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wwwgretareads's review
5.0
i can’t even begin to tell you how under appreciated this collection is. thank you to mark waid for treating wally seriously, and doing some serious work into what it means to be a legacy character & hero.
bone173's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
helpfulsnowman's review
3.0
The Born to Run issues are great, and Wally West is the best Flash as far as I'm concerned. Fight me. Physically fight me!
The other issues in here are...a weird inclusion. Maybe the book is just being thorough, but I wouldn't have minded if it started with the Born to Run issues, which are a great superhero origin (this coming from a guy who is SO TIRED of origin stories).
You know what's great and hilarious about Wally West?
So Barry Allen got his Flash powers from a one in a million accident where lightning struck a shelf of chemicals and him and then stuff happened to Flashify the dude.
Wally West? He's standing in front of a similar cabinet, hearing from the Flash how his accident happened, and bam, same thing!
Is it SO stupid and unlikely? Totally. But it feels almost like everyone was like, "Well, does this really matter? I mean, the previous Flash got his powers in a stupid way. Is it stupider to repeat, equally stupid, or does it weirdly make it MORE realistic?"
The thing is, I think Mark Waid understood something important about superhero origin stories, which is that they have two parts.
The one part is the how. The lightning bolt, the radioactive spider, the quick, physical event that "caused" the powers to show up.
More important is the other part, which is the why. Why does Wally West want to be the Flash? What does this mean to him, as a person? How does him gaining Flash powers differ from someone else getting them?
Spider-Man is the classic two-stage origin.
Part 1: Radioactive Spider Bite
Part 2: Death of Uncle Ben
Part 1 is the how, Part 2 is the why.
Wally West has a Part 1 and a Part 2, and the Part 2 is where Waid focuses his story. Which is what makes these good comics.
The other issues in here are...a weird inclusion. Maybe the book is just being thorough, but I wouldn't have minded if it started with the Born to Run issues, which are a great superhero origin (this coming from a guy who is SO TIRED of origin stories).
You know what's great and hilarious about Wally West?
So Barry Allen got his Flash powers from a one in a million accident where lightning struck a shelf of chemicals and him and then stuff happened to Flashify the dude.
Wally West? He's standing in front of a similar cabinet, hearing from the Flash how his accident happened, and bam, same thing!
Is it SO stupid and unlikely? Totally. But it feels almost like everyone was like, "Well, does this really matter? I mean, the previous Flash got his powers in a stupid way. Is it stupider to repeat, equally stupid, or does it weirdly make it MORE realistic?"
The thing is, I think Mark Waid understood something important about superhero origin stories, which is that they have two parts.
The one part is the how. The lightning bolt, the radioactive spider, the quick, physical event that "caused" the powers to show up.
More important is the other part, which is the why. Why does Wally West want to be the Flash? What does this mean to him, as a person? How does him gaining Flash powers differ from someone else getting them?
Spider-Man is the classic two-stage origin.
Part 1: Radioactive Spider Bite
Part 2: Death of Uncle Ben
Part 1 is the how, Part 2 is the why.
Wally West has a Part 1 and a Part 2, and the Part 2 is where Waid focuses his story. Which is what makes these good comics.
barschuft's review
3.0
Cool to see Waid find his voice and bring Wally closer to the character I loved as a kid
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
Apart from the Final Crisis era [a:Geoff Johns|10305|Geoff Johns|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403679910p2/10305.jpg] run, I have mostly been avoiding THe Flash stories. SO many of them are fast guy vs. fast guy, which just doesn't appeal to me. it's why I stopped watching the mostly enjoyable TV show. But Mark Waid has rarely let me down, so I decided to sit down and read the beginning of his Flash run, not knowing it's his first work in comics.
It's Very Good.
After a couple of annuals by other writers that set the scene, Waid shows up for a multiple part story about Wally West's origin, why he is the focus of the book instead of Barry Allen, and focuses on introducing some side characters and villains, none of whom are Other Guys Who Run Fast.
