The Flash: Fastest Man Alive

First off, I've never read a single Flash comic book. Super-speed just doesn't look quite the same in the pages of a comic as it does on TV. My knowledge of the Flash comes from the 1990 TV series and mainly from the Justice League animated series, where he was used primarily as comic relief. Fast-forward to today.

Last week's pilot of The Flash was everything I wanted it to be. It had action, some comedy, pretty good special effects, and most importantly, it left me wanting more. It did everything an origin story should, and it sped to Barry Allen becoming the Flash in just under an hour. The episode reminded me of the first Spider-Man movie, and that's a good thing. From the titular superhero getting abs from the incident, to the subsequent sequences of having fun with their new powers, and even down to the slow-mo effect of Flash's speed force and Spidey's spider-sense, it was like watching Spider-Man all over again in a new and fun way. It was a refreshing and light-hearted take on a superhero that DC hasn't been doing in any of its properties. I enjoyed the pilot a lot, and it has zoomed past Gotham as my number one new TV show to watch.

850 Tacos?!?

In the second episode, Fastest Man Alive, the Flash experienced some growing pains in what it takes to be a hero. Fainting spells and dizziness were found to be caused by his increased metabolism which was easily solved by increasing his caloric intake. Cisco suggested he needed to ingest the equivalent of 850 tacos, and by then end of the episode had created ultra-calorie bars which probably contain over 100,000 calories. If a regular person ate one, just imagine the consequences. On second thought, don't. But it's something that could potentially provide comic relief for the rest of the season.

When In Doubt

However, being faced with doubt as to whether or not he could be a hero from his surrogate father proved to be the bigger obstacle. The cure? Harrison Wells convincing Joe that the world needs the Flash. His duplicitous nature of helping out Barry while secretly hiding the fact that he can walk and has knowledge of the future is a huge mystery. What's his end goal? A lot of people think he's Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash. I think he may just be using Barry to somehow restore his reputation or gain power, which is the exact reason he killed Simon Stagg over. Who knew J.D.'s brother could be so evil?!?

Multiplex, Isn't that a Movie Theater?

The metahuman villain of the week was Danton Black aka Multiplex who possessed the ability to clone himself and create an army. It's always interesting to note how the explosion of the particle accelerator created all these metahumans, and the vast majority of them have turned to crime. Probably an accurate reflection of what would actually happen in real life. But anyway, the fights between Multiplex and the Flash reminded me of the burly brawl from the Matrix: Reloaded. Even down to the Flash moving out of the way of a bullet. All that was missing was the bullet time rotation.

Next week, a metahuman villain who can turn himself into poison gas in "Things You Can't Outrun"