Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Interview: Marc Guggenheim

Comic Book Resources has posted a lengthy interview with Marc Guggenheim. The new Flash scribe discusses what drew him to the title and drops some tantalizing hints regarding his plans for the title in the coming months. Guggenheim promises plenty of action and excitement, noting that readers should expect meaningful changes in the title character's life, guest appearances from familiar supporting cast and other superheroes, and some big plans for the traditional Rogues Gallery!

Over the years in the DC Universe there has been one heroic legacy that people have literally picked up and ran with; the legacy of the Flash. Beginning this February in DC Comics' The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9, a new writer begins chronicling the adventures of the newest Flash, Bart Allen. CBR News spoke with writer Marc Guggenheim about his plans for the Fastest Man Alive...

With the Flash tackling both the world of costumed heroics and a burgeoning career in law enforcement readers can expect Guggenheim’s stories in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive to be a mixture of superhero action and human drama. “With the Flash, I'm trying to tell big super-hero stories that still have, in each issue, some quiet, character moments. So far, I'd have to say that my run is kind of old school. Big villains. Big heroics. The occasional DCU cameo. All interspersed with soap opera elements and subplots (remember those?) that will build up to a huge story. I don't have a time frame on my Flash run, but I'm really striving to make it as big and iconic as I can possibly muster. I really want to leave my mark on the character, whenever I end up leaving -- which I hope won't be for a good long while."

3 comments:

rob! said...

dixon-

this seems like as a good a place as any to ask: as a fan of the Flash, is it the character concept that first drew you in, and keeps you as a fan, or the character himself?

what i mean is, are you any less of a Flash fan now that there is a fourth person to be the Flash?

as much as i love the character called "Aquaman", i realize its the Arthur Curry guy i really like. while i like the new Aquaman book and the new guy, i'm basically just waiting around til AC comes back. but for the most part, Aquaman = Arthur Curry and vice versa.

i always wondered how people felt who were fans of characters who have changed identites repeatedly...

West said...

Well, you didn't ask me, but...

I like Flash and I like Bart. Unfortunately, this ain't any Bart that *I* know. As a result, this isn't a Flash that I know.

It doesn't help that Wally's family's fate is unknown. (Although I suppose there are advantages to revealing that later.)


-West

Dixon said...

The concept behind the Flash and his superpowers is rather captivating in and of itself but, as in most storytelling, I'd have to say that its the characters themselves that have drawn me to the comics. Barry Allen and Wally West are two wonderful heroes and two wonderful characters. The same can be said for their family of supporting cast and Rogues. And, as I'm always commenting in this blog, it certainly doesn't hurt that The Flash has featured some of the best writing in comics over the decades.

Am I any less of a Flash fan now that there is a fourth person to be the scarlet speedster? The answer here is a definite no. This is partly because the Flash, as a superhero, is built upon a driving sense of legacy. The way in which Barry followed Jay, Wally followed Barry, and Bart followed Wally has established that the title of the Flash is generational, something to be passed on from mentor to protege, and the transition always carries with it reverence and respect for what has come before.

Unfortunately, as West has commented here, the Bart Allen currently running around in The Flash is utterly unrecognizable from his former self. Bart's always been a fun character, but now he's been transformed by Infinite Crisis and poor writing into something else. As with this all-new Arthur Curry who's adopted the Aquaman title, I'm still waiting for him to find and prove himself.