Broken Frontier

Writer extraordinaire Marc Guggenheim continues to extend his reach in comicdom, having taken over DC’s newest Scarlet Speedster.  Never one to shy away from a tough sell, he stopped by to talk about how he can take the Flash back to the top.

BROKEN FRONTIER: After having such success with the Marvel books, what was it that interested you about moving over to DC and handling one of their trademark characters?

MARC GUGGENHEIM: Well, I'm a fan of the DC characters, too.  When it comes to writing comics, I'm like a kid in a candy store and, well, I wanted to try my hand at some of that DC chocolate...

BF: How did that come about? Another one of those “they asked…” situations?

MG: Well, they DID ask, but the route was a little more circuitous than that.  I'd been talking with Flash editor Joan Hilty about some other DC-related projects and in the midst of that discussion, the Flash opened up.  Then... she asked.

BF: What is it about the character of the Flash that you found appealing?

MG: The rich history of the character, for one.  Flash is one of the DC icons, regardless of who happens to be wearing the suit.  It's a big thrill to be charting the adventures of a character who was around since before I was born.  Plus, a lot of writers I really admire—Mark Waid, Mike Baron, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns—have all made their mark on the character and that's a rich legacy that I'd like to humbly try to be a part of.

BF: Why did you think you would be able to find a nice voice for him?

MG: Well, I think I caught a bit of a break in the form of Bart.  He's got a sense of humor and I think that plays to my strengths as a writer.  One of the most gratifying things I've heard about my first issue of Flash—from DC and readers on the internet—is that I've captured Bart's "voice."  That was a big goal for me.  It was something that I felt was very important to nail.

BF: The current Flash series (as started after Infinite Crisis) saw very nice initial success but tailed off rather quickly.  A lot of the blame was placed on the writers of the series, but I think it goes beyond that a little bit. 

When the series started people were unsure of who would be taking up the Flash mantle and were let down a bit that the new Crisis forced them to take up a new Flash.  What are your thoughts on this and the current state of the Flash?  Do you have any words of inspiration to the upset fans to give them hope for your run on the book?

MG: I think the controversy—let's call a spade a spade here, it's a controversy—Bart taking up the mantle of the Flash comes with the territory.  I remember a similar debate when Wally took over for Barry, or when Kyle took over as Green Lantern after Hal fell off the deep end.  There has always been resistance to this kind of change and I suspect there always will be. 

There wasn't this type of resistance when, say, Jean Paul Valley became Batman because everyone knew that wasn't bound to last, but when it comes to Bart wearing the Flash outfit, there's precedent for that change sticking.  People know this is real and Bart is the status quo and that it's not a temporary thing.  That's controversial. 

Does controversy equal low sales?  Sometimes.  And maybe, as you suggest, that's been the case with Flash here.  I don't know.  I don't spend a lot of time thinking about sales.  (Don't believe me?  Dude, I write Blade.)  I choose to, instead, spend my time thinking about what I'm writing and how to make it as good as I possibly can.  I think quality can squelch most any controversy.  My goal here is to make you believe that Bart is the Flash.  Period.

BF: In line with that last question, while there may be a need to distance Bart from the older Flashes to establish his own identity as the Scarlet Speedster (always wanted to write that), legacy has always been very important to the DC Universe.  What is your take on the ideas of legacy and how important will it be to your work on the book?

MG: Well, I don't think establishing Bart's own identity and paying homage to his legacy are mutually exclusive.  Bart is such a different personality from Wally and Barry.  If you're writing him correctly, there's just no way to make him sound and act like Wally and Barry. Which frees you up to acknowledge Wally and Barry without fear of “confusing the issue."

And you're right:  Legacy has always been important to the DCU, particularly to the Flash.  I think that's one of the coolest things about the DCU and one of the coolest things about the Flash.  That's why I made sure there was a pretty significant shout out to that legacy in my very first issue.

       

BF: While your Wolverine was a 6-parter tied into a massive crossover, with Blade you have made the attempt to keep the book very open to new readers.  Each issue is self -ontained and you've made some strides to inject something other than vampire horror into the book.  Does your approach for Flash lean more to the former or later?

