cd55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Chuck Dobrovolny) (07/02/85)
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Greetings, fellow comics fans! I, too, have just read Flash 350 and feel
compelled to exit read-only mode and offer up my two cent's worth....
I used to read the Flash back around issues 120-180 on and off. I'd go to
my local barber shop for a "little boy" haircut and rummage through Police
Gazettes until I found some comics. Back then, I only bought a few comics
most of which I've lost (but not all!). What I liked about the Flash in
those days and what made him my all-time favorite comics character, was
two things: the way his super-speed movements were drawn, and the psuedo-
scientific explanations and uses of his super-speed antics. Let me expand
on that a little...
When the Flash would move at super-speed in the old days, the reader was
treated to a very detailed rendition of his actions. Often, several
stroboscopic (for lack of a more suitable adjective) images of the Flash
were shown in various split-second body positions corresponding to
whatever super-speed action he was performing. Know what I mean?
Carmine Infantino used to really put some detail into that 6/100 of a
second costume change! Either he got gradually lazy or he simply lost
his artistic "vision" of super-speed. I could even live with his faces
all looking the same (so do John Byrne's), but super-speed detail sort of
became a hallmark of good Flash art in my opinion.
And now the writing....
I returned to the fold of Flash fans right around issue 270 or so which
corresponded with my renewed addiction to comics in general (I've got all
those super-valuable X-Men and some great oldies like "Flash of Two Worlds"
but that's another story). I noticed a difference in the writing
immediately upon my return. It just wasn't, oh...FUN anymore! Granted,
Bates' decline wasn't as pronounced then, but the stories just weren't the
same. I remember a specific instance when Goldface knocked out the Flash
as he exited a tunnel or something. What happened to those finely honed
super-speed reflexes? If Barry could flick bullets out of their initial
trajectories and run near light speed, how come he fell prey to the
comparatively slow-as-molasses but admittedly massive armored fist of
Goldface??!! This is just one example of the inconsistancies I noticed
in the book. It was like, to cover up for his lack of imaginative writing,
Cary Bates would "slow down" the Flash to get him in trouble and "speed him
up" to get him out of trouble. Granted, this is generally a standard
formula for many comics characters and their abilities (i.e. character
loses first conflict but wins the second), but a tried and true character
like the Flash, who after umteen criminal encounters should be well aware
of his abilities and few limitations, deserves better. Whew! Am I
expecting too much? Add to this Cary Bates paradoxical crowning glory
(the Reverse-Flash can't die in the past because he's from the future),
and I'm left totally unimpressed. OK, so there's not a lot of documented
research on the effects and limitations of time travel, but it still
didn't sit right. Does anybody agree? If anybody is interested, I'll
launch into my reasoning another time, but I think we're all kind of
experts on the subject, eh? ;-)
Well that's about enough of THAT! I think Flash-o-philes get the idea.
I'll miss him. A lot!
Finding out that Abra-kadabra was the villain all along was the ONLY
redeeming facet of that whole damn trial!!!
Take care everyone!
Peace
Charles R. Dobrovolny
ATT Bell Laboratories
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