Jesse Quick May Never Get Her Own Movie, But...

It's been a while since I found something on YouTube that was worth pinching...er...sharing on my blog. 

It's also been a while since I've seen a fan film.  Back when I started blogging they were kind of a big deal and I remember sharing a bunch of them and being pretty impressed with some of them, too.  Most suffer from stiff, amateur acting/direction/writing but the subject matter, often lesser known superheroes, makes up for a lot in my eyes.  These are films done by fans who obviously have love for the genre and I enjoy them for that alone.

What follows is 7 minutes of fan love for a character known as Jesse Quick.  

First, a little backstory on the character.  Fan films are fun but they can't really give the casual fan a primer on a character like Jesse Quick who most folks know little about.

You might be familiar with her from a few appearances on The Flash over the middle seasons of that show.  They changed her origin and costume, but I was happy to see her get some love.  Sadly, changing that origin removed some key elements from her backstory.

 

The CW gave her more of a "Flash-Girl" look than the comics.

In the comics, Jesse Quick is the daughter of Johnny Chambers, A.K.A. Johnny Quick, a D-List speedster who was a member of The All-Star Squadron in WWII and a sometimes Justice Society member.  He got his speed by reciting a mathematical formula aloud and Jesse gets her speed the same way.  Johnny Quick is a personal favourite of mine and I collected the entire run of the All-Star Squadron back when I actually collected comics and loved every issue.  

 

Math. Giving people super powers since forever.

If you think having to recite a formula is a weird way to get super powers, you ain't seen nothin yet.  Jesse Quick's Mom is Libby Lawrence, a blonde Lois Lane type who has a secret of her own.

Libby is descended from a heroine called Miss Liberty and is secretly the WWII heroine Liberty Belle who gets her powers from the actual Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.  The trick is, her powers didn't last long once triggered so every time she needed them, she'd have to call her guy at the Liberty Bell site and have him ring it.

Seriously.  

Easy today but in the landline only era of WWII, not exactly convenient...

Tom Revere, if you can believe it.  DC writers check their subtle at the door.

 

 

Go ahead. Say "3X2(9YZ)4A" out loud.  You never know.

 

Jesse Chambers debuts as Jesse Quick and eventually takes up her Mother's mantle as the second Liberty Belle, but this is how she looked at the beginning of her career.

 

So now you're up to speed on who the comic book version of Jesse Quick is and where she comes from.  The fan film makers lifted the music and overall look and feel of this short from The Flash on the CW but they give us a more comics accurate version of the character and I applaud them for it.

 

Anyhow, here's a fun fan film that gives a nod to most of the comic book history lesson I just posted...