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  1. #1
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    Default Williamson's Flash run...

    ... so, I stuck it out from #1 through Flash War, then called it quits.
    I found his Barry to be nothing but a constant "Woe is me, my life is a string of misery". Like, the type of person I would disassociate from in real life, because they are just such a constant downer. His Barry was the type to respond to "Sure is a nice day out" with, "Yeah, but it's going to rain this weekend. Probably historic flooding. Lots of people may die". And the addition of all the uninteresting additional Forces killed it for me.

    Now, in the interest of full disclosure: I am a Wally fan through and through, never understood the reasoning (yeah, I know, Barry was Didio's favorite, and his well-known distaste for Titan characters) for bringing Barry back and basically trash-canning Wally. To me, Barry is wayyyyyy more interesting as the deceased spiritual inspiration to Wally, and by extension Bart and Jenni, and even (to a degree, based on respect) to Jay.

    Anyway, rambling to get to my point: I'm seeing a lot of positive feedback at the end of his run on the book, and Speed Metal (which I will be picking up). Did he change something in the book, as far as his writing of Barry's personality?

  2. #2
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    He just undid a lot of bad stuff that's been plaguing the franchise over the last 15 years. And a lot of it is holdover praise from Speed Metal, which is much better than Finish Line.

  3. #3
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    I don't know if I can hold him for being pessimistic if his stories have people he likes or feels responsible turn villains or mentally ill then manslaughter...

  4. #4
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    I thought the series was great for the first two years, with the Godspeed, the Rouges and the return of Wally West, but than it took a dip for a while, but it was still good enough to have on my pull list.

    It started to get good again with the rise of Captain Cold, but the whole finale event has been a bit ho hum for me, but that could be in part that I've grown tired of the Reverse Flash over the years, and I'm not so big on having a big flash speedster family, the Flash is starting to turn into Green Lantern in that respect.

  5. #5
    Incredible Member Hol's Avatar
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    I feel like he is getting a lot of praise because he brought back many beloved characters that people missed and he retconed a bunch of stuff we mostly all hated. But really his Flash run seemed weak to me. Clunky dialogue and weak plots. Nothing special. I did enjoy Speed Metal though.

  6. #6
    Incredible Member Adset's Avatar
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    I think it also gets a bump because it was leagues better than that New 52 travesty, and both Waid and Johns’ second runs.

    I thought it was overall solid, but nowhere near the three great runs of volume 2.

  7. #7
    Three Legged Member married guy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adset View Post
    I think it also gets a bump because it was leagues better than that New 52 travesty, and both Waid and Johns’ second runs.

    I thought it was overall solid, but nowhere near the three great runs of volume 2.
    This.
    While by no means bad, Williamson's run has been..... OK.
    I think he did a pretty decent job with the parameters he was given. I got the feeling I would've found his run a lot enjoyable without the editorial mandates and restrictions.
    I want to stress, I did not dislike his run, ANY writer who can last over 100 issues on a title is obviously doing something right. But for me, I don't have a single storyline during his tenure that had me SCREAMING that I had to wait for the next issue. (Think RoBA, Terminal Velocity, Dead Heat, Blood Will Run, Crossfire etc.)
    "My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
    I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.

  8. #8
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    I think Williamson's run is for a better worse an OK Flash ongoing. The only cool things from his run is always the art and nostalgia. But, aside from that his story is really-really mediocre. Weird dialogues here and there, weird continuity that make you said 'Eh? What a minute?', and his pace is really sluggish so the tension feels off. But, his Speed Metal is awesome a thousand though.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adset View Post
    I think it also gets a bump because it was leagues better than that New 52 travesty, and both Waid and Johns’ second runs.

    I thought it was overall solid, but nowhere near the three great runs of volume 2.
    New 52 Flash was one of the successes of the reboot. It's well-liked by fans both old and new.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by BlueRuggo View Post
    New 52 Flash was one of the successes of the reboot. It's well-liked by fans both old and new.
    The initial stuff by Manapul and Buccellato, yes. But the second half of that run was pretty forgettable.

    Williamson's run is a mixed bag for me. The stuff up until Flash War was fantastic. But the run went off the rails with The Death Of The Speed Force and Force Quest stuff (that period was a chore for me to read). He did right the ship, though. Especially towards the build up to #750 and up to Finish Line. I will give him credit for acknowledging and "fixing" some of the stuff he did that fans disliked.

    Lobdell began fixing Wally with Flash Forward. But Williamson is the one who retconned the character assassinations in HiC (and the recent Teen Titanss) into something actually tolerable now. So he gets respect from me for that alone.

    In saying that, his run is nowhere near the highs of Waid, Johns or Bates. It's good. Just not "great". Still, it is one of the success stories from DC the last 4 - 5 years.

  11. #11
    Extraordinary Member Lightning Rider's Avatar
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    I have mixed feelings on his run. I'm still behind (on issue 77) and am ambivalent as to whether I finish the run all the way through (which is largely motivated by the desire to feel organically rewarded as every other Flash fan seems to be due to recent events). I think the first stretch after Rebirth was pretty good up to Flash War, the Rogues were back to their best, Barry was written well, and Wally got his part to play; then I was pretty turned off by all the force quest stuff. Year One had some cool concepts, but the constantly doubtful and guilty Barry, along with the dead mom stuff (which isn't really his fault per se) weighed it down. And I think "clunky" is the right word when describing some of his writing; too much exposition with internal monologue going on for ages and describing things to the point of redundancy, somewhat contrived character moments that came out of nowhere, and some hammy dialogue.

    So from what I've read, overall I'd say it's okay, it tries to do the Flash legacy justice, it succeeds at times and bores at others; it's a definite improvement over the 2nd half of the New 52 but doesn't come close to the classics runs.

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member Jekyll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Somecrazyaussie View Post
    The initial stuff by Manapul and Buccellato, yes. But the second half of that run was pretty forgettable.

    Williamson's run is a mixed bag for me. The stuff up until Flash War was fantastic. But the run went off the rails with The Death Of The Speed Force and Force Quest stuff (that period was a chore for me to read). He did right the ship, though. Especially towards the build up to #750 and up to Finish Line. I will give him credit for acknowledging and "fixing" some of the stuff he did that fans disliked.

    Lobdell began fixing Wally with Flash Forward. But Williamson is the one who retconned the character assassinations in HiC (and the recent Teen Titanss) into something actually tolerable now. So he gets respect from me for that alone.

    In saying that, his run is nowhere near the highs of Waid, Johns or Bates. It's good. Just not "great". Still, it is one of the success stories from DC the last 4 - 5 years.
    My feelings as well. I will say Flash: Year One was probably the best Barry arc we’ve had since his return.
    AKA FlashFreak
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  13. #13
    Amazing Member mrjames21's Avatar
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    I personally thought that Williamson had a decent run up until the DiDido departure. After that, I think he was free to take it to another level and in my opinion did it in spades. He managed really elevate Eobard Thawne to Lex Luthor level of mayhem. I love the Flash family, which started under Wally by the way for those who down it. Death Metal Speed Metal was good story to wrap up and truly bring the family back together. Hopefully, after December we'll not only have a Barry Allen Flash book, but maybe a Wally Flash book or at least a Speed Force (Flash Family) going forward.

  14. #14
    Incredible Member Adset's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BlueRuggo View Post
    New 52 Flash was one of the successes of the reboot. It's well-liked by fans both old and new.
    It looked pretty, but it was an incoherent mess.

  15. #15
    Mighty Member Waterfall's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BlueRuggo View Post
    New 52 Flash was one of the successes of the reboot. It's well-liked by fans both old and new.
    No, it wasn't at all.

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