With the new Flash series launching, it’s time for me to catch up on Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning. There’s nothing like making a list to help keep track of goals, and there’s nothing like making that list public to help stick to them. So, here’s what I intend to get done over the next month:
Before the April 14 relaunch:
Bring the write-ups up to speed on the following characters who’ve changed as a result of Flash: Rebirth.
- Flash/Barry Allen
- Iris Allen
- Professor Zoom
- Jesse Quick
- Max Mercury
- Impulse/Iris “Irey” West
- Jai West
By the end of April:
- New image for Flash Barry Allen
- New image for Impulse Irey West
- New image for Jesse Quick
- Update appearance lists
It’s going to be a busy month. I’ve also got a vacation, one or two conventions (WonderCon next weekend for sure, but I still haven’t made up my mind about Wizard World Anaheim), promoting the Design Your Own Flash Ring Contest (thankfully, Devin’s handling the actual contest!), and all kinds of other stuff.
I guess I just need to focus.
If the book revolves a bit more around the station – Darryl Frye may move up to supporting cast as well.
Hmm, good point. I’ll have to dig up an issue from his Captain Invincible period to scan…
As a result of Flash: Rebirth, the Speed Force not only refers to the power source and speedster heaven it usually has been defined as, but now also will be used as the name for the group of Barry, Wally, Jay, Max, Bart, Jesse and Irey. Their group name.
My point is, since there will be big adventures for the whole “Speed Force” in the future, and since Max, Jesse and Irey seem like they will become more major players in the next couple of years in the Flash book, or any other books that may spin out of it, maybe you should provide some quick links to their bios on the home page just as you do for Jay, Barry, Wally and Bart.
I know nothing about web design and do not know how difficult that would be.
Just a thought.
Don’t forget the death toll: Johnny Quick, Black Flash, Savitar, and Lady Flash… for example, the entry for Savitar currently says:
Apparent Death: Led to speed field by Wally West (The Flash v.2 #111, March 1996)
Heh. “Speed field.” Clearly I haven’t updated that page in a while.
That said, not much has changed for Johnny Quick or Savitar in practical terms. They were already effectively dead before.
Adding the death toll to the second round…
Honestly, can any one explain the Black Flash thing to me? I still don’t understand.
I’m not even going to try. It makes even less sense than the explanation for why Bart came back as a teenager instead of an adult.
Am I the only one who didn’t really find the Flash-related Lo3W retcons that difficult to understand?
Speaking of which, you might want to update the Tornado Twins/Meloni/XS pages as well.
I think we’re pushing into May plans now.
As for the Legion of Three Worlds retcons, they’re comprehensible to anyone versed in DC’s multiverse, but really unnecessary. They didn’t need to go into such contortions to make Bart come from the same universe as mainstream Barry Allen when they had a much simpler method available: when traveling through time, you often slip into a parallel universe by accident. IIRC it was brought up earlier in the same issue! All they had to do was say that Barry and Iris had landed in the future of Earth-247 or whatever they’re calling it this week, and that would cover it.
The thing that really doesn’t make sense is separating the “old Bart” from “young Bart” and claiming that he was aging rapidly and would have died soon anyway…completely ignoring, for instance, the fact that he lived as a normal adult for an entire year without any abnormal aging. They would have been better off ignoring the pseudoscience and sticking with the non-explanations given in “Fast Money” for Iris’ accelerated aging and rejuvenation.
Barry generates his own speed force when he runs. Professor Zoom generates his own reverse speed force when he runs. Both speed forces have to exist simultaneously, so when one overtakes the other, in this case, the negative overtaking Barry’s positive force, it means that negative energy is channeled through Barry (since Barry has this tie to the speed force). The side effect was that negative energy killed speedsters with a touch.
I can only imagine the same would be true if the positive speedforce overtook the negative speedforce, that Professor Zoom would either start killing his own speedsters, or maybe start bringing people back to life with a touch, perhaps.
I may have misread papa zero’s question – I thought he was asking how the “original” Black Flash, always presented as a manifestation of a force of nature and not as a person, had died.
Kelson, I haven’t read your site in a while, but I’d like to ask you if it’s possible for you to update the Bios of the characters according to Flash: Rebirth, saying what part of the story is a retcon, and what no, so we can keep track of the changes
I’m already planning on keeping the retcons and original history separate — I just haven’t figured out how I want to present it.