The Official Flash thread

[Blader5489]

I'm a little worried on account that Wally is the Flash I'm accustomed to, but considering that Johns wrote an excellent run on Wally's book that lasted for quite a while, I don't think it's going to be THAT bad.

A run that had little to do with Wally.

 

[BrianWilly]

I actually don't understand that view of Johns' Flash run at all. The "Ignition" arc alone was pretty hardcore Wally stuff. Not to mention all that happened with Linda. You'd think that Wally never appeared in his own comic or something, the way people downplay Johns' influence on him.

 

[Aristotle]

Yeah, that's becoming a little bit fashionable. I don't think very many people in these parts read Johns' run on the Flash if that's what they think. I think somebody well-informed enough to know probably said something like, "Well, Johns did focus on a lot of things around Wally, it wasn't solely a Wally book," and everyone else decided to take that in a direction that isn't true.

We don't need to tell lies or distort the facts to see that Johns is about to bury a hatchet deep in Wally West's character. You ready to see Wally West possessed by the Parallax?

 

[Kenda Man]

You ready to see Wally West possessed by the Parallax?

That would interesting, to see Wally possessed by some alien, speedforce creature that Barry would have to fight? It doesn't seem as far fetched really.

I'm concerned with the longevity of the Rogues. In Rogues Revenge, they focused on how Captain Cold was tired of this and Kollins tends to draw Cold old. I know it's to establish that fact he's been around to tangle with Barry and also that he's the most experienced Rogue in the group. The Rogues really compliment the Flash and I can't see anyone that would be crazy enough to kill them off, with the exception of Underworld Unleashed but they brought them back eventually.

The depowering of ZOOM definitely seems to leave room for Professor Zoom to make a return later on.

 

[BlackLantern]

Yeah, that's becoming a little bit fashionable. I don't think very many people in these parts read Johns' run on the Flash if that's what they think. I think somebody well-informed enough to know probably said something like, "Well, Johns did focus on a lot of things around Wally, it wasn't solely a Wally book," and everyone else decided to take that in a direction that isn't true.

We don't need to tell lies or distort the facts to see that Johns is about to bury a hatchet deep in Wally West's character. You ready to see Wally West possessed by the Parallax?

such a drama queen....the man is following orders from DiDio and Johns is one of those writers that is going to give 110 percent on whatever he is working on, regardless if he agrees or not....for me anyway, Wally had his best run with Johns at the helm and its fitting that Johns will be there at the end (or change)....

 

[Darthphere]

I actually don't understand that view of Johns' Flash run at all. The "Ignition" arc alone was pretty hardcore Wally stuff. Not to mention all that happened with Linda. You'd think that Wally never appeared in his own comic or something, the way people downplay Johns' influence on him.

Yeah, that's becoming a little bit fashionable. I don't think very many people in these parts read Johns' run on the Flash if that's what they think. I think somebody well-informed enough to know probably said something like, "Well, Johns did focus on a lot of things around Wally, it wasn't solely a Wally book," and everyone else decided to take that in a direction that isn't true.

We don't need to tell lies or distort the facts to see that Johns is about to bury a hatchet deep in Wally West's character. You ready to see Wally West possessed by the Parallax?

Can't you say the same thing about Johns Green Lantern though? He really isn't focusing on Hal, but everything around Hal. But no one makes that complaint when it comes to GL?

such a drama queen....the man is following orders from DiDio and Johns is one of those writers that is going to give 110 percent on whatever he is working on, regardless if he agrees or not....for me anyway, Wally had his best run with Johns at the helm and its fitting that Johns will be there at the end (or change)....

Probably vice versa actually.

 

[Keyser Soze]

How would people feel if someone other than Peter Parker was Spider-Man??? I think the idea of a mantle or legacy has as many pros as cons

Have you heard of Ben Reilly and the Clone Saga, by any chance? If not, I wouldn't be surprised, as Marvel have tried their best to erase it from history.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'd be down for a Blue Lantern series with Kyle.

Also, Barry's return has sort of already been tainted for me by Rogues Revenge, where the Rogues seem to indicate that Wally wasn't really a "serious" hero. They basically take Wally for granted, but when they hear word of Barry's return, their butts practically clench into mini-black holes, they're so worried. So, apparently, Wally's time as the Flash was little more than a joke to his villains, who are now terrified because the "real" Flash is coming back.

I thought that was based on the fact that, while Cold and the Rogues have often teamed up with Wally Flash, Cold was a bonafide nemesis to Barry Flash. While Wally Flash would often treat Cold and the original Rogues as a "lesser evil", Barry Flash dealt with him just as severely as he would a Zoom or a Grodd.

 

[BlackLantern]

I just don't count Ben Reilly....and Keyser, that was how I read it as well....

 

[CLARKY]

^this is something that bugs me. People are always comparing it to batman/bruce or Peter Parker/Spiderman : "What would you feel if peter Parker was not spiderman anymore ?" or bruce wayne ->batman.
I think it doesn't give any legitimity to what they are doing right now with with wally and barry (or Kyle and Hal). the fact is that, at one point they DID change the character. So what would I feel if Bruce Wayne was not Batman anymore ? the exact same thing than I felt when Hal became Parallax or when Ollie has been replaced or when Ben Reilly took the mantle or when JP Valley arrived : I felt really bad.
I thought Barry was eternal -> wrong. Hal was eternal -> wrong. They could do the same with Bruce wayne or Peter Parker. The difference is that they stood up longer.

They should not bring Barry back.

 

[BlackLantern]

fair enough Clarky....things change in comics, if you don't like what's going on you can elect to stop buying as I did with GL years ago....

