Recommend Me a Great Flash Story!

[Jake Fury]

I have a habit of getting really interested in certain characters and reading as much of their stuff as possible. Lately, I've become interested in the Flashes, the Rogues and I enjoy Barry Allen, Wally West and Kid Flash quite a bit as characters. Throw in the awesomeness of the Rogues and I need MOAR!

My experience with these characters is somewhat limited. I've read a couple of JLA volumes with Wally, a good chunk of Teen Titans stuff with Bart, Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge and Barry's appearances in Final Crisis, Blackest Night and Flashpoint. I own Dastardly Death of the Rogues but have yet to read it and will get the next trade leading up to Flashpoint this week. What I'm looking for are some modern stories (post 2000 to present) that really capture the essence of the Flash. They can be by any writer as long as they're quality stuff.

Any help is appreciated in advance. Thanks.

[El Sombrero]

Are you reading the current New 52 series?

If not, that is your obvious choice. You get Barry and tons of rogues, a great supporting cast, and the best Flash art you will find. It's a no-brainer.

I thought the Flash strip in Wednesday Comics was superb, but it's not collected by itself, so unless you wanted to buy all of Wednesday Comics, it's hard to come by.

[Nomads1]

There are a whole lot of suggestions in this thread:

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...+Flash+Stories

Peace

[Jake Fury]

Are you reading the current New 52 series?

If not, that is your obvious choice. You get Barry and tons of rogues, a great supporting cast, and the best Flash art you will find. It's a no-brainer.

I thought the Flash strip in Wednesday Comics was superb, but it's not collected by itself, so unless you wanted to buy all of Wednesday Comics, it's hard to come by.

Yes, my wife is getting me the first trade/HC for Christmas and I've been reading the current story with Grodd & the Rogues.

[Jake Fury]

There are a whole lot of suggestions in this thread:

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...+Flash+Stories

Peace

Many thanks!

[El Sombrero]

Yes, my wife is getting me the first trade/HC for Christmas and I've been reading the current story with Grodd & the Rogues.

Ah, cool. That is a nice gift, you will enjoy it

[Jake Fury]

:)
What's your opinion on Flash: Rebirth?

[El Sombrero]

:)
What's your opinion on Flash: Rebirth?

I did not like it at all, for multiple reasons.

Johns wrote Barry in this really grim and serious way that did not feel natural for the character at all. I think he was trying to show the conflicts of someone coming back from death, and how they might cope with that, but it made Barry seem unlikable and just very...un-Barry. Johns wrote Barry much better in the following volume with Manapul art, and Flashpoint.

EVS's art is technically good, but bad for the Flash. Like the writing, EVS has a serious and somewhat grim art style, that is bad for the Flash, where you need a fluid sense of motion, creativity, and a childish sense of fun. The art looks pretty but it feels wrong.

The story itself is also grim and totally retcons Barry's past. Barry used to basically just be a nice guy, and now he has a really dark and violent past that motivates him.

So yeah, I didn't like it at all, and it seemed like Flash fans more or less unanimously disliked it when it came out. If you are reading everything from around that time then you'll probably want to pick it up regardless, but maybe you could see if you can get it from a library or borrow it from a friend, and try before you buy.

[Nomads1]

Many thanks!

You're welcome.

Peace

[Jake Fury]

I did not like it at all, for multiple reasons.

Johns wrote Barry in this really grim and serious way that did not feel natural for the character at all. I think he was trying to show the conflicts of someone coming back from death, and how they might cope with that, but it made Barry seem unlikable and just very...un-Barry. Johns wrote Barry much better in the following volume with Manapul art, and Flashpoint.

EVS's art is technically good, but bad for the Flash. Like the writing, EVS has a serious and somewhat grim art style, that is bad for the Flash, where you need a fluid sense of motion, creativity, and a childish sense of fun. The art looks pretty but it feels wrong.

