The Flash Overdosed On Angel Dust And Things Got INSANE
The 1970s was a pretty good decade for fans of Barry Allen's The Flash. Some of Barry's most memorable stories were published in those years, stories that helped lay the groundwork for Barry to eventually pass on his superhero mantle to Wally West, continuing the legacy of the Flash family for years to come. One of the most iconic story lines from the '70s happened in the now-famous issue The Flash #275, wherein Allen's wife Iris West mysteriously dies at a costume party. The comic is mostly remembered for the shocking death of Iris, who was a major character in The Flash comics for decades. But what often gets overlooked is the insane, drug-fueled rampage Flash goes on in the subsequent books.
Issue #275 sees Iris and Barry attending a superhero-themed masquerade party. Barry is naturally going as the Flash, while Iris is dressed as Batgirl. But little do the couple know, there's an unwanted guest in attendance and he's out for Flash's blood. The escaped murderer Clive Yorkin sneaks into the costume party seeking revenge against Barry, but he ultimately ends up attacking someone else dressed as the Flash. Barry, who is for some reason feeling disoriented, suddenly collapses from dizziness and awakens to see Yorkin standing over his wife's dead body. The issue ends with Iris being pronounced dead.
All the evidence in #275 seemingly points to Yorkin being the killer, but it doesn't explain why Barry collapsed out of nowhere. Issue #276 begins with a confused Barry chasing down and beating Yorkin senseless before he suddenly wakes up in a hospital bed. Once he recovers, Barry is told that not only did Yorkin not kill his wife, but someone had injected Barry with "an extra heavy does of Angel dust," which is what caused him to collapse, once again showing that superheroes and drugs just don't go together.
A grief-stricken Barry heads to the Justice League watchtower to beg the team for help to resurrect Iris, but when Green Lantern says no, a still-drug-addled Flash starts attacking the his friends. The fight continues in The Flash #277, where Wonder Woman finally manages to restrain Barry right before he passes out from exhaustion. The League discovers that his body is still buzzing on angel dust: "a dose big enough to kill an elephant!" And so they work overtime to remove the drugs from his system in time for Iris' funeral.
The funeral is appropriately somber, but it's followed up by the sudden attack of Mirror Master. The Flash easily defeats the villain, but he resolves that this will be his last act of heroism and plans to publicly unmask and retire in front of the Flash museum. Before he can do so, Barry is stopped by a familiar face. Melanie - a Flash superfan seen in the beginning of #275 - urges The Flash to keep doing good and never give up. The whole arc ends on a positive note, with the Flash announcing that he will always be there to protect Central City for as long as he lives.
But what about the mystery of Iris' death? This plot point wouldn't be resolved until almost a year later, with the reveal that Iris was murdered by none other than Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash. Thawne would later return to try and kill Barry's second love, Fiona Webb, proving that his evil is nothing if not consistent. The difference is this time Barry was able to stop Thawne by snapping his neck, a murder that would lead to the famous Trial of the Flash storyline, which served as the grand finale for Barry's superhero career before he was killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths. But Just like Barry, Iris West-Allen would return to comics eventually, as a speedster herself. Iris' death did teach The Flash one valuable lesson, however: angel dust and the Speed Force do not mix.