#The Flash Vol 1

[nocontextspiderman]

Amazing Spider-Man #186 (1978)

[dailydccomics]

nothing more wholesome than a kid and his uncle The Flash #189

[peacerisendove]

The Flash (2010) Vol.3 #10

You know in the context of this page it might look like Bart's late to the party and he's throwing around half-baked theories, but considering how often impersonation happens to speedsters it's a damn good theory. Solid really.

How often you ask? Well let's see all the times a speedster has been impersonated or had their body stolen in the comics:

Eobard impersonating Barry at Barry's own wedding. (The Flash (1959) Vol. 1 #165)

Eobard impersonating Barry while he was dead. (The Flash (1987) Vol. 2 #73-79)

Eobard stealing Barry's body. (The Flash (2016) Vol 6 #759)

Malcolm Thawne stealing Jay Garrick's body. (The Flash (1987) Vol 2. #148-149)

Thad impersonating Bart. (Impulse #62-66)

Bart impersonating Thad (albeit for a hot second to trick Craydl). (Impulse #56)

The Rival stealing Max Mercury's body. (Impulse #89)

And these are just the ones I know off the top of my head! There might be even more that I don't know of. But body snatching and impersonation is just baked into their history and I love it.

[pedrocomicreviews]

Absolute Flash #2

"I've always known. Something is wrong with me. But now-- it feels like I'm bursting apart."

DC's answer to Ultimate Spider-Man (the first one) continues with Wally West having more puberty metaphors that destroy his life!

Can I just gush about how beautifully Wally's powers are illustrated, before we begin?

Flash comics sometimes struggle with actually drawing the Speed Force, or just how fast the movement on panel is happening. Writing-wise that's always easy-- you just say the character is going fast and describe the actions they perform in a fraction of a second. But in a medium that doesn't move, artists always have to find new ways to show what a power like this could actually look like.

Absolute Flash decides speed is really scary. It's raw, crackling and doesn't seem to be under Wally's control at all. Rather than just having Wally emit electricity, we are always bombarded with the same kind of overwhelming feelings the character is, through the lettering and art, and even narration boxes overlapping on each other as if he's thinking too fast.

Between beautiful composition by Nick Robles and Adriano Lucas, excellent lettering by industry veteran Tom Napolitano, and the excellent writing of Jeff Lemire, the comic keeps inventing new ways to portray Wally's anxiety. It's a marvel at work, and it really makes it feel unique from the main universe's comics at a base level. It's not that Flash has never looked similar, but it has also never looked quite like this.

As far as the plot, we're still engaging with Wally's massive fuck-up, the accident that gave his powers, and his escape attempt as the Absolute Rogues try to bring him back into the lab. We're also introduced to another Absolute version of a character, completely unrecognizable, which makes me very excited to see what they're about.

The Absolute Universe is about to have its first little crossover with the main one through a Superman comic, which I don't believe will affect most of the books. But I'm feeling that if we're nearing the inevitable collision of these two lines, it has to only involve the main Trinity. Flash, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern are still in their infancy and simply not setup enough for a massive crossover yet, which I believe means we still have a long way to go until Wally puts on a costume and starts fighting bad guys.

Which I'm fine with. This book seems to be at its best exploring Wally's inner world, and coming back to the real one when it's time to run. I'm looking forward to when he starts running toward danger as opposed to away from it, but this wasn't the time.

[misterbaritone]

I forget that Peter wouldn’t just take his bullying lying down back in his school days. Wouldn’t swing on nobody but the guy could fight with his words

[somewherefornow]

SNAPPER CARR + GRAPHIC TEES in HOURMAN (1999)

[nocontextspiderman]

Web of Spider-Man #42 (1988)

[flamet-draws]

Mechtober Day 31: Beginnings and Ends

“Reborn, it soars away, stolen sun at its heart // Another star to obtain, bright blazing in the dark.”

[dailydccomics]

Kid Flash in The Flash #202

[aboutzatanna]

Hey, remember that JLU episode titled ‘The Once And Future Thing: Weird Western Tales’ where a couple of JL members ended up stranded in the old West thanks to time travel?  

