June 12, 2009
Speedster Site has a round-up of hints from Ethan Van Sciver about the near future of the Flash franchise. In particular:
- EVS will not do the art for the Blackest Night: Flash miniseries.
- The Flash outfit seen on an upcoming cover for The Last Days of Animal Man is not related to EVS’ redesign of Wally’s costume.
- A Flash monthly announcement is coming soon!
No earth-shattering surprises, but it’s always good to have confirmation. I figured DC wouldn’t have an Animal Man mini upstage the unveiling of Wally’s new Flash costume. He also drops hints about his own plans post-Flash: Rebirth
I’m looking forward to the announcement on the Flash monthly series. It’s a safe bet that Geoff Johns will be writing it, but we still don’t know whether it’s starting immediately after Flash: Rebirth or waiting until after Blackest Night finishes. And we don’t know who’ll take on the art. Though Ethan Van Sciver did mention in his interview with Word Balloon a while back that he was making an effort to learn to be a monthly artist, and one of the key conditions for getting that sixth issue of Flash: Rebirth was that he make his deadlines — which he apparently did — so it’s certainly possible the monthly could launch with the classic Johns/Van Sciver team.
I’m saving up links to reviews of Flash: Rebirth #3, and I’ll post them in a few days. For now, here are some other Flash-related items I’ve stumbled across lately.
Crimson Lightning has the results from the latest poll, and respondents overwhelmingly wanted to see Max Mercury return. The next poll will be up soon, but first, they want your Flash casting ideas in the event of a Flash movie!
The Absorbascon‘s latest things that made me happy includes a couple of items from Flash: Rebirth #3.
4thletter! ponders Red Robin as compared to the days of Young Justice: “Remember when Tim Drake was a skinny little dork? And Superboy was even skinnier and dorkier? And Wonder Girl and Impulse were the skinniest and dorkiest of all? And they hung out together having skinny, dorky adventures?”
ComicsAlliance talks about rooting against the big guy in Flash: Rebirth #3.
The Beat looks at DC’s April sales, putting the success of Flash: Rebirth #1 (102K) in context with the last two Flash relaunches: Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (120K) and All-Flash #1 (98K), noting that “neither one of them had the benefit of the company’s most popular creator, as Rebirth arguably does.”
Every time I compare two photos of the same scene, one taken with a flash and one without, I always think of this joke. The image has been floating around long enough that I don’t know who made it.
June 11, 2009
Well, the good news is that this issue does read better the second time through. I’ve re-read Flash: Rebirth #1 and #2, then read #3 again. Oddly enough, I liked the first two issues better the first time through than the second, and like this one better the second time through than the first read.
The bad news is that the cliffhanger still leaves me cold.
Now it could just be relaunch fatigue. The excitement of “Geoff Johns is back! With Ethan Van Sciver!” has worn off by now, and in a sense the actual relaunch isn’t going to be for another four months or more. Flash: Rebirth isn’t so much a new direction as it is the process of changing course. It’s not the new house, it’s the act of remodeling. And you know, it would be nice to actually move into that house instead of watch the contractors working on it.
But the main purpose of Flash: Rebirth is to convince people that the new direction is worth their time. People are asking, “Why should I get involved with a series that DC has relaunched 3 times in the last 3 years? Why should I let myself get attached to this new direction when they change it every 6 months? Why should I let myself get attached to the main character when they replace him every year?” By going back to Barry Allen, the one character whose resurrection was not an option for more than 20 years, they’re making a commitment: “This time, we really mean it!” In theory, that should clear away the baggage the Flash has accumulated over the last 3 years and leave it on the same level as any other comics launch.
Which still leaves hooking the readers on the Flash, and hooking them on Barry Allen.
I don’t think I can really go into the rest of the issue without spoilers, so… you’ve been warned! Read the rest of this entry »
June 10, 2009
Full review coming later, but here are my initial thoughts on Flash: Rebirth #3.
It was fast — very fast. If Geoff Johns wanted to write a Flash book about speed, he’s succeeded. The Superman/Flash race worked well and grew organically out of the story. I liked Barry’s reactions to Wally, Jay and Bart. Not to mention seeing certain other speedsters again.
But the reveal of the villain? Too predictable. Too easy. It was the safe choice, like “killing” characters who are already dead. Too much “Let’s move the Flash franchise forward into the 1970s!” It reminded me of those Star Wars novels in the 1990s where every time you turned around they introduced yet another super-weapon, because what’s Star Wars without a Death Star? Or a Sun Crusher? Or a Galaxy Gun?
I’ve been willing to give Geoff Johns the benefit of the doubt up until now, based on his run on Wally’s series and buoyed by the excitement of getting a top-tier creative team on the book. Rather than convincing me of why Barry needs to be back, it’s making me wonder why I should care.
We’re at the halfway mark. I should be more enthusiastic than when I started, but instead I’m less. Here’s hoping it reads better on a second pass, and that it picks up over the back half of the story.
UPDATE: Full review is up.
See also:
A couple of brief site notes:
1. WordPress 2.8 is expected to come out today. I wanted to avoid a major upgrade the same day as Flash: Rebirth #3, and of course instead of taking the sensible approach and waiting until the weekend to upgrade, I installed the release candidate a few days ago. (It’s not quite that bad. I did test it on my other blog first. Or does that make it worse?) Just about everything seems to work so far, though I’m not sure about email notifications. Update: It’s running on 2.8 final now.
