Pages from the Playbook: Ultimate Speed Force Discussion

[tec271939]

Alright guys, Speed Force #1 is finally up. Let me know what you think.

[Drake]

This was an interesting start. I have to admit it's not what I expected. I'd been told you were going for a noir/crime Flash title, so I'd pictured something darker with the Flash as a more prominent character. I was a bit worried to say the least. However, this not only alleviated my fears, but proved that traditional crime story elements can work with the Flash, particularly when he's not the sole purpose.

I've yet to look at your claims list since approving it, but I thought Barry was the only hero. I could be wrong, and I certainly assume so after this issue. Wally is obvious the POV character, and probably the main character. He's not quite what I expected from Wally, either, but he is clearly the everyman type character, so it's certainly in the right ballpark. Owen was fairly interesting. I'm curious to see how he'll connect to Cap.

So....the Rogues. You definitely made them different, but kept their core traits in line. Cold has a code (why the name Civilian Cold, by the way?). Heat Wave's impulsive. Cap is a smart-mouthed, violent Aussie. Mirror Master is....well, I mean, he's there. To be fair, Sam Scudder's never been all that compelling. He really shines as a member of the Rogues. Speaking of the team, they certainly work like the Rogues. They're smart. They're quick. They're uncontrollable. I'd like to see a bit more humor in their interactions, but I suppose with the tone you're going for that might be a step too far.

I'll admit I'm not entirely sold on the concepts of the Rogues having superpowers (never liked it in the New 52), Heat Wave not being a pyromaniac and a psychopath, and Cap not using a Boomerang, but I suppose this is a grittier title. I will say that I think it's a bad move to make Cold so quick to anger. He's, in my experience, more controlled...colder and that's what makes him compelling. He gets mad, sure, but I don't think he should jump to killing his partners (Scudder) so quickly. He'd probably give him a chance to explain himself, and if he proved guilty, just hurt him badly and kick him out of the team. I dunno. I just really like Capt. Cold and my idea of him (Geoff Johns' LOL), so I'm completely biased. Still, he was fun.

The mystery is interesting, the Speed Force concept is really cool, and I like how you introduced the Flash as this sort of supernatural presence. I'm not yet sold on Barry as a Detective (being a scientist is an integral part of his character and is tied directly to his personality), and Eddy having red eyes. That's just a bit weird. I'm assuming there's a story behind that.

Anyway, nice issue. 8/10. Can't wait for more!

[tec271939]

Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it! Just to respond to a few of your comments:

1) I'm not going for a "noir" feel necessarily but more of a "NCIS" feel, if you've ever seen it. I want to keep the characters at the forefront, but I definitely want the mystery to be compelling and accessible. I find that with a lot of "noir/crime" books, titles, movies etc. they just try to hard to be dark and they leave the character progression and logical story progression to the side while they're focused on making it dark. There are instances of "dark" working, just very few and infrequent.

2) Wally is, for now, the POV character. But it's issue #1 Rome wasn't built in a day.

3) I really like the Rogues and they are my absolute favorite part of planning and writing this title so far (if you can't tell by the 4000 words dedicated to them in the opening issues). Mirror Master has never been super interesting to me either, but I love his power set and it's an obstacle for me to overcome in my writing to make him compelling. That's kind of why I made him the "first man out" when the Rogues find out its an inside job. Thought maybe that'd make him slightly more interesting. As for Cold, you'll start to see an evolution into a more "normal" Cold as time progresses. And the "Citizen Cold" tag that he wears is simply because I chose "Cap" to be Captain Boomerang's nickname, and I felt it didn't make logical since to call Cap Cap is the actual leader of the team had Captain in his name, you know?

Last but not least, 4) Barry is still going to have those core traits of a scientist to his name, but the biggest reason I didn't keep him a scientist is just because I don't really like science, full disclosure. I find a lot more excitement in logical deduction of a crime as opposed to the scientific determination of a crime. That said, I think once Barry starts coming to the front of the title, you'll really see that i haven't changed him too much. He's still the same kid whose mom was killed and dad was framed, but instead of trying to prove it with science he's trying to prove it with logic. With deduction. Almost like a Sherlock Holmes, but friendlier.

Thanks for reading!

[cross]

FINALLY THE FLASH IS HERE!

