The Flash: Stop Motion

Justice League of America #4

by Mark Schultz

Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Green Lantern.They are the world's greatest super heroes, fighting endlessly against corruption and injustice. Each of them is a formidable opponent of evil, but banded together their powers are unmatched. Ever ready, they stand united as the --

JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA

As the Flash, Wally West may be struggling to find his place within the ranks of the JLA, but he knows he has one great advantage over every trial he has ever faced: he is the Fastest Man Alive. Now, for the first time, he has met his match. A scientist has created something that can move even faster than Wally West -- and it's killing people in Keystone City. Forced to battle the one foe who can truly stay one step ahead of him, the Flash soon learns that the consequences of the creature's actions reach far beyond Keystone and threaten the future itself with annihilation.

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Fiction, Audiobook, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 24, 2004

About the author

Mark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely recognized work is the creator-owned comic book series Xenozoic Tales, which describes a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans. In 1993, Xenozoic Tales was adapted into an animated series titled Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and a video game of the same name. Schultz's other notable works include various Aliens comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse and a four-year run on the DC Comics series Superman: The Man of Steel. In 2004, Schultz took over the scripting duties of the Prince Valiant comic strip.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This pre-52/rebirth/tv series prose novel isn't a bad J.L.A./Wally West story, though it does seem a little slow-paced in spots since it claims to feature the fastest man alive. The antagonist did tend to run on a bit too much. Wally is feeling a bit insecure about being the youngest member of the J.L.A., but it all seems to work out all right in the end. It's not a very memorable story, especially in view of the many retcons and reboots we've had since, but it held my attention. (Insert your own Flash-fiction pun here. Thanks.)

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit Wally West is my least favourite Flash, to me he is what he fears he is a second rate Barry Allen. This book did nothing to change my opinion of him. That being said I still found this book very dissapointing. What really let this book down for me was the pace of the book. For a story staring the fastest man alive it is extremely slow.

Wally does not have a secret identity everyone knows he is the Flash. Despite all the good he does patrolling his cities, he is still a junior member of the Justice League. This is proven in their last assignment protecting the planet from a meteor shower. Already feeling down, he returnes to Keystone city, to help the keystone cops solve a serial murderer. What he discovers is a being supposedly even faster that he is.

The premise is ok, but the explainations of their powers and the battle scenes are very confusing, and usually has Wally bearly surviving by luck that ant sort of skill. This is a badly written, slow story with rushed writing. Even the ending seemed drawn out the just finished as it is done the end. Very dissapointing for a Flash fan like me.

[Tamahome · Rating 2 out of 5]

first 5 minutes sound terrific, listening while trying to sleep

it's funny to hear a comic book done in that verbose novel vocabulary

hour 5/6: I'm not a big fan of nebulous formless villians

All done. Not into fights at the 'quantum' level. Maybe 2.5 stars. 5 star production, 2 star story.

[a*s*h · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I finished sobbing about this book, I figured the only other thing I could do was leave an overly long, rambling, incoherent review, that would serve no other purpose than to be catharsis for me.

First things first: that blurb spoils the first four hours of the story, to be honest. I'm so glad I was illiterate enough not to read it.

I listened to the GraphicAudio production of Stop Motion and I don’t know how I’m supposed to listen to another audiobook after this. Heck, I don’t even know how I’m supposed to consume any other superhero media after this. It’s simply incredible. Maybe I’m on a high because I just finished the book, but you know what?? It’s still incredible. The sound design, the mixing, the voice actors, the narrator; every aspect of this production is freaking flawless. When they say “a movie in your mind,” they mean it. And not just ANY movie. An incredible movie!!!

This is just one example, but it’s just obvious in the fight scenes especially. I mean, how do you show a fight scene in audio?? The strong prose works so well with the sound effects, the speed exhibited by the protagonist and antagonist have distinct SOUNDS that has WEIGHT and characterises their individual powers and oh my god it’s so cool. It makes SPEED sound so ...different. It’s hard to explain in words: “THE WHOOSH IS JUST SO COOL FOLKS” but indeed, the whoosh is very cool.

It’s not just the speed sound effects though, even just the ambient sounds, or the attention to detail with the footfalls for certain characters sounding heavier, or having different sounds because of the shoes they’re wearing , or even the faint whirring and humming from all the machines in the Watchtower, or even the weird alien ambient noise in the more extra dimensional settings like the Speed Force and such -- it brings such a high quality VIEW of it all. All the details of the ambient sound make the settings so distinct and it’s just. Ugh. Can you say immersive.

