CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD #6 - THE FLASH

CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD #6
THE FLASH

Personal disclaimer:
When I was a kid, “The Flash” was my favorite superhero comic book… for two reasons.  The main one was that it was always visually stimulating – that bright red suit, the depiction of speed and vibrational resonance, plus the use of speed in time travel, and then there were the colorful villains in Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery.  (I think Captain Boomerang was my favorite of the bunch.)

As for the second reason?  Well, even if they cost about a dime, I wasn’t only assured I’d be able to afford the next month’s issue.  At that time, Marvel was geared to story arcs while DC focused on single issue storylines.

And now, here be spoilers….

I liked the 1990 version of ‘The Flash’ and John Wesley Shipp perfectly exemplified the square-jawed hero.  But I had no delusions regarding his fate in the “Crisis On Multiple Earths” mega-crossover.  When it comes to that, I suppose I’m not the only one who had come to expect it.  Shipp originally played Barry Allen’s father, Henry, in the CW adaptation of “The Flash”.

Eventually, Henry Allen died.

Then we saw him as the Flash from Earth-3, Jay Garrick, later in the series.

It is assumed that with everybody else of Earth-3, Jay Garrick eventually retired, but is presumed as having perished with the dissolution of his home dimension.

And then we got the Barry Allen of Earth-90.  That designation was an in-joke reference to ‘The Flash’ having been broadcast in 1990.

So for Greg Berlanti and the showrunners for this crossover, Earth-90 was the world shown in that series.

But in this playground of Toobworld, it actually was an alternate dimension.  For Toobworld Central, the 1990s version of ‘The Flash’ took place on Earth Prime-Time.  Therefore, as far as the tribunal is concerned, Shipp’s version of the Scarlet Speedster still exists.

But I understand why they felt it necessary to kill off his Flash during the crossover.  In the comic book mega-crossover, the death of Barry Allen, sacrificing himself by using his super-speed, played out in such a memorable scene which was heart-breaking to a big fan like me.  It was illogical to expect Grant Gustin’s Flash make that sacrifice while the show is still running.

So maybe the Flash of Earth Prime-Time may never be seen on our TV screens again either way, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing John Wesley Shipp on ‘The Flash’ ever again.  That particular DNA sequence is very strong and has shown up three times already.  I won’t be surprised if they find a way to use him again in some capacity.

And I’ve got a suggestion for how that might happen….

Earth-38 was able to rescue a good number of its citizens in spaceships which were able to pass through the dimension veil and arrive on Earth-1 (their designation, not mine.)

There should be some character from that world, looking like the older Barry Allen, Henry Allen, and Jay Garrick, who made it into one of the spaceships and is now on Earth-1.  He might even be another member of the Allen family.

Whether he’s another speedster or not, that’s not up to me.  I’m just giving them a way to bring Shipp back.

BCnU!