Speed Reading: Flash History – Blitz, Showcase, Hell to Pay and JLApe

Some recent sightings of Flash history around the web.

4thletter!’s 4×4 Elements series looks at what made “Blitz” work.

Two more Flash moments appear in Comics Should Be Good’s list of 75 Memorable Moments in DC History: Barry Allen’s sacrifice in Crisis on Infinite Earths and the first Superman/Flash race.

Bleeding Cool noticed a similarity between the universe-changing conclusion of Spider-Man’s “One More Day” and a story point in Flash’s “Hell to Pay,” and asked, “Where was the outrage when Wally West did the same thing?” Hmm, on one hand you have someone who makes a deal with the devil to retcon away 15 20 years of stories and create a new status quo that has lasted three years so far. On the other hand, you have someone who makes a deal with the devil for the sake of a story, and he finds a way to beat the Devil at his own game the next issue. Yeah, they’re totally the same.

Random Happenstance’s series on 1999’s JLApe event continues with a summary of the Flash installment, featuring Max Monkey and Chimpulse.

The Hooded Utilitarian, after reading Flash: Rebirth, decides to go back and read some Silver-Age Flash starting with Showcase #4.

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5 thoughts on “Speed Reading: Flash History – Blitz, Showcase, Hell to Pay and JLApe

  1. Rich Johnston

    He did indeed find a way. And Spider-Man didn;t. Did Flash know he’d find a way next issue? Did Spider-Man know he wouldn’t?

    Still made a deal with the devil, and that’s where the outrage was…

    Reply
    1. Kelson Post author

      You and I clearly remember different outrage over “One More Day.”

      What I recall was primarily, “How dare they wipe out 20 years of stories just because Joe Quesada doesn’t like the Spider-Marriage?” followed by the way it was handled, followed by “And do they really think it’s a good idea for a deal with the devil to be a key piece of the hero’s history?”

      Wally and Linda’s deal with Neron was an obstacle in a one-off story. Peter and MJ’s deal with Mephisto was a defining character moment in a highly-publicized event that erased 20 years of character history. If you want to know why one provoked more anger than the other, you don’t have to look any farther than that.

      Reply
  2. kyer

    Blitz: exactly why I’ve been kind of disappointed in Flash volume 3 even though I like it so far. I keep wondering where the rest of the Flash Family is and why they aren’t helping in some way. Not everyone is currently in another DC book to explain this.

    Spiderman: Hell to Pay was a fantastic story. I laughed so damn hard at the ending. Spiderman was just a retcon of the order of Flash: Rebirth.

    JLApe was gold. Chimpulse just made this for me.

    Silver Age Flash is fun more for the insane plots than anything else. I mean…Flash hopping on top of evil clouds? Turning into a puppet? Watermelon head? Becoming a poster boy for Weight Watchers? You have to snicker at that kind of stuff.

    Reply
    1. Ben Hall

      I think Spider-Man’s deal with the devil was quite a bit different than the retcons in Flash Rebirth. Now if you compared it to Wally West’s deal with Hal Jordan’s Spectre then I could see that, due to the fact both deals re-concealed identities.

      Reply

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