Flash

When Superman joined the animated world created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, he brought a ray of sunshine to the dark world of Gotham. He also brought a whole slew of other heroes with him - he defeated intergalactic threats with Green Lantern, fought against mystic enemies with Dr. Fate and even had a race around the world aginst the scarlet speedster known as the Flash. Young, brash and impulsive, Wally West gained the power of super-speed during a freak electro-chemical accident. Now the fastest man alive, he can run at velocities approaching the speed of light. Even Superman has a hard time keeping up with him. Also blessed with a quick wit, Wally takes a light-hearted view of saving the universe. He is a wisecracking, easy-going slacker who relies on speed, not brains, to get him out of trouble. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work, and his teammates will have to catch up to rescue him. For them, there is one thing the Flash cannot do fast enough - grow up. When the Flash appeared on the "Superman" episode "Speed Demons," no mention was made of whether the man behind the mask was Barry Allen or Wally West, though his personality pretty much gave it away: Barry would never have hit on Lois Lane within seconds of meeting her. Michael Rosenbaum (young Lex Luthor on WB's "Smallville") voices Wally on "Justice League," and does a great job making him the showboating motormouth he should be. Almost every animated DC character has had the same Big Five artiulation in figure form since the first series of BtAS toys, and Flash is no exception: he moves at the neck, shoulders and hips. Flash stands 4 1/2" high, and has a static, straightforward pose, which actually works in his case. Being the Fastest Man Alive, he doesn't need to be shown in a runner's stance: when he's in one place long enough to be seen, he would be standing still. Flash was redesigned slightly for his "Justice League" appearance, though nothing major - just a bit of bulk. His costume is still a sleeker, toned-down version of the comicbook Flash's: a bright red suit with yellow lightning bolt highlights. He's still got the yellow winglets on his temples and solid white eyes. Being the team's resident smartass (and wannabe ladies' man), Flash is sculpted with a slight smirk on his face. Like Wonder Woman, Flash comes with no accessories other than a display base (together, the bases spell out "JUSTICE LEAGUE" - his features the letters "UE") and a lenticular motion card. Lenticular motion is a technology that has been around for quite a while - think back to the stickers that changed pictures depending on what angle you viewed them from. The surface of the image is ribbed with plastic lenticules (tiny little lenses) running in defined lines; typically anywhere from 15 to 150 lines per inch. Each "rib" is a lens, and the lenses are designed depending on what sort of effect is needed: thick lenses make for better 3-D, while thin lenses fit in more frames. Unlike holograms, lenticular images are full-color and viewable in any lighting condition. The lack of accessories isn't as bad with Flash as it is with some of the other figures - Wally doesn't carry any weapons in the comics, so giving him some ridiculous gun would just be, well, ridiculous. Of course, I wouldn't put it past Mattel to do something like that at this point. Will Mattel ever wise up? Tell us on our message board, The Loafing Lounge.

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