220 FOLKLORE IN COMICS
Barry Allen essentially stayed dead, making way for West to become the next Flash.
A third Flash series would begin with issue #1 in June 1987.
Many early writers of the series would focus on character-driven stories. Some of
the infl uences’ of the short-lived Flash television series made their way into the look of
the Wally West Flash. Writer Mark Waid introduced the concept of the “Speed Force,”
an energy fi eld that speeders may tap into to gain their abilities. Such an explanation
gave some legitimacy to origin stories involving chemicals or heavy water as the catalyst
for gaining similar abilities. Jay Garrick was also reintroduced in this series as a mem-
ber of West’s extended Flash family. West would have a love interest, Linda Park, who
would keep him grounded in reality rather than taken away by the Speed Force. Th e
third Flash series ran monthly until March 2006 and has been on and off hiatus since
that time for creative and promotional purposes, usually replaced by limited-series and
one-shots. Th e Flash: Rebirth miniseries (the latest Flash comic) concluded in February
2010 and is likely to be followed by a regular monthly Flash series.
Bart Allen was also introduced in the third Flash series as Impulse, the 30th- century
grandson of Barry Allen. Bart Allen would later become Kid Flash and fi nally take up
the responsibility of the Flash after the disappearance of Wally West at the end of 2006’s
Infi nite Crisis. Bart Allen’s run as Flash would be short lived, as the character was killed
at the end of his own maxi-series Flash: Th e Fastest Man Alive. As of 2009 the Flash
characters, including Wally West, Barry Allen, and Bart Allen seem to be resurfacing
again after the events of Final Crisis as a fourth Flash series is in development featuring
a multi-generational lineup.
D. R. Hammontree
FOLKLORE IN COMICS. Folklore, made up of traditional customs, superstitions,
myths, folktales, legends, riddles, proverbs, rituals, motifs, dances, and songs that have
been adopted and maintained within a given community by processes of repetition
not reliant on the written word, permeates popular culture, both consciously and sub-
consciously. Th e world of comic books is no exception. Comic book creators borrow
themes, archetypes, and ideas current in traditional and contemporary folklore to
construct their own narratives, histories, heroes, villains, and legends. Folklore is in the
public domain and thus freely available for anyone to mould, meld, or mediate in any
format. Banks and Wein state that “the use of folklore in popular literature provides
an arena where the reader connects with the writer. Here they can experience together
a sense of community through shared beliefs and history, thereby creating a commu-
nity of the comic world” (1998). Th ese folklore references are often transparent and
well-known, such as in the case of Th or , where the name of the Norse god, his magic
hammer, and some of his attributes are used to establish a new universe for him and
his adventures. Others are more oblique, such as the characterization of the Swamp
Th ing as the Green Man of folklore, the continuous references to the “trickster” in rela-
tion to John Constantine, the hero quest of Dream and the central role of Hecate in
Sandman.
