Flashpoint: The future of the Flash

With the Flashpoint event just a short time away from hitting the book shelves, it’s time to take a quick look at what this could mean for the future of DC’s The Flash.  And after neglecting this blog for so long, it’s obvious to me that I need to find time to come here more often.

Flashpoint will push the Flash characters forward in the DC universe.  Where it matters on how good the story will be, an event that ties in to a majority of DC titles will push a character that people might not have picked up into the crosshairs of some comic fans regardless.

Flashpoint will be good for Barry Allen.  It’s the first DC event centered around the Flash and low and behold that Flash is currently Barry Allen.

Flashpoint will be good for Wally West.  What’s good for Barry Allen is good for Wally, Bart, Jay, the Rogues, and anyone else tied to the Flash name.  I expect that Wally will finally get his due Post-Flashpoint.  That is unless his fans have annoyed DC to the point where they decide to stick it to them.

You may not like the scope of events like Blackest Night, Final Crisis, or the upcoming Flashpoint, but it does help sell comics, and it will help boost the Flash in status by the time it is over.  DC has to get him ready for his big movie debut down the road, and Flashpoint is a great next step in this process.

My missing Wally West Flash books

Immediately following the Bart Allen run as the Flash I decided to quit collecting the Flash book.  Waid’s ”Incredi-Flash Family” was so unappealing to me, that I decided that it was not worth the cost of a complete Flash book collection.  Needless to say, I have never read most of Wally’s run during this era and only own the last few books of the end of his run that I picked up while excited about Flash: Rebirth and the return of Barry Allen to the DC universe. 

Jump forward to the present.

Barry Allen is the Flash again.  DC has decided to focus mainly on him.  Flash: Rebirth was really good, and the new series is fresh and different which is interesting because the writer is the same one from Wally’s best era of writing (Geoff Johns).  I found most of the issues 12+ or so issues that I didn’t own and decided it was time to get them now that I could get ‘em for a buck each in the back issue bin at my favorite local comic book store.  The best part?  I was able to get them with store credit cash, which means I traded for them and got them at a great deal.   It was just like I planned, I was able to complete my Flash collection and get my missing issues cheap a few years later.  SCORE!!!

Or did I score?  I’ve only read the first three issues so far when the West family took on the octopus monsters and already I’m feeling like “The Griffen” is a classic Rogue in comparison.  I enjoyed Bart’s run as the Flash, but I have to wonder why they even bothered to bring back Wally West for this dreck?  I hope the story gets better soon.  I have to keep asking myself if this was really Mark Waid that wrote this or did he hire someone to do it for him?  This is the same guy that wrote “Terminal Velocity,” “Superman: Birthright,” and “Kingdom Come?”  If DC wasn’t planning on bringing back Barry Allen at this point, this was the final nail in the coffen for Wally West.  And if they were planning on bringing him back at this point, what was the point of bringing back Mark Waid to write this stuff?  Did someone own him some free work to cash in on?  How did such an amazing writer fall so far with a character that he loved so much?

I’ve read a lot of internet blowback about Irey West as the new Impulse, but the characterization of the two kids in “The Wild Wild Wests” story was just horrible.   Every cliché about kids was executed in this and the sad part is that I can see what Waid was trying to do, and seeing him just miss all the way around.   His intentions were bold, he just missed the target completely on this one.  Hey, not everyone spins gold all the time and I have no doubt that Waid has some epic stories in his bank of talent still.  I don’t want to be too hard on the guy for this one.  It just validates my original decision to drop the book.  I’m just sorry that I didn’t pick them up for even cheaper than I did.

Message board poster and friend, Worldsfinest, warned me not to get them, but I didn’t listen.  Oh well, at least I own the entire collection at this point again.  Wait… I’m missing 240 and 241!  Let’s hope they don’t suck.

Comic characters are not real. Don’t yell at writers like they are.

Why do comic fans overreact to things so easily?  I’ve never understood this.  I, myself have been known to do this on occasion too.  When a writer portrays your favorite funny book guy in a manner that you don’t like, do you have to regard him as a “terrible writer”?  Why not just say that you feel that his portrayal was “off” or inconsistant with previous writings?  Now there is something to be said about passion about anything in todays world.  It’s refreshing to see that people still care enough about comic book characters to want them to be A) written well,  B) still around in modern stories, and C) in position to graduate to the movie/television industry.