 

[TheCorpulent1]

such a drama queen....the man is following orders from DiDio and Johns is one of those writers that is going to give 110 percent on whatever he is working on, regardless if he agrees or not....for me anyway, Wally had his best run with Johns at the helm and its fitting that Johns will be there at the end (or change)....

Johns could give 1000%, but the fact remains that Barry is going to be promoted at the expense of Wally.

 

[BlackLantern]

my meaning is that whatever the story is, Johns will write it to the best of his ability and not halfass because he doesn't agree with the story itself....the mandate has probably been 'Bring Barry back and make it clear who The Flash is'.......it's not like Wally is just sitting on his stoop with his bags packed, waiting for Barry to show up....he'll wave goodbye and we'll never see him again...the only 2 titles I buy regularly are Flash, GLC, and GL because Ive been enjoying how they've been going

 

[Aristotle]

Can't you say the same thing about Johns Green Lantern though? He really isn't focusing on Hal, but everything around Hal. But no one makes that complaint when it comes to GL?.

First of all, it's no complaint when I talk about Johns' Flash. I loved that run. It's my favorite run on the Flash, bar none. Second of all, I don't think you could say the same thing at all. Johns' Green Lantern has been very much about Hal. You want stories that are about things other than Hal, pick up Hard Travelin' Heroes, or a lot of the other 1970s/1980s Hal stories.

 

[Aristotle]

my meaning is that whatever the story is, Johns will write it to the best of his ability and not halfass because he doesn't agree with the story itself....the mandate has probably been 'Bring Barry back and make it clear who The Flash is'.......

I really doubt that the mandate is, "Oh, and **** Wally West. **** him long and hard. I mean, really make that character basically unusable as a solo title character for at least 15 years or so. About like what you've done to Kyle Rayner? Yeah, do that. Do it but good."

it's not like Wally is just sitting on his stoop with his bags packed, waiting for Barry to show up....he'll wave goodbye and we'll never see him again...

Well, yeah, it's basically gonna be that. He's gonna wave goodbye, and we'll never see him again except in Titans and in climactic battle scenes of event comics. We'll seem next to ****ing Gunfire or something. (Was nice to see Gunfire stop by the Faces of Evil Prometheus one-shot, although I could stand to see him not go down like a chump. I wish that when writers just needed a throwaway superhero to take down, they'd make one up, rather than [blackout]kill Anima[/blackout]. Say what you want about Kevin Smith, but it was awful big of him to not kill anybody that existed already when he introduced Onamotopeia.)

the only 2 titles I buy regularly are Flash, GLC, and GL because Ive been enjoying how they've been going

That's three.

such a drama queen....the man is following orders from DiDio and Johns is one of those writers that is going to give 110 percent on whatever he is working on, regardless if he agrees or not....

That doesn't demand that he takes a blunt object to everything that Wally is supposed to be.

for me anyway, Wally had his best run with Johns at the helm and its fitting that Johns will be there at the end (or change)....

I'd be a little more secure about Wally's future if Mark Waid was writing it.

 

[Blader5489]

I actually don't understand that view of Johns' Flash run at all. The "Ignition" arc alone was pretty hardcore Wally stuff. Not to mention all that happened with Linda. You'd think that Wally never appeared in his own comic or something, the way people downplay Johns' influence on him.

I was coming off Waid's run when I read the trades of Johns' work. So I'm not saying Wally was totally absent from the book, obviously, but I think it's pretty clear that Flash become less about Wally--or any of the speedsters Waid focused on--and more about the Rogues and the cities. I know some people liked that direction; I didn't.

 

[BlackLantern]

+1 for the 'Gunfire' reference....but I think we'll see Wally involved in other things, him leaving the Flash mantle is not being "****ed long and hard"....I've always liked Wally as a person and it will be interesting to see how he evolves...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I was coming off Waid's run when I read the trades of Johns' work. So I'm not saying Wally was totally absent from the book, obviously, but I think it's pretty clear that Flash become less about Wally--or any of the speedsters Waid focused on--and more about the Rogues and the cities. I know some people liked that direction; I didn't.

I agree with that assessment, although I did like Johns' run. Waid's run was very firmly about Wally West as a man, a hero, a husband, and, with the coalescence of the Flash family (Wally, Jay, Jesse, Max, and Bart), a leader. Johns' run shifted the focus more, from Wally to Keystone City to the Rogues. Neither was solely devoted to those elements--Waid introduced the Speed Force and did his own good work with the Rogues, and Johns obviously has "Ignition" and all the Zoom stuff--but those were the strongest elements of each series to me.

 

[Assassin]

She was good, as opposed to Kara, who isn't good.

Pretty simple really.

But she isnt the real supergirl. She ****ed luthor, and Sterling Gates is good on that book.

 

[javi1024]

But she isnt the real supergirl. She ****ed luthor, and Sterling Gates is good on that book.

what?!?

 

[Alex Summers]

Has there been any information about Max Mercury returning? I thought I read that somewhere, but I might be mistaken.

 

[Assassin]

what?!?

During the death of superman, she ****ed Lex's Clone/Young body

 

[BlackLantern]

During the death of superman, she ****ed Lex's Clone/Young body

Correction...she was ****ing Lex....A LOT...he was posing as his son with the beard and the long hair, doing the Team Luthor thing...

 

[javi1024]

During the death of superman, she ****ed Lex's Clone/Young body

oh right. that i knew. i thought this was the current Kara.

 

[Varient]

Has there been any information about Max Mercury returning? I thought I read that somewhere, but I might be mistaken.

(Quietly - I'd pay double price for the return of Max Mercury,... ESP if he can teach Barry Allen a thing or two.)