After hearing the news about Jaden Smith playing Static in the live action Static Shock series with my friend, who has never heard of Static Shock, I explained to her just who Static is, how he got his powers, and broke down the TV/Cartoon series. Following my description of the Static Shock cartoon, her immediate response was: " That sounds like the Flash show.". I didn't realize it until then that when the Static live series debuts, A lot of people unfamiliar with the character and his origin/story lines...is going to think it's a rip off of the Flash and hopefully this blog with prove them wrong.
Now, being someone who is familiar with both characters and watched both shows, I know the many differences between the two DC TV series. But I can also see the similarities in both series ( the Static Shock cartoon & the live CW Flash series) and it seems to me that:
The Flash TV series copied off the Static Shock cartoon.
EXHIBIT A:WITH GREAT POWER COMES GET RESPONSIBILITY
In the Static Shock series: During a dispute
between the gangs and police, a shot was fired
releasing gas with an unknown mutagen known as
Q-juice which caused mutations among the people
in the vicinity. Virgil inhaled some of the gas and
discovers that he has the ability to create, generate, absorb, and control electricity and magnetism.
Virgil soon discovers that the gas also gave
others in the area their own powers, and
unfortunately, it also led several of them to
become super villains. Virgil vows to use his gifts to
protect Dakota City as a super hero known as
"Static".
In the Flash TV series, an advanced particle accelerator malfunctions during its public unveiling, bathing the city center with an unknown form of radiation that created a severe thunderstorm which caused mutations among certain people within the vicinity.
Barry is struck by lightning from the storm, doused with chemicals in his lab and discovers he has the ability to move at superhuman speeds. Allen soon discovers that he is not the only one who was changed by the radiation. Allen vows to use his gifts to protect Central City from the escalating violence of meta human criminals as the super hero known as
" The Flash".
Okay. I think it's obvious why someone would think that Static Shock would knock off the Flash. The advanced particle accelerator did exactly what the Big Bang event did: created one super hero and a ton of super villains for him to fight off from destroying his city. Buttttt.... this origin of the Flash is basically made for TV whereas Static's origin story actually took place in the comic book during the mid 90's as well as the cartoon series which debuted almost two decades before the CW Flash series.
DURING BOTH SERIES, EACH HERO HAD HELP WITH THEIR FIGHT AGAINST CRIME. STATIC HAD RICHIE FOLEY AND THE FLASH HAD CISO RAMON (& A FEW OTHERS). RICHIE IS A POP CULTURE GREEK, GAME PLAYING, COMIC BOOK NERD WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE VERYINTELLIGENT. RICHIE IS THE ONE THAT HELPED STATIC MAKE UP HIS COSTUME AND DESIGNED/CREATED A LOT OF STATICS TECH AND ENCOURAGED HIM TO BECOME A SUPER HERO. RICHIE, OVER THE YEARS WOULD BECOME A HERO IN HIS OWN RIGHT. DURING THE 3RD SEASON OF STATIC SHOCK, IT WAS REVEALED THAT RICHIE WAS EXPOSED TO THE QUANTUM RESIDUE THAT WAS ON STATIC MINUTES AFTER THE BIG BANG. THIS BOOSTED RICHIES BRAIN CAPACITY AND MADE HIM A TECHNOPATH KNOWN AS "GEAR".
THE FLASH, AS I STATED BEFORE, ALSO HAS A BUDDY THAT HELPED HIM OUT IN EVERY EPISODE. THAT FRIEND IS FRANCISCO RAMON. CISCO IS EXTREMELY INTELLECT AND IS PROBABLY THE SMARTEST CHARACTER ON THE FLASH. CISCO IS A
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GENIUS WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE A POP CULTURE, MOVIES, & COMIC BOOK GREEK...LIKE RICHIE. CISCO HELPED THE FLASH LEARN HOW TO CONTROL HIS POWERS, DESIGNED THE FLASH'S COSTUME, AND BUILT TECH FOR FLASH TO USE. DURING THE END OF THE 1ST SEASON OF THE FLASH, IT WAS REVEALED THAT CISCO WAS ALSO EXPOSED BY THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR BLAST. THIS ALLOWED CISCO TO DETECT AND REMEMBER ALTERNATE TIMELINES BY FEELING AND CONTROLLING
VIBRATIONS. CISCO WILL BECOME THE HERO KNOWN AS "VIBE".
