Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Mark Waid back on Flash!

And they're cancelling the current series and resuming the numbering from the last series! (all of this courteous of Newsarama)

I personally loved Waid's original run (later cowritten with Augustyn). I know Geoff Johns's take is widely regarded and Waid's run had some real flaws at times, but I personally loved all that mythology and time travel stuff. And Johns never really grabbed me like Waid did though I know his stuff was technically really good.

In any case waid's coming back, and I'm excited! They're not saying who the Flash will be, but I'm betting on Wally West what with Waid's pedigree and the resumption of numbering on what was an entirely Wally West-centered series. We'll see soon!

Thoughts?

I saw this at the weekend, and I'm honestly surprised it's taken this long to get posted with the number of Waid fanbots here...

I think the news got mixed into one of the Legion threads in the main forum.

It seems it might be Wally? I accepted Bart since he was Barry's grandson and because I didn't want to be an old fart. But Wally is my Flash. He's my favorite.

At the same time I don't want Bart to die. I'd like to see him somewhere.

Hmm... considering his run on the Legion, there's got to be some irony in Mark writing a book where everything happens at super-speed!

I don't really have a perference of Wally or Bart as Flash. I don't think the Bart as Flash stories have been so bad. I would not like to see them ret-conned out of existence.

Bart's a badly broken character - every move with him since Our Worlds at War has been a misstep, and I don't know if he's salvageable now, since you can't just take back all those moves (well, you could, I suppose - but that's hardly likely to work).

I don't see Bart as a badly broken character. I just think that some writers just don't have a handle on how to write him. Certainly aging him was a move that changed the character and would require him to be treated differently than the old impulsive Bart. But then they were moving away from the impulsive Bart in Teen Titans before he go aged.

I was going to post about this, but I've been in shock. Deliriously happy shock but shock nonetheless. Woo, Mark!

I don't know why, but I almost feel like it might be Barry in the series. Especially after Didio's comment at that one Con and... I dunno. Multiverse? We'll see.

Either way, I'll be glad if Bart's not the Flash anymore. It might be his future but he was not ready for it yet. Simple as that.

Don't be a hater 'Boot.

I definitely was a fanbot when I considered Waid (and Kurt Busiek) to be the two best writers in comics. Both were white-hot and could do practically no wrong until Waid went to Crossgen (though I was wild about his run on "Ruse"!) and Busiek overstayed his welcome on Avengers. Since then, they've been either hit or miss or, more often, middle of the road (that's where I put Waid's Legion). (BTW, I figure my current two best are Brubaker and Brian K. Vaughn)

But to me, Flash was/is the comic Waid was born to do, like Peter David on Hulk. Not only that, but I also feel his best stuff has been on solo books. So I'm really excited and hoping that he'll recapture the old magic with Flash. Hopefully, it won't be a letdown like Claremont's return to the X-Men or Miller's return to the Dark Knight. <crosses fingers>

It's okay, Cali, Gerry's having a gray day.

Don't know if you'll be glad after you see this last issue for Bart.

Maybe the 'Archie' reboot LSH will get to enact their own LIGHTNING SAGA one of these days...

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> with Bart as the resurectee, instead of Garth or Wally </span></span>

I loved Waid's Flash, though I feel it floundered near the end of his run. I did love Geoff's run. But Bart has the Flash has been unnacceptable to me, and I've hated it. I think its a shame that DC ruined his character (I posted on this elsewhere at length).

That said, Waid's Wally *is* my Flash. He's my favorite, and made Wally probably my favorite DC hero of the 90's. So I'm excited, though lots of Waid's recent work hasn't been my cup of tea. I have good hopes though, with some reservations.

I still think someone needs an actual physical beating for the last three years worth of stuff to Wally and Bart. I nominate Didio.

Only the Flashes? (and I would say five, to include the crimes against the Legion, the JLI, the Linda & Matrix Supergirls, Martian Manhunter, and Young Justice in full...)

And not Green Lantern? I kid, I kid.

The crimes by DC have been many these past few years (I won't even get started on Marvel), but the Flashes was the one that bothered me the most. I'm too tired to get into the others...(for JLI, the Rocket Red death really irked me for some reason, and I just realize I never formally complained on LW!)

If we want to start beating people, let's start with the twenty years of crap done to the Legion and JSA among others, then we can move on to more recent stuff.

Oh, I absolutely include that one too, obviously (knew I missed one...) - the recent solicits made me very happy... that I was alone in the room at the time, or some innocent may have had their neck wrung.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, Bart had already moved away from the impulsive Bart in his own series, before he ever joined Teen Titans.

As much as I am a fan of Geoff, I think he did both Bart and Gar a disservice in regressing them backward to their less serious incarnations, only so that he could have them grow up again under his guidance. This is a particular shame in the case of Gar, since Geoff was the one who helped him grow up in the first place, back in the Beast Boy mini.

