Mike Wieringo

The Flash by Mark Waid Omnibus Vol. 1 is where Wally West stops being the substitute Flash and becomes the emotional centre of the mythology. Born to Run, The Return of Barry Allen and the early Speed Force architecture give Wally a legacy problem no other DC hero has in quite the same way. This is the modern Flash foundation.

Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's Fantastic Four run is the definitive 21st-century reinvention of the team — a run that understood the Fantastic Four worked best when treated as a family of explorers rather than a superhero team, and built their biggest storyline (Unthinkable) by systematically stripping the team of every advantage before a conclusive battle with Doctor Doom. Wieringo's art was among the most joyful and expressive in contemporary Marvel, and his death at 44 in 2007 deprived the industry of a generational talent.

The Flash by Mark Waid Omnibus Vol. 2 is Wally West in full confidence: the Flash family, Max Mercury, Impulse, Dead Heat, Abra Kadabra and the Speed Force as philosophy rather than simple power source. Waid turns speed into inheritance, responsibility and identity, which is why this run still defines how later adaptations talk about Flash.