Hey, speaking of movies… there are rumors floating around that a Flash movie might be in the works.  This is great news for Flash fans.  Where I would love to see Barry Allen on the big screen, I wouldn’t be too disappointed for the Flash to end up Jay Garrick or Wally West either.  2012 is the supposed release date for this film.  I’ll keep my ears listening and my web browser warm for any new news on this front.  

-Heater

Flash talk – Post Rebirth

Ok, Flash Rebirth has ended at last… and it’s time to move forward with the Flash again in a regular ongoing series.  Before the new Flash #1 comes out, I want to take a moment to write out some thoughts I have about the future of all the Flash characters, some of the concepts introduced in Flash: Rebirth, and I’ll probably end up addressing some of the negativity on the message boards again.

The changes

• “Barry is the engine that drives the Speed Force with every step.”  As someone who never cared for the Speed Force in general and felt it was just created to prop up Wally West, I feel that it’s ironic that DC has put Barry Allen as the “engine” that drives it.   I’m not in love with this concept, but I’m open-minded enough to see where Johns and DC take it.
• Barry Allen’s mom is dead.   Where I wasn’t thrilled by this, she certainly wasn’t a major player through Barry’s first run as the Flash.  My guess is that this will lead to some future plot devices.  It also reestablishes Barry’s rivalry with Professor Zoom to new fans that might not have known about the years of conflict and history these two shared together.
• Wally West is still around.  This is freaking awesome and the best move DC could have made.  I’ve grown to love Wally West as a Flash too and if he ends up in a team book or his own series at some point, I plan to support him just as vigorously as Barry Allen or Bart.
• Bart Allen as a lead character.  Impulse was a fantastic series that filled a unique niche.  Waid created a character that fans remain passionate about to this day.  If Barry’s series does well, this is the next logical step for DC to take.  Where we will never have Waid’s Impulse again, we certainly can have a new writers vision to move the character forward.
• Jesse Quick.  I would not mind seeing DC play around with her at some point and give her a mini-series.  I like her in JSA, but she has so much untapped potential on her own.  Boys like fast women, now she’s the fastest woman alive!

If the internet would have been around when DC killed off Barry Allen the first time, it would have exploded.  Seriously.  Back then, no one killed off major characters like the Flash or Supergirl and replaced them with lesser characters.  And let’s face it, Wally West was a lesser character at the time.  Sure he grew beyond our expectations to be the character that many fans are passionate about now, but back then he was just a side kick on par with Wondergirl or Aqualad.  Where I have no doubt that DC got hate mail, letters asking Barry to return, and other such reactions, I have to commend them on sticking to their guns for the last 20 or so years.  I hope they do the same this time too and help reestablish Barry Allen as THE Flash for new generations to love.  This opens the door for Wally West to grow beyond the legacy replacement (and let’s face it, a lot of his stories were about trying to fill Barry’s shoes) and become his own Flash without being tied to tight to a legacy.  He need to be more of a family member at this point, and not so much the guy that once filled Barry’s boots.

I’m looking forward to the future of the Flash again.  There is a lot of great things DC can do with all the characters.  And I’m going to do my best to stay out of the negative bashing and positioning that goes on with message boards.  Yep, some people don’t like me and that’s not going to change, but know that if you try to understand where I’m coming from that I’ll do the same.  Talk to me without sarcasm, without malice, and without intent to “heat me up” and I promise to message with kindness and respect.  (Know that my opinion may be radically different from yours too.)

Long live the Flash, long live Barry Allen, long live the Flash family!

-Heater

Flash Rebirth #6 Review

Wrapped up in a nice bow with some extra material left hanging for future stories.  That’s how I’d sum up the final issue of the long (and I really mean long) awaited final issue of Flash Rebirth.  No… it wasn’t Watchmen late, but it  took its time to get to fans.

When this series was released, we got about 10 vocal fans of Wally West throwing hissy fits all over the comic book message boards.  They looked for every reason that this should fail and instead all we ended up with in the end were two realistic complaints:  Wally West is not the lead Flash in this story (which is the opinion of a few), and that the book was late (which now that I can hold the final issue in my hands, it doesn’t seem so late anymore and I’m over it.)

