The Flash: What was Joe West like in the comics?
The Flash issue 267, courtesy of DC Entertainment
1. He made the Flash’s first costume
Move over Cisco Ramon! In the comics it was Professor Ira West who produced Barry Allen’s first Flash costume. In addition to being a Nobel Prize Winner, serial kidnap victim and poor driver, Ira West is also an expert tailor. The flashback story from The Flash issue 267 has Barry request Ira make him a superhero suit. Barry says that Iris often spoke of her father sewing his own suits.
That’s not the only piece of Flash lore that Ira is responsible for. He also designed the ring which shrinks his suit when it isn’t being worn. Unfortunately, Ira forgets all this by the end of the story due to a brain injury. Every time Ira marveled at the sight of the Flash he did so not realizing he was the one responsible for his costume.
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Now that you know about Joe West’s comic roots, how would you feel about Ira appearing on The Flash? Since the show plays with alternate Earths and different versions of characters it’s not impossible. Wouldn’t it be funny to see Jesse L. Martin play an absent minded professor version of himself from another world? Just don’t let him drive a car without a supervisor.