Classic Flash writer Mark Waid, in between his duties as Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios, still manages to find time to write comics. His latest project: Spider-Man, detailed in an interview with Newsarama.
Newsarama tries to make sense out of Warner Bros. DC Movie plans, and concludes that The Flash is unlikely to reach the big screen anytime in the next three years. Meanwhile, The Geek Files reports that Ryan Reynolds is still interested in the role.
Comics Should Be Good has been running Underappreciated Artist Spotlights, including features on Ross Andru and Mort Meskin. Ross Andru and Mike Esposito took over from Carmine Infantino as artists on The Flash in 1967. Mort Meskin was the regular artist on fellow speedster Johnny Quick’s stories in More Fun Comics and Adventure Comics throughout most of the 1940s.
The detail page doesn’t list contents, just that it’s 248 pages. Like most of DC’s Archive Editions, the list price is $50 (still less than it would cost to track down the originals in decent condition), but Amazon is currently offering it at a 37% discount.
Dallas figures that it most likely contains stories from the Silver Age Flash #133–140, which would include:
another Jay Garrick/Barry Allen team-up, this one involving the entire Justice Society of America against Vandal Savage (in fact, this is the first JSA appearance of the Silver Age);
and the tale of Kid Flash finally losing the “Mini-Me” costume for the yellow one he joined the Teen Titans with (#135)
Interestingly enough, going through Flash #140 would exactly match the current span of the cheaper, black-and-white Showcase Presents: The Flash collections (volumes 1 and 2).
Update (October 2008): The official solicitation is out, and it covers #133-141 — one more issue than predicted. The additional issue contains another milestone: the first appearance o the Rogues’ tailor, Paul Gambi.
Here’s a Speed Force first: An original interview (Not a link! Not a reprint!) with outgoing Flash writer Tom Peyer!
SPEED FORCE: You started your run by introducing a new villain, Spin, who has the power to make people’s anxieties into reality. Did you envision him as a single-use villain, or a recurring one?
TOM PEYER: You never really know if a villain is recurring until he or she recurs. I didn’t plan to kill him — but even that doesn’t always stop a villain from coming back. I was just thinking of him one story at a time.
SF: While the Flash has had many enemies over the course of his career, few have had the staying power of the original Rogues. A few years ago, they were practically regulars in the book. If they had been available when you took over as writer, would you have used them early on, or held them in reserve for later stories?
PEYER: Well, we did use Grodd. But the Mirror Masters and Captain Colds had appeared a lot in recent years, so it felt like creating Spin was the right approach. Plus, I wanted to grind my axe about cable news, and the Weather Wizard didn’t quite fit. But if I’d wanted to write a polemic against the Weather Channel… oh, don’t get me started.
SF: How did you approach balancing the story between the Flash and his kids? Do you think that the family dynamic ultimately resulted in more or fewer story possibilities?(more…)
The news blog Voices from Krypton has invited me to do a weekly Flash column. I’ll be writing a round-up of the week’s events. I’ll also be cross-posting my reviews of the Flash issues, at least for now.
CBR has an extensive interview with Brea Grant, who debuts as the super-speed villain Daphne Millbrook in Heroes Season 3: “Villains.” In it she talks about her character’s personality and journey, as well as the show’s effort to make the speedster’s powers look authentic. “We’ve talked about the physicality of it,” she says, “as well as there are just practical elements to it. I have to run a certain way, stop really quickly or stop on a dime.”
Daphne also starred in a two-part comic book story earlier this month, “Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration,” by Zach Craley and Micah Gunnell. The story is available on NBC’s website: Part 1, Part 2.
Another incredible issue from Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins that really makes you root for the bad guys. Most of Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #2 is taken up by a savage battle between the Rogues and a younger group of “New Rogues” who first appeared in Gotham Underground. The New Rogues have no idea what they’re getting into, and the book shows just how dangerous characters with names like Captain Cold, Heat Wave, and Weather Wizard can be.
Meanwhile, Zoom and Inertia get along about as well as you might expect. Which is to say: not very.
The timeline is starting to fall into place. The first issue takes place during Final Crisis #2, this one takes place during Final Crisis #3, and the whole of it takes place after the stories currently appearing in the monthly series. The Flash Family meeting in Final Crisis #3 actually continues in this issue, though either scene stands on its own.
Several story threads from early in Geoff Johns’ run on The Flash get followed up on here, including his retelling of Captain Cold’s origin. There’s also a nice explanation of why the Rogues kept going back to their tailor, Paul Gambi, which fits well with one of the stories from Grant Morrison’s brief run on the book back in 1998. (In that story, Gambi created “the ultimate super-costume.”)
