A look back at all the Easter eggs and comic references from the comics.

Welcome to Flash Facts, a new weekly column dedicated to discussing the various comic book references, Easter Eggs and other cool facts about The Flash, CW's new superhero show. While I'll attempt to be as thorough as possible, I'll definitely miss a reference here and there. If I miss something, feel free to comment or shoot me a Tweet at @OH_IGW, and I'll gladly add it in and credit you. If you enjoy this column, be sure to check out Arrow Annotations, which discusses similar references over on Arrow.

Barry's voiceover - Barry's voiceover at the beginning of the episode is a fun little poke at the beginning of Arrow, which always starts with a monologue explaining who Oliver Queen is.

352 Miles per hour - Cisco notes that Barry's speed hits 352 miles per hour at the beginning of the episode. There's your prerequisite "52" mention out of the way early again.

Ladder 52 - One of the firetrucks that responds to the fire in the beginning of the episode is named Ladder 52. That's two 52 references in the first couple minutes of the show.

Queen St. - Barry runs down Queen St. at one point during the episode. That's a relatively common street name, but it could be a little nod to Oliver Queen, who stars in The Flash's sister show, Arrow.

Hex's Gun Shop - The gun shop robbed at the beginning of the episode is named Hex's Gun Shop. This is likely a reference to Jonah Hex, the DC western character and star of several recent comic books published by the company. Created in 1972, Hex is a former Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter with a hideous scar that covers much of the right side of the face. While most of Hex's appearances have been in traditional Western comics, he's also participated in several DC events, including Crisis on Infinite Earths and Blackest Night (in which he was resurrected as a Black Lantern). Jonah Hex has also time travelled at least twice, and has fought Batman several times.

Jonah Hex was also the main character of a 2010 movie starring Josh Brolin, but the less said about that, the better.

Harron Clothing Store - The clothing store Barry buys/steals his jacket from is named after Tyler Harron, the production designer for The Flash.

Barry's backpack - In two of the flashbacks, Barry's wearing a red backpack with yellow trim, a nice little nod to Barry's Flash costume.

Iris' journalism class - We learn this episode that Iris is studying to be a journalist. In the comics, Iris is a reporter and meets Barry by covering Central City's crime beat.

Barry's metabolism - Barry discovers that he needs to consume a whole lot of food to compensate for his heightened metabolism. In the comics, all the Flash characters have increased appetites as a result of their powers and are seen consuming food all of the time. Several cartoons featuring the Flash have used his appetite as a recurring gag of sorts.

Simon Stagg - Simon Stagg is the owner of Stagg Industries, a prominent R&D company, and a longtime antagonist of the superhero Metamorpho. In the comics, Stagg's daughter, Sapphire, fell in love with Rex Mason, a former employee of Stagg Industries turned soldier for hire. Stagg was insanely overprotective of his daughter and, in an attempt to break Mason and Sapphire up, he hired Mason to retrieve the Orb of Ra, an ancient meteor/Egyptian artifact. When Mason arrived in Egypt to retrieve the artifact, he was attacked by Java, Stagg's bodyguard, and left for dead. While unconsious, Mason's exposure to the radiation transformed him into Metamorpho.

Despite Metamorpho's freakish appearance, Sapphire continued to date him, spurring Stagg to make several more attempts to kill Mason. At one point in time, Stagg manipulated the Metal Men into attacking the Justice League in order to retrieve Mason and Sapphire's son. At another point, Stagg was transformed into an energy being along with his daughter and grandson in a freak lab accident and began attacking his former colleagues, forcing the Birds of Prey to intervene.

Simon Stagg was created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon. His first appearance was in Brave and the Bold #57.

Stagg has made several appearances in other forms of media. Stagg was the villain of the animated Justice League episode Metamorphasis, and also appeared in several episodes of Beware the Batman. Stagg and Stagg Industries were also mentioned in the Arrow episodes "Legacies" and "Burned".

Stagg is played by William Sadler. Sadler has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including Iron Man 3, where he played President Ellis.

Stagg Industries and Cloning - Stagg mentions that his company is a leading researcher of cloning technology. In the comics, Stagg Industries has perfected the use of cloning, and at one point in time, Stagg clones his bodyguard Java.

Mr. Java - Stagg's treacherous bodyguard is named Mr. Java. In the comics, Java is the neanderthal bodyguard of Simon Stagg, and another longtime foe of Metamorpho. In the comics, Java's body is discovered by Rex Mason and brought back to life by Simon Stagg. Stagg later orders Java to kill Mason in Egypt, which leads to Mason being transformed into Metamorpho.

Java became a rival to Mason for Stagg's daughter, Sapphire, which led Java to attack Metamorpho several more times. After Metamorpho was presumed dead, Sapphire married Java, and Java became a surrogate father for Metamorpho and Sapphire's son, Joey. Stagg eventually murdered Java when the neanderthal refused to obey his orders, but later revived him via cloning technology.

Mr. Java is played by Michasha Armstrong. Armstrong previously played security guards in X-Men 2, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Arrow. I guess he's been typecast a bit. He also appeared in Catwoman in a bit role.

Multiplex - Multiplex makes his first (and possibly last) appearance in the Arrowverse this episode. In the comics, Danton Black is the assistant of Dr. Martin Stein. Stein later fires Black after he discovers the lab assistant has been stealing plans for a nuclear plant the two were designing together. Black returned to the nuclear power plant the night it goes online, and is caught in the same explosion that fuses Stein with high schooler Ronnie Raymond into the superhero Firestorm. Black gains the ability to create multiple versions of himself (called duploids), and becomes the first villain that Firestorm fights. Multiplex was created by Gerry Conway.

Multiplex becomes a recurring foe of Firestorm and a member of the Suicide Squad. At one point in time, Multiplex is eaten whole by the Superman villain Parasite during a Suicide Squad mission and believed dead. However, Multiplex later returns to life through unknown means. Multiplex's duploids have been used several times to staff Amanda Waller's office in between missions.

STAR Labs' treadmill - STAR Labs' modifed treadmill bears a resemblance to versions of the Cosmic Treadmill, a time travel device used by the Flash. The cosmic treadmill also allowed the Reverse Flash to travel back in time to the present day and pose as Barry Allen for a time.

Ronnie - Harrison Wells mentions that Caitlin's (supposedly) dead fiancee was named Ronnie. That's Ronnie Raymond, who has a long history in the comics, and will be covered in a future column.

Energy bars - Towards the end of the episode, Cisco designs a special type of energy bar for Barry to use to keep his calorie intake up. In the Justice League animated series, the Flash endorsed the Lightspeed Energy Bar brand, which made several appearances on the show.

Like Mercury on Earth - Stagg describes the Flash as being "like Mercury on Earth". The Golden Age's Flash's appearance was designed to be similar to images of the Roman god Mercury. In the New 52, Jay Garrick receives his superspeed from Mercury after he discovers the dying god.

And that's it for this week. Thanks for reading!