There’s so much more to gush about the whole....THING of the thing, THE PRODUCTION QUALITY, because of just how good it SOUNDS!! I love the voice performances (ESPECIALLY WALLY’S), the narrator (Richard Rohan) has such good pacing and emphasis, the music is well chosen, and oh yeah holy crap: THE SCOREEEEE!!! It was just epic and awesome and creepy and futuristic and PERFECT!!!

I still have to talk about the voice performances though, like. All the voice actors did so well, but I especially have to talk about Wally, played by Michael Glenn (yes, I replayed and played the ending credits audio to catch that) because HE WAS SO GOOD!! Like!! This is where I really go off the incoherent deep end because!!! (!!!) I have no words!!!! It was just very good and all the feelings and thoughts Wally was having were so like WELL ACTED (??). The emotion was THERE and the RANGEEEEE!!! The last bit where Wally gives up the Super Luminoid to the Seventh Singularity, really got to me, Mr Glenn just sells it. I was MOVED. In fact, the whole final battle was low-key a tearjerker. You can really hear the strain Wally's under. Basically, Mr Glenn does anguish realllly well and I was very much was bawling.

Also shout out to Karen Corbone (?) who voiced Linda Park, Wally’s wife. It was a great performance and I loved her character so much. And the Martian Manhunter, because he was a delight. I love the polite-alien-doing-his-best-but-oh-my-god-humans-are-confusing vibes. And Detective Chayar (?) because of his funny accent. I'm not USAian, what was that?? Like...New Yorker?? Whatever it was, it was bloody hilarious.

Okay, I can move on to the story now.

Mark Schultz basically delivered a piece of superhero media that will now be cherished by me forever. It’s going into my hall of faves. Here I was thinking the only writer I trusted with Wallace Rudolph West was Mark Waid (legend). Wally is just....a very beloved comic character to me and it’s sooOO GOOD, BEYOND GOOD, to see him here in the front and centre.

That’s great enough on its own, him being the main character, but then he’s also so well characterised??? And he had a whole arc and so many good character moments and such great insight into his brain and his powers and his personal life and superhero life and his relationship with Barry and Iris and oh my god I’m going to start crying again.

I love - I ADORE his arc here. I love how the story handles his problems with fully controlling and commanding his speed, the insecurity that subtly plagues him and holds him back. It’s so good, gosh, I wanna say it’s so...maturely done?? You never get the sense that the story is trying to hit you over the head with “WALLY IS SAD!” because the way Wally exhibits his flaws is so like...well-executed...and integrated into his internal monologue really nicely. Like, you only see it because we spend most of the book in his head, but it slips out in the way he says things, or his first thoughts about a situation, or the things he gets worried about. It's clear to see after Part 5 where he’s learned everything about how to defeat the Super Luminoid and he’s calm and determined, because he's finally found that faith in himself, and the faith ALSO, that even without the knowledge, he has that POTENTIAL, and the CAPACITY....that's what stays with him!!!! It just makes it so stark that's what he's been missing the whole book, that belief in himself.

The arc was so GOOD, and it was so SATISFYING how his main problem was tied into how he eventually defeats the villain. It’s shown throughout, but two moments that stand out are when he's playing Steal the Bacon with Superman and he loses because of his impatience and self consciousness keeping him in motion instead of taking just a moment to be still and bide his time and wait ; and how at beginning he didn’t want to stand around waiting for the meteorites because he thought he was being sidelined. That whole theme, that he doesn’t want to stop moving, he’s always running himself ragged, the disconnect between the speed of his mind and the speed of his body — he starts off in this way, in disharmony with himself. His powers are all there, and he has the memory of people's faith in him, and people have faith in him still , but he just doesn’t have it himself.

And then throughout the story he’s just — all his insecurities and doubts and inconsistencies eventually just run him down enough, and then when he finally learns the secret of the Speed Force and opens his brain up to his quantum powers , just, the way he uses them just!! Ties up so beautifully with his character arc!!! He uses that one nugget of information about the Super Luminoid to stop it and he’s in complete sync with himself, but with also ties so well to his themes!! The stop motion!! I’m not explaining but it’s just basically!! To finally end this villain, he has to learn the true nature of himself and see his ultimate potential!!! And let the faith others have in him change his self perception!! He basically did with that with the Singularity!! To finally defeat the Super Luminoid he has to wait, he has to WAIT at a cost and he has to live with it, oh my god this part really got me in my feelings. And there goes my sentence structure. Oh lord, this book is tearing at my brain molecules too.