I’m beginning to wonder just how much this story changed as it became tied into Final Crisis. As originally described, it sounded like the Flash was actually going to be involved. Instead, the whole thing is set when Wally is off on a mission, before Barry really comes back.
I did have a problem with the art. Normally I like Scott Kolins’ work, but it seemed a bit too heavy. I don’t remember thinking that with issue #1, but it may simply have not bothered me as much. I also thought the coloring was too muted, but both could be a function of printing.
“I mean what I say,” continued Van Sciver, as he sketched The Flash for a fan. “This is going to be a revolution for Flash comics ” an absolute revolution. We will make this comic brand new.”
He also implies that Geoff Johns may be sticking with the book after Rebirth, something that fans have speculated about, but that DC has not confirmed:
“And now, more than ever, it’s time to bring back Barry Allen because he is a CSI scientist that is incredibly relevant. Geoff is going to have a blast telling stories with him. PG-13 scary crime stories with a Flash. It’s a lot of fun.
Top Cow’s Velocity comic book by has been pushed back from November to a January launch. Publisher Filip Sablik:
We hit a “speed bump” (ouch!) and rather than stick with the original solicitation schedule and end up with a late book, we opted to push Velocity back to a January launch. The delay in solicitation will ensure that the series will come out in a timely fashion and Joe Casey and ChrisCross have the time to make this series truly butt-kicking.
Speed Force lost the fight for the #3 spot at Comic Blog Elite when long-established blogs The Absorbascon and 4thLetter! signed up. Now it’s trading off spots 5 and 6 with downthetubes.net.
Asgard Press is publishing a Vintage DC Super-Heroes Calendar for 2009, featuring covers from the 1930s through 1960s. It’s a 16-month calendar, and October 2008 features the cover to Showcase #4, first appearance of the Silver-Age Flash. (The Golden-Age Flash Comics #37 gets a spot too, but it’s a Hawkman cover.)
Speaking of Comic Blog Elite, MTV sent them a request/press release about casting for True Life: I’m a Fanboy: “If you appear to be between the ages of 16 and 28, and want to share the story of your fantasy obsession, email us at fanboy@mtvn.com with all of the details. Be sure to include your name, location, phone number and a photo, if possible.”
DC ships the middle issue of the three-part Rogues’ Revenge by the fan-favorite Flash team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. Also related: Teen Titans Year One, Justice Society of America, and two hardcovers collecting JLA and The Brave and the Bold.
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #2 (of 3)
Written by Geoff Johns; Art and covers by Scott Kolins
Life was easier when the Rogues had Barry Allen for a foe – or at least it was a bit more fun. Now, hunted by Libra and the Secret Society for refusing to worship the impending evil that is prophesized to claim Earth, Captain Cold and his crew find themselves attacked on several fronts . . . and that doesn’t sit well with the Rogues. Plus, a bizarre twist for Inertia!
I think of it like dance music, and how they just took pop music to a place where there was nothing left but the bass and the drum and the build-up and release, and I kind of wanted a comic that would throw out all the boring conversations and fights and keep only the stuff I like to read. You know, to create the crack cocaine of superhero comics. [laughs]
Also worth noting, for anyone who’s confused about how the monthlies line up with Final Crisis:
Pretty much every storyline that’s currently running in a DC book is happening before Final Crisis, because the events of Final Crisis are so big, that we didn’t want to see its influence destabilizing major stories already running in the other comics. The whole story of Final Crisis is in that one book and its few tie-ins, and then when Final Crisis ends, the entire range of DC books will be dealing with the aftermath. So if you look at it that way, everything that you’re reading that comes out during Final Crisis tends to be happening the week before the story takes place.
There’s a lot of other interesting stuff in there — it’s worth a read if you have the time.
Welcome to SpeedForce.org, a blog focusing on DC Comics' The Flash. It's a companion site to Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning, a fan reference site for the Fastest Man Alive.
Wow. I'm actually seeing traffic from ComicSpace. I'll have to drop in more often! 2 hrs ago
Probably not worth driving ~90 miles to San Diego for IDW's sale on Sat. If it were NEXT week, when I'm going to SD anyway, I might drop by. 13 hrs ago
And more Final Crisis delays: FC #6 pushed 2 weeks to Jan 14, FC:L3W pushed 1 week to Jan 21. 13 hrs ago
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