Editorial: Is DC ready to tackle their red speed demon, The Flash?

Of course they can!!! What kind of simple minded question is that?
In fact, comics aside, their own Flash series from 1990 still rocks to this day, just as much as Burton’s "Batman." Sure the performances aren’t award winning all around, but I still find that John Wesley Shipp brought Barry Allen to life in a much better way than even Christopher Reeve did Superman! In fact, Shipp did the one thing no other hero brought to screen before him ever did… be bad ass! Okay, so as youngsters we didn’t have anything more than Adam West and Chris Reeve in the live action genre. But look at where we are today! I’m not sure we would have even gotten a dark and gritty Batman had it not been for him to begin with. Back in the 80ies, The Flash brought proof that comic book heroes weren’t just for the kiddies.

Today however, we do have a slight problem. And that is the fact that Barry Allen hasn’t been The Flash since he “passed” the torch to Wally West, decades ago. Honestly, personality wise, those two characters couldn’t be further apart. The new generation of comic book readers as well as Saturday morning cartoon watchers, have all grown up with Wally instead of Barry. Although Wally can be a hoot and a holler in the same sense that Impulse is in Young Justice, he’s definitely no Barry Allen. And just to add insult to injury, the fans’ top choice to play Wally West has always been Ryan Reynolds. Now look at him, he’s Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern! And as much as I wanted him as Wally all along, the more I see him as Hal, the more I think he fits him to a tee, and more so than Wally! Hal’s character is cocky enough to bring the comic relief to the Justice League without pulling an “Episode One” on them and over “Jar Jar Jinxing” it like Wally might be more prone to do. Of course I’m exaggerating. After getting two realistic and gritty Bat-films by Nolan, along with news that he’ll be oversee the next complete Superman reboot; logic demands that they would follow the same path with their speedster and guiding light if they ever wanted to bring them altogether in the same epic basket. And in my opinion, there is only one way to do so. Bring back Barry Allen!!!

In regards to the people’s choice of who should portray Barry Allen, it doesn’t matter which site, blog, or forum you visit, the consensus is that Matthew Fox is the ONLY “perfect” choice to pick up where the great John Wesley Shipp left off! If any of you had any doubts from seeing him in "Speed Racer," they surely have all been laid to rest after witnessing his weekly performance in all six seasons of LOST on television. Fox’s character Jack has all the same qualities and faults as Barry Allen. He’s fierce, brash, passionate and heroic and would stop at nothing to do what he felt needed to be done! Make no mistake about it; Matthew Fox is the living embodiment of Barry Allen until someone comes in the spotlight to prove us wrong. So my question to the WB is: do you guys have the balls to give what we want and make a sh**-load of money doing it? If so then BRING IT! While you’re at it, bring out the Flash video game that was never released--its trailers blew the socks off of all your fans!
And for the art fans that came on here not expecting all of this reading material, fret not for I have brought it as well! Here is my latest sketch! I have based this sketch on John Wesley Shipp’s own incredibly epic Flash costume (for its time), tweaked the eye pieces of his mask and completely re-designed his chest insignia for a feature film version of our beloved Super Speeding Hero! Without further adieu I give you…

Matthew Fox as The Flash/Barry Allen!!!