MG: Absolutely.  I'll definitely be injecting something other than vampire horror into the Flash. 

Err...  Let me tackle that again:

The approach I'm taking for Flash is to make the first two issues more-or-less self-contained.  That's something I've learned from my television work:  Give the audience a couple of opportunities to jump on board before the train leaves the continuity station.

Even after those first two issues, my approach is to write each issue as if it's the first issue for SOMEBODY. That's the only way to fly.  Even with Wolverine, I strived to be new-reader friendly with every issue, even going so far as to write the recap pages myself.  There are no recap pages for Flash, but I'll be using the internal narration that Bart uses to bring newbies up to speed.

BF: What types of stories will you be telling here? Straight superhero action?  Introspective self journey? What type do you feel works best for Bart?

MG: My first arc has one overarching goal:  By the end, get people to accept Bart as the Flash.  I'm aware a lot of people see Bart as a pretender to the throne and I really want to dispel that notion with my first arc. That way, we can move on to even bigger and better things without that baggage of doubt weighing us down.

BF: How much research did you have to do for this book?

MG: Quite a bit.  There's a lot—A LOT—of backstory to catch up on here.

BF: Was it limited to past Bart appearances or did you dive completely into the history of The Flash?

MG: I've been a longtime Flash reader and an Impulse reader, so my research was mainly focused on filling in those few gaps I had in my reading history and re-educating myself about various characters—e.g., the Rogues—who loom large in my first arc.

BF: And what is your take on Bart's odd history, after all, even for a speedster he seemed to change from Impulse to Kid Flash to actual Flash pretty quickly.

MG: That might be the trickiest thing about handling the book.  I want to acknowledge Bart's unusual, shall we say, upbringing without bogging us down in a backstory that is, quite frankly, pretty convoluted. 

In fact, I'd written up a little summary of that backstory for my first issue, but took it out of the finished script because it was like, "Why am I going into this kinda detail?  It just muddies the waters and intimidates new readers."  But you'll see from my first issue, I'm not ignoring it by any measure, either.  It's a very delicate balance.

BF: Where do you see Bart's place in the overall DC Universe?  Wally went from Titan to Justice Leaguer almost immediately after Barry died, so he could take up the legacy.  Is legacy that important to Bart?  Where does he see himself fitting into the larger scope of the DC Universe?

MG: Legacy is incredibly important to Bart.  That's why he's enrolled in the Los Angeles Police Department Academy—to follow in Barry's footsteps as a man, not just as the Flash.  As far as fitting into the DCU is concerned, there's a happy coincidence here:  Bart has to prove he's the Flash—to himself if no one else. 

In that sense, his goal and my goal as his writer are very much in line with each other: We both want to show the world that Bart is the Flash. However, that's not to say that my job won't be easier than Bart's.

BF: Similarly to Bart's legacy as the Flash, the book itself has been defined by two pretty lengthy runs by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns, both of which were critically and commercially loved.  How has it been for you trying to live up to, match, or even surpass that?  Any worries on your part about being compared to those two guys?

MG: I don't try to live up to anybody else's work.  I never think that I can.  I'm as big a fan of those two runs as anybody and rather than be intimidated by them, I try to be inspired by them.  That inspiration drives me to do my best work.

BF: Ron Adrian left the title after your first issue last month.  What made him a good match for the Flash?

MG: Ron was a great match for this particular Flash more than anything.  I think a lot of artists tend to make the mistake that the Flash looks like the Flash looks like the Flash regardless of who wears the uniform.  But Bart in particular has a different look and a different build than Wally and Barry and Ron and Art really recognize that.  His version of the Flash looks like Bart wearing the uniform as opposed to being a clone of Barry and/or Wally. 

BF: Finally, how long do you plan on staying on the book?

MG: My commitment is open-ended.  I'm on the book for the foreseeable future.

This interview was conducted before DC announced that Tony Daniel will be stepping onboard as the new regular Flash artist as of issue #11. Flash #10 goes on sale today.