When 2011 came rolling around, the only show DC Entertainment had on the small screen was Smallville, and as that show was winding down, people were wondering what would be the next superhero to enter the world of comic books on TV. A year later we had Arrow, which followed the exploits of Oliver Queen as DC Comics mainstay Green Arrow. The show has introduced a variety of characters good and bad, including Black Canary, Red Arrow and The Flash. Now here we are 2015 and The Flash is currently the best comic book TV series on the air.
As Marvel and DC fight for market share on the comic book racks, they’re also having a tussle on the small screen as the house that Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman built is starting to pull away in that department. What seems to be making The Flash a break away hit both critically and commercially is the fact that the show is delving into deep Flash lore with it’s up coming time travel storyline and the consistent appearances of The Scarlet Speedsters Rogues Gallery of villains.
Shield had first dibs and a chance to be a really good and exciting comic book/superhero show…but it seems Marvel got scared of the word “Superhero”. Arrow was the front runner for a while till it started getting bogged down in its Ra’s al Ghul storyline and started to resemble a small screen version of the Dark Knight. Not to mention the flash-backs are getting a bit stale and annoying. The Flash definitely benefits from its stellar cast which includes Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/Flash, Jesse L. Martin as surrogate father detective Joe West, Carlos Valdez as Cisco Ramon, Danielle Panabaker as Catlin Snow and Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Harrison Wells, Barry Allen’s mentor and the evil Reverse Flash. The main success of the show is in its unabashed showing of all its superhero-ness. That’s right, I said it! It doesn’t feel shame in it’s portrayal of Barry as a really good guy. With all the “Dark Themed” superhero crap coming our way, The Flash is a refreshing return to what superheroes are supposed to be. The good guy is actually a good guy. He has all the problems a good person has, like pinning for the love of his life, Iris West as she jumps into the arms of another man. The show has a feel good atmosphere and friendliness to it.
The show is really getting geek fans excited with the hint that the show is delving into the characters time travel storyline, which can include The Flash in the future and possibly touch on Crisis on Infinite Earth’s. Crisis was a major storyline that involved the entire DC Universe vs The Anti-Monitor, a being bent on destroying the entire line of DC heroes. Inthat story, The Flash sacrifices himself to stop The Anti-Monitor. I’m sure they won’t want to kill the main character on the show, but it would be great if they visited some form of that storyline. (The show already planted an Easter Egg about The Flash disappearing in a great Crisis). The Flash is a bona fide hit, averaging close to 4 million viewers on the smaller CW Network. It was announced that The Flash would be renewed for a second season, and with that announcement it was also mentioned that one of the speedster’s main villains will be coming aboard in season 2…Gorilla Grod! All in all, The Flash has drama, vile villains and a hero that’s running to save the day.
