A look back at all the comic book references and Easter eggs from last night's show.

Welcome to Flash Facts, a 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.

[Note: This column contains mild spoilers about recent comic arcs, including Trinity War and Forever Evil. ]

The Reverse-Flash – Cisco finally gives "the Man in Yellow" a proper supervillain name. In the comics, the Reverse-Flash also goes by the nom de guerre "Professor Zoom."

Making Barry stronger – Dr. Wells spends much of the episode pushing Barry to train harder to become faster. In the comics, the third Reverse-Flash, Hunter Zolomon, believes that he is helping Wally West (the third Flash) in his own twisted way to become a better hero by inflicting personal tragedy on him and his loved ones. While Dr. Wells isn't Hunter Zolomon (or at least, I don't think he is!), I bet that the Flash writers are drawing from that character trait a little.

Captain Cold - If you want a refresher on Captain Cold's comic book origins, check out the Flash Facts column for "Going Rogue".

Heat Wave – Heat Wave, one of the Flash's main villains, makes his television debut this episode. Heat Wave first appeared in Flash #140 and was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

In the comics, Mick Rory was a pyromaniac who burned down his parents' house with him inside. After seeing the Rogues fight the Flash in Central City, he decided to use his obsession with fire to become a villain himself. Building a flamethrower and fireproof suit, Heat Wave became a regular foe of the Flash and rival/friend to Captain Cold. Heat Wave eventually joined the Rogues as one of team's regular members.

After having his mind altered by the Top, another member of the Rogues, Heat Wave went straight and became friends with Barry Allen. After struggling to go straight for a while, Heat Wave joined a team of other reformed villains led by the Trickster (now an FBI Agent) to take down the Captain Cold's Rogues. During the resulting "Rogue War", the Top "fixed" Heat Wave's mind, causing him to go Rogue once again.

In the New 52, Heat Wave is still a member of the Rogues, but with slightly different powers. Instead of using a flamethrower to shoot flames, Rory now shoots fire from a device in his chest.

Dominic Purell plays Heat Wave in this episode. Purcell is best known for his role in the Fox TV show Prison Break alongside Captain Cold actor Wentworth Miller. In that series, Purcell and Miller played brothers Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield. Purcell also played Dracula in Blade Trinity.

The Rathaways – Captain Cold and Heat Wave steal a painting from the Rathaways, a wealthy Central City couple. The Rathaways' son is Hartley Rathaway, aka the Pied Piper, whom we'll cover in next week's column. James Ralph, who plays Osgood Rathaway, is a stunt actor who's appeared in Arrow, Watchmen, and both Fantastic Four movies. He also did stunts for a 1998 movie titled Firestorm. Weird coincidence.

McSnurtle the Turtle – Iris owned a stuffed turtle named McSnurtle. In 1944, DC published Funny Stuff #1, a humor comic that introduced Merton McSnurtle, aka the Terrific Whatzit. The Terrific Whatzit was a superpowered turtle with a costume design based on the Golden Age Flash. McSnurtle's nephew also became a speedster known as the Fastback, and joined the superhero animal team the Zoo Crew.

Space Ghost – Barry's old backpack contains Space Ghost comics. Space Ghost was a 1960s superhero character from outer space that first appeared in Hanna-Barbara cartoons. DC parent company Time Warner purchased the rights to Hanna-Barbara properties in 1996, and DC eventually published a "serious" Space Ghost mini-series in 2005 written by Joe Kelly. I remember thinking that comic was actually pretty good when it came out, so it might be worth tracking down.

The specific comic Barry pulled out of his bag was Cartoon Network Starring Space Ghost Coast to Coast #4, published in 1999. That issue was written by Andy Merrill, the voice of Brak on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The art was by S. Clay Croker, the voice of Zorak.

Super-reading – Barry super-reads an 800 page paper for Caitlin regarding the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project. In the comics, Barry is able to speed read, but is only able to retain that knowledge for a short amount of time. His grandson, Bart Allen, is actually able to remember anything he reads via speed-reading.

Heat Wave's Gun - Heat Wave mentions that Captain Cold forced him to memorize the construction of his gun, which gives him an intimate knowledge on how it works. In the comics, Captain Cold typically can re-assemble his gun with even basic supplies due to the amount of time he's spent analyzing his weapon.

Transmutation – For those concerned that Ronnie Raymond's television powers would only include shooting fire from his hands, the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M project involves the ability to transmutate one element into another. In the comics, Firestorm's primary power is transmutation, although it requires him to know the chemical properties of the element or object he is transmutating.

Jason Rusch – Jason Rusch also makes his live-action debut this episode. Jason Rusch first appeared in Firestorm #1 and was created by Dan Jolley and the artist ChrisCross.

In the comics, Jason Rusch became Firestorm after Ronnie Raymond was killed fighting the Shadow Thief during the events of Identity Crisis. As an inexperienced hero, Jason participated in Infinite Crisis as a member of Donna Troy's space team. He managed to close a rift in space created by Alexander Luthor, which helped the doppelganger from totally destroying the universe. Jason eventually joined the Justice League and merged with an evil zombie version of Ronnie Raymond during Blackest Night. The two Firestorms become reluctant partners after Ronnie is resurrected at the end of that event.

Unlike Ronnie, who used Dr. Martin Stein as a partner for most of his time as Firestorm, Jason used a variety of partners who often retained little memory of their time as part of the Firestorm Matrix. Jason's best friend Mick Wong and girlfriend Gahanna were both killed while serving as Jason's partner in Firestorm. Jason also teamed up with a disembodied Ronnie, Dr. Stein, and the heroine Firehawk at different times during his career.

In the New 52, both Jason and Ronnie were high school classmates who were both transformed into Firestorms through an invention of their teacher Dr. Stein. Both Jason and Ronnie were able to transform into Firestorm separately or as one entity. The two joined the Justice League shortly before the Trinity War, and Firestorm used his abilities to save Superman from kryptonite poisoning during that crossover series. During the events of Forever Evil, the Crime Syndicate imprisoned the Justice League, Justice League of America and the Justice League Dark within the Firestorm Matrix, forcing Lex Luthor and Batman to fight the villains on their own.

Jason appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon along with Ronnie Raymond. The two were merged together as Firestorm during a nuclear accident, and Batman teaches the pair to work together. Jason is played by Luc Roderique.

Mercury Labs – Rusch mentions that he accepted a job offer from Mercury Labs. Mercury Labs was first mentioned in "The Man in the Yellow Suit."

Professor Martin Stein – Jason Rusch mentions that the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project was headed by Professor Martin Stein. We've mentioned Dr. Stein in passing in other columns, and will discuss him further detail in a few weeks.

Porter and Main – Captain Cold challenges the Flash to a fight at the intersection of Porter and Main. Howard Porter is a prolific comics artist who has worked primarily for DC Comics. Porter was a regular penciller on the Flash comic during Geoff Johns' time on the book. Porter severely injured his hand in 2006 and was forced to take time off drawing to recover. After becoming a school bus driver during his recovery, he eventually returned to comics in 2008 and is now the regular artist on the DC series Justice League 3000.

Scarlet Speedster – Captain Cold calls Barry "the Scarlet Speedster". That's one of the Flash's common nicknames in the comics.

Golden Glider – In the post-credit scene, Captain Cold and Heat Wave are rescued by Snart's sister. In the comics, Snart's sister is the supervillain Golden Glider. We'll talk about her more in a few weeks.

Glad to be back watching The Flash with all of you. Thanks for reading the column, and we'll see you next week.