Flash Files 01
I wrote over 100 issues of the Flash. From 2016 to 2020. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was a very big piece of my life. And I wanted to give you a look at the process of that series.
WELCOME TO FLASH FILES! My monthly annotated breakdown of every issue of my 100-Plus issue run of the Flash. Now before I begin, this is based on MY experiences on the Flash. I can’t speak for others. This is my own personal point of view on working on the Flash for almost 5 years. There will be some insights that I have now as I look back at the series along with behind the scenes notes you might not know. Working on the Flash was one of the BEST times of my life, but it was also a roller coaster with some ups and downs. I’m going to look at each issue. One by one. It’s a LOT of comics. So we better get started! I’m sure these will be full of typos that I will correct and update. Oh, one last thing before we begin… please don’t reproduce this newsletter without our permission.
My wife was pregnant.
We were married about six weeks earlier and just found out she was pregnant the weekend before New York Comic Con 2015. That added an extra level of tension to that convention. We decided I would still go, but comics were not really on my mind.
Except one. The Flash.
That year I had wrapped up a few different projects. Ghosted, Captain Midnight, Robocop and Predator were all ending. I still had Nailbiter and Birthright and I had Illuminati with Marvel, but I felt I needed another steady gig. A work-for-hire book. A monthly series. (If I only knew…)
With a baby on the way I wanted to make sure that I was financially secure. I suffer from some economic anxiety, and it’s turned me into a bit of a workaholic. I was no longer going to be a solo freelancer. We were starting a family. And there was no way that family was ever going to worry about money.
At New York Comic I talked with publishers about a few different options and books. But I had my eyes on one meeting. A meeting with Dan Didio, Publisher of DC Comics about The Flash.
The Flash is one of my favorite characters of all time. Top 5. Easy. It was one of the few comics I had kept up with since I was a kid. Buying every issue. Return of Barry Allen was my favorite Flash story of all time and one of my favorite comics of all time. I remember reading the massive Flash #79 on the floor of my childhood bedroom, totally caught up in this battle between Wally West and Eobard Thawne as Wally finally stepped out of his mentor’s shadow. I would write my own fan fiction about the Flash family. And when Bart Allen was introduced as Impulse, I was all-in. I was a hyper kid with wild hair and I saw a lot of myself in Bart. It brought me deeper into the Flash mythology. Even then I wanted to write comic book and it was one of my dreams to one day write the Flash. But I honestly thought it would never happen.
I’ve told the story a few times about how I met Dan Didio at San Diego Comic Con. That because of a schedule mix-up I had to RUN to the meeting but was still late. I only had a few minutes to pitch. My heart raced as I passionately explained my Flash idea, but Dan said NO. He gave me a few notes, but it was a firm no. I could tell he wasn’t excited about what I had pitched but listened to me ramble anyway. I got that meeting because the sales of the Nailbiter and Birthright trades had impressed people at DC but my previous time at DC from 2009 to 2012 was less than stellar, so the idea of me writing another DC title was always a long shot. Especially a flagship title.
Now a few months later, New York Comic-Con was coming up and I set up another meeting with Dan. This time explaining that I had taken his notes and had a new pitch. At the con, I wandered the floor for the first few days. Almost aimlessly. I felt like a zombie during my meetings, panels and signings.
Then in New York Comic-Con green room, I pitched Dan the new plan. I calmly explained all the pieces, the themes and what the story would mean for Barry Allen.
That a speed force storm would hit Central City transforming hundreds of people into speedsters. And it would force Barry Allen to question what made him special. If he was only a hero because of the powers. And that one of the new speedsters would be a killer…
And I’ll always remember when Dan slammed his hand on the table and said “YES, LET’S DO IT.” I couldn’t believe it. He had a few questions but then he started to talk how it could work. (I also learned in this moment how Dan acted when he liked a pitch versus when he didn’t.)
Dan told me he’d contact me in a few weeks. That he had a lot on his plate and would get back to me.