Well, turns out there was a comic book very similar to it written by Gerry Conway with art by Don Heck but starring a different set of JL members which may or may not have been the inspiration for the episode:   

The episode was written by the late Dwayne McDuffie who was no stranger to writing in references to older comics. For instance, the two parter ‘Brave and the Bold’ Flash’s hallucinations were references to various Silver Age Flash comic covers and he was also very open about the fact that the line up for the Terra Beyond two parter was based on Marvel comics Defenders (no not the Netflix team, the one with Namor and Dr Strange). Even the episode title itself, ‘Weird Western Tales’ is a reference to the long running anthology series of the same name featuring DC’s western characters. 

The story arc in the comics ran from Justice League of America Vol 1 #198-199.     

While it’s hard to conclusively say that the episode was inspired by the comic, there are some interesting similarities like Batlash’s introduction here:   

I posted Zatanna’s meeting with Cinnamon earlier in another post but here is a little excerpt:  

Interesting to note that one of the goons calls her an ‘Eastern Filly’ (is it because of the way she was dressed or a subtle hint that she is not 100% Caucasian?).  The heroes and their new Western cowboy friends all meet at a Saloon: 

Then they all ride off on horses out of town to confront the villain and of course, faces robot cowboys:   

The differences begin with the choice of the time travelling villain, the comic went with classic JL villain: the Lord of Time:   

JLU went with David Clinton, aka Chronos. He’s a different villain who is primarily the enemy of the Atom/Ray Palmer but has also fought the JL on occasion.   

The Lord of Time on the other hand, is a conqueror from the future who travelled back in time with future technology to conquer the past and rule the future. Sound familiar? He was Kang before Kang.  Since JLU’s version of Chronos comes from the future, you could make a case that version is a combination Chronos and Lord of Time.   

Then of course,  there is the line up, the comic features Zatanna, Elongated Man, Barry Allen and Hal Jordan whereas the show features Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern.  Superman also appears trying to thwart the Lord of Time in the present day.     

On the Western heroes side, we got Diablo instead of Cinnamon and Scalphunter is replaced by Pow Wow Smith (and it only takes a cursory glance at the characters wikipedia pages to see why the socially conscious Dwayne McDuffie made that choice).   

The plot of the JLU episode involved a corrupt sheriff using future technology to take over the town but the plot of the comic is a little different. The Lord of Time sent the heroes back in time, erased their memories, because an anti matter meteor was set to strike earth on that day.   The LoT is counting on the heroes to stop the meteor so he can have it for himself so he can use it to conquer the world.  (Why he doesn’t just get the meteor himself? Maybe he didn’t have the technology to?) 

Anyway, the heroes learn about the anti matter meteor heading towards them, Zatanna is reluctant to leave her new found cowgirl girlfriend with her friends to fight the robots:

But she ends up going anyway:   

Can I just say, I really like this shot of Zee and Green Lantern flying together? Even though she is depowered during this period, they never really stuck strictly to the ‘she can only manipulate the elements’ ethos.  Having her flying alongside GL and being unabashed powerhouse is really cool and shows her place among the DCU. There is no ‘she has to be taken out so someone else can shine’ bs here.  Also, reading these comics, I have felt that GL makes the most sense as the field leader of the JL; power based on creativity and will power and they are specifically trained to work together and take on strange extra terrestrial or otherwise threats. I think any of the human GL’s (except maybe Guy) can lead the team.  

Zatanna and GL  manage to stop the meteor. But in present timeline the Lord of Time ends up defeated by Superman (early on he got in a kryptonite trap set by the LoT but managed to escape) just as the time trapped Leaguers make their way back.      

Awww, a krytonite waterfall wasn’t that bad, Clark.    

Overall, the issue was alright. It does feel like placeholder (albeit a fun one) before the big #200 celebration issue (I posted some scans from that here). Come to think of it, the episode came off as filler as well, with the Western parts feeling like a fun romp and ultimately inconsequential to the arcs of the main heroes but the follow up portion set in the Batman Beyond timeline was more impactful and memorable.   

