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Kelson isn’t 6 people who constantly update and expand everything on a daily basis, and a few of the areas are a bit out of date.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!