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Robert Greenberger
by Robert Greenberger
As seen in the opening pages of DC’s renewal in May, Wally West is a major figure in the multiverse and has been because he inherited the mantle of Fastest man alive from Barry Allen. In the 1980s, he was the Flash and an entire generation grew up on his adventures courtesy of Mike Baron, William Messner-Loebs and then mark Waid.
The Flash by mark Waid book One
Getting fired by DC was possibly Mark’s best profession relocation as it finally set him on the path of becoming one of our industry’s many versatile and creative writers. it all began when Editor Brian Augustyn hired him to take over the Scarlet Speedster’s title and he’s never looked back. DC is acknowledging that era with the release of The Flash by mark Waid book One, including The Flash #62-68, The Flash Annual #4-5 and The Flash Special #1.
“Honestly, the challenge was finding my own voice and re-focusing the character,” Waid told me in May. “You will not find anybody in comics who’s a bigger fan than I of William Messner-Loebs, but he and I method assignments differently, and his Flash was very much an ensemble book. I was (am) much more comfortable focusing on one character, really digging in, and then slowly expanding the cast from there.”
Flash #62
Waid carefully kicked things off with a four-part Year One story that explored those early days when Wally gained super-speed and had to change his plans for the future. Ably illustrated by the regular team of Greg Larocque and Jose Marzan, Jr. it set the stage.
That also purchased him four months with which to consider where to take the series in real time. “Whenever I take over a series with characters I didn’t create, my job is to dig through them and figure out what parts of me are in them, what points-of-view they have on the world that I can write to because I share them. With Wally, our commonality was that we’d both grown up with the lucky opportunity to turn our inner fanboy into our actual career. All Wally ever wanted to do growing up was to be a Flash. All I ever wanted to do, really, was be in comics. This is why my Wally never tried to find a ‘day job’–if you could be the Flash, why would you ever want to waste time doing anything else?”
Flash #68
After a fill-in illustrated by Mike Collins and Roy Richardson, guest-starring Aquaman, Waid showed us where the series was choosing a strong two-parter using long-time foe Abra Kadabra. “Boy, really, all we wanted to do was tell good stories and honor the giants (Broome, Fox, Bates, Schwartz) on whose shoulders we stood. Every month, we’d talk about the next upcoming script and make a game out of ‘can you top this;’ with shocking turns and funny character moments. and if you like anything about this Flash run, all credit report to Brian. He was always the uncredited co-plotter, and he made it a joy,” Waid added.
Flash annual #4
Also included here are two tie-in stories, the first from annual #4 guest-starred Waverider, the focal point of the Armageddon 2001 crossover event. this one was drawn by Craig Brasfield and Andrew Pepoy. A year later, the DC universe was battling Eclipso as each character confronted the Darkness Within and in annual #5, Waid brought on plenty of evil in the form of golden Glider, Chillblaine, Trickster, weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang. The art from Travis Charest and Dan Davis is exceptional.
The Flash special #1
Rounding out the collection is The Flash special which boasted a Joe Kubert cover and multiple stories framed by 27th Century Flash John Fox going back in time to contact Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West. joining Waid in on the fun was JSA writer Len Strazweski in a Garrick story drawn by the terrific team of Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. In a suggestion of the hat to the Silver Age, Gerry Jones partnered with Carmine Infantino and Joe Rubinstein as Barry had to stop professor Fallout. Messner-Loebs returned to Wally’s world, accompanied by grant Miehm and Tim Dzon as he dealt with Manfred Mota, a seemingly unstoppable foe. everything culminated in the final chapter from Waid, Mike Parobeck and Jose Marzan Jr. as Fox fights Mota. The special was rounded out, of course, with Flash Facts, from Waid and Paris Cullins.
“Looking back, I think I’m proudest of the fact that we never succumbed to cynicism (which, in the words of Abe Simpson and I know you’ll back me on this) was the style at the time,” Waid said. “There was occasionally pressure on us to ‘go darker’ or change the status quo just to goose things, but Brian was our firewall, and while Flash was never DC’s best-selling book, thanks to him, it was consistently honest.”
The optimistic tone from the CW series began here and these stories hold up nicely.
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The Flash by mark Waid book 1 SC