The story itself is also grim and totally retcons Barry's past. Barry used to basically just be a nice guy, and now he has a really dark and violent past that motivates him.

So yeah, I didn't like it at all, and it seemed like Flash fans more or less unanimously disliked it when it came out. If you are reading everything from around that time then you'll probably want to pick it up regardless, but maybe you could see if you can get it from a library or borrow it from a friend, and try before you buy.

It looked avoidable from what I gathered at the bookstore. I bought Dastardly Death of the Rogues instead as my modern starting point for Barry.

[Nomads1]

I did not like it at all, for multiple reasons.

Johns wrote Barry in this really grim and serious way that did not feel natural for the character at all. I think he was trying to show the conflicts of someone coming back from death, and how they might cope with that, but it made Barry seem unlikable and just very...un-Barry. Johns wrote Barry much better in the following volume with Manapul art, and Flashpoint.

EVS's art is technically good, but bad for the Flash. Like the writing, EVS has a serious and somewhat grim art style, that is bad for the Flash, where you need a fluid sense of motion, creativity, and a childish sense of fun. The art looks pretty but it feels wrong.

The story itself is also grim and totally retcons Barry's past. Barry used to basically just be a nice guy, and now he has a really dark and violent past that motivates him.

So yeah, I didn't like it at all, and it seemed like Flash fans more or less unanimously disliked it when it came out. If you are reading everything from around that time then you'll probably want to pick it up regardless, but maybe you could see if you can get it from a library or borrow it from a friend, and try before you buy.

Pretty much that for me too. despite the general opinion in contrary, I always thought Johns prefered Wally as Flash (at least his writing seemed to tell me that), and that he brought Barry back at editorial request and didn't really have a true hang on him, nor any deep desire to write him. It was good, competent work, but, IMHO, it lacked the heart and passion of his previous Flash work.

Peace

[El Sombrero]

It looked avoidable from what I gathered at the bookstore. I bought Dastardly Death of the Rogues instead as my modern starting point for Barry.

Sure, that's fine. The retcons to Barry's history are adequately explained in Flashpoint and the New 52 series, you don't lose anything by not reading Flash: Rebirth.

Dastardly Death of the Rogues is pretty good, but I like the New 52 volume even more. Johns' Barry volume (DDOTR and the Flashpoint prelude) basically just served to reintroduce Barry and set up Flashpoint, and didn't really achieve much else. The New 52 volume feels more like a real story that is operating at its own pace and being given the time to flourish.

[MetalWoman]

If you want Flash and Rogue goodness, nothing will beat Geoff John's first run on the Flash, issues 164-225, which is being collected in the Geoff John's Flash Omnibus series. Flash: Rebirth and the Flash series just before Flashpoint, while having good art and an interesting story, were not that good in my opinion, because the stories beat the reader over the head with the idea that Barry Allen is the greatest Flash ever, but wrote him as a jerk. I find the current Flash run much better, because it manages to keep the beautiful art, high sci-fi concept, and interesting Rogues of the previous series, while making Barry a guy who is so nice that not only will he regularly help his villains, but he will jump into the unknown without hesitation to save strangers.
The Return of Barry Allen is also a classic and perfect character study of Wally West. Mark Waid's entire run of Flash suffered from boring villains, but had amazing character development.

Metal Woman

[Nomads1]

The Return of Barry Allen is also a classic and perfect character study of Wally West. Mark Waid's entire run of Flash suffered from boring villains, but had amazing character development.

Metal Woman

While I agree that the characterization in Waid's Flash was top notch, I never really understood this criticism. Sure, Waid tried to introduce a lot of new Rogues, and many of them didn't catch on (I liked Savitar and his cult though, among others), but how can Nekron, Kobra, Abra-Kadabra, Professor Zoom, Mongul, and so many other be considered boring?

Peace

[Barry Allen123]

The brightest day stuff was really good. Also the new 52 series is amazing. But if you want a Wally West one, I would say Rogue War. That was awesome.