[irl]

im gonna meet mark waid btw:)

[pedrocomicreviews]

Absolute Flash #3

“This is my life now. And I can’t outrun it. I just need to be here. Now.”

Book is finally good, it has a monkey!

Legitimately I’m kind of shocked at how much I mean the above sentence. I already liked it, but this is it right here. We finally get to see Wally in the costume and we have a cute little dynamic with his new best friend: Grodd! 

This is probably the shortest introduction arc in these Absolute books so far. Three issues in, we have a full squad of villains, we have an origin story and a tease for the future, and we have a fun status quo. And we have a monkey!

I love this little guy so much! The art and the ways they have Grodd’s telepathy interacting with Wally’s speed continues to carry the book, and it’s tough to imagine a different team managing this. I really enjoy how visually distinct every Absolute version of our heroes is, and Flash especially got a massive upgrade from his usual crackling lightning deal.

There’s not that much to say about this individual issue, as we’re just wrapping up the Absolute Rogues’ initial chase of Wally, and establishing where he’ll go from here. But I just kinda wanted to compare this to how Flash has been for a long time, and why I think this is the best way to get into the character. 

It feels like a Flash story told today in a way that these comics don’t usually get to be. Ever since Blackest Night brought back Barry Allen and The New 52 made him the main Flash again, I’ve felt the Flash franchise has kinda lost its way on a very deep, systemic level. It was a story about legacy and moving on– running forward, even– in a way no other DC book could tell. Barry being essentially the patron saint of superheroes (stole that from Tom Brevoort, sure, but it’s true!) meant Wally could never truly reach him, despite being the fastest man alive. Then came Bart, and the story began anew.

But when every single speedster is alive at the same time, and they’re all mostly the same, and have to hang out together for crossovers… it’s a bit of a mess. Especially when Barry and Wally’s personalities mix and mingle so much nowadays. It’s tough to expect a reader to go into a new main Flash book and be okay with 10 different people who have his powers, and some of which have the same costume. I don’t want to fucking hear about the direction of the lightning bolt or the white eyes, shut up, shut the fuck up, you're living a lie.

This is a lot more approachable, is my point. This is a lot more poignant and a lot more concerned with telling a good story, as opposed to telling the next chapter of the Flash Family’s canon. And obviously that’s because this is page, what, 60 of the entire Absolute Flash canon– I’m sure if we’re still doing this in ten years, it will have gotten a bit bloated and a bit unwieldy. That’s the nature of infinite comics.

However, right now, what Absolute Flash happens to be is the most fun I’ve had with Flash in over a decade. It’s beautiful, emotional, charming, it has a cool monkey– what are you doing if you’re not reading Absolute Flash? What, do you still hate Wally? Acquire a better personality! It’s been decades! Move on! Run forward, even!

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

BECAUSE IT'S A CRUEL, COLD WORLD -- YOU'RE IN THE CAPTAIN'S WORLD NOW.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on textless cover art to "Justice" Vol. 1 #8 [Leonard Snart as Captain Cold versus Barry Allen as "The Flash"] December, 2006. DC Comics. Artwork by Alex Ross.

"You poisoned me, Cold. You tried to kill me. And that means you tried to kill everyone I hope to save until the day I die. That's a lot of people."

-- FLASH to Captain Cold (story/script by Jim Krueger & Alex Ross)

Source: www.pinterest.com/pin/flash-vs-captain-cold-by-alex-ross--74872412529275882.

[iriswestscoffee]

man i really wish i had a stable enough hand to copy comic book art styles. i would loooove to draw 60s/70s iris doing all sorts of things. she deserves a nice meal perhaps. i think she'd like some new shoes. a cup of coffee. she could kill eobard. she could do reporter things. she could *tries desperately to think of something other than killing eobard* uhhhhh *trying really hard but im fixated on it* i could make barry be on time

[hoyotunes]

A Flash from Experience the Paths Vol. 1 Vinchi, HOYO-MiX

[nocontextspiderman]

The Amazing Spider-Man #134 (1974)