This book had everything a Flash fan could want:

• Wally charging in to support Barry as an equal in status.
• A nostalgic nod to the distant past with scenes from Barry’s wedding and his origin as the Flash.
• Barry’s confidence returned and he became the confident Flash we all know and love (I knew he would).
• Amazing art.  I’ll miss Ethan Van Sciver’s art on a Flash series.  He’s in a class by himself.
• We got some forboding predictions from Zoom about one of Wally’s kids.  A Geoff Johns comic book cliche, but Flash fans love it!
• We got Bart, Max, a new Impulse in Irey, Jesse Quick in a new costume, and Wally West alive for new stories.
• We got a great tease about Hunter Zolomon’s future.
• We got some Gorillas, we got some Kadabra with puppets.
• We got a focused Barry Allen ready to return to his mission.
• We got the Rogues getting ready to “break the glass” in case of Flash.
• And best of all we got Barry and Iris together again on panel.

“Welcome back Barry” the Justice League of America’s sign says.  The Fastest Man alive has returned.

A great ending to a great story.  I look forward to getting the trade.  It will be my personal goal to get it autographed by Geoff and Ethan at some point.  Thank you both for an a fun story that is among my favorite Flash stories. 

Better 24 years late than “never”.

-Heater

Kelson, speedforce.org, & hyperborea.org/flash

Hyperboriea.org is a great Flash website!  Probably the best one on the internet.  The administrator, Kelson, does a nice job profiling the Flash universe in every possible way.  The only limitations to the site is that Kelson isn’t 6 people who constantly update and expand everything on a daily basis, and a few of the areas are a bit out of date.  Still, nothing comes close to it and its special niche on the internet, and as a Flash fan I appreciate his attention to detail as it’s presented as professional as possible.  In many ways I have been tough on Kelson over the years because his website is so good.  The way that he presents everything says many things:   Professionalism.  Dedicated.  Passionate.  Ultimate Flash Fan.  And something else, the reason I’ve been a bit hard on him…  “Responsibility.”

Let me explain. 

When you have a website that is this factual, with so much work put into it, I think you owe it to yourself to make sure that you and the site are completely objective.   For the most part, I think Kelson does a great job doing this, and with exception to some personal blog entries and a few message board rants, he has passed the test in this regard.  

Here’s a transcript of a recent blog where he doesn’t keep up his objectivity:

Barry’s fans have complained about DC “dangling the carrot” of Barry’s return for years and never delivering. You know why I didn’t want Barry to come back? Because I knew that if he did come back, his fans — both inside and outside of DC — wouldn’t be satisfied just to have him back. The DCU would have to be all Barry, all the time. Congratulations, BASHers! You got your wish! 

— Kelson.

As someone who respects, recommends, and enjoys his website and blog, I find this kind of commentary upsetting.  Later he regretted his rant:

Warning:  Rant ahead.  If I’d had the sense to wait until I’d cooled down, I wouldn’t have written it.  

— Kelson.

Where I sympathize with Kelson on having his favorite character pushed back from the spotlight for now, I feel that he has a responsiblity to himself, and other Flash fans, to keep this type of editorializing off the internet.  Not because it’s wrong, not because I don’t agree with what he’s saying, and not because I’m against freedom of speech (I’m not against it… really!).  Kelson should refrain from rants because his site is so good that he needs to be better than that.  He has a responsibility to Flash fans to be objective about things. 97% of the time he hits a home run in this regard and I feel that he is a better man than I for being able to do this.

I was born a “big mouth” on the internet the day I helped form BASH (Barry Allen Save Headquarters) and I can say that I love the Flash universe as much, if not more then Kelson.  The difference is that I will forever be placed on one side of the fence.  Deserving or not (In my opinion, I don’t like it, but deserve it), that is how I will always be perceived.  Kelson, don’t let that happen to you.  Stay neutral, understand that all things change in time, and stay the professional course that I know you strive for every time you post an update or blog.  Take from someone who hasn’t.  There is a price to pay attached to it that you might not want in the long run.  There’s no “refund” and there’s no going back once you get there.  And you might just taint your amazing site over time if you slip too often.  Even the most aggressive and vocal Barry fans respect it.   Keep it the “Flash Hyperborea” and don’t let it turn into the “Wally West ‘Fan-quarters’” hideout.  There’s really no real sign that it’s headed that way, but I figured I’d throw it out there just in case.

Respectfully,

Heater.

