Sorry I'm Late!: Barry Allen Appreciation

[liwanag]

[liwanag]

[Spider-Ham]

I'm finally done with Trial of the Flash. Took me a few weeks to finish this thing and it was painful. Just painful. Even if it's done and we got Barry back, I still feel sorry for what Barry fans had to go through during this endless arc. I tried, but I still can't understand how DC could do that, which is character assassination, to a character that led to such glorious days for the publisher.

[Buried Alien]

I'm finally done with Trial of the Flash. Took me a few weeks to finish this thing and it was painful. Just painful. Even if it's done and we got Barry back, I still feel sorry for what Barry fans had to go through during this endless arc. I tried, but I still can't understand how DC could do that, which is character assassination, to a character that led to such glorious days for the publisher.

In retrospect, though, I do give DC the credit for having the balls to go through with that during the waning years of the Bronze Age, when such extended arcs were not yet the norm for superhero comics. For better or worse, it set the stage for much that was to come in the years ahead. The way it turned out was also greatly shaped by the needs created by the impending COIE series.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[married guy]

I'm finally done with Trial of the Flash. Took me a few weeks to finish this thing and it was painful. Just painful. Even if it's done and we got Barry back, I still feel sorry for what Barry fans had to go through during this endless arc. I tried, but I still can't understand how DC could do that, which is character assassination, to a character that led to such glorious days for the publisher.

Yeah, it wasn't the greatest.....
But looking back at it now and seeing what it helped lead into makes it a little less awful.
And even though his heart was no longer in it, we had Carmine drawing it all, so not all bad!
Go back a little further and read #300. It's a great stand alone issue.

[Buried Alien]

I also would not characterize THE TRIAL OF THE FLASH as "character assassination" on the Flash/Barry Allen. Though Barry undoubtedly went through the wringer, his character remained intact. In spite of how crazy his life had gotten, Barry remained Barry. He never acted in a manner that made me say, "Wait...that isn't Barry Allen. Barry would NEVER do that!" In a way, it was rather heroic how he remained himself even through that whole ordeal (probably because he was still being written by the same writer, Cary Bates, who had been writing his adventures since 1970).

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[married guy]

Even though he had a completely different face.....

[Frontier]

I would say at least the TV version was brief, but it was also probably one of the most nonsensical trials I've ever seen in fiction .

[Buried Alien]

Even though he had a completely different face.....

The way Infantino was drawing faces at that point, the only way to even tell was the different hairstyle/color.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[liwanag]

[Frontier]

From the upcoming Reign of the Supermen film:

[liwanag]

From the upcoming Reign of the Supermen film:

glad that barry is a staple in the dc animated universe.

imagine barry going on a race with the 4 supermen.

[Cmbmool]

I also would not characterize THE TRIAL OF THE FLASH as "character assassination" on the Flash/Barry Allen. Though Barry undoubtedly went through the wringer, his character remained intact. In spite of how crazy his life had gotten, Barry remained Barry. He never acted in a manner that made me say, "Wait...that isn't Barry Allen. Barry would NEVER do that!" In a way, it was rather heroic how he remained himself even through that whole ordeal (probably because he was still being written by the same writer, Cary Bates, who had been writing his adventures since 1970).

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

If that isn't Character assassination, then what do you call Barry Allen's return and the lead into Flashpoint and the new 52 and the New BLACK Wally West and his storyline arc and Rebirth and that connection and Heroes and Crisis and Flash War.... ?

In other words, since his return and the events that happen since then: What do you think of Barry Allen NOW ?

[Dr. Victor Fries]

I've always liked Barry along with Jay and Bart. But I've always preferred the Reverse!