Is it as strong as his [b:Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1|12643015|Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344931228l/12643015._SY75_.jpg|17755422] or early [b:Irredeemable, Vol. 1|6681037|Irredeemable, Vol. 1|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442896287l/6681037._SY75_.jpg|6876264]Irredeemable issues? No, but it's pretty close.
Once the origin story is over, we have a couple of mediocre short stories involving Not Aquaman, and a revamped Abra Kadabra. They're both fine.
I wasn't originally sure why they included some of the special issues, written by Not Mark Waid, in the Mark Waid Flash collection. Sure, it gives you a sesnse of the larger DC universe, and how this fits in. It also highlights something else. Mark Waid was writing 21st century comics in 1992. Much of the rest of DC was still stuck emulating Stan Lee and using hokey dialogue and recycling cliched concepts. Waid was expanding a universe and building on his stories without feeling the need to telegraph every plot point. I feel like Waid's run on The Flash may be just as important to the evolution of DC's sense of storytelling as [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]'s [b:Dream Country|19423323|Dream Country (The Sandman, #3)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386922569l/19423323._SX50_.jpg|2371237] and [a:Frank Miller|15085|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1335457016p2/15085.jpg]'s [b:Batman: Year One|59980|Batman Year One|Frank Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574630214l/59980._SY75_.jpg|2501570]. It doesn't have at all the same tone as those two books, but Waid proves here that you can have a mostly bright, fun book that also has complicated storylines, an understandable continuity, and solid writing. I'm looking forward to the next few volumes.
I recommend it for any Flash fans, or people reluctant to read The Flash because of its general hokiness. You're going to have to power through the two specials if you don't like 70s/80s style superhero comics, but once you get through them, it's really well-crafted modern storytelling without the Gotham grime or the Vertigo "edge".
It's Very Good.
After a couple of annuals by other writers that set the scene, Waid shows up for a multiple part story about Wally West's origin, why he is the focus of the book instead of Barry Allen, and focuses on introducing some side characters and villains, none of whom are Other Guys Who Run Fast.
Is it as strong as his [b:Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1|12643015|Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344931228l/12643015._SY75_.jpg|17755422] or early [b:Irredeemable, Vol. 1|6681037|Irredeemable, Vol. 1|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442896287l/6681037._SY75_.jpg|6876264]Irredeemable issues? No, but it's pretty close.
Once the origin story is over, we have a couple of mediocre short stories involving Not Aquaman, and a revamped Abra Kadabra. They're both fine.
I wasn't originally sure why they included some of the special issues, written by Not Mark Waid, in the Mark Waid Flash collection. Sure, it gives you a sesnse of the larger DC universe, and how this fits in. It also highlights something else. Mark Waid was writing 21st century comics in 1992. Much of the rest of DC was still stuck emulating Stan Lee and using hokey dialogue and recycling cliched concepts. Waid was expanding a universe and building on his stories without feeling the need to telegraph every plot point. I feel like Waid's run on The Flash may be just as important to the evolution of DC's sense of storytelling as [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]'s [b:Dream Country|19423323|Dream Country (The Sandman, #3)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386922569l/19423323._SX50_.jpg|2371237] and [a:Frank Miller|15085|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1335457016p2/15085.jpg]'s [b:Batman: Year One|59980|Batman Year One|Frank Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574630214l/59980._SY75_.jpg|2501570]. It doesn't have at all the same tone as those two books, but Waid proves here that you can have a mostly bright, fun book that also has complicated storylines, an understandable continuity, and solid writing. I'm looking forward to the next few volumes.
I recommend it for any Flash fans, or people reluctant to read The Flash because of its general hokiness. You're going to have to power through the two specials if you don't like 70s/80s style superhero comics, but once you get through them, it's really well-crafted modern storytelling without the Gotham grime or the Vertigo "edge".
howiedoowinfam's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jonathancrites's review
4.0
Being the first volume collecting Waid’s run on the Flash, it collects both his stories from various specials and annuals as well as the start of his run on volume two of the Flash proper. Great start but just a beginning to a great run of 90s comics.