The history of DC Comics is filled with iconic and unique partnerships. But the one that has endured every retcon and every new character is the bond between the Flash and Green Lantern. Both characters can trace their famous lineages back to the Golden Age, and each one has evolved with the passage of time.
Every iteration of the Flash/Green Lantern relationship has had its own unique dynamics. Barry Allen and Hal Jordan had their own quirky friendship, while there was sometimes palpable animosity between their successors, Wally West and Kyle Rayner. But whoever is in the guise of the Scarlet Speedster or the Emerald Guardian, when the two icons converge, comics readers are in for a treat.
10 Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #43
Written By Gardner Fox, Penciled By Gil Kane And Inked By Sid Greene
The friendship between Flash and Green Lantern was most clearly defined in some of the best Silver Age comics. In Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #43, the girlfriends of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan learn of their identities as the Flash and Green Lantern, respectfully.
While trying to prevent the secret from spreading, Flash and Green Lantern switch powers after a battle with the villain Major Disaster. As was the case in the Silver Age, the heroes’ identities were secured again by the end of the issue. It’s largely inconsequential, but it’s a testament to Barry and Hal’s friendship that they know one another well enough to use the other’s powers.
9 Green Lantern (Vol. 3) #30-31, The Flash (Vol. 2) #69-70
Written By Gerard Jones And Mark Waid And Penciled By M.D. Bright And Greg LaRocque
Superhero team-ups are exciting, but when the Flash and Green Lantern teamed up for the four-issue crossover story “Gorilla Warfare,” they faced an equally formidable villain team-up. The benevolent simian rulers of Gorilla City reach out to the Flash (Wally West) for help when Grodd instigates a rebellion.
When the sinister telepath Hector Hammond aids Grodd, Flash enlists the help of his mentor’s old friend, Hal Jordan. Together, the Flash of one generation and the Green Lantern of another team up to defeat their common foes.
8 The Flash: Rebirth (Vol. 1) #1-2
Written By Geoff Johns And Penciled/Inked By Ethan Van Sciver
When two friends have shared near-death experiences, they’re definitely close. In the case of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, though, they share the experience of being DC heroes who returned from the dead. As Barry tries to reintegrate himself into his life after his resurrection in Final Crisis, Hal tries to talk him through it.
But their experiences are too different. For the first time, there was a disconnect between Barry and Hal. And even a crisis brought on by the villainous speedster Savitar wasn’t quite enough to get the Flash and Green Lantern back on the same page.
7 The Flash (Vol. 1) #143
Written By Gardner Fox, Penciled By Carmine Infantino, And Inked By Joe Giella
DC’s Silver Age of comics is piled high with over-the-top science fiction tropes, especially true in one of Flash and Green Lantern’s best team-ups of the era. In “Trail of the False Green Lanterns,” the futurist villain T.O. Morrow (in his first appearance) grows bored with using technology from the future to rob banks, so he sets his sights higher.
He creates three duplicates of Green Lantern to cause havoc across the planet. The Flash and Green Lantern chase the fake Lanterns all across the globe before defeating the doppelgangers and thwarting Morrow’s plans. Barry’s ability to spot the fake Lanterns again speaks to how well he knows his best friend.
6 The Flash Annual (Vol. 4) #2
Written By Brian Buccellato, Penciled/Inked By Sami Basri
It’s always fun to see old friends again for the first time. That was the marketing hook of DC’s polarizing New 52 era. While fans were split on the choices DC Comics made with the New 52, it gave a new spin on old favorites. One of the most fun examples of this is the New 52’s versions of the Flash and Green Lantern meeting for the first time.
With the modern characterization of the Flash as a more stolid, by-the-book hero and Green Lantern’s free-wheeling style, fans got a more in-depth look at this iconic pairing. By examining the stalwart duo from a new perspective, it gave fans a greater understanding of what makes their partnership tick.
5 Identity Crisis #2
Written By Brad Meltzer, Penciled By Rags Morales, And Inked By Michael Bair
To say that Wally West and Kyle Rayner didn’t always see eye-to-eye is an understatement. However, the third-generation Flash and Green Lantern were definitely on the same page in their outrage at learning about the Justice League’s mind-tampering in Identity Crisis #2.
Having taken over from revered legends only to learn their part in one of the darkest moments in DC Comics history was a pivotal moment for the two. Wally and Kyle had filled their predecessors boots a dozen times over. But their verbal confrontation with the legacy members of the Justice League showed that they inherited more than their powers from Barry and Hal – they inherited their unshakable sense of right-and-wrong.
4 Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave And The Bold #1-6
Written By Mark Waid And Tom Peyer, Penciled/Inked By Barry Kitson
During the late 90s, before the returns of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, readers were hungry for a story featuring the duo. Legendary Flash scribe Mark Waid teamed up with Tom Peyer to write the six-issue miniseries Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold in 1999.
The series examines their legendary friendship via six different stories throughout the years, each in a different phase of the often-convoluted DC Comics continuity. It was a fresh reminder of what made the Silver Age standouts the heroes that they were.
3 JLA #2
Written By Grant Morrison, Penciled By Howard Porter, And Inked By John Dell
It seemed certain from the start that Wally West and Kyle Rayner would never have quite the relationship that their predecessors had. As part of Grant Morrison’s legendary revamped JLA, the heroes were thrust together for the first time. Wally even confides in Superman that he is weary of meeting “this guy who’s Green Lantern all of a sudden.”
When they do battle with the White Martians in the Sahara Desert in the book’s second issue, they work well together. Even if they can’t stand one another. It was a stark contrast to the relationship between Barry and Hal, and a clear signal that the modern Flash and Green Lantern were heading in a new direction.
2 Green Lantern (Vol. 1) #13
Written By John Broome, Penciled By Gil Kane, And Inked By Joe Giella
A couple years before Marvel’s Avengers comic made misunderstandings that lead to fights the blueprint for heroes’ first meetings, Green Lantern and the Flash went toe-to-toe in their first encounter. The villain Pieface – a regrettable moniker from DC that definitely doesn’t hold up today – works with the other-dimensional Spectrans to pit the heroes against each other.
As with most superhero clashes, they resolve their differences and save the day. It’s a landmark story that births the era of the Brave and the Bold. The issue is also notable in that Barry and Hal learn each other’s secret identities, the only DC superheroes at the time (save Batman and Superman) to do so.
1 Faster Friends
Written By Ron Marz And Mark Waid, And Pencils/Inks By Various Artists
The Flash and Green Lantern always lead generational stories. While there have been combinations of team-ups between the generations, the Golden Age legends never really got their time in the spotlight together. But in Faster Friends (published in two issues as Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends and Flash/Green Lantern: Faster Friends), Alan Scott and Jay Garrick take center stage.
An interdimensional crisis threatens Earth and takes Wally West and Kyle Rayner out of action. The JSA veterans risk their lives to cross the dimensional plane and bring their successors home. The story not only gives the old guys a fresh take, but it’s a beautiful examination of the legacies of both the Flash and Green Lantern.