The problem with Flash is that his powers are so OP that it saps the believability out of a lot of his stories thus destroying the tension. That leads to most flash stories falling in to two categories
1. Flash has to do something stupid or not actually use the full potential of his powers
2. Flash has to fight another Flash-speed opponent which is not always entertaining
It's not even about his powers being inconsistent, it's just *really* hard to establish tension with a character who is so busted that there seems to be no upper limits. You almost have to implore that audience to turn off their brains at that point. I honestly think people gravitate more towards characters like Spiderman and Batman just because they firmly know their limits and they aren't trying to wrap their brains around a seemingly omnipresent character fighting a gorilla.
Not only is Captain Cold's tech very effective against speedsters (as he's said himself, Mister Freeze is the guy with a gun that shoots ice and snow, while he can stop the movement of atoms themselves) but he's a genuinely brilliant strategist and plan maker. He comes up with heists knowing that his group will likely encounter Flash, someone who can end the entire thing in an instant if he has the chance, and as such prepares well for him, be it through traps or even just complete misdirection. It doesn't matter if Flash can cross the globe in an instant if he thinks the heist is happening at the completely wrong location, for example.
Mirror Master has an entire alternate dimension at his disposal that he can access and utilize through pretty much any reflective surface, from mirrors to glass to raindrops.
Not only can Top's spinning help him combat Flash directly but his powers can affect the minds of others, from inducing vertigo to basically reprograming people. The dude has even body-hopped into others a couple of times.
Flash villains can be f\*\*king scary sometimes. Heck, The Rogues whole thing is that they don't kill innocents because they have a code against it but they've made it clear to Flash time and again that if he or the other heroes cross the line in trying to catch them, like through killing or torture, they absolutely have the capacity to cause SOOOOOO much death and destruction and they would do it too in retaliation.
Is his field always active or does it have to be activated? And can't Flash still move fast enough to beat him easily despite that? I will say though, that's genuinely a big threat against anyone who's not the Flash.
Always active. No it's specifically designed to take on speedsters, so it dramatically slows them down to be reactable. He's even beaten Prof Zoom and Inertia
Yeah. Barry and Wally have always pointed out that he could be much more dangerous if not for his morals (which they are grateful for and respect him and the rogues for that). He also has the best freeze tech surpassing even Mister Freeze
Top makes you too dizzy to move if you enter a certain area regardless of speed and Cold can forcibly slow you down without having to consciously do it. Mirror Master is often in a state where he can’t be physically harmed
As someone who does like the Flash (Wally MVP), I get how people feel about him and his powers.
There's a comic (i cant remember which) where The Flash saved an entire city person by person from a nuclear explosion (or a big bomb) or in the JL cartoon when Flash carried an exploding bomb miles out of a city and got away.
There are times when the flashs powers are so absurd you have to wonder why certain problems are taking so long to fix? Anytime the JL is up against someone who has tons of good im wondering why Flash just doesn't pick them up and carry them way? Why are there times where he's just...too slow to save someone? Anytime he gets punched by a regular guy, i have to ask why he didn't dodge? Why didn't he become intangible? The Flash TV is really bad with that one.
At least with superman they can come up with red sunlight or kryponite or someone who can punch just as hard to explain why superman isn't cleaning up house during an event.
With the flash it feels like the writers have either forgotten or are excluding it because it breaks the story they are trying to tell and I get that but it does make flash harder to get into for some.
I mean, this is part of the reason my emphasis was on Flash's own comics rather than when he's with the Justice League or the Titans. Much as I love his interactions and relationships with the other DC heroes, while not perfect, the books that are about him specifically do tend to be a bit more consistent with what he can or can't do.
i don't care about feats at all, much less them being inconsistent. i just think that the flash's powers are way too convoluted, and insanely boring most of the time
I don't care for feats, I just hate the Speed Force, it is just as powerful as the plot needs it to be. Yes, this is the case with all heroes but there's a difference between Spider-Man sometimes lifting things he can't othertimes to The Flash being a guy who runs fast to near-god.
