News Flash! Comics Are Complicated!

For this week's topic on The Panel Biter, I'm going to need you to believe the impossible. Because this week I'll be attempting to explain some concepts within comic books. Examples being: forces of nature, a race of species and metaphysical energies. You know, the fun stuff. In attempting to explain these vast concepts, I hope to ease readers into the more complicated side of comic books. For starters lets talk about The Speed Force, a prominent element to The Flash.

After watching his CW television show, I started reading up on The Flash and boy, super speed is a lot more complex than it sounds. Flash's super speed is drawn from something called The Speed Force which not only gives him and other Flashes unstoppable speed, but it also speeds up everything else. Flash can recover from a broken arm in three hours, he can finish a novel in under twenty minutes, he can vibrate his body so fast he phases through solid objects, the limitations of The Speed Force are endless. But for all the power it grants the Speedsters of the DCU, what is The Speed Force? The Speed Force is another dimension were time stands still, it also acts as an afterlife for any speedsters if they die, as their body and mind "becomes one" with The Speed Force. One speedster known as Max Mercury used his ability to run through time in an attempt to enter The Speed Force, but only sent himself decades into the future. Barry Allen-the second Flash-has mastered control over The Speed Force and has trapped super villains inside it. The third Flash, Wally West, used The Speed Force as a communicator to other speedsters who had died. Like most energies, it carries both positive and negative properties. The Negative Speed Force is a part of The Speed Force mainly used by Flash's counterpart Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom. This negative force can disable a speedster's connection to The Speed Force. The Speed Force is also intergalactic, as scientists of the planet Savoth have tried to use The Speed Force as a weapon. Multiple Flashes have traveled to Savoth through the use of a lighting-shaped piece of solidified Speed Force energy. The Speed Force does have it's downsides, however. Because The Flash's body moves so fast, he must eat large quantities of food to make up for all the calories he burns off. To prevent his body from aging at increased speeds, The Flash had to subject himself to careful experimentation. On a lighter note, the Wally West Flash took on a heightened state of impatience for a short time, not being able to tolerate waiting in line at the bank. There is also the danger of The Flash running so fast he could travel through time and reshape the universe. And people complain Superman is too powerful.

By explaining these fictional concepts, I'm also trying to simplify them. Often the fear people have with getting into comic books is the steep learning curve it requires. Hopping into a Batman book is easy, you'll at least know the basics of Batman's world. But expansive series often include subject matter the public hasn't been properly introduced to yet. So hopefully this post has been a good start to helping readers understand the thick universe of comic books a little better.