{"id":10434,"date":"2007-01-15T13:21:15","date_gmt":"2007-01-15T20:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/01\/15\/book-review-the-flash-stop-motion.html"},"modified":"2007-01-15T13:21:15","modified_gmt":"2007-01-15T20:21:15","slug":"book_review_the_flash_sto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/15\/book_review_the_flash_sto.html","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Flash: Stop Motion<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"

A review of another of DC’s “Justice League of America” series of mass-market paperbacks. So far, this is the weakest of the lot.<\/p>\n

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The Flash: Stop Motion<\/strong><\/a><\/i> by Mark Schultz<\/strong> (2004) <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\nOverall<\/strong><\/td>\n\n<\/td>\n\nStory<\/td>\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nRe-Readability<\/td>\n\n<\/td>\n\nCharacters<\/td>\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Mark Schultz is no newcomer to comics, being the writer-illustrator of Xenozoic Tales (Cadillacs & Dinosaurs), <\/em>and he wrote a stint on one of the Superman titles a few years before this novel, but his knowledge of the DCU feels only skin deep — and it’s not an attractive skin at that.<\/p>\n

Wally West, the Flash, is faced by a mysterious, other-worldy super-speedster villain who is even faster than he is<\/em>. Already despondent over being a second-rate JLA member, can he protect his family, his city, and his entire universe?<\/p>\n

Um … well, yeah, I guess he can, and learn all sorts of stuff in the process and become confident and well-adjusted. All in one novel.<\/p>\n

The story begins with an improbability of the sort that hasn’t been seen since the Silver Age — the Flash, “flying” by means of super-vibrating the air beneath him. Uh … yeah. That’s probably the worst story gaffe, but the characterizations of other super-heroes are clumsy as all get-out. Pretty much all the other heroes have something … off … about their characters and dialog. The Martian Manhunter, in particular, a character with whom we spend a fair amount of time, keeps lapsing
\ninto and out of casual and uncharacteristic slang. And while this takes place in an odd but not unrecognizable corner of DCU continuity, I simply don’t believe that Iris Allen has never met the Batman.<\/p>\n

The title character himself spends have the time whining about being a loser, the other half of the time whining about his whining. Wally West has been callow in the past, but this particular iteration of him it not only not trusted by his JLA colleagues, there’s ample reason for that mistrust.<\/p>\n

The story itself mundane, except for some deus ex mechana<\/em> towards the end that not only purports to explain all there is to know about the Speed Force and super-speedsters in the DCU, but makes some other bold statements about DCU continuity that will likely (and justifiably) be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Disappointing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A review of another of DC’s “Justice League of America” series of mass-market paperbacks. So far, this is the weakest of the lot.     The Flash: Stop Motion by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-books","category-media-comics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133928,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/21\/new-young-justice-season-3-info.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":0},"title":"New "Young Justice" season 3 info!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Jul-17 1:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A bunch of info has come out at the San Diego Comic-Con about Young Justice: Outsiders, the new season of the animated series.http:\/\/www.cbr.com\/young-justice-outsiders-character-designs\/The line-up, L-R: Static, Kid Flash, Robin, Wonder Girl, Spoiler, Blue Beetle, Thirteen, Arrowette [aka Artemis?], Arsenal and Beast Boy.The Thirteen character is expected to be a daughter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Young-Justice-Outsiders.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Young-Justice-Outsiders.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Young-Justice-Outsiders.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10392,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/29\/book_review_superman_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":1},"title":"Book review: Superman: The Never-Ending Battle","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 29-Jan-07 2:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing with DC\/Warner's JLA series of paperbacks, -- a pleasant surprise: a nicely crafted, if unremarkable, JLA novel. \u00a0 Superman: The Never-Ending Battle by Roger Stern (2004) Overall Story Re-Readability...","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50552,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/07\/dc-and-cw-go-super-person-crazy.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":2},"title":"DC and CW go Super-Person Crazy","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 7-May-15 3:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"But in a good way. I hope.Following up on Arrow and The Flash, we will now have DC's Legends of Tomorrow (which managed to beat out Marvel's Agents of SHIELD as an awkward title), which will feature an array of super--heroes and super-villains, rounded up by time-hopping Rip Hunter to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":134398,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/08\/23\/ranking-dcs-animated-tv-series.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":3},"title":"Ranking DC’s Animated TV Series","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Aug-17 11:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't necessarily agree with this force-ranking (who ever does?), but it's a great reminder of some fantastic (and a few not-so-fantastic) animated series of decades past, and it's worth it just for that. If you don't want to page through show by show, here are their rankings: 22. Teen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/batman-beyond.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129629,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/02\/another-justice-league-cartoon-is-in-the-works.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":4},"title":"Another Justice League cartoon is in the works","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 2-Feb-16 4:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"But it looks like it's going to be kid-oriented -- simpler designs, and quarter-hour mini-episodes. Because the only folk interested in animated comic book characters are, of course, kids. Because Teen Titans GO! is the peak of DC's TV animation.And here's my official disgusted SIGH over the need for Wonder\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130659,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/14\/alas-no-more-regular-snart-snark-on-legends-of-tomorrow.html","url_meta":{"origin":10434,"position":5},"title":"Alas, no more regular Snart snark on "Legends of Tomorrow"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 14-May-16 4:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I read some other articles about this last night (after we watched the episode in question), as Wentworth Miller -- by far the most enjoyable cast member on DC's Legends of Tomorrow -- bows out from the series as a regular, but with a contract that lets him appear on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}