The Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse, and All The Rest

THE TOP 10 TEMPORAL SUPER POWERS

Chronal Power #4: The Speed Force

Of all the powers related to time and its mastery, one concept has been so categorically profound and important, that it has become a central and reoccurring theme of their superheroes. Called The Speed Force, it's also become one of the most mysterious and hard to define.

Right: Barry Allen is surrounded by a strange, lightning-like energy which would later be termed the Speed Force. Excerpt from Flash: Rebirth #1 (2009).

For those of you familiar with it, The Speed Force is the underlying dimensional energy that powers The Flash, whether your referring to Jay Garrick (The Golden Age Flash), Barry Allen (The Original Flash), or Wally West (The Next Flash Incarnation). It also seems to be linked to every super-speedster in the DC Universe, which includes (or included): Jesse Quick, Johnny Quick, Max Mercury, Bart Allen (Impulse), Professor Zoom, Zoom, Savitar, and likely heirs of the Allen family yet to be born. Whether a stream of lightning-like force or a place that exists outside the realm of time, it has become the integral power that gives super-speed, allows vibrational intangibility, and gives the controller the ability to breach his current dimension and move through time.

But fast feet, rapid-punching, and these incredible feats are only a side effect of this power. In actuality, it has been revealed that the Speed Force is the guiding principle that governs time. This makes The Flash and all the other characters ambassadors of Time by association. And to a greater sense, it seems that The Flash is fundamentally bonded to it, giving him access to its miraculous gifts by a greater degree.

Whether traveling forward or backward in time, entering the dimension through vibratory relocation, or using simple super-speed, the Speed Force and those who use it are some of the greatest actors in the field of time. DC Comics has turned it into an upper-tier power and given it the potential for even greater temporal revelations.

For those interested in learning more about the Speed Force, one of the best sources, although dated from the 1990's, is Flash: Terminal Velocity. This Trade Paper-Back covers The Flash V2, #96-100. Written by Mark Waid, it goes into great clarity as many of the aspects of this dimensional power are learned by the heroes.

Chronologically correct and temporally precise, this is The Top 10 Temporal Super Powers, a Countdown of Time-Wielding Abilities and Characters provided by The Superheroes List  provided every Wednesday for the 2013 New Year. (And no, Father Time is not a superhero.) Want to read more? It's about TIME! Read the List!