Letters to The Flash #31

OH.MY.GOD.

That was awesome!!! This so far has truly been the Flash epic that has been promised. Like EVERYONE is involved in this. I mean everyone ranging from all the speedsters, to Rogues old and new, to Zoom, and hell even a psychic gorilla(gotta love Grodd!)

Man this is probably ranks up there as one of my favorite stories on the site so far. I love how you draw characters from tons of different Flash writers' runs(Johns' characters like Murmur and Tar Pit for example as well as Waid's Savitar who I'm happy is big considering how little he's been in DCU comics.) Despite the fact that they're are so many different characters from so many different periods of Flash history, you manage brilliantly to juggle them all into one cohesive story.

The ending brought me back to how much I was excited during Rogues' stories from DCU like Rogue War and Rogues' Revenge which is a feeling that I had only gotten from Geoff Johns' use of the Rogues but you managed to make me feel just as pumped to see some good ol' Rogue action(not to mention my favorite Mirror Master got the cliffhanging line ;D)

Though his DCU book may be cancelled, I know where to get my monthly dose of awesome Flash stories and that's right here!

Great job Kevin and I can't wait for next month

PS. Hope the old Rogues mop the floor with the new

Well dammit. You did it again.

This is the zenith of storytelling on this site so far...not only is there the extended payoff for long time readers of the tying up of loose ends, but also there is consistent, edge of your seat action. I couldn't read fast enough when it looked like the Grandparents Allen were going to meet their doom...and that's not even me making a pun because it is a Flash book!

5 stars remain not enough for the level of mastery displayed here. Great job.

Wow. And the issue has been up for less than a day? I haven't had such a fast response time since.... well, ever! And such an overwhelmingly positive one as well!

First off, thanks to Doc for the outstanding cover, which has the Rogues shining in full glory. I can only imagine how great the whole thing will look when the four issue covers are out.

And secondly- Mea culpa, the two-week delay on this was entirely my fault, Christmas and examinations got in my way. I can assure you though that there is some upside- the next issue will still be out in January, so the original schedule is being stuck to and the conclusion is still coming with the Annual in February.



"WHY DOES HE NEVER REMEMBER TO ADD THE BB CODE?"?



I don't think the Flash should ever be in Batman territory when it comes to darkness, but at the same time, when the chips are down, the stakes need to be absolutely real. "Legacy of the Lightning" is a dark story, and as for how long that dark atmosphere will preside over the book? Well, that depends on the story's outcome, doesn't it?



While Mark Mardon is still, in his soul, more villainous than heroic, there's a radical difference between the level of villainy the Rogues have and that of the New Rogues, and I was hoping this scene would illustrate that. It's also, as no doubt longer term readers will recognise, a big stage in a character arc Seb instigated when Weather Wizard hooked up with Glider back in the books' teen issues.



Oh no, no, no, Jay's a long way from out of trouble- if anything, he and the others are even deeper in it now than they were at the start of the issue. I deliberately made the Wally scene VERY brutal, because again, I felt it was important to underscore the level of viciousness and, frankly, evil, of some of the villains less principled than the Rogues.



...Okay, you got me, I've been waiting to write that scene since I took the Rogues off the table back in #24.



Thanks for the very high praise, Pat! And yup, I promised that everyone would be in it, and I meant it! I looked to 'Rogue War' as my inspiration here and chucked in everything and the kitchen sink, but I tried to do so in a manner which made sense and was a logical result of the last 29 issues- and I'm glad so many of you seem to feel that succeeded!



As I'm sure I've mentioned before, and like many Flash fans, the Waid and Johns runs are to me the absolute pinnacle of the Flash outside the Silver Age, so I combined my favourite elements of both of them- the Speed Force/Speedster tapestry of Waid and the work on the Rogues from Johns. So the fact that you picked up on that shows I must be doing something right, which I'm very happy about!



Wow. That's high praise indeed. ;D Credit where credit is due- it was actually that wonderful editor o'mine who suggested the final line during our discussions, and I thought it worked tremendously.

