How The Flash Mind-Wiped the Entire DC Universe to Forget About Him - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Even before the DC Rebirth era, Wally West was no stranger to tragedy as he ran the streets of Central City to protect his home as the Flash. However, after enduring one of the worst days of his life, Wally moved to erase the world's memories of his public identity as the Scarlet Speedster, enlisting the help of one of the most powerful forces in the DC Universe.

While the bold mind-wipe proved successful in that regard, it also had the surprise consequence of Wally himself forgetting about his own superhero career, struggling to figure out why things felt off as he took on a civilian job and why his wife Linda Park was deeply upset with him.

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In the explosive storyline "Blitz" by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, running through the pages of The Flash #192-200 (vol. 2), the criminal profiler Hunter Zolomon endured a freak accident after trying to access the Cosmic Treadmill, dousing him in its time-travel fueling energies. Taking on the supervillain moniker Zoom, Zolomon attempted to transform Wally into a better superhero by inflicting a grave tragedy on him. Targeting Wally's pregnant wife Linda Park, Zoom drew out his former friend into a heated battle. Wally was able to save Linda but their unborn child was a casualty, obliterated from existence by a single, sonic snap from Zoom before the villain was defeated and imprisoned in Iron Heights.

The fallout of this tragedy was explored in the subsequent storyline "Ignition" by Johns, Alberto Dose, and Howard Porter, running through the pages of The Flash #201-206 (vol. 2). The grief-stricken Wally faced the possible dissolution of his marriage as he and Linda were estranged from the severe trauma Zoom had subjected them both to. Wally was visited by his deceased uncle Barry Allen, emerging from the Speed Force and alerting his nephew that he would reappear to assist him on the three worst days of life, with the loss of his unborn baby being the first. Barry summoned another old friend to complete the reunion: Hal Jordan, then bonded to the DCU's Spirit of Vengeance to serve as the latest iteration of the Spectre.

With Wally want to erase his superhero identity from the public to prevent further personal attacks against himself and his wife, the Flash has the Spectre use his omnipotent powers to erase the world's memories of the hero's true identity. This resulted in Wally forgetting he was a superhero and he took a job as an auto mechanic for the Central City Police Department while the world wondered why the Flash had abruptly disappeared. As Wally began to reflexively began to exhibit super-speed as a new supervillain known as Mr. Element began to terrorize Central City. As Wally regains his memories of his past (with the timely assistance of Batman who has already deduced the truth himself), he reclaimed his superhero mantle and defeated Mr. Element.

Wally's mind-wipe move restored his secret identity in a "One More Day" level story years before the infamous Spider-Man tale, with the Scarlet Speedster's deal endangering his marriage further when Linda temporarily left Wally after she learned the truth herself. The storyline would be one of Hal's last appearances as the Spectre before his own eventual resurrection while setting the stage for Barry's resurrection as the Silver Age Flash would return during the next two hardest days of Wally's life, and eventually sticking around for good. Wally would still have to reconcile with what Zoom cost him but he would eventually come out ahead of the villain and regain what he and Linda once lost.

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