The Man of Steel and The Fastest Man Alive have had their fair share of races over the years, but when Flash competes against himself in the far-flung future, it’s clear that Superman can never stack up against Wally West’s top speed. Running faster than the eye can see is an impressive Flash trademark, but running faster than what your past self is capable of is an entirely different feat altogether!
Shown in the tie-in issue to DC Comics’ DC One Million event where fans are treated to stories set hundreds of centuries in the future depicting new and old Justice League heroes alike, Flash #1,000,000, by Mark Waid, Michael Jan Friedman, and Josh Hood shows Wally West aka the Flash as he takes in the sights and sounds of a futuristic version of the planet Mercury. Now terraformed and populated by transplanted Earthlings, this issue opens up with Flash putting on a show for a crowd by taking part in a seemingly normal enough race with just one alteration: Flash is running against himself.
Quite literally sprinting against the past version of himself, Flash’s inner monologue does a great job of explaining how this undertaking is even possible in the first place as he bolts across the planet’s surface at a breakneck pace. And unlike the many races Flash and Superman have run together previously where the debate of who truly is the fastest hero is often sparked, Flash isn’t holding back this time around, and it shows.
Telling readers that he can be in two places at once because he’s technically “already run this race,” Wally explains, “I’ve circled Mercury at my usual awesome pace. But since I can skirt the edge of the time barrier when I go flat out…I’m catapulting myself a few milliseconds into the past every few revolutions…enabling me to catch up to myself,” succinctly laying down the law as to how this race can even realistically occur in the first place. Going on to say that he’ll need to “skip in and out of the time stream” to give himself the chance to pull off a photo finish, Flash is next shown surging ahead, and in a pulse-pounding finale, ends up pulling off a win against his speedy doppelganger who then promptly phases into Wally in a “close second.”
Being one of the quicker speedsters of the densely populated Flash Family, Wally proves that no one — including Superman — can stand a chance against the true breadth of his speed. Having met on the track more than once for charity events, world-saving races, impromptu dashes, and more, multiple versions of Flash have come out on top in a race against Superman more often than not, and when taking into consideration Wally’s command over his speed abilities as seen in this issue, Superman will be lucky if he can keep up with him ever again.
So while Superman is no pushover in the speed department by any means, Flash being able to beat himself in a race further proves how much faster he is compared to The Man of Steel. The debate between who’s faster, Flash or Superman, may still rage on, but Wally West showing off these crazy quick racing skills should give fans a much better idea of who truly deserves the title of DC’s fastest hero.
