August 9, 2009
There’s not a whole lot of Flash-related news coming out of Chicago Comic-Con, partly because we’re still in the middle of Flash: Rebirth and partly because they dropped the big news two weeks ago in San Diego. But there were a few items mentioned at DC Nation.
First, Newsarama’s report mentions:
Red Robin will “absolutely” be dealing with the return of Superboy and Kid Flash in the near future.
I believe DC has previously mentioned that Tim and Bart will both be showing up (beyond the cameos in the first issue) of Conner Kent/Superboy’s stories in Adventure Comics. I wonder if Tim and Conner will be showing up in Red Robin at some point?
It’s interesting to note that, with Red Robin, Adventure Comics, and Kid Flash, the three original founders of Young Justice will all have their own series for the first time in eight years. Impulse and Superboy, both launched in the mid-1990s, were canceled in 2002. There’s a great scene from Young Justice around that time in which Bart and Kon are lamenting that “my comic got canceled” (supposedly referring to their favorite series to read), and commiserate until Robin walks into the room — and they proceed to glare at him. Does anyone remember what issue this was?
Anyway, back to DC Nation. CBR’s write-up adds another note.
Asked about the further ramifications about Barry Allen’s return as the Flash, “We are not retiring Wally West,” Sattler said to applause.
As reassuring as it is to know that DC does recognize that Wally still has fans, it’s more reassuring to know that the comment got applause. Of course, the best reassurance is still Geoff Johns’ remark that “Wally’s not only going to be fine, he’s going to kick ass.”
On the other hand, @weeklycrisis pointed out that “at DC, heroes either die off or live long enough to become the bad guy.” Ray of sunshine, there…
A couple of final notes from CBR’s article:
“Wednesday Comics” will be collected into trade according to strips rather than altogether, Sattler said.
I wonder if this means 15 separate books (which would actually be more volumes than the original 12-part series!) or whether it means they’ll be combining them by tone, style, character connections, etc.
“Aquaman Reborn” by Geoff Johns? “Ah, Aquaman,” Sattler sighed. No answer, but not in a “maybe” way–more exasperated.
Aquaman? Really? Not Vibe? 
August 7, 2009
Chicago Comic-Con is running this weekend. Yes, Chicago Comic-Con, not Wizard World Chicago as it’s been called for most of this decade.
And that name change brings up all kinds of questions.
Back in 1997, Wizard bought the Chicago Comicon, at its time the #2 comic book convention in the country after Comic-Con International in San Diego. They renamed it Wizard World Chicago and started building a series of conventions across the country. At its height there were five shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, Texas, Philadelphia, and (briefly) Boston.
Collapse
Then in January 2009, Wizard dropped a bomb: citing the economy, Wizard World Texas and Wizard World Los Angeles were being canceled. People planning for WWTX at least got fair notice, but WWLA had been scheduled for March, just two months away. They insisted that WWLA was merely “postponed,” but made no indication of when the show might return.
That left two: Wizard World Philadelphia in June and Wizard World Chicago in August.
Rebuilding and Rebranding
Over the next few months, though, something odd happened: the convention series started growing again, as Wizard owner Gareb Shamus bought Big Apple Con, then bought Paradise Toronto Comicon. Neither show was rebranded as a Wizard World event, and Wizard quietly started referring to WWC as “Chicago Comic-Con.” And then they launched Anaheim Comic-Con.
So now there are again five conventions under the umbrella, but only one, Philadelphia, still has the Wizard World name. Chances are pretty good that they’ll rename it by next June…or possibly cancel it the way they dropped WWLA.
Whither the Wizards?
The obvious question is: why?
Well, Wizard World has acquired a bit of a bad reputation. Maybe they’re rebranding in hopes of escaping that.
Or maybe they want to give the shows a more local feel, rather than corporate.
Or maybe it’s something else. Judging by the announcements, it’s not Wizard Entertainment that’s been buying and launching these new shows — it’s Gareb Shamus. I wonder whether he might be planning to sell off Wizard and keep the conventions, or otherwise split the cons and the magazine into separate companies.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Update (August 11): After reading this article on “Comic-Con” vs. “Comic Con” vs. “Comicon,” I’ve gone back and tried to make sure I have the official spellings for each convention.