2. CommentLuv has just launched their new site and plugin. The service adds a link to your latest blog post when you make a comment. The new version has some additional features for registered users: not only can you choose from several recent posts, you can add up to 5 different sources, including multiple blogs and a Twitter account.
Update: 3. Bad Behavior has released a new version as well. With luck this will block the pill spammers who have been cluttering up the spam folder. Akismet has kept them from making it through to the site, but there’s just been too much junk to look through it for false positives.
If you encounter any problems with the site, please let me know here!
June 9, 2009
Some quick linkblogging for the night before Flash: Rebirth #3 hits the stands.
Flash: Rebirth…
First, I’ve got a guest post up at The Weekly Crisis detailing 5 Possible Candidates for The Flash: Rebirth‘s Mystery Villain.
‘Twas the Night Before Wednesday’s J. Caleb Mozzocco (Blog@Newsarama) is more enthused about the collected edition of Flash: The Human Race with “Huge Silver Age cosmic action and huge stakes” than about Flash: Rebirth #3, “in which your dad’s Flash races Superman.”
Can’t Wait for Wednesday’s JK Parkin (Robot 6), on the other hand, is solidly on board. “I wasn’t wild about the first issue, but the second one really sucked me in. This issue features the return of a classic: Superman racing The Flash.”
Update: I noticed a post from 2007 on my other blog is getting more attention than usual, probably because it links Barry Allen and the Black Flash.
…And Beyond
You will soon be able to read Perhapanauts and Tellos on the iPhone. The two creator-owned series have strong Impulse connections. Tellos is a fantasy adventure story created by Impulse writer Todd Dezago and Flash artist Mike Wieringo — Bart Allen’s co-creator. Perhapanauts an action/horror/comedy created by Dezago and Impulse artist Craig Rousseau. I highly recommend both series.
DC Collector posts a sketch of a Jay Garrick figurine from the Eaglemoss DC Super-Hero Collection. It makes me wish I lived in the UK.
Silver Age Comics profiles Julius Schwartz, legendary editor of DC’s Silver Age who oversaw the 1956 revamp of the Flash.
Cartoon Flophouse doesn’t shy away from strong opinions in 5 DC Comics Characters Which Would Translate Better to Film Than Wonder Woman or The Flash.
A bit off-topic, Watch This Space wants to know which of several serialized stories on the blog should not return.
Ever since Flash: Rebirth was announced last summer, there’s been confusion as to how long he miniseries was going to be. Some sources said six issues, others said five. Finally DC solicited the first issue as #1 of 5, and it seemed settled…
…until DC announced it was being extended to six issues.
Ethan Van Sciver explains what happened after a fan asks what changed to make the story longer:
It’s not that simple. DC offered us 5 issues, but we were always planning for 6. Geoff had it mapped out for 6. DC basically told us to knock their socks off and for me to meet my deadlines, and they’d give us the 6th issue. So we did, and they did!
But even if we hadn’t, we’d have picketed for that 6th issue. We needed the space, were expecting it, and it really should be the same length as GL: REBIRTH.
That explains a lot — not only the extension, but the confusion early on as to whether it was going to be 5 or 6 to begin with.
(via SpeedsterSite)
Yesterday, Ethan Van Sciver answered a question at Comic Bloc about when we’d finally see Wally West’s new costume — the one that should make it easier to tell the difference between Wally West and Barry Allen at a glance. The new costume will debut in Flash: Rebirth #6.
Yeah, in the grand scheme of things it’s a trivial matter, but Wally’s fans do care about the issue. It’ll be nice not to feel like our favorite Flash is getting thrown under the metaphorical bus to make way for the “real” Flash.
Update November 18: Wally’s costume has in fact been revealed in Flash: Rebirth #5. If you want to see it, head over to get spoiled!.
June 8, 2009
It’s a big Flash week, with the third issue of the now-six-part Flash: Rebirth, a new trade paperback collecting the second half of the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run from the late 1990s, the Final Crisis hardcover, and various team books.
The Flash: Rebirth #3
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver
At last, the answer to the question that’s plagued DC fans for decades: Who’s faster, Superman or The Flash? Call your bookie and bet the farm, because you’ve never seen a run like this — and if speedsters keep dying at the pace they’re going, you might never see another one again!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). 5-page preview.
3 of 5 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Notes: I’ve mentioned before that the question of who’s faster has been answered many times over. It’s always close, and if there’s a winner, it’s always the Flash.
Flash: The Human Race TP
Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
Art by Mike Parobeck, Paul Ryan, Pop Mhan, Steve Lightle and others
Cover by Steve Lightle
Grant Morrison and Mark Millar’s run with the Fastest Man Alive continues here! Collects The Flash #136-141 as well as a story from Secret Origins #50.
160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Note: The story from Secret Origins #50 is almost certainly Grant Morrison’s retelling of “Flash of Two Worlds.” Pre-order from Amazon or read about it here.
Team books and more after the cut: Read the rest of this entry »
June 7, 2009
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