The relationships Wally has with Iris and Linda and Barry and all these people in his life,,,,I just love how it’s emphasised. I love how supportive they all are, and I love how Wally draws strength from all of them. I love how much he cares and thinks and remembers and holds on to their memory when he’s not even on the same plane of reality - the way their love is what tethers him.....

Another thing. I love how the story is this huge super dimensional saga with like, reality shattering stakes and still, it’s so tied to Wally’s world at such a personal level. It’s somehow got the best of both worlds, being a story like this; it makes you care so much, and it makes the villain and the consequences of the whole story stay so closely connected with Wally as both a hero and a person even as the stakes grow higher and higher. The outcome and damage never loses that personal weight and impact.

Leading on, this story hit like all the things I WANT in speedster fiction!! I saw some people complain about this, but it’s absolutely my jam. I loVE the wild dimensional craziness, the untold realities and the incomprehensible vastness of the story and the impossible reach across galaxies and the absolute mangling of space-time-physics-reality shenanigans going on. I love balls to the walls cosmic insanity. And even for a story that was balls to the walls cosmic insanity, it was???? Not actually that crazy??? It never got so much that nothing mattered because the story got so grand. Which is a VERYYYYY fine line, my dude, Flash comics have not been able to tread it very well, it just goes straight into 'yeah and then' territory. But this story manages, VERY WELL IMO, to maintain realistic stakes escalation, and all the more cosmic elements are written so creatively, so that you’re aware that something beyond human comprehension is supposed to be going on, but your eyes aren't completely glazing over with the enormity of it all - and of course, supplemented by some awesome audio effects - it just really creates the coolest atmosphere.

The world building - as far as you can have world building for something so off the rails - is so interesting and creative. I’m thinking specifically of the way the Speed Force is characterised, and even more the way it was positioned in the Speedster mythos, with Wally going on about how previous and contemporary speedsters had tried to define and understand it, and even the technique he uses to run into the Speed Force is soo cool, and it’s somehow so GROUNDED. It’s what I was saying escalation; the suspension of disbelief holds, because the story maintains its own set of rules that never makes any of the wilder elements of the story feel unreachable entirely. It’s totally immersive.

The world also has such detail to it - I cannot run out of examples for this, but every setting is always readily described. We get such a good like all round VIEW of it, whether it be a Star Labs facility or an alien armour plating, or something that might even totally defy description, like the form of the Super Luminoid. Really out there concepts are brought into focus with wonder and care and detail that really make the story that much more awesome and grand and YOU REALLY CAN SEE IT oof. When they SAID “A MOVIE IN YOUR MIND” I—

And the good writing isn’t limited to the descriptions!! Even just character dynamics or interactions go off!! I especially liked Wally and Linda for the brief but memorable times they interacted, because of how warm and loving and mature and AN ABSOLUTE UNIT THEY WERE TOGETHER, I jusT want them to be mainstream canon again please. I also loved the Justice League; they felt more formal than I was used to, but I still liked this depiction of them. They still felt so much like a team, and a very efficient one at that. I liked how they had each other’s backs, and they all had their own unique skill-set defined and utilised, and their own unique way of interacting with an opponent or situation. Particular soft spot for the Martian Manhunter and Kyle Rayner. They weren’t around too much, but I enjoyed when they were. And Mario and Chayar!! (Dunno if that's how you'd spell their names.) They were fun characters. I enjoyed them being there and their dynamic with each other and with Wally was great. I really just liked how every character, even if they were a side character with little screen time, all felt like they had their own place and thing going on, you know? Major props to the voice actors once again.