Was that all Carlin? I know he's to blame for the Legion's woes (as well as making the
Metal Men human)... not sure about JSA, though.

Newsarama has six pages previewed for ALL-FLASH #1-- p. 1-3 and 10-12, drawn by Karl Kerschl. SPOILERS possible, so viewer beware.

Legend has it Carlin made the decision to cancel the Strazewski/parobeck Justice Society series before the numbers for the first issue came in.

I believe the thrashing of the JSA duirng Zero Hour was him as well.

You mean I have someone else to send bad karma to besides Byrne?

I believe the edict at DC was "Old guys don't sell comic books".

Which may still be in place for all I know.

Nah, the new edict is "Old guys are the only ones buying comic books", hence the current nostalgia kick and pandering to the fans. Not that I'm complaining about JSA or the "classic" LSH...

Rich Johnston yellow-lighted this in this week's LitG column:

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> I'm told Mark Waid is only writing four issues of the Flash series. Possibly before taking over some nice big fat exec role at DC.</span></span>

Can't use the Quote with the Spoiler tag Bri.

Thanks, Scott. I meant to check for that, but the page timed out while it was loading. That's my cue to call it a night.

ALL-FLASH #1 is out. There were some nice moments between Wally and Iris-- ending in a glimpse into Iris' eye when Wally asks what she knows about his family's future. We then see Wally and the twins in costumes, with Jai (the boy) showing massive arms and shoulders and a still youthful face. His sister, Iris, is shown running and possibly flying.

There's a sort of a neat bit of name-appropriate punishment for one of the Rogues, the one most responsible for Bart's death.

One page shows members of what looks like a new Suicide Squad (but might not be) fighting and defeating all the remaining members of The Rogues, save Trickster and Piper.

I have to say I find this *very* disappointing. Aside from their part in Bart's murder (which I find somewhat hard to believe they'd actually do), The Rogues are all found and fought in one page?

Like the escape of the Seven Deadly Sins a year or so ago, what could have been a nice set-up for a 'floating' crossover throughout many titles, without disrupting anything, the Rogues' capture is handled in a throw-away page.

It's possible that these battles will be presented in future issues of some series or other. Probably two months from now. When a Rogue or other has escaped and is involved in some other scheme. That'd fit DC's somewhat messy use of 'event' developments.

Disappointing.

I guess DC thought Trickster and Piper as stars of COUNTDOWN was enough focus for The Rogues. I can understand that, I suppose.

I'm not convinced it's "throw away". I have a suspicion about some of the captures... they seem like they might lead to Suicide Squad/Checkmate. And I, for one, am curious to see if the Rogues will start to have more of a presence around the DCU. I mean, if the Joker can do it... why not Mirror Master? Geoff really helped round most of them into whole characters and... yeah. I'm hopeful.

Did that look like a Batman costume springing out of the Flash ring to anyone on the final splash page? It's shown in conjunction with the twins, Jai & Iris, in their future Flash costumes.

It sure did. Pointy ears and a bat emblam on the chest. Who knows what that could mean?

I really enjoyed the All Flash issue. Fantastic Flash Family is what I'm going to call them! This issue rocked.

did XS show up or get mentioned in All Flash issue?

Right move, wrong company, Rich.

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Mark Waid New EIC For BOOM! Studios

Rich wasn't the only one saying it, IIRC. I'm surprised at the move but maybe he's got another idea like Empire that he doesn't want DC to own.

Apparently, Mark gets to have his cake and eat it-- his EiC position for BOOM! allows him to continue writing Flash and Brave and the Bold.

Mark's Newsarama interview .

And...?

Well I must say I was a bit disappointed. I didn't really care for the artwork or the story. Certainly not what I would have expected for the first issue of a new run.

In particular, I was really annoyed at the omission of Bart from the recap of the Flash legacy. This sequence made it seem as if he had never even existed.

I'll give this one or two more issues but it will have to get much better quickly or I will drop this title.

The story point I found REALLY interesting was, the theory that when Wally returned he drew the speed force back into himself - thereby leaving Bart powerless - and inadvertantly being responsible for his death.

It was kind of glossed over at the end of the issue by Iris saying, something along the lines of "There, there baby, it wasn't your fault.", but I hope it gets picked up on in the new series.

Okay so I was underwhelmed. Granted, I was expecting a much different story than the Flash Family Fun-venture.

Linda's new role feels forced. The Tornado Twins suffer fromthe advanced aging- big no shock there. While it will be interesting to see a hero family, this one doesn't strike me as an intersting one. But it may take some time.

The art was a let down. It was great to look at, but didn't convey any motion or energy- something required in the FLASH. Acuna and Ross and Bianchi and other painters out there do fine work, but it rarely provides the action needed in a super-hero book.

DC dropped the ball again on this character.

TALKING FLASH WITH MARK WAID on today's NEWSARAMA links...

