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Mike Baron Flash Q & A
from Four Color Magazine, March 1987
For the past few years, DC Comics has been in the process of
revitalizing their flagship heroes. First Batman, then Superman, then
Wonder Woman. Now the Flash has become the latest hero to undergo a
facelift. DC has found it possible to breath new life into established
characters, even if these characters are fifty years old. One of the
ways they have done this is by hiring fresh young talent to guide the
lives of their heroes.
When the time came to update the Flash, editor Mike Cold went to Wisconsin
native Mike Baron, who has a reputation as one of the hippest writers
in comics. Baron is also regarded as one of the best writers at the
independent publishers. He's made quite a name for himself at First
Comics and, additionally, is now doing his first regular series for
Marvel and DC.
Gold added Jackson Guice as artist and the new Flash creative team
was complete. Baron slowed down long enough to tell Four Color where
he sees the Flash going and how long he thinks it will take him to get
there.
FOUR COLOR: How is the new Flash different from the original series?
BARON: Well, the characterization is going to be a lot more contemporary
and the stories are going to be a lot more realistic-given the fact
that it's a bit of a heroic fantasy. I felt an affinity for the character
immediately. I identify with him because I know the type of person he
is. He's a little like me, in that he's always sitting on the edge of
his seat. He's very impatient. He's always saying, "Come on, what's
the delay? Let's go. We've got a concert to make," or whatever.
FOUR COLOR: What do you mean when you say the stories will be more
realistic?
BARON: One of the things we've done, in dealing with his power, is
tried to show the cost in energy. He just can't go running off at the
speed of sound all day and not pay for it. He has to eat enormous quantities
of food, carbohydrates in particular. He drinks huge amounts. And when
he really exerts himself, he'll end up sleeping for 16 hours at a stretch.
FOUR COLOR: How is Wally West, the new Flash, different from his
predecessor Barry Allen?
BARON: I think Wally's a lot more cynical, especially in light of what
happened to Barry. He's imbued with the sense of the same altruistic
mission: He has these powers, he should help people. That's one thing
that he prizes above all - what Barry taught him.
But at the same time, he's aware that if he opens himself up to all
the people who could use his help, or think they could use his help,
he'd have no life. So he has to pick and choose carefully and he's always
concerned about his image, especially since he's twenty years old. He's
much more self-conscious than an older person would be - than Barry,
for instance.
FOUR COLOR: Will you be dealing with realistic situations that a
twenty-year-old might find himself in?
BARON: Some of them. Quite a few social situations, romantic interludes
- they're going to get very complicated because he's always rushing
in where angels fear to tread.
FOUR COLOR: Will there be a steady girlfriend for Wally West?
BARON: I have introduced a number of women in his life, one of whom,
I think, is playing a larger role than the others. She's Tina McGee,
a nutritionist/scientist who meets him when they come together in the
Utah desert to do a speed test. She's going to study his nutritional
needs and see if she can help.
FOUR COLOR: Will sex play a role in Wally West's life?
BARON: A lot of sex! They don't call him "the Flash" for
nothing! No, I shouldn't say that. That's one of the things we'll be
coming back to later on this year. There's this Millenium series that
Steve Englehart is writing in which the Flash is called upon to rescue
Cregorio, a prisoner in South America who happens to be gay. And the
Flash is real uptight with this guy, because he keeps putting his hand
on the Flash's ass and saying, "My, what a lovely costume."
So the Flash is going to be a little upset.
FOUR COLOR: Is this a fill-in issue of The Flash that Englehart
is writing?
BARON: He's writing Millenium as a mini-series and the Flash is going
to appear in that. Originally Booster Gold was going to go after Gregorio,
but Steve and I talked about it and figured the Flash would be better.
It seemed to fit Flash's character. Wally is aggressively heterosexual,
possibly because he fears the latent homosexual feelings that most young
men experience. Most of our readers should be able to relate to it.
If not, they should seek counseling!
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Mike Baron: Flash Plans
from Comics Scene (vol. 2) #1, 1987
Cured of a debilitating disease at the end of Crisis of Infinite Earths,
Wally West, the former Kid Flash, donned the costume and name of his
mentor and vowed to continue his fight against crime. The first third-generation
hero proved little challenge to write for Baron. "Wally's a lot
like me - impatient. He's always sitting on the edge of his chair saying,
'Come on, let's go.' The big difference is that he's 20 and won the
New York State Lottery, while my life went along a different path,"
jokes Baron.
Being 20, Flash tends to have a large amount of youthful enthusiasm,
a fact proved by the extravagant lifestyle he now enjoys. He's also
a romantic, a facet of his personality that gets him into trouble in
upcoming issues. Tina McGee, a female nutritionist who is studying him,
is ensnared by his charm and eventually becomes involved in an extramarital
affair with him.
Issue #7 concerns Flash's attempts to find a cure for "Speed"
McGee, Tina's insanely jealous husband who artificially boosted his
own abilities and attacked the Flash. The battle ended when McGee lapsed
into a coma, and unfortunately, the only man capable of reversing the
effects is a dissident Russian scientist living in internal exile in
Siberia. Flash decides to kidnap/rescue the scientist. "At this
point, we find out that along with their other super-power projects,
the Russians have been developing a team of super-speedsters, named
Red Trinity," reveals Baron. Red Trinity consists of two men and
a woman who are all almost as fast as the Flash. Each of the characters,
although they have exactly the same powers, have different personalities,
and thus different ways of using superspeed. Red Trinity will also appear
in issue #8 and may be a recurring villain group.
