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A review by helpfulsnowman
The Flash by Mark Waid, Book 1 by Mark Waid
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.