Flash: The Scarlet Speedster’s Fastest Ever Comics Villain

The Flash is known as the fastest man alive in DC comics, but plenty of villains have given the Scarlet Speedster a run for his money over the years, with some even surpassing him on occasion. However, out of all of Flash’s enemies, only one can be the fastest.

As Barry Allen’s arch-nemesis and one of DC’s greatest villains, Eobard Thawne is a solid candidate for the Flash’s fastest foe. Known as both Reverse Flash and Professor Zoom, Eobard Thawne first appeared in The Flash #139 by John Broome way back in 1963, and has been making the Flash’s life miserable ever since. Born in the year 2451, Thawne attempted to use his genius-level intellect to recreate the accident that gave the Flash his powers, but the plan went slightly awry. Rather than tapping into the Speed Force, Reverse Flash created something called the Negative Speed Force, giving him additional powers, like the ability to travel across time and dimensions virtually without consequence. This was most apparent in the iconic Flashpoint series by Geoff Johns, where only Thawne is immune to the effects of the changed timeline. However, as cool as these abilities are, they don’t necessarily translate to Thawne being the fastest.

Created by Jack Kirby as part of the New Gods series, Black Racer is said to be the embodiment of death itself, and has proven he can keep up with the Flash on numerous occasions. Normally under the control of Darkseid, the Black Racer uses celestial skis to travel the universe, and can deliver death unto virtually any being with a single touch. While Wally West was able to resist the Racer’s death strike in Flash: Our Worlds At War, also by Geoff Johns, by phasing through it, he was barely able to stay ahead of Black Racer, and only escaped by leading the Racer into a boom tube to teleport him elsewhere. Considering he’s practically on-par with Wally, who is widely regarded as the multiverse’s fastest Flash, it seems that Black Racer is a serious contender for the fastest villain.

Originally a colleague of Barry Allen, August Hart made his debut as Godspeed in The Flash #3 by Joshua Williamson in 2016. Imbued with a desire for justice after the murder of his brother, August allied himself with Barry to learn to control his newfound speedster abilities. However, his dissatisfaction with how the justice system handled his brother’s murder led August down a darker path, resulting in him killing criminals and driving a wedge between him and Barry. Despite being a relatively new speedster, Godspeed has already cemented himself as one of the Flash’s fastest enemies. In fact, Godspeed unlocked an ability no other speedster has – he can actually appear in two places at once. By tapping into the speed force, Godspeed can create a physical copy of himself, though it severely drains his energy. Even still, it took both Barry and Kid Flash to bring down Godspeed in his weakened state.

All three of these characters are among Flash’s fastest villains, but ultimately, Black Racer has the others outmatched. Reverse Flash has the most unique abilities, and Godspeed has the most potential, but Black Racer has never truly been outrun; to beat him, the Flash always has to teleport him somewhere else or distract him with a new target. That’s not even counting the time Barry and Black Racer merged into a being powerful enough to kill Darkseid, DC’s biggest villain. It’s a close call, but the evidence points to the Black Racer being the Flash’s fastest foe.

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