It was quiet after that. Weeks passed. Dan and I would exchange an email here and there. I even saw him for a second when I was making a stop by the offices in Burbank. And each time Dan would tell me that he wasn’t ready. That he still had moving pieces to deal with. I started to feel in my gut that this whole thing was dead.
Then came the call. Late afternoon on a Thursday. I missed the call at first but recognized the number. It was DC Comics. It was Brian Cunningham, Flash editor. I managed to get him on the phone just as he was walking out of the office for the night. DC was going to fly me down to Burbank. I needed to go to the DC offices and pitch a room full of people what I had pitched to Dan at New York Comic Con.
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving 2015 I flew down to Burbank for a meeting with DC Comics. Telling no one. None of my friends knew. I was too paranoid that I’d jinx myself. It was going to be a fly in that morning and then fly home that night style trip. Because time was of the essence.
I had pitched a 12 issue Flash series. An evergreen Flash story. I didn’t know DC’s bigger plans. I didn’t know about Rebirth. All I knew was my own story. I had written a pitch and outline doc that was a bit messy. But I sent that into Cunningham to read and check out, to give an idea of what I was thinking before we met.
Because it was the Tuesday before a major holiday, flights were difficult to get. So, I had to fly into LAX instead of Burbank. That meant a LONG taxi ride to Burbank. Very long. It sucked.
In the LA traffic I had a lot of time to think. To game my pitch. To prepare. But to also overthink and stress out…
And then I realized something was wrong with my pitch.
Like I said before, I had a plan for 12 issues. And it didn’t start with the Speed Force Storm. That would happen in #6. The first five issues would feature a story about the villain MURMUR. It was going to be called “Speed of Silence.” It was a crime story that explored the CSI side of Barry Allen. If you looked at the comics I was writing at the time. I had a bit more horror and crime side and less superhero. Even though I LOVE Superheroes. My first five issues would focus on Barry Allen’s investigation into a serial killer in Central City. When Murmur was introduced pre-New 52 he had been a killer that Barry Allen had caught and locked up in Iron Heights before escaping and going up against Wally West. I would tell a new version of that story. Different from what has been done with the Flash the last few years. A different direction. These issues would set up a subplot mystery that would eventually become the Speed Force Storm. I would build out the new cast. Which at the time would include bringing back Max Mercury, Johnny and Jesse Quick.
But there in the back of that taxi I realized that my #6 was actually my #1.
Now I didn’t panic…not REALLY. I just started to think out how I would explain the pitch in the room with a focus on the Speed Force Storm. I know I sent Cunningham my outline, but now I would be winging it a bit.
I had a family on the way, and I had never wanted a job more than I wanted to write Flash, and here I was about to pitch my Flash story to a room full of people and I was going to have to think on my feet. Or at least…in the back of that Taxi.
I arrived at the DC Comics offices. Ben Abernathy, who at the time was in talent relations, brought me past security. I’ve known Ben for a long time, and it was great to see a familiar face because on the inside I was on fire. Full of energy. Pumped up. I was that hyper kid again who related to Bart Allen. Ben brought me over to Brian Cunningham’s office. I’d met Cunningham a few times before. Very nice guy. Whenever I saw him we’d mostly talk about his awesome collection of Batman Black and White statues that he had in his office. But we didn’t know each other well and had never worked together before.
Cunningham quickly got moving. There was no chitchat. It was time. We needed to get to the pitch room NOW.
The DC Offices in Burbank were an amazing sight. As someone who grew up reading DC Comics and loving its characters, I can’t even explain the honor of walking through those halls.
They had Batman costumes from the movies on display. Toys and statues of DC heroes were everywhere. They had incredible original pages on the walls from classic comic stories that will forever stand the test of time. Murals by some of comic’s greatest artists.
And in that moment. I let myself be a nerd again. To just be a fan. To look in awe at the work around me. To remember what made me fall in love with comics.
“This is it.”
I was snapped out of it by Cunningham telling me we were at the meeting room. It was time to pitch my Flash story.
Cunningham opened the door for me, and I walked in.
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