Coming next will be a crossover with DC's major team-up book of the
year, Millenium. Flash's father, who was reintroduced in issue #5, will
begin to play a major role in Wally's life. Tina McGee will also be
a fairly regular character in the book and many of the Teen Titans will
guest-star. "Flash will probably never tackle many of the other
Flash's Rogues Gallery villains. I do like Mirror Master, but unfortunately,
he's dead. Vandal Savage will be returning as well, and could be looked
upon as the book's main antagonist. You can't keep a good villain down
without killing him off, and evensometimes when you do that, they keep
popping back up. Vandal Savage will be back."
The Flash, Baron realizes, is the 'first newsstand comic book to deal
overtly with a hero's sexuality. "I'm handling it with maturity,
discretion and wit," he says. "There's nothing really objectionable
that's going to be in here. I think any kid who is able to watch TV
is aware that people have physical relations. We're going to handle
it in somewhat the way that primetime television does, only with better
taste.
"I'm really having fun with The Flash. He has no ultimate goal
concerninghis future as a superhero... yet. He's only 20. Most of us
don't know what and who we want to be until we're 29!"
Baron continues to write Nexus (STARLOG #119) and Badger for First
Comics, as well as the adaptation of Michael Moorcock's Chronicles of
Corum and the just-announced Badger graphic novel with Bill Reinhold.
He is also adapting Robotech Masters, and writing a Ginger Fox limited
series for Comico. For DC Comics, he will soon be writing a 12-issue
maxi-series entitled Sonic Disrupters. "I have a number of other
secret projects in the works," Baron remarks. "Some of these
projects have been written over the years-so I don't want people to
think I write seven days a week. I only write six days a week."
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Mike Baron Looks Back on Flash
from Comics Scene (vol. 2) #3, 1988
With the crush of work, something had to give, and for Baron, it was
writing The Flash. After DC killed off the Barry Allen Flash in the
Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series, Baron was given the nod to revitalize
the series with Wally West - formerly Kid Flash - under the familiar
red cowl. During his just-over-a-year's tenure on the book, Baron's
Flash had his powers reduced, won the lottery, I discovered his own
father was a Manhunter, and began a controversial affair with a married
woman.
Although Baron says DC gave him complete freedom in developing the
character, he still wasn't satisfied with his own work. "I would
have liked to have had the luxury to build that character up the way
I had built up Nexus. But, I don't know what I would have done differently.
"I was unhappy with the writing, it was unsatisfying. I wish I
could be consistent, and love everything that I write equally, but I
don't. To me, it varies wildly. I shouldn't pass judgment on my own
work, but I found the writing unsatisfying, and felt that if I continued,
I might damage the character, So. I, looked around for something else
that I could be happier with."
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Introduction: Terminal Velocity
By Brian Augustyn
from the Flash: Terminal Velocity Trade Paperback
[...]
When this book was first launched some nine years ago, the then creative
team opted for a fairly radical approach: they decided to make Wally
West, the hero, a thoroughly unlikable ego case with a rampant libido
and the temerity to charge for his super-fast services. As a fan, I
was not terribly pleased. When I arrived at DC and the dream-come-true
job of editing the FLASH comic, I was determined to change that, but
fast.
The problem was that, while I wasn't nuts for the way Wally was being
presented, it was a valid and fairly consistent treatment. I couldn't
just arbitrarily change things and make Wally a nice guy without blowing
the book's credibility right out the window. I realize that this sort
of sudden, drastic change happens with distressing regularity in other
comics, but the "deconstruct, dodge and deny" method has never
worked for me.
In pursuit of an organic evolution of character, I realized that we
had to find the key to why a previously nice guy like our young speedster
had turned into such a chauvinistic s.o.b. in the first place. Explain
why he was where he was and then go forward, growing him up into the
hero we knew he should be - without disturbing the momentum.
It didn't take a great deal of effort to realize what was the most
obvious reason for Wally's crudification. It was something that grew
from everything we already knew about the character, in fact.
Wally West had recently suffered the tragic loss of Barry Allen, his
best friend, mentor and father figure, and without a chance to mourn,
thrust himself into a job he wasn't near ready for. Feeling inadequate
from the get-go and having those fears reinforced by unfavorable comparisons
to his predecessor at every step would surely have a devastating effect
on a young man.
If Wally was going to keep hearing that he was "no Barry Allen,"
then damnit, he would stop striving upward and just be the jerk that
everyone, including himself, already believed him to be. Once we knew
that important character detail, running with it was a breeze.
It was new writer Bill Loebs's innate inability to write a shallow
character that first pushed Wally West onto the road to maturity and
kept him going and growing. We've joked that Bill could write Satan
and make him complex Humor aside, though, it's absolutely true of Bill
Loebs's work that every character he writes, good guy or bad, is a fully
realized, complex human being. Even demons from the pits of hell.
After forty-six successful issues, Bill decided he had taken Wally
as far as he could and moved on to other challenges. Without a moment's
hesitation, I handed the baton to a relatively unknown writer named
Mark Waid, who took over the race like a born sprinter. Mark and I had
been friends since he was an editor at DC. and I knew we were already
on the same track.
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Speed Reading: More FLASH Links
>> Mike Baron on FLASH
>> William Messner-Loebs on FLASH
>> Mark Waid on FLASH
>> Geoff Johns on FLASH
>> FLASH Series Index
>> Wally West Who's Who Page
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