personality wise, how was Barry Allen? Was he funny, like Wally?
All the Flashes have been funny in their own way. Barry, Wally, Bart, and even Jay, they all have their own unique sense of humor. They all, especially Barry and Wally, have a certain "everyman" quality to them, they're the "normal" guys in the JLA, if you know what I mean - The "blue collar" superheroes. In terms of personality and being comedic, Barry Allen was more sarcastic as opposed to slapstick like Wally and Bart. Being a forensic scientist, Barry is the "smartest" of Flashes, the way he approached humor was he'd make other people feel and/or look stupid as opposed to Wally and Bart who would make themselves look "stupid" and get people to laugh at them. Barry was a smartass and less of a dumbass like Wally and Bart were (when it comes to humor. I'm not knocking any of them of course). Being from the midwest and new to the big city at first, Barry had sort of a Clark Kent thing going for him, with some people thinking he was a "hick" or whatever, add to that the fact that he was slow and always late for everything, people also accused him of being lazy. He was a bit of what you might consider a "doormat" at first at the Central City PD, people took advantage of him cuz he was "nice", but in time, although he was notorioulsy late and still thought of as "lazy", people respected him because he was the best forensic scientist Central City had. He also had a sort of "geeky" side, being not only a scientist and excelling in his studies in school/college as opposed to having great athletic prowess, but also because he was an avid comics/genre fan. But he wasn't a total George McFly type geek, he had a cool side to him, IMO, and as I said he was sarcastic, but he also had a quiet charm to him. As far as girl-craziness goes, while he wasn't as girl crazy as Wally was in his early days, Barry certainly had his share of chicks, including Black Canary, although most the women thought less of him than he did of them most the time. But ultimately, Barry only had eyes for Iris West, whom he'd met in college, they fell in love, although she constantly accused him of being lazy and criticized his typical lateness. Barry Allen was very inventive, the most creative of Flashes - not only was he the "pioneer" for Wally and Bart, creating the suit and identity and training Wally, but he also came up with different ways to use his super speed. Being a scientist and naturally clever, although he only had one single superpower as The Flash, he certainly made the best of it, coming up with all sorts of new and different things to do with his super speed practically all the time, things that a duller person would never have conceived (he later taught Wally most his tricks). But back to personality, Barry was easy going and laid back, just a light hearted guy and not much seemed to really bother him. He's a little unsure, but when he has to save someone he's incredibly determined. Always holding an optimistic view yet with his trademark sarcastic sense of humor.
I know that he's an important figure in the Silver Age of comics for sure, but my question is..why? Out of curiosity.
Well, as a publication material, he jump-started the Silver Age. If we are to speak in biblical terms, Superman would be Adam, the first man, but Barry would be Noah, the preserver of mankind. Barry as The Flash reignited interest in superheroes; had it not been for him there would never have been:
Green Lantern Hal Jordan and by extension the GL Corps
JLA
Fantasic 4
Spider-Man, Iron Man, and all the other current and major Marvel heroes
Science Fiction would not have been a major focus in superhero stories if not for The Flash
Was the Flash longer than anyone else (Barry was Flash for 30 + years, Wally was Flash for 22 years, Jay was Flash for 11, and Bart was Flash for 1 year and a month)
If it weren't for him, we'd probably still be reading comics about romance or cowboys or horror stories. Also, I think he's important because he stayed dead longer than any other mainstream, A-list superhero. So that's why Barry Allen is important to comics as a publication material. But as a comics character, he's important because:
He co-founded the JLA, even suggested the "Justice" part of the moniker.
Created the lagacy that Wally and Bart carry as The Flash
Discovered the Multiverse, a
HUGE part of the DC mythology
Sacraficed his life in Crisis on Infinite Earths, saving the universe
Without him, there would be no Wally West (nephew (or at least a superpowered Wally West anyway)) or Bart Allen (grandson from the future)
Was The Flash longest in the comics
So that's some of why he's important as a comics character.
I hope that helped with your questions.
Please feel free to ask me anything on the subject.
We finally get the "real" (no disrespect meant to the others) Flash and GL back, and now Batman's gone! Of course, they have to bring back the Ray Palmer Atom and Aquaman, and most certainly the Martian Manhunter. It really pissed me off that they killed MM. He was one of the most unique comics characters ever, IMO, certainly one of DC's most unique characters, I think. Even my mom liked him lol. But I don't think he'll stay dead for too long, After all, if Barry came back, now anyone can. My policy with characters returning from the dead is this: if they were well liked and good characters who still have good stories to tell, they should return from the dead. I wasn't particularly fond of Jason Todd or Bucky Barnes (two characters I never cared for) revival, but if they can make it work, great. I'm hoping sometime in the near future Geoff Johns writes the definitive Post Final Crisis JLA origin, and I can't wait for Flash: Rebirth and his "definitive" Superman origin miniseries as well. 
I'm just a jerk who thought it'd be cool to use his name on the boards, he's one of my favorite directors, I really dig the guy. I'm sorry. 
Put him on any DC film, especially Flash and Superman (and GL of course, although that's seems to have already been taken care of).
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