In the world of The Flash, there are several notable speedsters: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West to name just a few. However, not all speedsters play nice with others. One speedster in particular, Reggie Franklin aka A-Train, has been running with the wrong crowd since the day he stepped foot into Central City. And with his personal trainer Black Siren by his side and his own former teammate Jesse Quick at odds with him, the end may be near for A-Train before he even begins his reign as Central City’s fastest man alive. But does he deserve it? The Story of Reggie Franklin
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First appearance
Flash v.1 #139 (October, 1959) Created by: John Broome and Carmine Infantino SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE—the so-called Golden Age—the number of superhumans grew exponentially. In Central City, at an ultra-secret facility known as The House, two genetically engineered young men were created for one purpose only—to serve as bait in capture missions aimed at the rogue superhuman criminals who stalked America’s cities.
Family history
Reggi (the nickname given to him by his brother, Ronnie) had a pretty messed up childhood. His father was violent, threatening his mother on several occasions and beating both Reggi and Ronnie. Their mother would try to protect them as best she could; she often wound up with bruises or cuts herself. A couple times they called in emergency services, but their father’s position at work kept him out of trouble.
Skills and abilities
Speedsters are metahumans who possess superhuman speed, moving faster than what is possible for a human being. While there are other forms of speed-based abilities that can accelerate someone’s movements to superhuman speeds, these powers are called speedster because they mimic super-speed, but technically aren’t. If a meta possesses a speedster ability that enables him or her to travel in time, he or she will be labeled as a time traveler instead.
Story Arcs
A-Train has played a part in many DC Universe story arcs including Identity Crisis and Superman/Batman: Generations III, although he is most notably featured in Batman & The Outsiders Annual #1. In that issue, Batman & The Outsiders were confronted by two other people also named Reggie, unaware that it was a coincidence. After having some fun at their expense, A-Train decided to reveal to them his true identity: former villain Reggie Rosso.
