The Flash

How about a thread for the capeless capeshit? Which Scarlet Speedster was your favorite? Wally West, one of the Allen boys, or maybe Helmet-head himself, Jay Garrick? Who is your favorite villain? One of Reverse Flashes, Captain Boomerang, Harambe, or perhaps the Trickster because you watched the Justice League cartoon and like people who play darts? Speaking of the show, what was your favorite medium with him? Comics, TV animated or otherwise, direct to DVD movie, canceled game? Finally, what are some good storylines or authors that know how to handle him, in case any become interested in him after reading some replies?

Here's some footage of the canceled Flash game if anyone hadn't already seen it

Damn that's cool. Without a fixed camera and the skateboard game music then it would've probably made for an awesome game.

looks alright, flash would be way better if instead of a city the open world aspect was the entire planet or even the galaxy, since you'd be going so fast and wouldn't necessarily care about the details.

At least DC's committed to collecting some of the Flash's stories in comprehensive formats. The Silver Age trade series, trade collections dedicated to certain writers (Johns, Morrison/Millar, Waid)


Using the entire Earth/galaxy as a setting is unrealistic. Designing game mechanics around a city is just easier.

You realize we're talking about the fFLash, right? Why make the fucking game to begin with if you're going as fast as a helicopter? The only way to fully explore the scope and possibilities of the character is to expand his range of movement. This is like having a Hulk game where he can't throw tanks or smash everything.

I've only read a little bit of The Flash, all focusing on Barry Allen. What Wally West stuff would you guys recommend I read?

fuck off

It's unrealistic for the same reason we're never getting a decent Superman game: You can't make a worthwhile open-world game around them without nerfing them to conform to certain standard. In asking for a game that indulges the Speed Force, you might as well be signaling that you don't know shit about game design.


Of the top of my head Waid, Messner-Loebs, Johns and Morrison/Millar are some of the runs I see cited.

I guess superman and flash could work in a Justice League game. That could be an appropritate environment.

Here's a better song to go with it.

The Mike Baron run is the definitive Wally one IMO.

What Barry Allen runs did you read and which did you like?

I read the pre-new 52 microrun by Geoff Johns and I really, really loved that. I also read some stuff when I was a kid, but it was so long ago I can't remember what it was exactly, but I remember Reverse-Flash was the villain for most of it.

Thanks, will check it out

Are there any Flash stories akin to SuperDick?

Wrong 2nd image

I was reading The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told, and the foreword by Carmine Infantino mentions that he used to make covers then hand them to the writers, but I can't think of any issues myself.
That was early-silver, late-gold age, so try reading batches of comics from around then.

If it was actually female, whats his problem?

Seeing as Jimmy has been an ape at LEAST twice, you'd think he'd be more open to it.

Maybe he's racist.

early Wally West Flash stories where he's fast but not OP fast and has to stop often to eat are probably the best era that would work for a video game. He can do the 'time stop' thing sometimes, but not reliably, usually when it's between that and dying. (I forget which writer this was, I'm thinking about the stories before he does that huge peelout at top speed that causes an explosion.)
The whole 'has to eat a dozen hamburgers after running' thing actually worked for me, since we later found out it was just a mental block from his imperfect attunement to the Speed Force at that point.

Looks kinda bad, but hey its just a tech demo

Barry is faster, to hell with anyone that thinks Wally is faster.

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Was it Flash Rebirth? Had pretty much every speedster

The pre-New 52 stuff was Rebirth and the issues that followed it, yeah.

Bart Allen, Impulse era, not this shit Kid Flash era followed by idiotic accelerated aging storyline. What make Impulse fun was that he's learning to grow as a child and hero at the same time while keeping the book fun. That shit and the classic Young Justice were the diamonds amongst the sea of angsty 90s and early 00s comics.

Oh and Jesse Quick. Because Rule 34.

nah

Flash always annoyed me.

Don't get me wrong, I like the character. I think Barry Allen and Wally West are great guys, and I think their powers are interesting and have some good lore behind them. I always just hated how little they did with those powers. The Flash can percieve the world by the attosecond, faster than the smallest measurable frame of time for any human, and what does he do with it? He stops zany villains and wacky tricksters. If I had those powers you bet your ass I'd be using them for all their worth.

But why remove it? For a superhero to work their needs to be some legitimate sense of danger or urgency. What could conceivably harm The Flash?

As a hardcore Flash fan (I even keep buying the books even when it's the Cobalt Blue Saga) I completely agree with this sentiment. It still baffle me that his enemies are mostly normies like Capt. Boomerang and Captain Cold. Cap Cold cold blast at least have good speed, but Cap Boomerang threw fucking boomerangs ffs. That thing is so slow in Flash's perception of time he's not supposed to be a threat. DC realized that and turned him into a total psychopath. But still weak as shit.

Cobalt Blue, no matter how much hate he received, actually gave actual threat to all generations of Speedster. So do Reverse Flash but he was rarely utilized.

But the most sinister one was Bart Allen true nemesis Inertia. He's much more threatening compared to Zoom, the rogue team and even the adult flash.

The problem is simple.

The number of superpowers for Flash villains to have and still be a threat is limited.

The most obvious one is just have another speedster, and boy did DC milk that shit for all its worth. I think 1/3 of Flash's villains are just speedster's with stupid names. Oh, and Zoom, who is still basically a speedster, but who slows down everything else instead of speeding himself up like the Flash does.

Then what? OK, maybe time-travel aaand…what? Teleportation like X-Men's Nightcrawler? Maybe like that old villain The Turtle where he projects an aura that slows down everyone around him?

Beyond that, you just end up with eleven gazillion different speedsters as Flash's foes.

It's not that hard though. First of all don't use too much normies as part of his Rogue gallery. Come up with villains that's have certain loopholes or unreachable by Flash. Flash have superspeed but to defeat his enemies he still need to have body contact fight. So his enemies can be:

1. Energy based. Imagine someone that emit radioactive from his body so intense so people can't get close to him or risk death. Or force field.

2. Time based villain. Imagine someone who can turn back time seconds from his death so everytime Wally or Barry tried to stop him he simply turn back time.

3. Dimension altering power. Nothing confuse speedster more than altered physic in alternate universe.

4. A very angry Batman.

Don't take this the wrong way, I do love The Flash. He's always been one of my favorite heroes, it's just that they power-creeped him harder than Superman. At first he was first, then he was faster, and then he was fast. He was the embodiment of fast from a dimension of fast. It's hard to beat the guy who is as fast as sound, it's harder to beat the guy who can go back in time and abort you.

I just never feel any sense of mystery in Flash books. Flashpoint was a really good arc but even still it made no sense because we'd seen Flash go back in time dozens of fucking times before that. I like capes, I just like them to have some semblance of beatableness.

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Reminds me of this song, except the song doesn't make me laugh at how shitty it is.