Happy New Year: 2010

After being up late on New Years Eve, I woke  up early the next morning from my dog wanting to go outside.  Looking at the bills on my desk, among the other things I needed to get done before returning to work on Monday, I decided that it would be a good idea to blog an entry to start the new year.  This would beat out writing checks and dealing with bills.  The big question would be:  What to write about on New Years Day?

Most of the people who read my blog are comic fans,  I’ve never been a big fan of exposing my personal life on the internet, and it’s always fun to talk about comics, so I guess that will be the topic again today.  I know!  Let’s talk about the state of the comic book industry in general!

There are some perceptions out there that the comic book industry is on life support.  I don’t feel this way AT ALL.  In fact, I think that it could be argued that the comic book industry has reached a stable plateau.  I would compare comic books to radio.  Radio is not dead, it just fell to a point where it has become stable.  I don’t see Radio going away, and I don’t see comic books going away either.  Now this is just talking about the books.  It gets more complicated when you take into account that the mainstream media has given comic books a cult status of sorts.  The Comic books industry has become a place for experimental ideas that other media groups, like  TV and films, can farm and grow into new projects.  You got a big budget Watchmen movie (Nothing is more “comic book” than Watchmen), discover a Green Lantern film in the works, and then realize that you can’t name every comic book hero movie anymore because there have been so many of them.  From Sin City to The Phantom, Spiderman to Superman, Daredevil to the Hulk movies, when you think about it, there have been a lot of films about comics.  Nope, comics are not ”dead” at all, they’ve just become a place for ideas to form before bigger media outlets spend millions of dollars to produce a TV show or movie.  And the interesting part is that most of these ideas have been here for a long time; they are just starting to reach new audiences.  The average person might not know who Hal Jordan is, but once the Green Lantern movie comes out, it’s far more likely that someone will remember that name then before.  Tony Stark is Iron Man, and he’s also Robert Downey Jr. too to some degree.  Between a famous actor and a colorful Superhero persona, we get a better chance for the viewers (aka the public) to retain the information of his identity over time.  Clark Kent is Superman, Bruce Wayne is Batman, and finally the rest are starting to go mainstream too.

Back to the books themselves, it is no surprise that customers are still buying them.  They read a lot different from how they were so many years ago. ( Note that we are only a year and eight months away from the 50th anniversary of Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) and the first appearance of Spiderman.)  There are less words in them than before, but they read with better dialogue then the long expositions of the 1960′s books.  They are a lot more expensive than they used to be.  Characters today die more and come back more, or at least it seems that way more recently.  The heroes tend to be a bit more grey than black and white like they used to, and every one of our favorites have returned at least once.  And did I mention that people keep buying them?

The comic book industry looks good going forward, so don’t expect a collapse in 2010 or anytime soon there after.  What you CAN expect is that comics are a business, and they will keep doing things to try to get more of your money.  Some of the things you’ll like and others you won’t.  That’s the nature of the creative business of storytelling.   Read your comics into 2010 and beyond, and enjoy them.

Happy New Year!

Dan DiDio’s announcement

Dan DiDio announced today that the Kid Flash title and Wally West Flash backups would be put

ON HOLD

and that the Barry Allen Flash book would be

THE ONLY FLASH BOOK.

And then the internet EXPLODED!!! 

Ok… not really.  But a bunch of message board posters did overreact to the news. 

Dan DiDio did mention that  a bunch of new titles were going to come out of Blackest Night.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone, since the book is selling like hot cakes and might be the best crossover event story of all time?  (Civil War was pretty darn good too, so I won’t proclaim that for real until Blackest Night is completed.  Assuming I still feel that way when it’s over.)

Guys… it’s a simple business decision.  Nothing more.  Blackest Night is a better lead in to some new multiple comic titles than Flash: Rebirth.   With Flash: Rebirth being so late to be released, followed by the loss of momentum caused by this, it was only natural that DC would re-think its plans.  I’m certain it wasn’t just Dan DiDio sitting in a room deciding everything by himself.  I’m sure that DC’s brain trust is looking at what will generate the most cash for the company at this point (especially during this bad economy).  If the ongoing Flash series sells great, expect most of these DiDio announcements to be reversed.  That is, unless DC has NEW plans afoot.  There might just be a new Flash title that results as a more direct outcome of Blackest Night instead?  As Johns likes to often say: “Wait and see.”