Some linkblogging for the end of the week:
Flash Features
Comics Alliance has a huge interview with Geoff Johns in which he talks about the emotional bases of the characters he’s writing, particularly the various Lantern Corps in Blackest Night. At the end he talks a bit about the Flash, and speed, and how easy it is to get caught up in wanting to do more, faster.
Crimson Lightning is running a casting poll for the Flash movie. At the moment, Neil Patrick Harris is the clear leader. Stop by Crimson Lightning and check in with your vote!
Flash writer Geoff Johns and soon-to-be Kid Flash writer Sterling Gates top this list of top five favorite comic writers right now.
A bit old, but I’ll blame the fact that I was at Comic-Con when he posted it: A Spanish Flash cover set Kaiser the Great to thinking about Flash v.1 #346 and how it sparked a drive to collect the Silver-and-Bronze Age series.
Related to the Flash helmet, @ValVictory made an interesting find at the Seattle Museum of Flight.
Wider World of Comics
Grumpy Old Fan looks at DC’s line-up and categorized its titles into three groups: “foundational” books that have been around more-or-less continuously since the Silver Age like Superman, Flash, Batman etc., “historical” books that run for a while, get canceled, then keep coming back like Teen Titans or Outsiders, and “new” books that come out of nowhere and disappear a few years later.
IO9 asks, what’s with all the undeath in superhero comics?
CSBG’s one-paragraph reviews include Flash: The Human Race.
Topless Robot has a photo of Two Dozen Awesomely Nerdy Cupcakes topped with symbols for the Flash, Ghostbusters, Autobots and Decepticons, Captain America, the Galactic Empire, etc. (via Robot6)
Indie Pulp: Mark Waid’s Irredeemable Ways.
The Weekly Crisis has launched a side project (with oddly-familiar initials ): SpiderFail.org, inspired by a mention in Amazing Spider-Man #601.
Added: Artist Cliff Chiang posted a tribute to recently-passed director John Hughes in the form of a Teen Titans homage to The Breakfast Club. (via @Robot6)
Added: The John Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con is tomorrow. If you’re at the con, consider checking it out. If you’re not at the con, take a look at the website: it’s got a huge gallery of artwork that’s been donated for the auction.
August 5, 2009
Hi! This is Katie, the wife Kelson’s mentioned a few times. I’m not nearly as involved with comics as he is, but I appreciate a good convention costume and have made a point of wearing at least one a year for a while now. My interests in effects makeup, jewelrymaking, and general arts and crafts really come in handy for this, though it had been a long time since I’d been able to persuade Kelson to dress up for a con. When he mentioned that he’d wear a Jay Garrick Flash costume if he could get all the pieces, my ears pricked up. When he said something about how a really determined person would make a paper-mache hat, I said, “I could do that.” In the end, I did quite a bit more.
The helmet is made from paper mache, Crayola Model Magic, glue, felt, cardboard, a few gap-filling pastes of varying efficacy, and both brush-on and spray-on paint and clear-coat spray acrylic. The boots are vinyl covers glued (again, with a sort of tiered success) to a pair of $20 Payless slip-on shoes, with stuffed plush wings made from felt and sewn on. And the shirt, which we originally thought would be taken care of by Graphitti Designs, involved some last-minute Amazon ordering, masking tape, and several applications of fabric paint. I was heat-setting the thing at midnight the Tuesday before the con; we have yet to see what washing will do to it.
The Helmet
I started with the helmet, figuring it would take a while to dry at the thicknesses I’d be creating, even in dry heat. (One thing California summer weather is good for!) Read the rest of this entry »
August 4, 2009
It took the TV series Heroes three seasons to introduce a speedster. Daphne Millbrook was a major character during the “Villains” arc (Volume 3), playing against both Hiro Nakamura and Matt Parkman, and had a smaller role in “Fugitives” (Volume 4). I won’t spoil “Fugitives” for the two people out there who haven’t seen it and want to, but she’s not coming back this season.