There’s probably a lot of BS I haven't mentioned I should rave about, but here are some honourable mentions:

- I love the murder mystery of how it all starts?? Straight-up body horror with the decapitated heads. It was honestly SUCH an intriguing and visceral way to kick off the action, jeez. And as the mystery started unfolding, it just KEPT up the craziness; it was so baffling and creative. I was ON THE EDGE OF MY METAPHORICAL SEAT

- IN FACT, suspense is built up so WELL IN SO MANY SCENES AND THE USE OF CLIFFHANGERS FOR EACH PART?? MASTERFUL. The tension builds and rises really well imo. A lot of scenes (read: the scene with the darn RATS) really got my heart pumping, the book does such a great job of twisting up the energy, yikes

- This is another complaint I saw, but I actually love being in Wally’s head for so much of the book, and just listening to him wax on about his past and how he’s feeling. Like, YES, please, I wanna know how you’re doing man, how is everything, please tell me more

- I love the Speed Force lore. Part Five with the Singularity just UTTERING more and more cosmic 4D lore about the Speed Force and Wally’s quantum powers , it was life juice for me I can’t explain how

- The way Wally’s fights are written are all sooo satisfying; there’s just so much thought into when and where, and to what degree he’s accelerating, what it’s doing to his STATE, how he must be SEEING the world around him, and it pays attention to like, how he interacts with reality at such incredible speeds in terms of his freaking ATOMS, and it’s so awesome help?? Like, it's never just like 'and then in the blink of an eye he had done the thing', LIKE NO, WE ARE WALKING THROUGH THIS ATTOSECONDS WORTH OF COMBAT WE ARE DOING IT

- I love how some scenes are structured... like they show the angle of the same scene, but with ...cascading points of view? I'm thinking specifically of when the League encounter the Plasma Creature in the Indian Ocean and it starts from one League member's perspective and when they get incapacitated, it jumps to the next and it furthers the story - it is SO cool, it really ramps up tension and makes you SO curious.

- Another cool switch of POV was in the final battle between Wally and the Super Luminoid where you first see it from Iris's POV and then you ACTUALLY GET TO EXPERIENCE IT WITH WALLY AND IT WAS SO FREAKING COOL AND!!!!! Ahem. But yeah, it's really neat because for Iris it's basically five seconds of what-the-heck-is-happening and on Wally's end....oh boy....WILD.....

And that’s maybe all I can think of. I’m just glad that Wally’s the hero. I still haven’t recovered from Heroes in Crisis.

[Annie Sauder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great things first: I loved what the author did with the Flash's powers and the history of the flash family. It felt very appropriate for a flash-based story, especially the Wally West flash. I loved the moments with the Justice League, and I thought they had the perfect amount of appearance.

That being said, both the narration and the narrative flow a bit slow for a story about the Fastest Man Alive. Perhaps the author was trying to convey just how much Wally thinks for any given second, but it really made parts of the book drag. Still, I recommend this to anyone that loves the Flash and other Justice League characters!

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one took a little while to get into. But once it got going, it got going. It gets pretty heady with the quantum physics and the beings that Wally West encounters. The sound effects are really good. And I like how there are introspective moments when he questions whether he's good enough as The Flash.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first time I've read anything Flash related (where it was his story instead of just JLA).

It was enjoyable.

I think I had been expecting Barry Allan, but that's just my old school presumptions at play. I did like this Flash.

The performance was really well done and kept me quite entertained.

This is just a small review as I am at work, but yeah I really did like this.

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[C.M. Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was kinda gruesome in the early stages which had me putting it down for months before I got the courage to pick it up again and finish it.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Review of the Audiobook

Graphic Audio has a long tradition of creating excellent audiobooks by going back and telling stories they used to tell them in the old days on the radio - with actors and sound effects. Rather than reading the story to the listener as the author wrote it, they act it out like an old-fashioned radio play.

In The Flash: Stop Motion the story focuses on Wally West, the young protege of the previous Flash, Barry Allen. Barry Allen is gone now and Wally is taking the responsibilities associated with wearing the red tights seriously. But, he is so much younger than most of the rest of the Justice League and he feels a little outclassed by the others. How can he hope to contribute as much as Superman who can practically do anything? Or the Martian Manhunter who can almost keep up with Superman and has telepathic powers? The Green Lantern is young but everyone knows that his ring gives him almost unlimited power. And Wonder Woman? She is grace, power and wisdom personified. Compared to her he is just a goofy kid. And who can hope to compare himself to the likes of Batman, even if he isn't a "super"?

In the midst of this self-doubt, the Earth comes under attack in a series of asteroids. But, these asteroids are odd in that no one can scan them properly and what readings they can make don't make sense - they seem to be from another universe. The Flash can get some sense from them due to his ability to vibrate at different oscillations, but he keeps getting pulled away to deal with a series of bizarre murders in Keystone City in which the victims heads are literally blown up while they are sitting peacefully. And, once Wally West starts to realize what is really going on he knows that this is not something that the other members of the Justice League can deal with - it is up to The Flash to step up and save everyone and everything he has ever loved...