But yes, I love the Rogues. I absolutely adore the Rogues. As Charlie knows all too well, I have been dying to use them since I came on the book, but Seb wrote a brilliant Rogues story that ended in 19, and I figured a further rest from the Rogues would give the book a chance to develop a bit without them, and then they could return in style. But now they're back and they will be a BIG part of everything moving forwards!



Glad you loved the book so much! I'll be honest, one of the coolest parts about this arc for me was that the Flash has only ever fought Grodd once on the DC2, and that was a short battle waay back in issue 6. So I was actually very excited to be able to write Barry discovering for really the first time what Grodd is capable of... at the same time as everything else is going to hell in a handbasket.

HO. LY. CRAP.

This was so damn epic, I think it's better than anything I've read in real DC for a long, long time. There's a risk that comes with these types of stories, in that it soon becomes basically Death Porn; by that I mean, there's no plot or story, just snapshots of how all the good guys get maimed by the bad guys.

None of that was here though. Though for a lot of the Flashes, it was just them trying to pull themselves out of this hopeless situation admittedly, it had great emphasis on the fact that, even when all odds are against them, the Flash family never give up. All odds are against them, but they will die before they give in. Loved it.

I think the best work was done with the Rogues. The Rogues' Revenge Final Crisis tie-in recently, showed how they are some of the most interesting and complicated villains, next to the Arkham Asylum bunch. The irony that Weather Wizard becomes a hero at the last second: phenomennal.

Of course, because of the cover, we were all waiting for the Rogues, and I hope they're just the right X-Factor that the Flash family could use right now. They are just so 'effin cool, I feel giddy just thinking about them. Frankly, they should get there own book.

I don't usually read Flash here, mostly because I've never been a fan of 1st person writing in these stories, but here.... something clicked. I love that everything it just 3rd-person, but with Barry, we get the present tense in his mind. It just makes it so much more raw, and we end up learning so much about Barry. I think I've finally turned.

Last thought: Please don't let Iris die. That would make me sad

I think the word I'm looking for here is AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I'm kind of like, hiding, going oh God not again!

Get out of there guys, get out of there!!!

Also, I wonder what Barry's parents will say....if they survive.

I know exactly what you mean, and that's something I was really conscious to avoid, particularly as Flash, as a rule, will never be as dark as, say, Batman. I'm one of those people who gets really annoyed by pointless death or maiming or whatever, so I wanted to ensure that when it happened- for example, in the Kid Flash/Spectro scene- it really means something.



Well, I think you've hit the nail on the head there. The Flashes, as characters, are just like that. It's impossible to write a story about them giving up without writing them all out of character- no matter what I throw at Barry and his family, they just keep on running!



I'm actually a bit of a heretic in that I prefer the Rogues even to the Bat-Villains- the best rogues gallery in comics, bar none. And yes, I very much am taking my cues on them from the Johns stuff, especially the fantastic 'Rogues Revenge'.



You're not alone there, I can assure you. There's more potential in the Rogues than there are in plenty of heroes!



The funny thing is, I've never been a fan of first person either, let alone present tense, but I tried them out when I first came on Flash because the character seemed right for it, and I tihnk I'm getting the hang of it now!



I imagine Barry, Wally, Jay, Max and Johnny among others would all be with you on that one... but I'm afraid Eobard Thawne may feel otherwise... Thanks for your comments!



Aw, shucks, Dave, you're making me blush! No, but really, these last three issues have recieved an absolutely terrific response and I'm really greatful to everyone, nopt only for your kind words but also for how many of you are reading it at all!



Neither am I, Dave. Neither am I. And believe me- when Thawne does take the field, you'll know ALL about it- much to our heroes' despair...



Issue #33 will address the aftermath of this story- both immediate and long-reaching, and we'll see reactions from all the survivors to both what has happened... and the far, far worse events yet to happen.

Poor, poor Censored....



Many thanks once again, Brian, and I really appreciate that you've stuck with the title all the way since I came on! Hopefully next issue doesn't disappoint after all this... But I can assure you all, if you thought this issue's ending was big, you have seen nothing yet!