The CW hit series is moving leaps and bounds beyond the competition by bring a genre to life on screen!
For the uninitiated someone who hasn’t grown up on comic book storytelling from the dime store counter, or waited anxiously week after the week for the latest new monthly periodical to be released, it’s a little difficult to explain what fans are experiencing when they tune into The Flash every week.
Since it premiered last fall on The CW the series endeared itself with audiences by introducing a familiar hero, introducing a new star, connecting a veteran to its reboot and putting together one of the strongest casts in primetime together on one of the few shows capable of reaching across all demographics.
The Flash starring Grant Gustin on The CW is gaining momentum with both genre fans and attracting new viewers with it’s creative reinvention of the superhero adventure series in primetime.
The story of one of DC Comics most popular characters within its well established pantheon of heroes begins withCSI investigator Barry Allen who through an accident of fate becomes the “fastest man alive” — the Flash! The red clad superhero has always been one of the imprint’s biggest sellers and has remained in demand throughout the hero’s evolution.
What makes the Flash such a standout is that at the core Barry Allen is the “everyman” who is living the impossible — when he becomes the impossible that’s when his life becomes even more interesting, but still his adventure resonates with readers and audiences alike. Sparking imaginations The Flash first appeared in primetime in the early 90s.
With actor John Wesley Shipp in the title role CBS took a great risk and ran with the Scarlet Speedster on Thursday nights up against some of the competition’s biggest shows. Still, the one-hour action series held it’s own and maintained an audience even after moving across several time slots and various weeknights.
After one-season the series would move into cult-fandom, and after following the blockbuster theatrical hit Batman directed by Tim Burton, it would usher in a “modern age” of genre-specific storytelling that included several superhero inspired shows in syndication, until Smallville came onto the scene and engaged new followers.