DC Comics' "The Flash" is where my love of comic books began.
It began with "Flash #321" to put a finer point on it. The book has a cover date of "May 1983," but I know it came out much later than that because I picked it up at the corner drug store when I was home on a snow day from school, so it had to be November or December of 1983, at least. I conned my mother into buying it for me while we were picking up a prescription for my younger brother. Who knew what it would lead to?
I'm not sure what it was about that particular issue that spoke to me out of the thirty or so titles that were also languishing there on the drug store shelf. I have little insight to my 12-year-old brain at this stage of the game, but I'm assuming I picked that issue because of the cool cover art (see below) by Rodin Rodriguez. I read the book, fell in love with the art and the characters, and soon after, began pouring all of my hard-earned paper route money into the collection of comics. It was like a switch went off in my head, a (excuse the pun) flashpoint if you will, that opened the door to a much wider (and supremely geekier) world.
For the uninitiated, the character of "The Flash" has a long and storied (some would say convoluted) history in the comics.
"The Flash is a fictional comic book superhero from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)," according to Wikipedia.
All incarnations of the Flash possess 'super speed,' which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, four different characters - each of whom somehow gained the power of 'super-speed' - have assumed the identity of the Flash: Jay Garrick (1940-present), Barry Allen (1956-1985, 2008-present), Wally West (1986-2006, 2007-2012, 2013-present), and Bart Allen (2006-2007). Before Wally and Bart's ascension to the mantle of the Flash, they were both Flash protégés under the same name "Kid Flash" (Bart was also known as Impulse).
The second incarnation of the Flash, Barry Allen, is generally considered the first hero of the Silver Age of comic books. Each version of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans. Wally West has recently rejoined the Justice League, and Barry Allen recently returned to life in the pages of "Final Crisis."
The Barry Allen version of the character (with Wally West elements) was featured in a live action television series, simply titled "The Flash" in 1990, starring John Wesley Shipp. The Wally West version of the Flash (but with many elements of Barry Allen's story) is featured in the animated series "Justice League." All four incarnations of the character have appeared in the "Young Justice" animated series, with the Wally West version of Kid Flash as a main character in the first season.
Now in 2014, there's a new show about the Flash on the CW and, for the most part, it is very well done. The pilot aired last night, and the show seems to have already captured an audience. "The Flash" earned a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating, making it the CW's most-watched and highest-rated series debut since "The Vampire Diaries" that premiered in 2009. On top of that, the show was still trending on Twitter late in the afternoon on Wednesday - not too shabby for a show about a geeky police scientist who gets hit with a bolt of lightning which, in turn, douses him in chemicals and transforms him into "The Fastest Man Alive."
I had a chance to see a sneak preview of the pilot episode a few months ago, and came away most impressed then. I had a few "fanboy-ish" quibbles at the time, but I brushed them aside. As I watched the show against last night, my quibbles were still there, but let's focus on what the show does right here:
- The costume is well-done. It's a darker red, and almost looks like a track suit of some kind, which is perfect for this character, obviously. It evokes the Flash's costume in the comics, but isn't bogged down by it either. Failing here could have been a killer because if your hero looks ridiculous in his super-suit, then no one is going to want to watch him.
- Grant Gustin is a winning Barry Allen/Flash. Almost no one will watch a leading man who comes across as an unlikable douche. Gustin side-steps that pitfall well, imbuing Barry a geeky charm that's hard to deny. While the comic book Barry was always played as a straight-arrow square, this version is totally in line with what today's audience expects to see in a leading character.
- "The Flash" has a very solid supporting cast with Tom Cavanagh ("Ed," "Scrubs") as S.T.A.R. Labs entrepreneur Harrison Wells, and Jesse L. Martin ("Law and Order") as Allen's family friend, and Barry's boss, Joe West, leading the way.
- Unlike "Arrow," which I swear is trying more and more to be like a cut-rate, Chris Nolan "Batman" flick every week, "The Flash" has a lighter air to it. The show is colorful; it pops off the screen...almost like a live-action comic book, and that works for obvious reasons here.
All of this adds to me being rather excited by what the future holds for the CW's "Flash." It seems to be on the path to creating some memorable television moments in the coming years. Twelve-year-old me (alongside 43-year-old me) is grinning from ear to ear, especially when I see trailers like the ones below, which give us a tantalizing glimpse into what this season holds for "The Flash," and also gives us a look at how two of the Flash's deadlier villains, Captain Cold and Multiplex, will be portrayed in the show.
While the Flash's primary nemesis, Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom, was teased in the pilot episode (SPOILER: a yellowish, very Flash-like blur kills Barry Allen's mother when he is a boy. In the comics, Reverse Flash kills Barry's wife, Iris), it is interesting to see what villains from Flash's lengthy "Rouge's Gallery" are being primed for the small screen. Take a look:
