FLASH ideas

[Flash Gordon]

I've been trying to catch up on Barry Allen's escapades lately, being one of my favorite characters, and find myself completely underwhelmed. Brett Booth is an artist that I can never stomach, and furthermore one that doesn't fit the title at all.

I was wondering what team you guys would like to see on THE FLASH (reasonably) and what directions you'd like to see.

I'd say Jeff Parker and Mike Allred, for me.

[Deniz Camp]

Warren Ellis, Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi.

[Deniz Camp]

I'm not reading this run so it's hard for me to say where they might be succeeding for failing, but for me the Flash sort of lends itself to a few things.

First and foremost is, of course, the energy, the rhythm, the BATBATBATBATBAT of any great Flash story. Warren Ellis, the son of a percussionist, has always had a very strong sense of rhythm about his work.

Next, Barry Allen is a scientist, and the Flash is this great sci-fi notion - super speed, vibratory patterns, time manipulation...it has all these really wonderful physical implications. It lends itself to a kind of 'not quite real world' science fiction, something moderately grounded real world science but with the healthy exuberance I talked about above. Morrison, who perhaps loves the Flash as much as any creator, regularly had Wally West do impossible, beautiful things; we got infinite mass punches, for instance, a (mis) extrapolation of physically descriptive equations. In today's Multiversity, a Flash travels to other universes to recruit an army of alternate versions of himself. Again, this is the bread and butter of Warren Ellis, but we can all imagine what this might mean. If you're a scientist and you can travel through time, maybe you go back to watch the big bang happen, race the leading edge of creation. Or what might happen when you speed up your perception and normal time grinds to a halt? What about the hidden workings of reality that we never see, moving too fast for our dull, human sight? How do you hear when you're moving faster than the speed of sound, or see as you move faster than light? How do you solve a murder that hasn't happened yet? So the Flash, then, is kind of a celebration of science, a positive-science fiction comic.

And finally, and most fundamentally, I think any Flash run is about the future. About barreling into it and full speed rather than stagnating or looking to the past. You've got Barry, who is a scientist, a guy who applies the scientific method to everything he does. You've got a bunch of powers that becomes increasingly relevant in a world that moves at super speed, that requires super speed processors and faster, more efficient cars, filled with tips to save time. Barry's previous ending actually had him living in the future! And many of the Flash's adventures over the years have concerned time travel into the far future; two of his big villains are from the future, but who looks to the past. A third - Zoom - is a character who moves through time, has become unstuck from reality, due to his obsession with the past.

So that's the central metaphor to tap into, and you see that all over Johns' work with the character, perhaps a little bit too much. And you see a lot of that going down with the current run too, from what I'm seeing (again, I'm not currently reading it).

But it's also become a book about hope, and about love. The Wally/Linda relationship was the central dynamic for the entire Wally West run under Waid and Johns. And Iris/Barry has likewise always been a central component of that character -- much moreso than, say, Hal/Carol. Final Crisis has a wonderful scene that braids the two threads together - hope and love - into a cure for the Anti-Life Equation. But even before that, if the speed force is a metaphor, it's a metaphor for going forward -- for carrying on. And that is, centrally, about hope.

And so any book should lean into that, full throttle, I think.

[Flash Gordon]

Warren Ellis, ah yes. That'd be perfection, honestly. I went with Jeff Parker since he's already at DC (and not being utilized enough) and he can write fun romps with giant apes. Warren Ellis though, man, I'd push an old lady into traffic for that.

Barry Allen should be able to balance crime drama, with exploration. Reed Richards type stuff. The book needs a sense of fluidity, constant motion. Moving currents and changing tides. Music. I agree that Final Crisis did that well. I was hoping Morrison would chose Barry Allen for his EARTH ONE book, but alas. I think the Flash has one of, if not THE, best costumes in comics. So an artist who can really nail that is needed. I'm not a fan of the Jim Lee lines on the outfit, since I love the smooth red, but I like the little lightning bursts that come off him in Manapaul's art.

I'd like more Iris and a beefed up supporting cast. Maybe even add Ray Palmer to his supporting cast. Wally West isn't needed, but if he's there, do something new with him. Maybe the new "Kid Flash" could have that blue outfit from Blackest Night?

I'd like to move away from the Rogues a while. Give them a SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN type book, let Barry have his cosmic odysseys for a while. Let him explore.

Man, after reading BLUE ROSE, which I think was one of the best comic books I've read in a long time, Warren Ellis would nail these concepts.

[Flash Gordon]

I've actually been picking up SPIDER-GWEN, not cause I like it but out of sheer disbelief/amusement. I never thought about Robbi Rodriguez on a FLASH book. That's a great choice sir.

[colonyofcells]

Maybe let flash change time like bring back more dead people, etc.

[superduperman]

He goes back to try to save his mother again only this time undoes Flashpoint. Or makes an even weirder world.

[Deniz Camp]

I've actually been picking up SPIDER-GWEN, not cause I like it but out of sheer disbelief/amusement. I never thought about Robbi Rodriguez on a FLASH book. That's a great choice sir.

I'm waiting the trade for it, exclusively because of the art. I think he's pretty fantastic, has a perfect grasp of motion, a strong sense of design. And Renzi's colors are really vibrant as well. There are a lot of guys I'd be very satisfied with for the Flash though. Samnee comes to mind immediately, as do Wu, Aja, etc.

[FlashEarthOne]

I've always thought that having Grant Morrison on the book for a couple of years could be fantastic. I also think that two of this Volume's fill-in writers could do better than the two main creative teams if given a chance. Those two writers being Sterling Gates and Dan Abnett.

[Liquid]

Morrison, Johns again, or Ellis maybe.

[MykeHavoc]

The Allred cover for the Flash Convergence issue immediately made me salivate at the thought of him doing interiors for the character. He'd be a perfect fit. As far as writers? I'd actually have a hard time picking, as most of my favorites (Waid, Morrison, Johns) have taken a stab at the character a time or two. If Rucka is back in good graces with DC as it appears to be so, I think he might be an interesting fit, mainly just to see if he could do a book so different from anything he's done before. Simone and Winick jump to mind. Hell, give Abnett a shot. The one issue he wrote so far is pretty damn good.

I concur that Ellis is an excellent choice in theory, but he seems to stick with short runs when it comes to using major characters. Anyone coming on I would like to certainly see last more than 6 issues.

[Flash Gordon]

Yeah that Allred cover really has me itching for more FLASH by him.

What do you guys think of a Matt Fraction/Mike Allred run on THE FLASH? I was a big fan of their collaboration on FF. I think Fraction could do lots of fun science fiction without sacrificing the human element. Even when Fraction misses, there's always SOMETHING I enjoy in his work. I'd give it a fair shot.

[Flash Gordon]

I've always thought that having Grant Morrison on the book for a couple of years could be fantastic. I also think that two of this Volume's fill-in writers could do better than the two main creative teams if given a chance. Those two writers being Sterling Gates and Dan Abnett.

I'm actually a pretty big fan of Sterling Gates's SUPERGIRL run. I think that was one of the best runs Kara has had in decades, even if it was bogged down by the NEW KRYPTON fiasco. I think Gates pen a solid Flash story, if he had the right artist (poor guy seems to get stuck with the worst artists in the NEW 52). Not brilliant, but solid.