I like all sorts of geeky pursuits, so let me indulge in another one today: The Flash TV series.
I watched “The Trap” episode from a few weeks back and feel like talking about it. I’m really liking the series at this point – the series started off clunky
in my opinion but picked up momentum, so to speak, as this season has
progressed. (The coma/break between introduction in Arrow and the start of the
Series helped find solid footing, to be sure.) It's nothing groundbreaking or unexpected, but the bouncier look & feel (as opposed to Arrow, which I also enjoy) makes for pleasurable watching.
Full disclosure here: I have not always been a fan of the Flash – actually started out as a Firestorm fan (more on that another day). But when DC imploded and had to
shrink titles, Firestorm was moved from his(their?) own title to the back of
Flash. So I got to read lots of Flash vicariously, although that wasn't the main plan.
(Eventually I was a bigger fan of Wally West as the Flash reading JLA/JLI in
the late 80s/early 90s, but still loved the story arc of Barry Allen including
his sacrifice during Infinity Crisis.) Flash and Firestorm both had a cute, quirky way of trying to be sci-fi stories and getting really strange with the science part of the equation, but I still enjoyed reading them.
So the Flash faces the dilemma of rescuing people trapped in a burning skyscraper and the
ladders that won’t reach to the affected floors, I thought back to one of the most ridiculous uses of
superspeed ever seen. In one comic, Barry asks the firemen to train a spotlight on the side
of the building, right where the flames are coming out of the building. And
then the Flash runs through the air and up to the fire.
No he doesn't run up the beam of light, that’d be ridiculous.
He ran on the dust particles hit by the beam of light.
Totally plausible.
Okay, so TV Barry didn't do anything that preposterous. He just
ran inside the building and once inside he sucked all the air away from the
fire using his arms to vortex spin real fast and create a vacuum, right in front
of the trapped people. Because there are never any negative side effects to sucking away the air from near a bunch of bystanders.
While I'm here, I want to admit I liked Barry’s hesitation at the start of that rescue, because he was not sure he
could save everyone. If he chose to save
the chief’s fiancé, would he learn that he let someone else die that he should
have saved instead? If he didn't save the chief’s fiancé, would he be able to
face working with the police anymore?
As it stands, he's avoided this dilemma for now. I hate to tell you, Barry, but you will face
this decision again, and worse, you won't be able to save everyone at some point. (*cough* your mom *cough*)
I know this is old news, but Firestorm has shown up on the show, although the name is now an acronym. But the iconic off-center six-beam part of the costume remains. The character Firestorm was created and originally written by Gerry Conway. He’s the first comic book author that I
started looking into other issues written by him. Mr. Conway (maybe
someday I can call him Gerry) wrote many characters you know: the Punisher, Vibe,
Killer Frost, Killer Croc. So it was nice to see an homage where an episode of the show mentions that the character Dr. Martin Stein had received
a Conway Science Award (actually three!). But the current discussion on how DC Comics determines who "created" a specific character is disheartening. Why would anyone write/create knowing what could be the possible outcome twenty/thirty years down the line?
Anyhow, the last three Flash episodes for the season are on starting tonight. I'll be following twitter #DatFlash just to see what everyone is thinking.
Good hunting!
~ Tidwin ~
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