Unpopular opinion: Flash (Barry Allen) should change profession

[Alpha]

Get ready for a big one. I think Barry should have another profession. The idea of a cop superhero is good and Dick Grayson could be one for example. But Barry being a cop was just a random profession they chose to fill in the blanks. He couldn't be just another scientist so they went with something a little different but still connected to science. Clark Kent as a reporter and Superman makes total sense. Matt Murdoch as a lawyer and Daredevil also makes total sense. Barry Allen and company as a Police Scientist is just random. The best Flash stories you could write would in no way be helped by him being a cop. It would just become a part of the plot out of contrivance.

To be clear, I haven't found a good solution to this. I definitely think he needs a secret Identity, and I want something humble. Maybe he could be an electrician if you want him to be an everyman. I kind of like Danica Williams working at a museum but I suppose Hawkman already took that and from a lore perspective it makes much more sense for him. Being a banker kind of fits Barry's whole personality but I'm not sure how it would work, specially with him disappearing all the time. Heck maybe a programmer could work. He could easily dress up and do something when nobody was looking and come back an hour later. The idea of the internet being a big deal in his life isn't necessary but it could also work with him running around the city and all. Or maybe he could be an accountant.

If you started everything from scratch on the basis that Barry Allen, with the same personality, is the Flash, would you gain anything by making him a CSI? Everything he does as a CSI is what he would do as the Flash. I mean Batman also investigates a crime scene, takes evidence and analyses it in a lab. Barry would also do the aame things if he was just the Flash. From a storytelling perspective you are just repeating the same job.

Other Super hero cops are characters that become superheroes because the law won't let them go far enough, or because they are worried that criminals will come after their family if they know who they are (but this is something also common in superheroes that aren't cops). If Barry revealed his secret identity and was hired by the police department he would do everything he already does as the Flash, because a cop with super powers will always be able to do things that a normal cop can't.

Flash is the type of hero where him being the flash really overwhelms his stories. Very few stories in the last 40 years had his detective work as a central point of the plot (with Wally it wasn't that much different even though he wasn't a CSI). When you read a Flash story it usually either has to do with a crisis or villain coming after him personally or attacking the city in clear view, or it's about a fantastical threat that no cop would ever be involved in.

So does it make sense to give him such an active job since it doesn't really get used? And even if it got used, what would be the difference between Mirror Master robbing a bank and Flash hearing about it on the police radio and using his super speed to investigate the crime scene as the Flash, versus him being a cop assigned to the case. You could just remove that part and everything would be the same. He would even still have a relationship with the cops simply for being the Flash.

Compare that to Clark Kent, Matt Murdoch, sometimes Bruce Wayne and his company, Black Lightning as a school principal and Peter Parker as a school teacher. Their jobs either put them in situations they wouldn't be in as superheroes, and that somehow help them in their cases or add another level of personal dilemas or perspective to whatever crisis they are solving.

[John Venus]

He is a forensic scientist, not a cop. He can have a side interest in physics or engineering. If the cops are corrupt then that simply justifies his existence as the Flash.

The only thing that really needs to be updated is the 'shelf full of chemicals struck by lightning' part of his origin.

[Alpha]

Yes I know he is a forensic scientist, meant to say that at first (but there are some stories where they don't even distinguish between the two, despite being very different things. I don't think Flash comics usually say cops are corrupt. It's just that none of them have his super powers. Even if they were corrupt, he wouldn't have to be a Forensic Scientist for that to be an issue. Batman also has stories where he deals with corrupt cops even though he never worked for the police department. I really don't see what you gain by having him be a Forensic Scientist. And to me it never felt thematically consistent with the idea of the Flash.

[MajorHoy]

Get ready for a big one. I think Barry should have another profession. The idea of a cop superhero is good and Dick Grayson could be one for example. But Barry being a cop was just a random profession they chose to fill in the blanks. He couldn't be just another scientist so they went with something a little different but still connected to science...

So, you were there back in the early 1950's when Barry Allen's The Flash was introduced?

Man, how old are you? I'm guessing that would possibly put your age in the 80s?

[Frontier]

Barry's job is one of the coolest things he has going for him that is unique to him. So much so that the DCAU thought it worth giving to Wally.

Barry being a CSI was fairly relevant in the Manapul/Buccelato and Joshua Williamson run.