Good job and thank you for bringing the speedster to the site. What I read of The Flash was...different. I wasn't expecting a POV story coming from everyone but the Flash. That being said, I enjoyed the issue a lot. You handled everyone quite well and I heard no mention of the Particle Accelarator so it seems you weren't re-hashing from the show which is refreshing since that medium is about all I've been exposed to with the Flash. I'm from Kansas so the Sporting KC mention was fun. I thought that Keystone City and Central City took the places of Kansas City KS and Kansas City MO so Sporting KC was fun but confusing. If that's my biggest gripe then I think this story will be fine. The Rouges were fun. They are the type of characters that you almost have to get perfect even more than the Flash because of their villain code. They stand out pretty far from the other baddies in the DC Universe and that can be tough to nail down. You did just fine here. I don't mind Citizen Cold having powers nor do I mind his name change. Ultimate DC is supposed to be the alternative to other versions of the characters. He isn't so far out of character that he's unrecognizable so I'm okay with his subtle changes. I'd say that I want to see more Flash since it's his title but the focus wasn't on Flash this issue so I can't really complain. All in all I like it. I'm excited for more. The mystery theif has me intrigued and with all the speedsters in the long history of The Flash it could be anyone.

Keep it up.

[ericthepilot]

I think like everyone else, I was both thrown and intrigued by the unconventional nature of this. It really is a bold "ultimizing" of the concept, and I think it certainly works. The Rogues are some of my favorite characters DC has and while I don't like this Nu52 give them powers concept, I'm certainly willing to see where you're going to take them. You've certainly earned the benefit of the doubt here with a lot of your alternate takes, so I'm happy to see where this is headed.

Going with a survey class perspective and giving us multiple POVs and a wide range of characters is a great way to handle the Flash since there's such a diverse cast and it allows you to tell so many different kinds of stories. In a series called "The Flash" this would be pretty disappointing, but you're able to get away with it calling it Speed Force. I also love the in-series justification for calling the series that. It was truly inspired.

One thing I might suggest, however, would be to pick one character to be nicknamed "Cap". It was a bit confusing to have both Boomerang and Chyre referenced that way. Granted, both are Captains in their own way, and it's logical that characters who don't know each other would nickname their respective characters that, I did find it a bit distracting and it would take me out of the scenes with Wally and Owen for a moment.

But on a personal note, I must say the notion that 1998 is "vintage" now wounds this old man deeply. "When did Motley Crue become classic rock", indeed.

Very interesting start, can't wait to see where this is headed. Keep up the good work.

[jayrow75]

I am new here and this is the first thing I've read. I like that you have taken some liberties and/or chances with your choices. As a writer myself, I tend to like to turn things on their head a little myself. Just to see how people react. All in all, I thought the first issue flowed really well. I thoroughly enjoyed all the Rogues' interactions. I am a huge Flash fan and the Rogues are the best part. Good work. Looking forward to the next issue.

Jay

[tec271939]

Forgot to announce it, but my second issue of Speed Force is finally up!!

[cross]

The mystery of the Flash identity continues and I'm enjoying it more than I initially thought. The power of super speed means that anyone could be the Flash so it's a great guessing game. The major problem I am having with this series so far is the paragraph spacing issue. We discussed this in the first issue but the problem continues. Not sure if it's you or the site but it's a glaring issue. Good thing is it's easily fixable. A few spelling and grammatical errors are present but not horrible. I noticed that the present tense didn't bother me at all this issue. Good story progression and pretty interesting characters still. Iris was a bit too sisterly with Wally. Their conversation reminded me of a sitcom sibling relationship. I can't really explain it any better. I continue to enjoy this title. Keep it up

[adrini]

Brain won't write so I read.

Firstly two technical points. Paragraphs are spaced too far apart and the dividers need to be centered.

Iris seems less then entirely professional. I get the excitement but a working reporter has a certain decorum. The present tense makes my twitch a little. The dialogue without details or framing seems a little bare.

The mystery of who is flash is actually cool, and seeing the characters grow into their own is as well. It's well written.

[Drake]

Going through this scene-by-scene:
-Not a critique, just something that bugged me. A nitpick if you will. Eddie Thawne isn't anything like he is in the show. I just wonder why you chose his character instead of making up one.
-That said, Eddie is hilarious.
-Seems unlikely that Eddie would be so unprofessional around his boss.
-The Flash mystery is really interesting.
-The car-mal joke was fun.
-OK, so Iris reads so very unlike Iris. She's ditzy, and kind of a sexist caricature. "Sharp as a knife"? I don't buy it. And "I'm a girl, okay?" definitely was a poor choice of words, equally because she identifies as a girl and not a woman, and because she's so defensive over something she was pestering Wally about. She's an adult woman who gets flustered over a man and throws a temper tantrum? What?
-I appreciate keeping the bank scene as bare as possible, because the dialogue/questioning was dry enough that the whole scene read much more smoothly because of it. That's not a dig btw. I genuinely enjoyed it because you gave the dry questioning a good tempo, so it read like a back and forth.
-All that said, when it's more than two people speaking, you need to at least identify who it that's talking.
-Ooh, dat ending doe....

7/10.

[tec271939]

Issue #3 is up! Who do you think the Flash is?