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| STILL ON THE SHELF #64 - THE FLASH: STOP MOTION Craig Reade You wouldn’t be reading this column if you didn’t enjoy comics in some form. But what is it about comics that we enjoy? Sure there is the art – that is a huge part of comics. Especially with super-hero books – one of the best parts of the comics is seeing what those super-powered people can really do on the page. To me, anyway, more so than the art, I read comics for the story. I have said time and time again that no matter how good the art is, if the story isn’t there, I can’t get into the comic. I have a feeling that almost all of you are the same way. That is one of the reasons I decided to take yet another break from the norm and talk about comic book novels. No, not graphic novels, but proper “no pictures” books. I am sure you have seen them. Granted, they are not as prevalent as other pop-culture type books like Star Trek and Star Wars novels, but they are out there, and some of them are pretty good. Now in my experience, there are a few basic types of comic novels, one of which is the “original story.” This is a novel that, while using a character already established in comics, has a completely original story that is not an adaptation of an existing comic story. One such type of novel, Mark Schultz’s The Flash: Stop Motion, follows the exploits of, you guessed it, the Flash. I happened along this book by an interesting twist – while attempting to order Blake Petit’s novel, Other People’s Heroes on Amazon (which I still haven't received - Amazon can't seem to figure my address out right!), they were running a special that gave you free shipping if you ordered one of a trio of other books. Well, at $6.99, it was a decent deal, and I am always in need to books to read, so I went for it. And darned if I didn’t enjoy it. Stop Motion is the Flash entry in a series of Justice League of America novels. Of course, the rest of the League makes appearances in the book, but it wouldn’t be a Flash story if the villain wasn’t unique enough that only the Flash had a chance of defeating it. Cast of Characters The Flash, Wally West – what more do you need to know? This speedster resident of Keystone City inherited the mantle of the Flash after his mentor, Barry Allen, died saving the universe way back in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wally thinks of Keystone City as his city, much like Batman thinks of Gotham, but the difference is that the citizens of Keystone adore and celebrate the legacy of the Flash, sometimes to an extent that Wally is uncomfortable with. Still trying to fill the big shoes of his mentor, sometimes Wally feels he is less than accepted by his comrades in the JLA, and often feels left behind when a crisis arises that the heavy hitters in the League are best suited to take care of. As such, he is very possessive of his more “local” problems, and is reluctant to turn to the League for help, even when it seems like that is the best course of action. Iris West Allen is Wally’s aunt, and inspiration. As the widow of his late mentor, Iris continues to serve as a source of strength and a reminder of the legacy of the mantle he carries. He would do anything to protect her, and in Stop Motion, he finds that he may just have to. Or is it the other way around? Detectives Jared Morillo and Fred Chyre, both originally from LA, are prime examples of the type of police found in Keystone City (am I the only one that finds "Keystone Cops" funny in this context?). Somewhat bitter and suspicious of the Flash, eager to prove that they do not need the speedster to help solve crimes, do grudgingly admit that there are times when the Flash is needed, and welcome his help when appropriate. This being one of those times. When a string of murders with similar M.O.’s start occurring in Keystone City, at almost the exact same time, they logically determine that a speedster must be behind them. Naturally, the Flash is a suspect, but more importantly, he is the only person who can stop the murders if he is indeed innocent, so they bring him into the case. Of course, the culprit turns out to be something much bigger than they expected, and it may take more than the Flash to take “it” down. The Superluminoid – well, if I told you too much about it, it would kind of ruin the novel for you, now wouldn’t it? As its name suggests, the Superluminoid is a being which can move faster than light – but how is the question. If you want to know more, read the novel! Thoughts The first thing I suggest when reading this book, or any other comic novel, for that matter, is to forget all about continuity. It frankly does not exist in novels related to comics. Sometimes you just have to grant an author a little artistic license in things like this. Granted, if he went and made Wally black, or something outrageous like that, you might have cause for complaint. But no writer is going to be able to include every detail of a character’s comic history, nor should they even try. Aside from that, it is quite natural to expect that anything in “current” comics is not going to find a place in the novel. So Iris isn’t exactly a “blood” relative of the Flash, and a good portion of this novel deals with the fact that she has West DNA. That is a pretty obscure fact, so just get over it already!!! That being said, there are some continuity issues in the book, but suspending your disbelief for a time, it is still a pretty engaging read. One of my favorite parts of the book was the way it dealt with the Flash’s feelings of inadequacy amongst the rest of the JLA – the feeling that they didn’t quite believe he was really one of the group, that he hadn’t earned his wings. That played so much into how he handled himself in the rest of the book that it was nice to see that Schultz handled that aspect so well. He even quite deftly handled the real feelings of the League, from Superman and Wonder Woman’s denial that they felt that way (but secretly kind of did), to Batman’s outright admission that that was the way things were, right down to the moment when they had no choice but to rely on the Flash for the sake of not only this universe, but countless others. Oh, and the build from a simple string of murders to an entity that could wipe out entire universes? Brilliantly done. To be honest – and we all know this to be true – most everything out of Pocket Books (and similar publishing houses) is pretty much trash, when it comes to these pop-culture series, that is. I mean, I have read several of the Star Trek and Star Wars books, and they were severely wanting. I know I am going to get rocks thrown at me by the Star Wars novel fans out there, but truth be told, most of those books are pretty low on the scale of literary excellence. I am not making any grand pronouncements about the quality of Stop Motion – if it came down to it, there are hundreds of other books I would recommend to you based on quality alone. But among comic related books, this one was quite good. And you aren’t reading a book like this for the writer’s literary prowess, you are reading it because you like the character and want to read a decent story presented with a minimum of skill. Using that as a guideline, it is safe to say that this was an excellent book, which I can recommend to you all. Even if you are not a fan of the Flash- and even if you know next to nothing about the character, the book eases you into things in such a way that a total Flash “newbie” would be able to follow it. I would even urge anyone who is curious about the Flash to check this book out – its self-contained nature is an excellent way for the curious to see if the Flash is a character they would be willing to read in comic form. Bottom Line This, as with most comic related books, I found to be an enjoyable, light read. As much as we all enjoy comics, I am surprised that comic novels don’t get more play amongst this community. The ones that are well done deserve praise – after all, they are written primarily for us. Justice League of America – The Flash: Stop Motion is a pat 325 pages long, and carries a cover price of $6.95. It is the third book in the Justice League of America series from Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books division, and is written by Mark Scultz. You can order it from Amazon here or you can look for it in your local bookstore. Next week – another comic related novel! In the meantime, check out StillontheShelf.com for my own archives, as well as tons of other swell features. Enjoy! |
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