Marc Guggenheim on the Death of a Speedster

[andy khouri]

Marc Guggenheim explains why Bart Allen’s meteoric rise to the title of “The Flash: Fastest Man Alive” was snuffed out after just thirteen issues, and tells CBR what he's up to next.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/ne...m.cgi?id=10983

[Cayman]

Bah! I still think that Bart as Flash would've been better received if the launch writers didn't do such a lousy job.

[DonC]

Definitely. The problem is, or was, that DC was so high on putting names on trade paperbacks that would sell ("From the writers of 'The Flash' TV series!") that they never asked if Bilson & DeMeo should be writing comics.

Had Bart's series come out and sold like gangbusters I'm sure he's still be the Flash and "The Lightning Saga" probably would have ended differently. I don't know one person who believes Bart's tenure as the Flash was always planned as 13 issues.

[The Batman]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but wasn't the Flash TV series not that bad?

I mean I remember it being alot better than the terrible run they launched this book with.

[titanfan]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but wasn't the Flash TV series not that bad?

The Flash TV series was wonderful.

But that just goes to show--just because you can write in one medium doesn't mean you can automatically write in another.

[JimmyDee]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but wasn't the Flash TV series not that bad?

I mean I remember it being alot better than the terrible run they launched this book with.

"Not that bad." Any time you ask about the quality of something like that, it throws up red flags.

Look, I loved the "Flash" TV series. The Flash himself looked great, the effects were fun and some of the stories were a really good time. But, the show was immensely flawed with some bad acting, bad directing and bad storytelling. It was really B grade stuff, which is one of the many reasons why it didn't survive. The fact that CBS moved it around constantly didn't help, but the true reason why it was canceled was it wasn't all that great. Fun for comic fans and I could look away from the faults of the show due to my love of the character, but at the end of the day it wasn't a high quality show.

Now, keeping that in mind, why did anyone expect anything different from Bilson and DeMeo's run on the book? I never understood why people thought these guys would be perfect for this book. Turns out they absolutely weren't.

But as flawed as their run on the book was, Guggenheim really stepped up and did some incredible stuff with what he was handed and should be applauded. I loved his run and hope to see him play with the speedsters more in the future.

[Jack Zodiac]

Meh. I appreciate five more issues of reading a character I love that didn't completely suck, but man wouldn't it have been nice if Marc coughed up some balls and said, "Why not give me a chance to turn this crapfest of a book around before we decide to curbstomp this poor kid and bring back the old guy?"

The book was performing badly, but no worse than a lot of other books they're keeping around, like Outsiders and Green Arrow, or Checkmate. In fact, after the huge numbers drop throughout the previous run, it was finally starting to level off, and I bet in just a matter of months, with the right kind of push, they could've gotten it back up to the top twenty.

Instead, they did the laziest thing they could: killed off the new kid and brought the last guy back in one incredibly contrived and technically unfinished story. All-Flash will be in the top ten, and Waid returning to the old book will probably remain in teh top twenty for a while, but all at the expense of one of their most fun characters.

[protege]

So Guggenheim wrote for CSI; Miami, eh? That exp[ains the CSI angle of the book, which is why i stuck with it. They could've used Barry in the same capacity, but "Wally West redeux" doesn't particularly interest me.

[Shazam]

Pity, I was just warming to Guggenheim's run when they pulled the rug from underneath my feet.

Looking forward to Guggenheim's future projects.

[JimmyDee]

Meh. I appreciate five more issues of reading a character I love that didn't completely suck, but man wouldn't it have been nice if Marc coughed up some balls and said, "Why not give me a chance to turn this crapfest of a book around before we decide to curbstomp this poor kid and bring back the old guy?"

First off, Marc was hired to perform a specific task and, as he pointed out, it wasn't exactly his decision. There's nothing wrong with him taking on that job. So, it's not a matter of him "coughing up some balls" and telling them they should go in a different direction. That's crazy. PLUS, you don't know if he may have actually done that, yet it didn't fit with DC's editorial plans. Give him a break.

[Jack Zodiac]

No, you're right. The blame lies solely with DC's editors for not having the balls to give the book a chance under a decent writer like Marc.

[Kevinroc]

No, you're right. The blame lies solely with DC's editors for not having the balls to give the book a chance under a decent writer like Marc.

What was it Brian Cronin said?

“Now let’s give him a good writer, just in time to KILL him!”

The blame lies solely in the hands of DC editorial, who screwed over a great character because they didn't know what to do with him.

[Captain Jim]

The book was performing badly, but no worse than a lot of other books they're keeping around, like Outsiders and Green Arrow, or Checkmate.

But Outsiders and Green Arrow have both been cancelled. :D

[Kevinroc]

But Outsiders and Green Arrow have both been cancelled. :D

Technically, Green Arrow is getting a relaunch (with Black Canary in a co-starring role) by the same writer.

I'm willing to bet Outsiders will also be relaunched (with the same writer).

[Somebody]

Technically, Green Arrow is getting a relaunch (with Black Canary in a co-starring role) by the same writer.

I'm willing to bet Outsiders will also be relaunched (with the same writer).

As "Batman and the Outsiders".

The "Dinah and Conner" cover's probably just a tease as well.