Friday, December 13, 2013

The Flash, my personal favorite hero of all time. Mark Waid rocks!

I absolutely adore the Fastest Man Alive. The Scarlet Speedster isn't necessarily the most powerful of the super-powered heroes, but he sure has dynamic stories. While I enjoy all of them, my particular favorite is Wally West--and more specifically the "Terminal Velocity" storyline by Mark Waid. In that story, the Flash (Wally) is shown a vision of his future, and spends the rest of the book trying to avert it. His speed becomes his greatest enemy, causes solitude, and ultimately is his finest gift.

What strikes me isn't how fast everything is, but how intensely personal the Flash stories are. In a lot of the superhero stories I've read, the hero is really an unstoppable force of nature. Superhero stories swirl around the hero, but don't especially impact them personally. Not so with the Flash. You get to see the poor guy pounded, mashed, his loved ones hurt, and place wrecked. It's visceral, understood, and touching. I love the Flash.

There was a brief series on television The Flash (but, it didn't do well) and I see that the new television show Arrow is bringing him back in the Barry Allen form. Hopefully he's better received this time. I'd love to see a new show based on him, and there probably will if he's popular. So, get out there and cheer him on.

Go, Flash, go!

- M

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