Normally, I am a big fan of Graphic Audio's productions, as I mentioned in the first paragraph. In this case, however,...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2016/...

[***Dave Hill · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Original review Jan 2007)

Overall 2/5
Story 3/5
Re-Readability 2/5
Characters 2/5

Mark Schultz is no newcomer to comics, being the writer-illustrator of Xenozoic Tales (Cadillacs & Dinosaurs), 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.

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

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.

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
into 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.

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.

The story itself mundane, except for some deus ex mechana 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.

Disappointing.

[Meghan Emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one after having read the Green Lantern novel, and though I enjoyed that one I enjoyed this one more. I really liked the way they characterized Wally. He is my favourite Flash, and I have high standards when it comes to my favourite characters. His relationship with Linda was true to the comics, and the whole thing felt like I was reading a comic. The only thing that kind of let me down was the end. It was well written, but at the same time it was very fast and felt rushed. It was very anti-climactic. It didn't ruin the whole thing though, which it easily could have. I would definitely recommend it to any Flash fan.

Grammar: A-
Characters: A
Voice: A-
World: A
Overall: A-
Recommendation: YES.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well worth the time it took me to read it. I loved getting to know more about Wally, his powers, his relationship with his Aunt Iris, his feelings about being in the Justice League, his relationship with his wife Linda and of course, the mysterious Speed Force. The writing could be a bit hard to read in places because it was so ... dense. There really isn't another word to describe it. The book reads like Wally sees the world. The action was pretty fast paced and the story was captivating. You learn so much about Wally and all speedsters. This is a must read for fans of The Flash, even if Wally isn't your Flash.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent illustration of the fact that text isn't a mode of storytelling naturally superior to the comic. The idea behind this story wasn't bad, but the book was littered with a lot of extraneous stuff. Some of these things, like Flash playing steal the bacon with Superman were fun. Some, like deciding to use nonsensical quantum mechanics techno-babble to replace the idea that physics just works differently in the DCU is annoying.

I really think that this story would have made a better comic than a book.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It was a good exploration of Wally's insecurities as to his ability to live up to the previous Flash, his uncle Barry Allen.

I liked the glimpses of the other Justice League members too, and the references to canon for this verse. The plot was good although I guessed the identity of one of the characters. It's a shame there aren't that many novels of comic book characters as while I enjoy reading comics I like this medium for them too.

[Wesley Asbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the past I wasn't a fan of the Flash. I saw him as a hugely overpowered titan with no Achilles heel to make him interesting. This book changed my perspective. It portrays Wally West as an every-man (much like Peter Parker) who's been thrown, head first into the world of super powered beings. He's unprepared for all the responsibility and struggling to live up to the memory of Barry Allen, his predecessor.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving these graphic novel adaptations performed by Graphic Audio narration! I think I have been enjoying learning more about some of these superheroes that I knew not much about. Add that to some great action scenes, a lot of physics and science and a really good plot sequence - and its 4 stars from me.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good book in this Justice League of America series. This one gives a lot of insight into the Flash, a super hero that a lot of us know of but that a lot of us don't know much about. There's a pretty good plot and looks at some of the other JLA members. All in all a really good book!

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Flash, the fastest man alive, faces a foe that can out race him and is killing the people of Keystone City.

Entertaining only up to a point. The "science" is wedged firmly between those quote marks, and the story loses momentum every time one of his Justice League friends shows up.

Pass.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the changes that the DCU has experienced since rebooting to the New 52, this title doesn't hold up the way it may have prior to the reboot. Too many things don't flow with the current rendition of these heroes.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just started this one about my favorite hero! Not one of the better Flash stories but I still enjoyed it because there are so few out there.

[Heini · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's this? Pseudo-scientific appeals to quantum physics as an explanation for what would otherwise seem supernatural in my superhero science fiction?

That's just awesome.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent book about Wally West trying to find his place inside the shoes of Barry Allen.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with Tom Dehaven's It's Superman, my favorite super hero novels.

[Matt Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent superhero book, although Im not a big fan of the flash. Decent story with a whole load of superhero sci-fy.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked most of the book. Last 1/4 just fell apart with long boring monologue by the bad guy.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of this book's pseudo-science, I fell in love with the tachyon particle. :D

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Flash has always been my favorite super hero. I really enjoyed this novel.