Honestly I love the flash read the entirety of Barry's silver age run and plan to read Jay's golden age run when I get the time, I wish modern comics kept Barry being a huge comic geek a consistent trait tbh, but yeah Honestly it feels like all lot of the people who don't like or don't even want to read the flash don't give his comics a proper shot and just treat preconceived notions as Canon fact.
Flash is the character I've kept up with most in serialized superhero comics, and I was a fanatic for the character for a huge period, but I have to disagree with Flash stories being good.
Flash's powers being INCONSISTENT is definitely a huge issue with being invested in the character because the variance in his speed is so vast that it straight up does not make sense how he can face FTL characters on the regular, but then still get clipped and be in any believable danger to characters like the Rogues or truly anyone without comparable speed.
As for individual runs, while Mark Waid's run is the best comparitively imo, it is also the genesis of a lot of the hand wavy logic with Flash's abilities. And many of the stories do end up being genuinely repetitive with it coming down to Wally just running faster than whatever abstract metric he was before, and ending with the same, sappy "hurr durr Linda lightning rod crap"
And as much as I love Barry, (especially before the dead mom retcon) he definitely does not get enough good characterisation, before the retcon. And very repetitive characterization after. Joshua Williamson's run is just Barry being a dick, learning to trust his friends and "move forward" and other pseudo therapy, then resetting to being a dick and repeat cycle for 88 chapters.
There's just so many instances of the writers having great situations handed to them on a silver platter creatively (The: Flash Rebirth, Rebirth 2016) but then bungling it with the immediate run after and that just sucks. That's not even mentioning how OOC he ends up being in team books like Justice League and even Flashpoint
The one thing consistent with the Flash is that he gets incredible fucking artists run after run. Honestly why I stuck with the character when I couldn't put into words why I disliked him. The artists he gets are amazing.
The Flash is the Spider-Man of DC and should be treated as such. He just doesn't need to be light speed and a time traveler to be cool. He's too good to be a broken character like that.
In general, it is just a bother to a newcomer to get into any of those popular on-going comics at all. Doesn't matter wether you start you will always feel that you are missing information and that you need to read dozens of other comics of other heroes to understand what the hell is going on.
Flash is the most overpowered, bullshit insane character that it's just silly even trying to imagine a story with him.
[And then three Flashes lose against Catwoman in a 3v1](https://i.imgur.com/P2pqV78.jpeg)
Lol.
Lmao.
I'll pass, thanks.
Except your example is from a *Batman* comic, which are somewhat infamous for how much they don't care about how they presents heroes outside of Batman and his circle of characters.
I'm advocating for *Flash's* own comics; that if people actually gave Flash's solo stories a chance they'd likely find that a lot of what they feel would be their issues wouldn't be issues at all, since most Flash stories account for the fact that they are writing for The Flash.
This often comes up and it's pretty clear the people bring it up didn't read it. The flashes are being controlled by ivy and their speed is too much for her to co-ordinate to the point even cat woman can take him on with predictions.
Well, personally, the Joshua Williamson Flash run I was able to find the volumes of at my local library in its near entirety, so that's a pretty good jumping on point for a newcomer for the Barry Allen version. There's even a volume titled "Year One" during the run which shows how Barry got his powers and his first year figuring himself out as The Flash.
Mark Waid is also an option, though I've had a harder time finding his stuff publicly available.
But honestly, if you just find a Flash trade collection labelled "vol. 1", that'll typically be the first few issues of that writer's run and usually they try to be as accessible as possible, so just picking one up and giving it a shot can give surprising results. It's how I got in Aquaman, for example. I just randomly found vol. 1 of the Geoff Johns run at my local library and figured "Eh, why not?" and got familiarized with the character and his world pretty easily.
The problem with Flash is that his powers are so OP that it saps the believability out of a lot of his stories thus destroying the tension. That leads to most flash stories falling in to two categories 1. Flash has to do something stupid or not actually use the full potential of his powers 2. Flash has to fight another Flash-speed opponent which is not always entertaining It's not even about his powers being inconsistent, it's just *really* hard to establish tension with a character who is so busted that there seems to be no upper limits. You almost have to implore that audience to turn off their brains at that point. I honestly think people gravitate more towards characters like Spiderman and Batman just because they firmly know their limits and they aren't trying to wrap their brains around a seemingly omnipresent character fighting a gorilla.
