The Fool with the Heart of Gold: The Flash of Justice League

[Karkull]

Let's grab an iced mocha and take a fond look at the DCAU's take on the Fastest Man Alive, the one and only Flash. Here we look at his comic book origins, his adaption for the series, and why not trying to shove in Jay Garrick and Barry Allen was a good thing.

 

[Frontier]

I think the legacy aspect is an integral element of The Flash mythos, along with the Rogues and the Speed Force, but I think when Flash is framed in the context of a standalone team show it's not necessarily something they had to focus on (especially when the show didn't really dive deep into the members backgrounds/pasts until they had a story to tell with it).

 

[Karkull]

I think the legacy aspect is an integral element of The Flash mythos, along with the Rogues and the Speed Force, but I think when Flash is framed in the context of a standalone team show it's not necessarily something they had to focus on (especially when the show didn't really dive deep into the members backgrounds/pasts until they had a story to tell with it).

The Flash Legacy was fine when it was still a generational line. When they brought back Jay and Barry in costume, we just had three dudes as the Flash at the same time. At some point, legacy implies that you have to let them stay in the past and be part of the identity's history.

As for Justice League, while the creative team claimed to not have time to dive deep into the members' backgrounds and pasts, they still did. We delved into Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and J'onn's pasts in Season One, and Hawkgirl post-"Starcrossed." Even Superman got a few spotlight episodes in "Twilight," "Hereafter," "For the Man Who Has Everything," and the Cadmus Arc in general. Batman was pretty well-covered by his three solo series, but we got pieces of him from time to time. The Flash was largely a costume by comparison. Until "Flash and Substance," we got nearly nothing about his past.

 

[Yojimbo]

I don't think I saw it in the article but in "Flash and Substance," Flash did mention his uncle was flying in. I figured that was an allusion to Barry and like the Hal Jordan of the DCAU (well at least initially), led a normal life so perhaps he lived elsewhere out of state. I figured either he stayed in/moved back to his home town of Fallville, Iowa or remained in the city he went to college, Sun City in Florida per his origins in the comics...er Silver Age I believe. Hence, he would take a flight to Central City though for the former I guess he could have drove. So Wally's supervisor in the episode was, imo, just a visual nod to Barry.

I figured the Kid Flash era was very brief much like Bruce's non-Batman get up in the Mask of the Phantasm flashbacks of his initial days of crimefighting and while probably not as dramatic, something clicked and Wally came up with the red Flash costume.

I agree along the lines that they figured Flash out by JL season 2 but since this was the crew's first foray into a 7 hero cast kind of show, someone had to fall to the wayside but sort of like Starfire on Teen Titans, who never got a season long arc unlike the others, Flash was always a presence on the show and had great lines, comedic beats, and action scenes even if he wasn't the star of the episode. His presence was always felt so to speak. Then yeah, this was exacerbated with JLU and all the new heroes (and villains) being introduced but I was fine with them being meta about it and later suggesting crime surged in Central City so he was quite busy cleaning things up and we got a really great episode out of it in "Flash and Substance" - like Wonder Woman, I always felt given if the crew required no sleep or food and the network wanted it, a Flash solo animated series filling in the gaps of all his battles with his rogues in Central and earning the love and admiration of the people would have been cool.

And true, we only had hints of his past like in the wonky sequence in "The Brave and The Bold" but as you pointed out, we had tidbits throughout both series that Wally was brought up with a strong moral core, citing things his grandmother told him or disagreeing with the other Leaguers, and his place as the heart of the team paid in dividends heading into JL's second season as well as the 2nd and 3rd seasons of JLU. It was impressive to see him debate Apokolips with J'onn and then deciding to help Barda and Mr. Miracle. Can't not mention he got one of the greatest moments of the DCAU, saving the universe from Brainiac and Lex in "Divided We Fall." Rewatching that sequence still gets me to this day.

Sure at first, when JL aired, I was like "Wally?! When are they getting to Barry and Jay?!" But over the years, and taking the Flash's... let's say complex comic book history - an animated interpretation where he's the only Flash was unique and well done and proved it didn't have to always be about the mantle and lineage. Then we got the best of both worlds because later animated incarnations embraced the classic Flash family and were equally great and entertaining.