There is no need to panic or freak out at this point.  Stay tuned for a new announcement from someone at DC very soon.  In the meantime, try not to embarrass yourself on the message boards until this happens.  DC doesn’t just cater to its fans, it has to answer to its owners too.  And believe me, they have to reach their profit goals just like any other company, Flash be damned or not.

Kid Flash fans, hang in there.  He’s alive and in the DC universe so he’s just a stone throw away from getting some love from a writer.  Probably this summer instead of this Spring or Winter at this point.

Christmas Vacation is coming

I work my rear all year-round so that I can get some valued time off around the holidays.  I do this so that I can spend some quality time with my kids.  They are still young and I find that I want to enjoy as much time with both, before they hit those terrible teenage years and learn to despise their dad like all teenagers eventually do.  I really don’t have a ton planned to do this year.  My wife has started working again, so that means that I will be “stay at home dad” for at least a few of the days; keeping things in order. 

I helped organize a 3 on 3 hockey team (6 forwards and a goalie) for my son to play in a local tournament.  I never played hockey as a kid, and I find that I get more enjoyment watching my son than anything else in my life at the moment.  He’s very skilled and completely into it.  His dream is to go to the NHL someday and I hope that I can help guide him there if this isn’t just a passing phase he is going through (which it probably is, who knows?).  I’m looking forward to this.   I’ve helped assemble a team with 1 extremely talented player, 2 very skilled ones, 1 skilled kid, and 3 kids that will really benefit from being in something like this to help built up their talent.  I would count my son among the “very skilled” ones.

My daughter and I will probably go see a movie together for some one-on-one time.   I’m not sure which movie we will go see.  I can tell that she’s old enough now to not only sit through an entire movie, she can now enjoy the entire experience.  From popcorn to slushies to mulitple trips to the bathroom, it will be the whole gambit of fun! 

I usually like to hear from old friends during the holidays.  It’s always a nice surprise to get a phone call out of the blue from someone I haven’t talked to in years.  The older you get, the more difficult it becomes to get alone time with your adult friends.  At least that is the way it has worked out with me.  You get the friend who can’t go anywhere without his wife, the one that is just too lazy to leave his house, the one that you really don’t want to hang with anyway, and the one that can do something with you but only on a certain day at a certain time if the stars align just right.

And then there are the comic book message board websites during the holidays.  I”ve been fortunate to make some great friends on the internet over the years.  I can honestly say that some of the people I know on the web are some of the kindest souls I’ve known.  It makes me sad that I’ll probably never meet most of them.  I fear the day that one will pass away and I won’t even know about it.   It’s my hope that one year the stars will align just right, and we’ll all meet and have one beer together at some comic convention and talk about all the stuff we’ve posted about and learn more about each other than you can in an email, message board, or blog.  That said, there are some real loony tunes out there too.   People that take things way too serious, that seem to thrive on causing misery or trying to get through peoples skin, thick or thin, to cause some emotional pain.  It’s those posters that seem to pop up during the holiday season for some reason. They just look to cause pain and aggravation.  It’s sad.

Anyway… to anyone who reads this:  have a great holiday this year and remember to find a little love and joy to spread.  The holidays can be a bit depressing at times for some, and being a little extra nice might go a long way in making the world a little better.  I don’t always talk about some of the nice things people have done for me or given to me over the years… but I NEVER forget them.

Merry-early-Christmas everyone!

Comic fans like to complain… about EVERYTHING.

It’s Saturday and I’ve got some time to kill before my son’s hockey practice.  So I jump on the web and start looking at a few of the comic book message boards.  I won’t tell which ones, because it really doesn’t matter.  There’s only one that I don’t go to anymore and all of them have something big in common:  Comic fans that like to complain about comics.

Why do comic fans like to complain so much?  Are they alone much of the time?  Have comics really become so bad that they need to constantly communicate that feeling of dissatisfaction?  We will never know for certain, we just have to learn to deal with the negativity that goes along with it.

Part of it is because of the nature of the internet, a place where you can post anonymously the most heinous insults towards others you will likely never meet in person.  Another cause is that it might be fun to argue with others on topics of lesser importance.  How worked up can you get over whether Thor or Superman is stronger?  Superman is by the way. 

In closing, I should add that I think that as much fun as it is posting on the internet, that posting with respect and concern for someone elses feelings is more important than just arguing for arguments sake.   In the end it doesn’t matter if Wally West is faster than Barry Allen, simply because the next writer could change that in a “flash.”