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?
have you read a flash comic at all ? because the flash comics predates all the static shock cartoon and current tv flash is more likely to be copying its comic counterpart or its older tv version, the 1991 version.
I've noticed the similarities with the big bang and particle accelerator premises too, I wouldn't say it's a copy - it's just the most efficient way to set up their universes.
@kyrees: Yeah I just bought the Flash: Rebirth graphic novel and I've read a few Flash comics with Wally West years ago. I know that the Flash predates Static by 40 years, But the events that took place with the particle accelerator & as well as the Flash's mother death, happened in the Flash years after Static Shocks cartoon already came out. If there's no Big Bang in Static Shock which led to him and multiple people getting their powers..then i think it doesn't take place on the Flash TV series. IMO.
that's purely coincidental because the "big bang in static shock" event and " going back in time to meet your mother" event has happened in a lot of shows, live action or animated wise. heck it's even more present in comics or manga.
it wouldn't really make sense that a newly revised material got its inspiration from a different material when said revised material could always get its inspiration from either its original or older revised material, more so in this case that the only connecting factor between them is where they actually came from.
Yeah a lot of this is stretching reason and coincidental similarities in Flash and Static's origins. It definitely doesn't mean The Flash TV show copied off the Static Shock cartoon in any way, I sincerely doubt it was even on the creators' minds when they were looking for inspiration.
Yeah a lot of this is stretching reason and coincidental similarities in Flash and Static's origins. It definitely doesn't mean The Flash TV show copied off the Static Shock cartoon in any way, I sincerely doubt it was even on the creators' minds when they were looking for inspiration.
@kyrees: I believe that it is strictly a coincidence that some of the things that appear in static shock cartoon also appear in the Flash TV series. But I still wanted to bring to light all the many similarities and for the people who are not familiar with Static shock but fans of Cw's the flash, like my friend, may feel that static shocks live serves copied off the Flash based off these similarities.
Yeah it matters. I mentioned Static tv show and it was viewed as a copy of The Flash tv series right away. This blog will let people know.. who took what from who.
@docruckus: No, Flash did not copy from Static, nor did Static copy from Flash. The first case of mass common origin for super powers that I know of is the Wild Cards sci-fi novels- an alien virus released into the atmosphere spread worldwide, causing physical mutations in some, power mutations in others, and death to some. There were at least sixteen books in that series, and at least two comic mini-series.
Of course, on smaller scales, it's happened numerous times in comics, the most well known I can think of off the top of my head being the Fantastic Four all getting their powers from cosmic rays while in space. TMNT all got their mutations from the same mutagen. The heroes introduced in DC's Bloodlines Annuals all got their powers from the same aliens. Power Pack were all given their powers by the same alien. Common origin is not a new idea.
What's much more likely than Flash copying static, is that they copied Smallville, where the common origin for all the villains' powers was Kryptonite (the only thing I hated about the show). Now, since DC owns all three, it's completely possible that someone writing Flash snitched the time travel to see mom bit from Static, but Static isn't the first to do that kind of thing either, so more likely, both borrowed from sources where it was done previously. Getting to see lost loved ones is one of the first things you think about when you think of time travel powers... or at least it is as you get older.
The lightning bolt symbol- If one copied from the other, it would be Static copying Flash, but really, there's only so many ways you can put a lightning bolt on a character's chest.
Thanks for the link. I've actually learned a lot from the replies/comments. I didn't know Smallville (also after Statics cartoon) did sorta mass power event too. I realize that the similarities are more than likely a coincidence. But I see someone else noticed the Flash /Static TV comparison and did a blog about it 6 months ago. So I'd think its an obvious observation if someone noticed it 3 months into the Flash season. They came up with more stuff tha i did. So while many of us feel that ""No. Flash did not jack Static."..it's still a debatable question.
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