Writer/Artist Francis Manapul Talks About Importance of Optimism in ‘The Flash’

Writer/artist Francis Manapul is one-half of the team that was put in charge of relaunching "The Flash" for DC Comics' New 52. One of the things Manapul and fellow writer Brian Buccallato are trying to do with the new direction of the book is inject elements of real world science into it. I had the opportunity to talk with Manapul about the concept and what they hope to accomplish through it.

How is the Flash now rooted in the real world of science?

The Flash is the blimp in the sky and these scientific facts are the anchors that keep him from going into outer space. What's been really great about it is that by doing this it helps expand the reading experience. It makes you feel that many of these things can happen. It creates more reader involvement if they research the words we use. It would definitely expand the experience should you be a more inquisitive reader and you peruse certain websites. It would allow you to fill in some of those gaps.

It's similar to how a lot of the storytelling techniques we use in comic books [are] allowing readers to complete the story between the gutters. It makes you feel more involved in the story. It makes you feel like it can be real. When something feels real, you have more of an emotional investment in it.

How do you feel The Flash has changed over the years and become more modern?

What's really great about this is that we have the opportunity to contrast this character that had his prominence in the Silver Age. That was a very optimistic time in the way we saw our heroes. I think taking that shiny undamaged armor, bringing it into this dirty alleyway, and then seeing how it would react. It helps make our hero more special by grounding him. It absolutely puts them in a certain light. When I was a kid I always thought that reading comics and seeing their struggles had helped me figure out what's right and wrong. I think that's a great thing to explore.

What do you feel like is different in you version of "The Flash"?

It gives you this feeling that, in spite the global situation, we can rely on hope and be optimistic that everything will be okay. I think that's absolutely something we need to have in our book. You come away from some of the books that are out now feeling horrible. It just seems like everything is bad all the time. Obviously, in a continuing story things need to end that way. There's still no reason why it shouldn't end in a way readers can hope for a better tomorrow. We didn't want a comic about what it would be like if there were real super heroes. We didn't want that. We wanted a comic book that was about what we HOPE super heroes would be like if they were real.

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Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie and comic book news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Besides his three decades long obsession with everything sci-fi, horror, and fantasy related in TV and movies, Eric has what some would call an unhealthy love for comic books. This has led him to interviewing and covering legendary writers and artists in the medium like Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Howard Chaykin.