gil Kane did a great job in one of his last published works and this should spur the reader on to pick up more of Barry Allen's adventures either in back issue or DC Archive editions.
Rating:
Summary: good history of the flash
Review: this book is a nice adittion to any flash fans collection.it gives a brief background on everything flash.i liked the book but it was short and missing something.i though that having it written from iris person was intresting.the book gave a good history of the flash but could have been longer and gone into a little more detail on some things.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended to all Flash fans!
Review: This nifty book is a biography of Barry Allen, as if written by his wife, journalist Iris Allen. The book covers everything from Barry's childhood in Fallville, Iowa, through the freak accident that turned him into the Flash, his joining the Justice League of America (JLA), the advent of Wally West (Kid Flash), the apparent death of Iris Allen, and finally on to the death of Barry Allen and his legacy. Along the way, the reader is treated to a bunch of very well done illustrations, showing highlights of Barry's life, that accompany the text. This is a very well made book. Admittedly it isn't a graphic novel, but it is so well written, that I enjoyed it immensely. If you are looking for a book on Barry Allen that contains startling new details of his life, then you will be disappointed. However, if you are look for a good solid, well-written biography of him, then you will enjoy this book. I highly recommend this book to all Flash fans!
Rating:
Summary: know what your buying!
Review: you should always know what your buying. see i thought this was a brand new story with Barry allen in it so i got it right away, but it's a look back at his whole life as told by Iris his wife, and it's a lot of text with a few pictures on each page. BUT i did like it because i did not know a lot about Barry allen since he was long dead by the time i started ot read comic books but i always seen wally west talk about Barry so this was wonderful for fans who want to leanr all kinds of things about his life . just know what your buying.
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