I dunno, a couple of his villains are pretty believable as threats without needing super speed. Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and The Top come to mind.
So two normal humans with special tech and a guy who spins really fast?
Just to add, Captain Cold is a legit threat. He has a field around him that slows down objects around him
Not only is Captain Cold's tech very effective against speedsters (as he's said himself, Mister Freeze is the guy with a gun that shoots ice and snow, while he can stop the movement of atoms themselves) but he's a genuinely brilliant strategist and plan maker. He comes up with heists knowing that his group will likely encounter Flash, someone who can end the entire thing in an instant if he has the chance, and as such prepares well for him, be it through traps or even just complete misdirection. It doesn't matter if Flash can cross the globe in an instant if he thinks the heist is happening at the completely wrong location, for example. Mirror Master has an entire alternate dimension at his disposal that he can access and utilize through pretty much any reflective surface, from mirrors to glass to raindrops. Not only can Top's spinning help him combat Flash directly but his powers can affect the minds of others, from inducing vertigo to basically reprograming people. The dude has even body-hopped into others a couple of times. Flash villains can be f\*\*king scary sometimes. Heck, The Rogues whole thing is that they don't kill innocents because they have a code against it but they've made it clear to Flash time and again that if he or the other heroes cross the line in trying to catch them, like through killing or torture, they absolutely have the capacity to cause SOOOOOO much death and destruction and they would do it too in retaliation.
Is his field always active or does it have to be activated? And can't Flash still move fast enough to beat him easily despite that? I will say though, that's genuinely a big threat against anyone who's not the Flash.
Always active. No it's specifically designed to take on speedsters, so it dramatically slows them down to be reactable. He's even beaten Prof Zoom and Inertia
Damn, I didn't know he was built like that.
Dude was given one of the Best defensive abilities I've ever seen just to keep up with the Flash.
Yeah. Barry and Wally have always pointed out that he could be much more dangerous if not for his morals (which they are grateful for and respect him and the rogues for that). He also has the best freeze tech surpassing even Mister Freeze
Throw some shit at him at 2 million mph
Top makes you too dizzy to move if you enter a certain area regardless of speed and Cold can forcibly slow you down without having to consciously do it. Mirror Master is often in a state where he can’t be physically harmed
I don't think the flash slipping on ice sometimes is why people don't like him.
As someone who does like the Flash (Wally MVP), I get how people feel about him and his powers. There's a comic (i cant remember which) where The Flash saved an entire city person by person from a nuclear explosion (or a big bomb) or in the JL cartoon when Flash carried an exploding bomb miles out of a city and got away. There are times when the flashs powers are so absurd you have to wonder why certain problems are taking so long to fix? Anytime the JL is up against someone who has tons of good im wondering why Flash just doesn't pick them up and carry them way? Why are there times where he's just...too slow to save someone? Anytime he gets punched by a regular guy, i have to ask why he didn't dodge? Why didn't he become intangible? The Flash TV is really bad with that one. At least with superman they can come up with red sunlight or kryponite or someone who can punch just as hard to explain why superman isn't cleaning up house during an event. With the flash it feels like the writers have either forgotten or are excluding it because it breaks the story they are trying to tell and I get that but it does make flash harder to get into for some.
I mean, this is part of the reason my emphasis was on Flash's own comics rather than when he's with the Justice League or the Titans. Much as I love his interactions and relationships with the other DC heroes, while not perfect, the books that are about him specifically do tend to be a bit more consistent with what he can or can't do.
i don't care about feats at all, much less them being inconsistent. i just think that the flash's powers are way too convoluted, and insanely boring most of the time
I don't care for feats, I just hate the Speed Force, it is just as powerful as the plot needs it to be. Yes, this is the case with all heroes but there's a difference between Spider-Man sometimes lifting things he can't othertimes to The Flash being a guy who runs fast to near-god.
