Sneak Peek of The Flash

"My" Flash, from the 60s, vs. The Flash on CW.
Honestly, I'm a little worried.

As a comic book fan since I could pick one up, I've written many times about my frustration that DC Comics (my favorite) has lagged so far behind Marvel Comics in getting their characters to the big or small screen. I honestly can't figure out how DC, which is owned by Warner Brothers, has such a hard time with such iconic characters in its stable. Superman had to be rebooted because of a lackluster installment (though honestly, I liked Superman Returns), they got no love for Green Lantern (I liked that one too), and the less said about Catwoman, the better.

But on TV, DC has had a bit more luck. Smallville ran for 10 years. Arrow has been getting rave reviews, but I've been leery of getting attached. Now that it's spinning off The Flash, though, I'm taking notice. The Scarlet Speedster is one of my very favorite characters. At one time I had an unbroken string of Flash comics, from the mid-70s to its cancellation in the 80s. But I'm worried that WB is going to muck it up.

Marvel has managed to have three simultaneous movie universes going at once (though they'd love to have them all under one roof, I'm sure). There is some attempt made within them at some internal consistency, especially in the Marvel Studios movies, with Iron Man, The Avengers, Thor, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, The Incredible Hulk and even with their TV shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Daredevil. DC, on the other hand, has usually had stand-alone movie and TV universes. Lois & Clark was its own thing, the original Superman movies are their own thing (with Supergirl), the original Batman movie series stands alone, and the Dark Knight Batman movies are a self-contained trilogy. Smallville seemed to be going somewhere with a Justice League, but when it ended, so did that universe.

DC seems to be going somewhere, tying things together. Man of Steel will have a spinoff that includes a new Ben Affleck Batman and Wonder Woman. But will it tie to Arrow and The Flash? Will the new Gotham have anything to do with any of them? Does Warner have somebody helming these different projects, to try and create synchronicity? If not, why not?