musings about Flash and Animal Man, their (near) death experiences, the Speedforce and The Red

[ratcreature]

Last night I've read the Terminal Velocity arc and the issue after, dealing with its fallout, i.e. Flash #95-101, and when I went to bed I had this thought about how Flash's experience is in a lot of ways similar to Animal Man's (first) death and rebirth through the Red in the Flesh and Blood arc in Animal Man #51-56. Since then I looked at the

Comments

[thawrecka]

Is it sad that the main thing I got out of this was "Wally/Linda OTP!!!"?

[ratcreature]

Um, that kind of depends of whether it is because my entry/argument was so boring or incomprehensible that just the scan stood out (then it would be kind of sad for me), or because of you just not being the same kind of DCU geek I am, then it's totally cool, because Linda and Wally really are great together, and that scene is awesome (the page before and after when they kiss and embrace some more and we get Linda's thoughts are great too).

[thawrecka]

Your argument wasn't boring or incomprehensible. It was cool and, damn, that Animal Man sure is screwed up. It's just that Wally and Linda are so adorable.

[greenygal]

What thawrecka said? Have to admit, me too.

Mind you, I've never actually read Animal Man, so I haven't much to say about that, and I never found that the Speed Force was particularly interesting or had much of an effect on Wally (it affected the story sometimes, most notably in the Dead Heat storyline, but that's not the same thing). It's a Neat Concept and an excuse for breaking the laws of physics and biology, and that's about it.

Wally/Linda OTP, however, I can get behind, especially since you were kind enough to scan the first of two pages that invariably make me sniffle...

[ratcreature]

I admit that I find the "speed force" and generally the "mechanics" behind the super powers interesting. I think I like the symmetry of powers being explained through "fields" they connect to, and I think the basic elements are really similar in both story lines (hero merges temporarily with the source of his power, which happens to have a spiritual aspect, comes back to be with his loved one, and takes an important step on the evolution of his powers in the process, but can't really explain it to the others which alienates him). I agree that the speed force experience didn't change Wally that much, which shows how different his personality (and to some extent his power) is from Buddy's who deals with a similar experience by founding a religion around his "power field" and changes a lot. In a way Buddy is more like Max in his approach to his powers, if much loopier.

[adamlizz]

*licks the speed force*

i need a new drug. your essay made me go high and want to lick things.

*licks wally*

[ratcreature]

I <3 Wally, though I fear Linda wouldn't be too happy were one to lick him. *grin*

Also, being on high something definitely helps when you try to follow all those warped time travel Flash stories, where people regularly are born in the future and travel back and forth a *lot*.

[adamlizz]

I just sorta gave up :( Any fic I'll ever write would contradict one canon or the other, one way or the other. *Pout*.

[ratcreature]

I think the trick is to be bold and wacky enough about it, so that it could work like an actual comic. *grin* I mean they do things like make everybody forget Wally's identity just by dropping a cosmic entity into it to tell an interesting story. As much as I care (and fret) about continuity, in the end I really *like* that continuity in comics is much more flexible, and layered, than canon for tv shows or books, that there's nothing impossible that couldn't be done to the characters (and most of it has been done at one point or another).