 

[Frontier]

The Flash Legacy was fine when it was still a generational line. When they brought back Jay and Barry in costume, we just had three dudes as the Flash at the same time. At some point, legacy implies that you have to let them stay in the past and be part of the identity's history.

I don't think that necessarily negates the legacy aspect because the impact the past Flashes had, past and present, can still have an impact on the present-day Flash and still learn from them .

But I love Jay and Barry so I'm probably biased !

As for Justice League, while the creative team claimed to not have time to dive deep into the members' backgrounds and pasts, they still did. We delved into Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and J'onn's pasts in Season One, and Hawkgirl post-"Starcrossed." Even Superman got a few spotlight episodes in "Twilight," "Hereafter," "For the Man Who Has Everything," and the Cadmus Arc in general. Batman was pretty well-covered by his three solo series, but we got pieces of him from time to time. The Flash was largely a costume by comparison. Until "Flash and Substance," we got nearly nothing about his past.

Kind of reminds me that of all the "Archenemies" they only managed to work in a Reverse-Flash at the last minute when the Luthor/Brainiac fusion came up with Justice Lord Flash on the fly.

 

[Karkull]

I don't think I saw it in the article but in "Flash and Substance," Flash did mention his uncle was flying in. I figured that was an allusion to Barry and like the Hal Jordan of the DCAU (well at least initially), led a normal life so perhaps he lived elsewhere out of state. I figured either he stayed in/moved back to his home town of Fallville, Iowa or remained in the city he went to college, Sun City in Florida per his origins in the comics...er Silver Age I believe. Hence, he would take a flight to Central City though for the former I guess he could have drove. So Wally's supervisor in the episode was, imo, just a visual nod to Barry.

You can have more than one uncle. In fact, Wally also mentioned his mom in that scene and, in the comics, they are not close. I suspect that the writer took some creative liberties with Wally's family tree.

I also didn't mention Flash's "Grammy Flash" in the article either, though I suspect that the reference is more of a DC version of the Thing's "Aunt Petunia."

I don't think that necessarily negates the legacy aspect because the impact the past Flashes had, past and present, can still have an impact on the present-day Flash and still learn from them .

But I love Jay and Barry so I'm probably biased !

Kind of reminds me that of all the "Archenemies" they only managed to work in a Reverse-Flash at the last minute when the Luthor/Brainiac fusion came up with Justice Lord Flash on the fly.

Hey, I like Jay. He's been a solid supporting character in the various "Justice Society" titles, but DC Comics kind of has a problem with too many heroes going by the same name. At various times, there's been two Supermans (I'm excluding Reign of the Supermen, where there were five), two Batmans, three Flashes, two Wildcats, two Atoms, etc. The only hero there should be multiples of is Green Lantern because it's built into the mythos. And then there's Alan Scott -- I really wish DC would just retroactively make him a Corps member too.

Even Marvel Comics has two Captain Americas now. There's dozens of Spider-Mans (thanks, Spider-Verse!). Legacy is fine, but too many heroes dilute the brand.

Barry, on the other hand, I can take or leave. He was great as a martyr, but bringing him back and giving him a "modern" origin left me cold. Wally's my guy.

And, yeah, the creative team never did bring in Reverse-Flash / Zoom / whatever you want to call him, but I think Grodd qualifies as Flash's archfoe on the series, even if they didn't cross swords all that often. Series-wise, Grodd is convinced that he's destined for greatness, while Wally doesn't care and just goes with the flow. Grodd probably cannot stand the fact that a gimmick hero dumber than him is better loved and victorious more often than he is.

 

[Frontier]

You can have more than one uncle. In fact, Wally also mentioned his mom in that scene and, in the comics, they are not close. I suspect that the writer took some creative liberties with Wally's family tree.

I also didn't mention Flash's "Grammy Flash" in the article either, though I suspect that the reference is more of a DC version of the Thing's "Aunt Petunia."

Imagine if he'd mentioned his "Aunt Iris" !

Hey, I like Jay. He's been a solid supporting character in the various "Justice Society" titles, but DC Comics kind of has a problem with too many heroes going by the same name. At various times, there's been two Supermans (I'm excluding Reign of the Supermen, where there were five), two Batmans, three Flashes, two Wildcats, two Atoms, etc. The only hero there should be multiples of is Green Lantern because it's built into the mythos. And then there's Alan Scott -- I really wish DC would just retroactively make him a Corps member too.