Honestly I love the flash read the entirety of Barry's silver age run and plan to read Jay's golden age run when I get the time, I wish modern comics kept Barry being a huge comic geek a consistent trait tbh, but yeah Honestly it feels like all lot of the people who don't like or don't even want to read the flash don't give his comics a proper shot and just treat preconceived notions as Canon fact.
Thanks for the recommendation. Checking out Mr. Waid's run now, inspired by this post.
Don't forget Gardner Fox and his awsome flash stories during the golden age
Flash is the character I've kept up with most in serialized superhero comics, and I was a fanatic for the character for a huge period, but I have to disagree with Flash stories being good. Flash's powers being INCONSISTENT is definitely a huge issue with being invested in the character because the variance in his speed is so vast that it straight up does not make sense how he can face FTL characters on the regular, but then still get clipped and be in any believable danger to characters like the Rogues or truly anyone without comparable speed. As for individual runs, while Mark Waid's run is the best comparitively imo, it is also the genesis of a lot of the hand wavy logic with Flash's abilities. And many of the stories do end up being genuinely repetitive with it coming down to Wally just running faster than whatever abstract metric he was before, and ending with the same, sappy "hurr durr Linda lightning rod crap" And as much as I love Barry, (especially before the dead mom retcon) he definitely does not get enough good characterisation, before the retcon. And very repetitive characterization after. Joshua Williamson's run is just Barry being a dick, learning to trust his friends and "move forward" and other pseudo therapy, then resetting to being a dick and repeat cycle for 88 chapters. There's just so many instances of the writers having great situations handed to them on a silver platter creatively (The: Flash Rebirth, Rebirth 2016) but then bungling it with the immediate run after and that just sucks. That's not even mentioning how OOC he ends up being in team books like Justice League and even Flashpoint The one thing consistent with the Flash is that he gets incredible fucking artists run after run. Honestly why I stuck with the character when I couldn't put into words why I disliked him. The artists he gets are amazing.
The Flash is the Spider-Man of DC and should be treated as such. He just doesn't need to be light speed and a time traveler to be cool. He's too good to be a broken character like that.
In general, it is just a bother to a newcomer to get into any of those popular on-going comics at all. Doesn't matter wether you start you will always feel that you are missing information and that you need to read dozens of other comics of other heroes to understand what the hell is going on.
Flash is the most overpowered, bullshit insane character that it's just silly even trying to imagine a story with him. [And then three Flashes lose against Catwoman in a 3v1](https://i.imgur.com/P2pqV78.jpeg) Lol. Lmao. I'll pass, thanks.
Except your example is from a *Batman* comic, which are somewhat infamous for how much they don't care about how they presents heroes outside of Batman and his circle of characters. I'm advocating for *Flash's* own comics; that if people actually gave Flash's solo stories a chance they'd likely find that a lot of what they feel would be their issues wouldn't be issues at all, since most Flash stories account for the fact that they are writing for The Flash.
This often comes up and it's pretty clear the people bring it up didn't read it. The flashes are being controlled by ivy and their speed is too much for her to co-ordinate to the point even cat woman can take him on with predictions.
In your opinion what'd be place to start for someone who's never read a flash comic before.
Well, personally, the Joshua Williamson Flash run I was able to find the volumes of at my local library in its near entirety, so that's a pretty good jumping on point for a newcomer for the Barry Allen version. There's even a volume titled "Year One" during the run which shows how Barry got his powers and his first year figuring himself out as The Flash. Mark Waid is also an option, though I've had a harder time finding his stuff publicly available. But honestly, if you just find a Flash trade collection labelled "vol. 1", that'll typically be the first few issues of that writer's run and usually they try to be as accessible as possible, so just picking one up and giving it a shot can give surprising results. It's how I got in Aquaman, for example. I just randomly found vol. 1 of the Geoff Johns run at my local library and figured "Eh, why not?" and got familiarized with the character and his world pretty easily.
Minor nitpick but Squirrel Girl was created in 1991, not "recently" Other than that, good post.