Tag Archives: Fans

How idolizing The Flash has profoundly influenced my life (Part 2)

Today’s guest post is by Glenmarc Antonio. Read part one first.

Flash: Rebirth

Reinvigorated as if I was able to tap into the Speed Force, I went back to living normally.  I also went back into my happier self, though slowly.  As part of my personal recovery, I tried a lot of things, and was fortunate to have been successful once more.

In early 2011, a crazy idea occurred to me.  I wanted a Flash suit.  With the rise of cosplaying in local hobby events in the Philippines, I began to strongly consider suiting up in one of the local cons as the Scarlet Speedster.  A very good friend and established local cosplayer, Paolo Cordero, helped me craft my very first Flash costume.  I said I was only to wear it if he joined me as Green Lantern.  He gamely agreed, and thus JUSTICE Ph (the Philippines’ DC cosplayers group) was born.

Glenmarc Antonio as the Flash

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How idolizing The Flash has profoundly influenced my life (Part 1)

Today’s guest post is by Glenmarc F. Antonio, whose Flash memorabilia collection has previously been featured here on Speed Force in our first Collector’s Showcase.

My name is Glenmarc F. Antonio, and I’m Flash.  That makes me the Fastest Man Alive.  Well, not really.

I’m actually a 30-something Digital Media specialist for the Philippine’s largest telco provider.  In my heyday, I was one of the fastest runners in my company, and was fairly athletic, having competed in basketball at a varsity level back in college.  My self-confessed similarities to the Flash’s (superhuman) speed however do not end there.

An introduction with the Scarlet Speedster

I got introduced to the Scarlet Speedster when I was really young, having watched and loved the live-action Flash TV series starring John Wesley Shipp in the late 90s-early 2000s when it was shown in the local channel.  The moment I saw that golden lightning emblazoned across John’s chest as the opening credits were shown (plus Danny Elfman’s masterful The Flash theme song), I fell in love with the character.  For me, Shipp was THE Flash.  His portrayal of Barry Allen (with a subtle mix of Wally West) was in my honest opinion, absolutely on-point.  I watched all of the episodes and didn’t mind re-runs.  Seeing him running in his bright red suit was a joy.  I wanted to be him.  No, I wanted to be The Flash.

Flash TV Series (1990)

I guess I have my mom to blame as well.  Being the very 1st geek in the family, my mother Ruby introduced me to the world of comics, as she was the one who bought me my 1st title (Jim Lee’s X-men #1), and over the years, has steadily maintained and monitored my voracious consumption of comicbook geekery.  I still remember when she gave me the Death Of Superman TPB as a gift when I graduated from grade school school.  Yes, that’s how geeky she is.  From there, I have shuttled between fandoms, Marvel and DC Comics (and for a brief period, Image Comics).

Over time, I saw myself being more of a DC-fan long after the live-action TV series was cancelled.  I have always been pro-mutant given my X-men roots, but I have grown to appreciate the Justice League and its many incarnations.  And while the comics have already focused on Wally West taking over the cowl of The Flash since Barry’s apparent demise in the 80s mega-crossover “Crisis On Infinite Earths”, I still hoped that Barry would come back.  That he would be The Flash again.

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Fan Film: The Flash – The Brave and the Bold

Influence Films debuted last year with the fan film Flash: Crossover. For their eighth project, they’re returned to the scarlet speedster with Flash: The Brave and the Bold

When the father of Wally West’s friend is found dead, The Flash races into action. He soon discovers that to solve the case he might need some help and guidance from his friends: Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl.

You can watch the eight-minute video on YouTube.

Elementary Flash

Comics Alliance has posted a Periodic Table of Super-Powers, detailing not just powers but origins as well.

Click through to the original article, where they link to a full-sized table that you can actually read.

Let’s see if we can come up with the “chemical” formula for the Flashes:

Jay Garrick:
SpInTScCh
Speed, Intangibility, Time Travel; Scientist struck by Chemicals

Barry Allen:
SpInTDcScCh
Speed, Intangibility, Time Travel, Detective; Scientist struck by Chemicals

Wally West:
SpInTChSkLg

Speed, Intangibility (sometimes), Time Travel; Chemicals, former Sidekick, Legacy hero

Bart Allen:
SpInTXTlLg

Speed, Intangibility, Time Travel; Mutant (closest I could come up with to inherited powers), Time-lost, Legacy hero.

Arguably you could include H=healing (super-metabolism) & Is=invisibility (they can move too fast to be seen), or Sn=super-senses (seeing things more quickly, or moving so fast that radiation is red– or blue-shifted into the visible spectrum), etc.

Who wants to try the Rogues?

Speed Reading: Flash Deaths, Sightings, Pricing and More

Some linkblogging from the past couple of weeks:

Flashy Links

Newsarama interviews Francis Manapul on his work on The Flash.

Comics Bulletin presents the Top 10 Flash Deaths in order of how long they lasted.

A reader at Silver Age Comics discovers that Flash Comics #13 is different on Earth-One.

You’ve probably read about the thief who took Free Comic Book Day a bit too literally and tried to steal a $150 X-Men Omnibus…and was foiled by Spider-Man, two Jedi, and the Flash.

Speaking of FCBD, Chris Samnee has posted a FCBD sketch gallery featuring both Flash and Quicksilver.

Super Heroes

Comics Worth Reading’s Johanna Draper Carlson has some ideas for how to make super-hero comics interesting again

4thLetter’s David Brothers encourages you to focus on the stories, not the canon. Don’t buy something you don’t like just because it’s “important,” and don’t pass up other good stuff because it’s not.

Comics Alliance has a thought-provoking article on the racial implications of running legacies backward.

Grumpy Old Fan ponders the role of secret identities in DC comics from the Silver Age through the present.

Once Upon a Geek also reviews the DC Fandex guide (my review went up on Monday).

Comics in General

Westfield Comics’ KC Carlson explains how to meet artists without being talked about afterward, and offers suggestions for convention behavior.

LIFE has a photo gallery of people reading classic comic books from the Golden Age through the 1980s, including a boy reading Flash Comics in 1949. Nitpick: By 1949, the feature wasn’t about a “college student” with super-speed. Jay Garrick graduated during his origin story. (Link via Xian)

Collected Editions considers an increasingly common problem: the trade you want is out of print.

Multiversity Comics analyzes the impact of the shift from $2.99 comics to $3.99.

Anaheim Comic Con 2010 – Con Report & Photos

I had a better time than I expected at Wizard World’s first Anaheim Comic Con. Not surprisingly, it was similar to the last Wizard World Los Angeles, except without any comics publishers. (I guess they all went to C2E2.) Without Marvel, DC, etc., the con focused mostly on dealers, fan groups, artists and celebrities.

Read on: A Day at Anaheim Comic Con. Or check out my photos of the con on Flickr.