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dc - How do we know the Flash is faster than Superman?


I have heard from many people that the Flash is faster than Superman.
But how do we know this? Can you give me the comic issue/continuity and the basic plot summary?




Answer



It's already been established that all of the Flashes can move past light-speed via the Speed Force. As for Superman, he's never shown to move at light-speed while running inside a planetary atmosphere.



  • This image should answer your question, though. This scan was taken from Flash v2, #220.


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  • Flash states that Superman is moving at over 2000 miles/sec, which is also over 120,000 miles/minute, and also 7,200,000 mph. That's Mach 9350. I believe this is that fastest that I've seen Superman move under the Earth's atmosphere. He can, however, break light speed in the vacuum of outer space.





  • Superman has raced the Flash several times over their history but it is considered a given that if the Flash decided to run at his maximum, Superman who lack the environmentally-protective speed-force aura, is unable to move at his maximum without causing catastrophic environmental damage due to his moving near light speed.




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  • Barry Allen reminds Kal-El, even though we have raced several times in the past, ultimately, "I allowed you to participate and ultimately YOU CANNOT beat me in a race. Not now, not ever."


An important caveat to this statement is that Superman CAN move faster than light in space and has been shown to do that on several occasions in the New 52.


enter image description here




  • Outside of a planetary atmosphere he has proven to be able to achieve speeds faster than light, traveling from Pluto to Earth in a matter of minutes. Whether this is due to him achieving superluminal speeds or by warping space around him has not been discerned or disclosed. His current top speed is estimated by this travel time at 16 to 20 times the speed of light!



As to why Superman cannot move faster than light in atmosphere, I submit to you an XKCD article explaining what happens when something moves at near-relativistic speeds in atmosphere: Relativistic Baseball. Totally worth the read.


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