I only just picked up the first issue of the new run and I have to say I wasn't impressed.
The art really didn't suit the book. I always think that the art on Flash should be bright and clean and this was very dark and muddy looking. There was no feeling of speed and no sense of wonder. That's one of the things I remember in my favourite Flash stories, the sense of "WOW! Look how fast he is! He just caught that tray of food in mid air!!" For me the catching the tray was more impressive than catching bullets; it grounded it more in my own experience. I just don't get that feeling of speed and sheer joy in being the fastest man alive.

I'm also not too keen on the kids. Are we going to have to put up with, not one but, TWO 'cute comedy sidekicks' with their own 'hilarious' baby talk..."Funny hat?"
Yes Wally and Linda are parents and that is an important part of the characters and the children are their family but, there was no need to age the kids. They did that with Bart and look how a series of writers messed up that idea.
I agree with CJ, Lindas' role DOES seem forced. It's like "What will we do with Linda? I know let's make her the tech support gal. She can work the computers and do lots of impressive, technical looking things. Cool."

Ah, I'm just having a moan. The Flash has always been my VERY favourite comic and I'm just getting PO'd by the way DC keep messing with it.

It's early days yet and I'm sure DC will surprise me and make both The Flash AND The Legion, comics that I look forward to reading again; instead of comics I read through a sense of loyalty.

Mark Waid back OFF Flash: http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12652

Replaced with Tom Peyer.

I'm going to drop the Flash even faster than he can run. Peyer is not the right writer for that book at all.

What the hell happened with Waid?!?!?! That was what, 6 months maybe???

I was not enjoying the Waid run at all.

We have Wally back and he's straddled with the kids. Oh, "don't write the kids off until you read the stories"? Read the stories. Sucks.

Peyer will get a try too.

Man, how can Flash have been so dissapointing these last few years? (rhetorical).

Did you mean to include those two words?

Well, you start with a Johns run. He then, when off the book, aged an already-barely-recognisable-Bart capriciously....

yeah, I edited my post. That's what happens when Pow-web screws up and you have to rewrite your posts real quick.

I've been severely disappointed with this book. I'm giving it until I have to renew my subscription. If it doesn't get any better, I'm dropping it.

I don't understand why they had to age the kids. There was no reason to. And wasn't it said somewhere that one's ten and the other's eight years old? They're twins, I don't see how that's possible. (Don't quote me on this, I'm not entirely sure if this is right.)

I'm not going to even start on what I think about their names.

(Sorry, didn't mean to go off like that. )

Newsarama has Flash stories!

First Kieth Champagne talks his Flash fill-in (plus some stuff about a fill-in on the All-New Atom book). His is the one coming out in February.

Then there's an interview with Tom Peyer who some may know from the reboot Legion. (I certainly remember him... not always fondly.) He'll be the new ongoing writing on the Flash starting in March.

I... don't know what to think. Yet.

I'll stick with it. The Waid run wasn't working with me, so perhaps Peyer might be what we need? Hard to say. I miss Geoff here.

I like the idea of evolving to a family, but it hasn't grabbed me as a story. Here's hoping Peyer can do that.

New interview on Newsarama today with Mark Waid , talking about why he chose to leave the Flash in the dust...

I hate to see him go, and as I said above, I'm not going to buy the Peyer run. Just doesn't work for me...

That Newsarama interview is a fascinating read. Waid really seems to have lost his self-confidence. I think he was reading this thread.)

I do completely agree with Waid that, given that Wally, when last we saw him, had a wife and newborn twins, it would be terrible to just wipe them out of existence. (Not YET, Mephisto!) I also agree that Flash has been about family and legacy for a LONNGGG time, so doing a family man Flash is, in theory, a good idea.

It may NOT be the best fit for the character of Wally, I don't know. But a lot of self-centered, happy-go-lucky young guys become fathers and go through some big changes, so the story potential is there. Tapping into the spirit of the Incredibles would be a great start. In fact, move the Wests into a mid-century modern house with nosy neighbors and I would be a happy man. Finally, I completely agree about the hypocrisy of complaining about Flash the family man and Spidey's de-marriaging in the same breath. Ridiculous.

The problem with Waid's Flash wasn't the premise or the art, it was the way he is stretching out clever, but brief, story ideas into half-year epics. Just contrast the lead Flash stories with his back-ups and B&B and you can see the problem. This damn water-alien invasion story has been going on for, like, 9 years now, and we only this month learned the connection behind it. That SHOULD have been the cliffhanger at the end of issue 1 or 2 of the story, and the story should have been over in 3 issues, max.

Peyer seems psyched to do the Flash. I think the only stuff of his I ever read was the early Legion 2Boot, some of which was good, some wasn't. If he can inject some lightness and humor into the Flash, that would be a good thing. I'm hoping Grant Morrison knows what he's talking about.