Life is locomotion... if you're not moving, you're not living. But there comes a time when you've got to stop running away from things... and you've got to start running towards something, you've got to forge ahead. Keep moving. Even if your path isn't lit... trust that you'll find your way. 
The Flash (Volume 4) #1 is an issue of the series The Flash (Volume 4) with a cover date of November, 2011. It was published on September 28, 2011.
Synopsis for "The Flash"
After two years of nervous flirtation, Barry Allen asks his co-worker Patty Spivot to a Tech Symposium in Central City for their first date. While examining an exhibit presenting a new, greener monorail system, Barry has a chance encounter with Dr. Darwin Elias - a physicist that he admires.
Suddenly a team of operatives smashes through the glass skylight, sending knockout gas into the crowd below. Naturally, Barry is already halfway into his costume as the Flash. The thugs steal a special device from one of the exhibits and Barry chases them to their aircraft, waiting outside. He manages to get hold of the device, but finds himself falling to the ground in a grapple with one of the thieves.
Blasting the man in mid-air through a nearby window for his protection, Barry vibrates at a frequency that he hopes will get him to the ground without becoming a pancake. Instead, he vibrates straight through the street, and down into the sewers below. Unexpectedly, an explosion follows on the street in the area that he vibrated through, suggesting that that particular frequency is dangerous. Of course, local reporter Iris West is already on the scene.
Flash returns the device to Dr. Elias, who reveals that it is a portable genome re-coder. Nearby, Patty tries to get Barry on the phone, only to have him appear beside her. She informs him that the date is over, and that they're now on the clock. A body has been discovered, and they must perform their duties as crime scene investigators.
The man Barry tossed through a window is dead. Barry worries that he might have killed this man, but he is distracted from that line of thought by the realization that he knows the dead man. It is his old friend Manuel. Manuel had been a womanizer in their college days, and frequently found himself running away from angry boyfriends. For some reason, Barry always ended up getting dragged along.
Outside of the crime scene, Iris demands to know whether the Flash is responsible for the death. Barry tries to cooperate, but as he is unsure himself, he just says that it doesn't look like it. Iris offers her number, and ultimately decides that she will call him. As he leaves, Patty comments that Iris seems to come on a little strong.
Back at the Central City Police Department, Director David Singh demands Barry's report on the death. According to the report, something else seems to have killed Manuel, clearing the Flash's name. Even so, Captain Darryl Frye directs everyone to keep quiet about the case, so as to avoid speculation in the papers about the Flash's complicity.
Later, Flash borrows the portable genome re-coder from Dr. Elias, and determines that Manuel's DNA has been altered somehow. Still, none of the case seems to make any sense to him. Meanwhile, Barry ignores all of Iris' phone calls, until eventually she texts him stating that she's simply going to come over.
Suddenly, a man appears in Barry's apartment, and he is surprised to discover that the intruder is Manuel himself. Of course Manuel doesn't have time to explain himself, because he is on the run again. Dragging Barry with him, they escape through a window as their pursuers break down the door.
As they run, Barry decides to jump into a nearby canal, giving him the opportunity to get into his costume unseen. But when he emerges, he is bewildered by the sight of Manuel being manhandled by hundreds of versions of himself.
Appearing in "The Flash"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Central City Police Department
- Darryl Frye (First appearance)
- David Singh (First appearance)
- James Forrest (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Iris West (First appearance)
- Patty Spivot (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Mob Rule (First appearance)
- Manuel Lago (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Darwin Elias (First appearance)
- Pandora (Cameo)
- Tony (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Portable Genome Re-Coder
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in:
- The Flash: Move Forward
- The Flash: Starting Line
- Justice League Giant #1
- The New 52: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Trivia
Pandora watches.
- Pandora makes a brief cameo appearance to witness the events of this story, as she does all #1 issues published as part of The New 52. She can be seen in the crowd, as the police try to control several reporters outside Central City's convention center.