[Lightning Rider]

Yeah, I don't see it as a problem in any way, but rather a strength; CSI work is always fun to explore, and it gives Barry a baseline for understanding science, which he needs to do his speed tricks.

If there's an amazing untapped alternative, I've yet to hear it. But at this point it's a part of his character.

[bat39]

Barry's career as a forensics scientist does two things - 1) It establishes him as someone with a scientific background, which is important in a lot of his stories given how science (or rather, pseudo-science) many of the villains and threats he faces are, 2) It establishes him as someone with an interest in pursuing justice, with some skills as a detective.

Now, there are any number of other superheroes who have one or both of those traits. But Barry being a forensics scientist goes a long way towards explaining why an ordinary man, who one day got superpowers, just happens to be a scientist AND a detective - both qualities that are very useful for the average superhero.

Batman is a scientist and a detective as well - but in his case, he's a billionaire who spent around 15 years planning and training to become a superhero. Superman is a scientist and has some detective skills as well, but he's a super-intelligent alien. Ditto for the Martian Manhunter. But with Barry, you get the explanation for why an everyman would have those skills.

[Johnrevenge]

It's an essential part of him, and also the only thing that made him interesting compared to the other DC's speedsters.

[SecretWarrior]

Lol, I had a similar thought the other day about having him work as a scientist for Star Labs instead of for the police force.

The Flash property is thematically linked to science with Flash Facts and such, but the cop thing makes him feel like the in-between point for Superman and Batman rather than unique to himself.

[Tzigone]

The Flash property is thematically linked to science with Flash Facts and such, but the cop thing makes him feel like the in-between point for Superman and Batman rather than unique to himself.

I don't agree with that. But even if I did, it would mean that Batman and Superman were driving choices for the Flash character in perpetuity. Because that definitely wasn't an "in between" point between the two of them when Barry was created (though I understand putting a new character in an unfilled niche) and that his entire life (or at least career) should then be logically upended/discarded if those characters change again.

[Frontier]

Lol, I had a similar thought the other day about having him work as a scientist for Star Labs instead of for the police force.

The Flash property is thematically linked to science with Flash Facts and such, but the cop thing makes him feel like the in-between point for Superman and Batman rather than unique to himself.

He's still a forensic scientist, but I think working within the police is something unique compared to Superman and Batman.

[lemonpeace]

...isn't there an unpopular opinion thread for these kind of things?

[SecretWarrior]

He's still a forensic scientist, but I think working within the police is something unique compared to Superman and Batman.

That's a good point about the inherent conflict, but that doesn't really get touched on.

I don't agree with that. But even if I did, it would mean that Batman and Superman were driving choices for the Flash character in perpetuity. Because that definitely wasn't an "in between" point between the two of them when Barry was created (though I understand putting a new character in an unfilled niche) and that his entire life (or at least career) should then be logically upended/discarded if those characters change again.

I think the cop/detective thing allows writers to tell Batman-like stories with Flash, which is what Johns did when he turned Zoom or Reverse Flash or whomever into a serial killer. A lot of his rogues would work as Batman villains because they're suped-up criminals. Some of Batman's powered villains like Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and Poison Ivy would make good Flash villains too. Darker Flash stories tend to focus on the crime aspect of the Flash.

The sci fi elements of the Flash allow writers to tell Superman-like stories. Flash's powers are a little less varied, so he has to get creative with them. He's also usually written as this optimistic light within the city, not unlike Superman.

That's what I mean about the in-between point. It's like stripping Superman of several of his powers and plopping him Gotham.

[Frontier]

That's a good point about the inherent conflict, but that doesn't really get touched on.

I think the cop/detective thing allows writers to tell Batman-like stories with Flash, which is what Johns did when he turned Zoom or Reverse Flash or whomever into a serial killer.

The sci fi elements of the Flash allow writers to tell Superman-like stories.

Reverse-Flash isn't a serial killer, at least compared to the way most Gotham Rogues operate. But Johns definitely went into the psychosis of The Rogues a lot.

[SecretWarrior]

Flash doesn't need to change careers, but I'd like to see more stories focused on his charity fundraising work. His races with Superman was/are for charity. It would be cool to see more of that stuff without Superman involved. I think that would separate out Flash stories a bit more.