The Flash: What was Joe West like in the comics?

The Flash issue 267, courtesy of DC Entertainment

2. Ira was the first person Barry revealed his powers to

In both the comic book and television series, Barry Allen shares the secret of his new powers with Iris’s father. The Flash issue 267 told a flashback story revealing Barry that confiding in Ira shortly after gaining his powers. This contradicts Ira’s first appearance from issue 134 where the two had never met. Issue 267 suggests that Barry was a former student in Professor West’s graduate class. Barry sought Ira out for counsel because he trusted his scientific mind. As you can see by the above comic, Ira was a bit bewildered by Barry’s new powers.

By the end of the story, Ira suffered a concussion and lost his knowledge of the Flash’s secret identity. The story suggested that Ira’s concussion is what caused his absentmindedness. That’s one possible explanation for how a Nobel Prize winner could be too stupid to drive a car or know he’s being kidnapped.

While Joe West has been hit on the head by many villains, none of those blows have made him forgot the Flash’s real name.