Even Marvel Comics has two Captain Americas now. There's dozens of Spider-Mans (thanks, Spider-Verse!). Legacy is fine, but too many heroes dilute the brand.

I honestly don't think DC is as bad as Marvel gets about it, but maybe just because I've seen them better balance it...or at least, for the more high-profile heroes the others who used that name are nowhere near high profile enough to be a problem. Like Jace Fox is technically Batman...but nobody really cares. Ditto with Jon Kent as Superman.

But I also grew up with comics where Jay was supporting Wally across multiple runs, and Barry and Wally being able to work together as Flashes.

Barry, on the other hand, I can take or leave. He was great as a martyr, but bringing him back and giving him a "modern" origin left me cold. Wally's my guy.

Wally's my guy, but Barry's my boy. Wally was the first Flash I was introduced too but Barry was The Flash when I first started getting into reading comics.

And, yeah, the creative team never did bring in Reverse-Flash / Zoom / whatever you want to call him, but I think Grodd qualifies as Flash's archfoe on the series, even if they didn't cross swords all that often. Series-wise, Grodd is convinced that he's destined for greatness, while Wally doesn't care and just goes with the flow. Grodd probably cannot stand the fact that a gimmick hero dumber than him is better loved and victorious more often than he is.

Of The Flash Big Three, they did do Grodd and Captain Cold as well, even if Grodd was a much bigger deal than Cold was. Though the enmity just didn't feel as personal compared to the usual Archenemy dynamic.

 

[Yojimbo]

Idk, Grodd was more of a 'JL villain' in the DCAU. Flash is sort of a different flavor for the better and I tend to think his archenemies were the Rogues (Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master) and the whole sort of for lack of a better term blue collar aspect (Cold being married or only milk, Boomerang pinching pennies, Mirror micromanaging the cop sweeping up the shards at the end) or even it wasn't some grand take over the world, ascending into a god, or an elaborate joke plan aspect to them - it was simply wanting to take a shot at offing Flash first with elaborate traps then just opting to jump him at a public event was a nice way to differentiate this arching dynamic from Batman and Joker and Superman and Lex, for example, in the DCAU.

 

[Karkull]

I was actually pleasantly surprised how the Rogues were handled in "Flash and Substance," as Matt Wayne appears to have extensively read Geoff Johns' Flash run and paid attention to their characterization. I mean, sure, Mirror Master is apparently in charge here -- and obviously Sam Scudder, since he isn't speaking with a Scottish accent (he picked up Weather Wizard's well-read articulation as well). Still, I like the camaraderie among them: they're basically a group of guys working blue-collar jobs that happen to involve costumes and gimmick weapons.

 

[Frontier]

I was actually pleasantly surprised how the Rogues were handled in "Flash and Substance," as Matt Wayne appears to have extensively read Geoff Johns' Flash run and paid attention to their characterization. I mean, sure, Mirror Master is apparently in charge here -- and obviously Sam Scudder, since he isn't speaking with a Scottish accent (he picked up Weather Wizard's well-read articulation as well). Still, I like the camaraderie among them: they're basically a group of guys working blue-collar jobs that happen to involve costumes and gimmick weapons.

And it also basically cemented Mark Hamill as the definitive James Jesse/AKA Trickster which has continued into animation and live-action .

 

[RoyalRubble]

Just some random musings...

I liked how Wally was portrayed on the shows. He added some levity (a bit too much at times) but was still good. And it's cool how they built on his personality and how without him the Justice League might fall apart.

I think he was the latest Flash at the time the series was on. Bart didn't take the mantle until after its end. So it kind of makes sense the "current" character would make it into the show (though the Green Lanterns would be an exception, Kyle still appeared briefly).

The Streak from the Justice Guild was a pretty good alternate portrayal of Jay from the Golden Age. Probably the closest we had to a Flash Legacy story or team-up in the DCAU.

It would have missed the point of "Patriot Act" since they have powers, but imagine if a Kid Flash randomly appeared in there instead of the scene with Green Arrow & Speedy.

 

[Frontier]

Speaking of Kid Flash, I'm reminded of how the test footage for JL had Impulse. Boy would the show have been different with him .