Fast Talk: The Reverse-Dimension Frequency

You can't craft a proper adventure for the fastest man alive without including a healthy dose of incomprehensible comic book technobabble. Over the years, Jay, Barry, Wally, and Bart have all played fast and loose with the laws of physics and, with convincingly authoritative narratives, managed to talk their way through it. Starting today, I'll be trying out a new regular feature spotlighting such instances of educational malfeasance. Fast Talk is dedicated to presenting those amusing panels and pages heavy on questionable scientific principles that leave us scratching our heads.


The Reverse-Dimension Frequency: This week's example of speedster technobabble combines two of my favorite staples of The Flash's far-out physics: mirror dimensions and vibrational frequencies. The Flash is seeking a way into the Mirror Master's domain, an "elusive reverse-dimension which exists within these mirrors." The key to unlocking that reverse-dimensional door? Why, super-speed vibration, of course! Like any good scientist, Barry Allen pursues a trial-and-error approach, incurring countless years of bad luck in the process. A look at all that shattered glass ("CRASSSHH!") leads me to insist that this is one pseudoscientific experiment you shouldn't try at home, kids.

Issue: The Flash #292 (December 1980)