This year’s Heroes panel at Comic-Con introduced a new group of players for the upcoming arc, “Redemption” (Volume 5): a traveling carnival made up of people who have super-powers, hiding in plain sight. (Everyone’s making comparisons to Carnivale, but I can’t help but think of Payne’s carnival in Girl Genius.) Among them is Edgar, a knife-thrower played by Ray Park, best known as Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He also appears as Snake Eyes in the live-action G.I. Joe movie opening this weekend.
Edgar is described as “a speedster with a mission.” Footage played at the panel showed him using his power not for running, but for combat agility as he fought power-magnet Peter Petrelli.
Appropriately enough, the actor kept moving throughout the panel, making it hard for Katie to snap a photo of him that was in focus.
DC Comics Classics Library: Flash of Two Worlds HC
Written by Gardner Fox and John Broome
Art by Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella and Sid Greene
Cover by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson
The super-speedsters of two worlds race into adventure in this new collection of tales! Learn how police scientist Barry Allen, The Flash of the 1960s, first crossed paths with his predecessor, Jay Garrick, in this hardcover featuring The Flash #123, 129, 137, 151 and 173.
144 pg, FC, $39.99 US. Order from Amazon
Booster Gold: Reality Lost TP
Written by Chuck Dixon and Dan Jurgens
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund
In this new volume, longtime BATMAN writer Chuck Dixon pens a story in which a time-traveling villain attempts to destroy Gotham City. And in a story written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, Booster discovers the timestream has been inexplicably altered, unleashing all types of anomalies only he can put back in order. Featuring Booster Gold #11-12 and #15-19!
168 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Note: This includes a story in which Booster Gold travels back in time to the night that Barry Allen is struck by lightning.
Wednesday Comics #5
Wednesday Comics, DC’s spectacular 12-issue weekly series, continues to offer a comics experience unlike any other this August. In its second month, don’t miss the action in these continuing features:
- The Metal Men encounter a deadly guest-villain in a story written by Dan DiDio with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.
- The Flash battles Gorilla Grodd and tries to date Iris West in a story written by Karl Kerschl (Teen Titans Year One, The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive) and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl.
- Supergirl attempts to deal with Streaky and Krypto gone bad in a story written by Jimmy Palmiotti (Jonah Hex) with art by Amanda Conner (Power Girl).
- Green Lantern must help a fellow test pilot whose space mission has transformed him into a monster in a story written by Kurt Busiek (Trinity, Astro City) with art by Joe Quiñones (Teen Titans Go!).
- Superman questions his heroic mission while on a trip to Smallville in a story written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art by Lee Bermejo (Joker).
- Adam Strange takes a truly twisted journey into space in a story by writer/artist Paul Pope (Batman: Year 100).
- Wonder Woman is lost in a dream world in search of her lost tiara, bracelets and magic lasso in a story written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives).
- The Teen Titans are attacked by Trident in a story written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway.
- Batman, Wednesday Comics’ weekly cover feature, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 Bullets team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso.
- Metamorpho, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman).
- The Demon and Catwoman, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, Manhunter) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze.
- Deadman, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock.
- Kamandi, written by Dave Gibbons (Watchmen, Green Lantern Corps) with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell).
- Hawkman, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (Plastic Man, Special Forces).
- Sgt. Rock, written by Adam Kubert (Superman: Last Son), illustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert.
Wednesday Comics will arrive in stores folded twice to 7″ x 10″.
7″ x 10″, 16 pg, FC, $3.99 US.
August 3, 2009
If the number of Flash costumes at Comic-Con International last week is any indication, the fan base is energized. Most years I only see one or two Flashes, if any. This year there were at least three Jay Garricks including myself, two women who made variations on the costume, one man in a Black Flash costume, a Kid Flash, and a Captain Cold.
Here’s a gallery of photos from Flickr.
Golden Age
I don’t think I’d ever seen a Golden Age Flash costume at a convention until I saw some photos from HeroesCon and Wizard World Philadelphia in June. There seemed to be one Jay Garrick at each. So I figured I’d probably be the only one at San Diego. Imagine my surprise when I ran into not one other, but two!