Ok.Ok. I admit This may be a stretch, but you see the similarities right? Now I know Cisco was created looong before Static & Gear were even though of, but this version of him never existed...until after Static Shock came out that is.
EXHIBIT C: GOING BACK IN TIME . . .TO SEE MY DEAD MOM.
IN STATIC CARTOON SERIES, NOT THE COMIC, STATIC'S MOTHER HAD DIED DUE TO GANG VIOLENCE. THIS HAPPENED WHEN VIRGIL WAS AGE TEN, YEARS BEFORE HE BECAME STATIC. DURING AN EPISODE OF STATIC SHOCK WHEN HE HAD WENT BACK IN TIME, STATIC WAS ABLE TO SEE HIS MOTHER MINUTES BEFORE HER UNTIMELY DEATH. STATIC TOOK OFF HIS MASK, REVEALED TO HIS MOTHER THAT HE WAS AN OLDER VERSION OF HER SON, AND SHOWED HER HIS LOVE BEFORE GOING BACK INTO THE PRESENT TIME.
YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE VIDEO OF IT BELOW...
SIMILAR TO WHAT HAPPENED IN STATIC CARTOON SERIES, THE FLASH' S MOTHER ALSO WAS KILLED, BUT INSTEAD OF GANG VIOLENCE, IT WAS BY HIS ARCH NEMESIS: THE REVERSE FLASH. THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE BARRY BECAME FLASH. AT THE TIME, THIS STORYLINE OF THE FLASH'S MOTHER DYING NEVER TOOK PLACE IN THE COMIC BOOK UNTIL 2008...EIGHT YEARS AFTER STATIC SHOCK ALREADY DONE IT. ANYHOW...DURING THE SEASON FINALE, THE FLASH DETERMINED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS MOTHER,GOES BACK INTO TIME TO SAVE HER FROM THE REVERSE FLASH. THOUGH HE ALLOWED THE EVENTS TO PLAY OUT AND HIS MOTHER GETS KILLED...AGAIN. THE FLASH WAS ABLE TO SEE & TALK TO HIS MOTHER MINUTES BEFORE HER UNTIMELY DEATH. FLASH TOOK OFF HIS MASK, REVEALED TO HIS MOTHER THAT HE WAS AN OLDER VERSION OF HER SON, AND DISPLAYED HER HIS LOVE BEFORE GOING BACK INTO THE PRESENT TIME. HMM...SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR TO WHAT I JUST WROTE ABOUT STATIC SHOCK. YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE FLASH'S VISIT TO SEE HIS MOM BELOW...
I believe that's 3 out of 3 when it comes to The Flash TV series stealing from Static's cartoon. WOW!!
IN STATIC CARTOON SERIES (AND LATER IN THE COMIC) STATIC'S SYMBOL IS OR RATHER APPEARS TO BE A MOVING LIGHTNING BOLT.
SOME ARTIST DRAWS HIM WITH A BOLT VERY SIMILAR TO THE FLASH ICONIC SYMBOL. BUT UNLIKE ALL THE OTHER FACTS THAT PROVED THE FLASH SERIES STOLE FROM STATIC SHOCK CARTOON...
I DECIDED TO BE NICE AND SHOW THAT STATIC HAS ALSO..SOMEWHAT...HAS SOMETHING THAT THE FLASH HAD FIRST AND THAT'S THE LIGHTNING BOLT SYMBOL.
EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT...THEY'RE ALSO VERY SIMILAR. JUST LIKE SEVERAL PARTS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE TV/CARTOON SERIES.
That's it for my lil' Blog about The similarities between The Flash (CW) and Static Shock (cartoon) series. I know to some feels this is completely wrong and i'm stretching to make connections between the two shows but I think I've just highlighted some of the obvious things that do connect between them. What do you think..Did THE FLASH copy STATIC SHOCK or it's all just a big coincidence?
