Speed Force
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The Speed Force is a fictional concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics.
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[edit] Source of all speed
The Speed Force is a vaguely-defined extradimensional energy force from which most superspeed-powered heroes, such as the multiple heroes named the Flash (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen), Johnny Quick, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, and others (but not necessarily all characters with superspeed, e.g., Superman or Captain Marvel) draw their powers. The concept was first introduced in mid-1990s issues of The Flash. The Speed Force is also seen as a quasi-location to which speedsters can travel. Max Mercury traveled through time as a result of his efforts to enter the Force and become one with it. Instead, he bounced off and ended up several decades into the future every time he made the attempt. He can "commune" with the spirits in the force through meditation. There is some evidence that when speedsters die, they become one with the force, and that it is a sort of Valhalla for them. Max's own spirit is apparently trapped inside following his possession by The Rival.
[edit] Plot device
The Speed Force provides a unique contrivance for the Flash and a reader's suspension of disbelief. Whereas most heroes derive their powers from known sources such as technology or magic, the specific mechanism is often left unspecified, leaving the character vulnerable to flawed internal consistency. The Speed Force provides an answer to such questions as:
- How do the Flash, et al. travel faster than escape velocity?
- How do the Flash, et al. perceive sound and light while travelling faster than either?
- How do the Flash, et al. manage energy, heat, respiration, forces, etc. while traveling at super-speed?
- Why doesn't the Flash gain near-infinite mass while achieving such high, near-light speeds according the Theory of relativity? (Note: It has been stated at times that the Flash does indeed gain near infinite mass while approaching light speed, so it is possible that the Speed Force merely protects the surrounding environment from this excess mass rather than preventing the Flash from gaining it.)
Because of its frequent use as a convenient explanation for the nature of Flash's powers, some have likened the Speed Force to a deus ex machina and have accused the writers at DC of using it as an excuse to allow the Flash to get out of any situation by suddenly "discovering" a new application of his superspeed abilities.
[edit] Black Flash
The Black Flash appears to be the representation of Death associated with the Speed Force, and the entity responsibly for claiming speedsters when they die. It appears as a rotting corpse wearing a black version (with red trim) of the Flash costume. Wally West has escaped its advances on at least one occasion.
[edit] Status and future
During the miniseries Infinite Crisis most of the "speedsters" in the DC Universe combined their powers to push Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force. Aided by Max Mercury, Barry Allen and Johnny Quick from within the Speed Force, nearly all of the Flashes vanished in this attempt, and according to Jay Garrick, the Speed Force is now "gone".
At the end of Infinite Crisis #5 Bart Allen, dressed as the Flash appears in Tokyo to warn that the speedsters could not hold Superboy-Prime, and corroborated Jay Garrick's claim that the Speed Force no longer existed. In the first issue of the new relaunched Flash series, the Speed Force was still believed to be missing, and Jay Garrick was the sole Flash due to his metagene. However, while it is soon revealed that the Speed Force still exists, Bart is the only one who can feel it. In addition to changing the nature of magic, the Infinite Crisis apparently changed the very nature of the Speed Force. It is now very unstable and Bart is afraid that if he uses it, it will kill him. According to tests run by S.T.A.R. Labs, the entirety of the Speed Force now exists within Bart Allen and he is the sole person able to utilize it.
The Speed Force had been seen in the future a number of times. Notably, it is seen in issue #1 of the 1997 comic Speed Force, in which a future Flash, Blaine Allen, is struck by a dillema. His son, Jace, was infected with a virus by a future Cobalt Blue. Unlike many others in the Allen family, Jace was not gifted with super speed by the Speed Force and his metabolism would not be able to handle it. Blaine took away all speed from all of the molecules on Petrus, effectively freezing the planet. Cobalt Blue points out that she likes the idea. "No one dies that way, it’s true... but no one lives either." He thinks this over and decides to take Jace to the Speed Force, as it is supposed to be like heaven. As he runs Jace to the Speed Force, he instead gets sucked in. The aftermath of the Infinite Crisis, however, might have erased this possible future.
[edit] Powers
The Speed Force serves as the ultimate measure of velocity in the DCU. They are often referred to in terms of barriers: Sound barrier, Light barrier, Time Barrier, Dimensional Barrier, and finally the Speed Force Barrier. It introduced several "new" powers/implications to Flash and other Speed Force-powered persons. Some already existed during the Silver Age, but were either unexplained or rationalized as molecular/vibrational control and later retconned into manifestations of the Speed Force.
- Infinite Mass Punch - Introduced under Grant Morrison's run in the JLA title, Flash, travelling near the speed of light acquired the relativistic mass of such speed to impart blows which could hit with the force of "a white dwarf star" (almost certainly hyperbole, nonetheless quite hard indeed), Flash's own durability is regulated by the Speed Force in such cases.
- Speed Lend/Steal - Perhaps his most versatile new power, because the Speed Force governed all motion, Wally could rob objects of their kinetic energy, motion, or momentum - for example, bullets in flight or turning a supervillain into a statue - and use the energy to accelerate himself even faster. He could similarly lend speed to inanimate objects or allies, enabling them to travel nearly as fast as himself.
- Metabolize Wounds - Accelerating his healing factor while using the Force to sustain him, he could heal from grievous injury, without prematurely aging like his alternate version, Walter West. Related to the ability above, during his run on JLA, Wally would serve as "team medic", healing other team members by accelerating their healing-factors (without prematurely aging them).
- Constructs - Wally discovered if he concentrated, the Speed Force could be used to create solid constructs which he used to compose his costume. The first time he used this ability was to create a solid armor enabling him to run despite having broken legs. Later examples included sealing up the openings of his costume against disease, creating pockets for holding things, etc. In JLA, when shot by Prometheus, the suit displayed bullet-resistant properties.
- Shield - Exhibited by Savitar, whose mastery of the Speed Force allowed him to reflect objects away from himself.
- Flight - Exhibited by Johnny Quick and his daughter Jesse Quick, the only speedsters known to exhibit this ability (however, all speedsters travelling faster than exit velocity exhibit "inverse flight").
- ESP - Exhibited by Max Mercury, whose communion with the Speed Force allows him to detect the motion of any object in the world and especially to perceive other speedsters. Wally West exhibited a similar ability which allowed him to perceive Linda across time and space.
- Total Recall - Exhibited by Bart Allen, who can retain everything he speed-reads (in contrast to other speedsters) via the Speed Force, the only source of his powers.
- Speed Scouts - Exhibited by Bart Allen, who can create Speed Force duplicates of himself that - due to the timeless nature of the Speed Force - can travel forwards and backwards through time, manipulating objects or merging their consciousness with Bart, informing him of their actions. One time a Speed Scout was killed, Bart was thrown into a coma and hasn't used the ability since.
[edit] Other media
The Speed Force has been shown in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Divided We Fall." The Flash is forced to run faster than he ever has before to defeat the fused Brainiac/Lex Luthor. In doing so, he achieved a different state of existence he called the Speed Force. Achieving this state caused him to phase out of reality, appearing only as a fleeting flicker that Hawkgirl was able to grasp hold of. It took her efforts along with the help of the rest of the senior Leaguers to pull him back into their plane.
Upon coming back, the Flash stated that he could never go that fast again, or he'll never come back.