The photo on the left shows me and a cosplayer who was part of a Justice Society of America group I spotted in line for the DC Nation panel on Friday. I asked the person behind me to save my place in line, walked along the line to where they were, and we did the obligatory “Nice costume!” exchange, then ended up posing for a bunch of photos. We did at least two poss, this one and one just standing and crossing our arms like the Alex Ross poster. Someone got an interesting shot with a blur effect, also.
I ran into the guy on the right on Saturday, when I wasn’t in costume. He actually used an original World War I helmet, polished it up, and made wings for it…then the first day in town the wings broke, so he needed to come up with a substitute fast. He ended up gluing popsicle sticks together and spray painting them gold.
Update: Speaking of the helmet, here’s how my helmet was made. Update 2: and here’s how we made the boots and shirt.
Variations
I didn’t manage to see any of these three in person during the con. But they’re really cool variations.
The two things that usually impress me the most with character costumes are:
- Authenticity – costumes that match the source very well, especially if the person wearing it is a good fit for the character. (That especially helps with costumes from movies and TV shows. If you resemble an actor, seriously look at their roles for ideas!)
- Creative variation – costumes that take a concept and put a deliberate spin on them. The Steampunk Flash from the League of Justice-Minded Citizens, for instance. Or either of the female Flash costumes here.
The Flash is well-suited for variations, because there have been so many of them in canon. You’ve got the basics: Jay Garrick’s Golden Age costume, the Barry Allen/Wally West Flash costume, and the Kid Flash costume (each with its own variations). Then you’ve got Professor Zoom, Johnny Quick, a half-dozen Jesse Quick costumes, Impulse, Max Mercury, Walter West, Iris West II, John Fox’s three costumes…and that’s not counting all the possible future Flashes from “Chain Lightning.”
So it’s not a problem to take the basic red-and-yellow lightning motif and build on it. People will still know who you are, especially if you keep the white circle around the lightning bolt.
Well, except for the dimwits who mistake you for Flash Gordon. 
Update August 28: The woman on the left appears to be wearing an off-the-rack costume rather than a custom variation.
Cold and the Kid
I almost missed Captain Cold here. It was late Saturday afternoon, and I was on the phone with my wife trying to work out dinner plans. I saw him through the window, said, “Hang on, I need to get a picture of Captain Cold” and ducked outside into Sails Pavilion.
Kid Flash was there on Sunday. Sterling Gates, who had been announced the day before as the writer of an upcoming Kid Flash series, posted, “I just met Kid Flash! He’s here!” I kept looking for him the rest of the day, but had no luck. Fortunately, Comic Con has a lot of people with cameras!
Bonus: Cheetara!
She may not be a Flash character, but here are two women dressed as Cheetara from Thundercats. Hey, she is a speedster, after all!
Who Else?
I saw at least one, possibly two guys in off-the-rack Flash Halloween costumes during the weekend, and one kid who was probably about 6 or 7.
So…did you see any of these people at the con? Did you see another Flash that I’ve missed?
August 2, 2009
Geoff Johns reassures fans of Wally West that “Wally’s not only going to be fine, he’s going to kick ass.”
The third installment of Views from the Speed Force is up. The spinoff from the Views from the Longbox podcast has been focusing on each issue of Flash: Rebirth, and this one tackles issue #3.
Fanboy Wife contemplates the Flash, alternate meanings of the name, the value of hard water and just what super-speed is good for.
Blog@Newsarama considers what might go into a second volume of Wednesday Comics.
Tomheroes has a collection of super-hero Hostess ads from the 1970s. I’ve mentioned these before, and profiled the lame villains who appeared in the Flash installments. This page doesn’t have the snarky commentary of Seanbaby’s Hostess Page, but some of the scans are somewhat higher quality.
The Weekly Crisis is giving away 4 trade paperbacks and hardcovers in a contest to celebrate two years online.
Over at K-Squared Ramblings I’ve written up the Flash Forward panel at Comic-Con. This show looks like it’s going to be awesome! Also: the Lost panel was full of win. I missed it, but my wife posted a detailed write-up.
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Edit: Whoa, it imported EVERY non-reply tweet since the last weekly digest…3 weeks ago! Including all of Comic-Con International and three liveblogs. Fixed! (My Twitter activity has really dropped off in the past week, hasn’t it?)
Comments Off
