I was in the first grade when Barry Allen died. I don't understand why I should see him as the Greatest Flash Ever just because Geoff Johns says so. - Diana Kingston-Gabai
Yeah well, I wonder how many complained about
Jay Garrick purists back in 1956? And if we're truly unlucky, future bloggers will have to contend with
Bart Allen worship many decades from now. I'd rather not take the issue seriously, nor treat it in a literal in-universe fashion. Looking at the career of
Alex Ross usually helps remind me of the unattractive qualities of nostalgia and fanboy obsession over minutiae. I'm from the same generation as Alex (And Geoff) and also grew-up on
DC fare. But I didn't care for the increasing levels of adoration for an artificially constructed past found within each successive story. Nor did I identify with him when he began to proclaim
ad nauseam of the greatness of DC's big three (Or big five). But I guess reverence goes with being a hardcore fan. Maybe that's why so many of Alex's projects get the deluxe treatment. And it's a sign of how much DC and
Marvel are playing exclusively to that fan-base that they can treat their respective universes as the setting for some grandiose ongoing melodrama involving most of their characters and creating the illusion of change. Anyone who feels confused and alienated by this is going to have to find something else to occupy their time.
