What should The Flash series be about?

[poroto678]

Hi guys,

I realized I haven't read a good Flash story since Flashpoint (and some may argue that), which is sad cuz I love The Flash so much. Johns made the Rogues the finest villains team ever and no one else thought it would be great to keep that going.

Barry Allen feels so flat (it did with Manapul and Venditti too, it's not only Williamson), he doesn't have a cool family and cool characterization of his villains like Wally did with Waid and Johns. I feel the tv show actually suffers from the same problem.

What it bothers me the most is that his stories are ALWAYS about the Speed Force and speedster Villains lately. I came to hate the friggin Speed Force. Plus they keep retconing it and adding some stupid stuff to it.
I actually believe that Speed (and the speed force) is more of a problem instead of an useful tool to write Flash stories, cuz they end up being lame and generic. He doesn't need to be faster to be better. Actually, it'd probably be better if he was SLOWER and speed wasn't the most important thing.

If the Flash series changes its focus, what should it be? and I hope it does change cuz i really miss reading Flash stories.

IMHO, it should be the Rogues and supporting CHARACTERS (yes, that thing Williamson cannot write properly). Maybe it should focus on time travel? Central City's Forensic Deparment? Barry Allen?

what do you guys think?

[LP22]

One word-family.

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

I think the legacy needs to move forward. More than any other comic, I think the 5g rumors have a lot of potential positives for the Flash book. We need new ideas with new characters. I've liked Williamson's run a lot but a lot of that is down to how much it acts as a tribute band to stuff I love.

[Masterff]

Bart and Iris West II.

Iris West II developed some kind of powers which no other speedsters had like the speed force bubbles.

[Vordan]

One word-family.

Literally everything is about family these days, you need something else besides that.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Legacy and speed.

[KC]

Barry is a great protagonist and his dynamic with his villains and supporting cast are fine.

The main issues with the current Flash book are:

1. Williamson does not understand Barry and writes him as an overly whiny and selfish character.
2. As you said, almost every Flash story is about the Speed Force now. I like the Speed Force and stories about the Speed Force as it is now a key part of the Flash mythos, but when it is in every story, it gets tiring.

A better writer who can write stories about anything other than the Speed Force for a while is all that is needed.

[Buried Alien]

Crazy sci-fi concepts pertaining to physics and speed, and how one ordinary, scientifically-inclined man uses such concepts in his pursuit of justice.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Frontier]

I think the gist of every Flash run should be:

1. The Fastest Man Alive able to outthink and outrun anything and anyone.

2. Sci-Fi and science enthused into fun, fantastical, ways with a dynamic Rogues Gallery.

3. Legacy and family.

4. Hope and optimism in the face of the hardest adversary.

[poroto678]

A better writer who can write stories about anything other than the Speed Force for a while is all that is needed.

That sounds good, but it could go either completely awesome or absolutely horrible (see "Ric Grayson")

Crazy sci-fi concepts pertaining to physics and speed, and how one ordinary, scientifically-inclined man uses such concepts in his pursuit of justice.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

That does sound fun. Exploring the scientific side of Barry. He could be some sort of Reed Richards, but not really a genius. Just a very smart scientist.

What I'd really like is something similar to what Matt Fraction did to Iron Man. Give him purpose, coherent arcs and an amazing cast of supporting characters. Something a little more grounded and character-oriented. After all, Tony Stark isnt all about the armor and Barry shouldn't be all about the speed.

[charliehustle415]

Time Travel.

A comedy book (in the same vain as Fraction's Hawkeye) about Wally & his fam travel the time stream to solve crimes and get up to shenanigans; enough with Zoom and anti-speedsters

[WillieMorgan]

Legacy and speed.

Perfect response. All it took was three words.

[Modamy]

I would like it to be more focused on sci-fi rather than the speed force. Barry is a CSI; they could frame the stories as various cases that the CCPD can't solve but the Flash can.

[Tzigone]

Barry Allen feels so flat (it did with Manapul and Venditti too, it's not only Williamson), he doesn't have a cool family and cool characterization of his villains like Wally did with Waid and Johns.

I would like it to be more focused on sci-fi rather than the speed force. Barry is a CSI; they could frame the stories as various cases that the CCPD can't solve but the Flash can.

I agree with the sci-fi bent. And I've never found Barry flat. I started reading DC in 2015. Decided to check out the silver-age Flash comics specifically to read Wally, and fell in love with Barry. He's great. Or was, before his angsty origin re-write (or even Iris' death). Laid back and confident and happy and friendly and a bit geeky in an entirely endearing way, with his taking a date to science lectures and reading comic books. Someone else pointed out that they were very stylish-seeming in their old comics, compared to others, and I kinda agree. A bit of a sophisticated sort of vibe, without having the riches of Bruce Wayne or whatnot. I read all the comics up until Iris' death - no other title did I care to read to the silver age stories in. The title did flounder later (the entire silver-to-bronze age transition flopped and there were consequences of that), and sadly, Iris was ill-used (rarely used) for a while before her death.

I did look at a few of the later Wally (since his early post-COIE personality was wretched). From the issues I saw, I preferred the Messner-Loebs to Waid, who seemed to me to give Wally a "rookie-growing-into-own" vibe that was entirely unsuited to a character that had as many years heroing experience as he had, IMO. Stories I saw others like seemed to me better suited to a character with under 2 years experience, not the 5+ Wally had by time he left his teens. A friend said she felt like the comic sort of went "what emotional issue is Wally having now" with each storyline, but neither of us read that many issues, since it didn't grab us. Not horrible or anything, just nothing special in the era we read. Really liked Linda on her intro, and liked Wally getting to have kids, even if I don't like speed-aging them. Of course, none of his generation got to keep their kids, and I'm bitter about that.

I like the "science" (okay, so it's not real science) basis of the older comics. Never liked the speed force. Prefer Jay and JSA on another Earth for non-Flash reasons.

Flashpoint and HiC need to be totally gone if they're doing any sort of reboot. Making the hero setting time back on course after the villain ruined it should never have been a destructive thing. Terrible idea. HiC was similarly horrible - worse from the moral action standpoint, but better in terms of not being as destructive (though, like Identity Crisis, spat on the JL's morality again). Barry and Iris should be married. Wally should have Linda and the kid and no hint of Jai as a baddie (both should have the same speed-based powers, without the weird-powers streak they went through). Kill all the other forces.

Sadly, the time travel aspect and the speed-force probably have to stay, given how ingrained they are in the fandom, but I don't really care for either.

[Hol]

Flash just needs a really good writer. There are plenty of hooks and lead characters that can work. I happen to prefer Wally for many reasons but Barry (like any character) can be written well. They just haven't yet. I don't think there has been one good Flash story since Barry returned. Flashpoint was fun but it was a DC event.

Give the book a good writer. Since Geoff left there has not been one big name on the title...what's up with that? I thought all these creators were clamouring to write Barry??

Now that all being said? I would prefer a Wally and family book. It can be done well. See Brave and the Bold 8. Add in Bart as Impulse sometimes, Jay, Max and Barry. A fun Flash family book with Wally the main lead.