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Episode 1480 Talkback - Off the Racks: Amazing Spider-Man #1, Flash Annual #3, and Solar: MOTA #1
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
Clear your plates for an extra-large serving of Off the Racks, in which we offer our thoughts on this year's Flash Annual (#3), Solar: Man of the Atom #1 from Dynamite Entertainment, and the whopping 64-page first issue of the latest volume of Amazing Spider-Man. (Warning: Product may contain SPOILERS!) (1:31:15)
Listen here.
Listen here.
Comments
I haven't read ASM #1 yet and don't intend to until I get caught up on SSM, but listened anyways. I don't mind spoilers, especially when it comes to this storyline. So I did BUY.
Couldn't care less about the Flash or much of the New 52 these days. DC making Wally West black isn't nearly as peculiar as the creative decision to make him a graffiti artist with an arrest record. Who makes these unoriginal decisions and why does DC hate the Flash? = PANTS
About Flash and Wally West... I didn't read the Annual. I dropped "Flash" about two years ago, once the Grodd storyline got stale. (The early issues were quite good, though.) Like others have said, I don't like the application of the Wally West name onto a new character who barely resembles him in any way. If they wanted to do this story, just come up with a different name for this character. Otherwise, it's like the story struggles against the weight of the past for no reason. It makes me wonder "When is a character not the same character?" and how much names matter. I've enjoyed every Miles Morales Spider-Man comic I've ever read, but if they named the character "Peter Parker" then it'd just be weird. I guess things would be different if the original character had been absent for a greater length of time. But the original version of the character is fresh in the same fanbase's mind. It just seems like controversy and bait-and-switch for no good reason. I think it'd be better if they just created new characters/names/alias, period.
I agree that ASM #1 was a total buy and worth the higher pricetag. I loved all of the stories and looking forward to the Spider-Man 2099 series. I also am tired of the changing of the past to show ANOTHER thing that was missed, but I will admit that they usually still have me intrigued when they do it. So I am interested in this Silk character and what she might bring.
With the Flash Annual, I give it the Buy-Row designation. I really enjoyed the story and even though the Speed Force breaking has been done many times, this appears to have its own twist to it. I loved the art and the writing was done well. The thing that kept this from being a buy for me is in regards to what Murd said on the show. I am tired of race and gender bending of established characters. I am all for diversity of characters, but like Murd said, do it with new characters. I get tired of debate on that being that making new characters that resonate with readers is a lot harder to do today. Really? Because I thought your job was to be a creator and sometimes a job is tough to do. It's not always rainbows and unicorns. But if you enjoy your job (and you should because you create comics for a living), then you should be embracing the challenge and see what can be done. I'm all for diverse characters picking up the mantle of fallen established characters (ex. Miles Morales taking up the mantle of Spider-Man in the Ultimate line...that was brilliant....and a new character that fans seem to like....see, it can be done). I'm also totally fine with alternate world characters being a different gender or race with the same name. So if Wally West had been a Flash from an alternate reality and was mixed race, then I would have been like, "okay, different, but it makes sense." But to say "hey, this is Wally West in our universe and this was always Wally West as far as DC is concerned....well, as it was mentioned, it's kind of a a slap to the face of fans of the character.
That rant done, I did enjoy the issue and will continue to read what happens because the Flash is my second favorite character in all of comics.
http://comicbook.com/2014/09/07/the-flash-tv-series-hopes-to-introduce-an-african-american-flash/