Speed Force

It’s always interesting to see what searches bring people to the site. Every once in a while I look through for questions, or implied questions, that aren’t already answered here.

Current Events

Why did Reverse Flash have a Brightest Day symbol?

We don’t know for sure yet, but the implication is that Brightest Day is related to characters who come back from the dead after or at the end of Blackest Night.

Is Jesse Quick back?

Well, she seems to be…but then she’s still appearing as Liberty Belle in Justice Society of America and the second features in JSA All-Stars, so it’s hard to tell. Maybe those take place earlier, maybe she goes back to the other costume, or maybe she’s just going to switch costumes depending on who she’s teaming up with that day.

Did Jay Garrick die in Smallville?

He only appeared in flashback, when Checkmate was rounding up the Justice Society and arresting its members on false charges. He was mentioned by other characters as if he was still alive. (Spoilers for Absolute Justice.)

Is DC working on an animated Flash movie?

If they are, they haven’t said anything about it. A Newsarama article more than a year ago included the Flash in a list of upcoming projects, but there’s been no mention of it since then.

Looking Back

What comes before Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge?

Rogues’ Revenge concludes a sort of trilogy, which you can follow in these collections:

1. Flash: The Fastest Man Alive – Full Throttle
2. JLA: Salvation Run
3. Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge

It also takes place after the end of Flash vol.2 and during the first three issues of Final Crisis.

What year did the Flash superhero gain lightning?

That depends on what the lightning in question is:

• The symbol dates back to Jay Garrick’s first appearance in 1940.
• Lightning in the Flash’s origin goes back to Barry Allen’s first appearance in 1956.
• Lightning effects used to convey speed were used occasionally in the early 1990s, became more prominent when Mike Wieringo worked on the book (1993-1994), and really became established during Terminal Velocity (1995).

Slightly Off-Topic

What is Dan Didio’s twitter name?

As far as I’m aware, Dan Didio isn’t on Twitter.

Who was the female speedster in Heroes?

The character’s name was Daphne Millbrook, and she was played by actress Brea Grant.

Flashforward novel how did it know the pope’s name?

It’s off-topic, but I get a lot of these since I posted a review of the novel.

Author Robert J. Sawyer explains in this video interview that he looked at the list of past popes’ names for those that had good reputations and might be “ready for a comeback.”

Strangely enough, a lot of the sites I’ve linked to on Twitter or Facebook over the last few weeks were looking back at the 1990s and Mark Waid’s run on The Flash

High Five! Comics profiles Max Mercury: The Speedster Time Forgot (for a while). Of course, Max goes back farther than — he started as Quality Comics’ Golden Age hero, Quicksilver — but the version of the character known today was established in “The Return of Barry Allen,” “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and Impulse.

For Valentine’s Day, Comics Should be Good’s Year of Cool Comics spotlights Flash: Terminal Velocity and a key event in the relationship between Wally West and Linda Park.

Westfield Comics’ Josh Crawley looks back at Mark Waid’s first run on The Flash, picking up with Flash #0 and running through “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and “Race Against Time.”

Mania spotlights the 1990s Flash TV series in 15 more shows that were canceled before their time over the last 25 years. It’s an interesting mix of shows I remember fondly (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), shows I remember hearing about but never watched (Murder One), and shows I’ve completely forgotten (Street Hawk?). It also reminds me that I never got around to watching the last few episodes of Journeyman.

Noah Van Sciver, younger brother of artist Ethan Van Sciver, reinterprets Flash: Rebirth #3 at Covered (via Comics Alliance). The alternative comics artist was reinterpreting each issue of the miniseries in a single comic strip for Wizard Universe, and got through issue #4 before the site shut down.

Jamal Igle draws the Flash for the upcoming ComiConn. It’s a really nice piece! (via Comic Verso)

And some fun fan art: The Weekly Crisis has some “rejected” Avengers for the new line-up in “I Am An Avenger, Too!” featuring everyone from Beta Ray Bill to…Optimus Prime?

I learned on Comic Bloc that today is William Messner-Loebs’ birthday! He wrote The Flash vol.2 for about four years from Flash #15 (1988) through Flash #61 (1992), during which he laid the groundwork for Wally West’s characterization in the 1990s and beyond. He also had a two-year run on Impulse, taking over from Mark Waid in Impulse #29 (1997) and handing the reigns to Todd Dezago after Impulse #49 (1999).

The big DC news yesterday was the announcement of the new executive team for DC Comics. Jim Lee and Dan Didio are promoted to Co-Publishers, succeeding Paul Levitz, and Geoff Johns is promoted to Chief Creative Officer.

So for the most part, it looks like the “corporate overlords” at Warner Bros. like what DC has been doing and want to keep the same people in charge. That, and make sure the writer behind their most popular books isn’t even tempted to leave! (Though it’s clear that Geoff Johns is so fascinated by DC’s universe and characters, I can’t imagine what would lure him away.)

In a statement on The Source, Johns assures fans that he’ll still be “writing Green Lantern, The Flash, Batman: Earth One and Brightest Day.” In addition, he’s in charge of figuring out how to bring DC’s world, including Wildstorm and Vertigo, into other media: “film, toys, television, video games, animation and beyond.”

DC has posted a four-page preview of next week’s Flash: Rebirth #6.

Can you believe we’re only a few days away from the conclusion?

Update: As Esteban points out in the comments, there’s a third credit on this cover: Scott Hanna. @SpeedsterSite quotes Ethan Van Sciver confirming (on Facebook), “Those are inked by the great Scott Hanna, who was kind enough to do 5 or 6 pages for me.”

The conclusion of this miniseries — to the extent that it concludes, anyway — is more satisfying than the middle chapter. The story is more solid, and it’s visually more varied as characters with colors beyond black and blue join Blue Lantern Barry Allen onstage.

Speaking of color schemes, I noticed something interesting about the covers: they get progressively brighter. The first issue is mostly black and silver, with a dark blue logo outline. The second issue adds some color by putting Captain Cold in the center, and has a brighter logo outline. By the third issue, Blue Lantern Barry takes up the entire cover, and the logo is again a tiny bit brighter. I don’t know whether it’s intentional, but it’s certainly thematic.

The story follows three main threads: The Rogues in Iron Heights; Captain Boomerang; and the Flashes.

The Rogues’ story gets the least attention this time around. Once again it picks up right where they left off, but instead of focusing on emotional manipulation, it’s basically a dungeon crawl as they try to work out something that will shut down the Black Lantern Rogues. It does, however, give away a little more about the resolution of Flash: Rebirth

Captain Boomerang’s story is a sad one, and while moving, I’m afraid it significantly damages the character for future use. More on this in the spoiler section.

This time around the Flashes’ story works best. Barry Allen is still dealing with an unfamiliar power set, but by this time he’s gotten accustomed to it, rather than spending the entire issue learning how to use the blue ring…plus there are other speedsters around to keep the “Fastest Man Alive” theme on track. There’s also a solid resolution to one of the major story elements from last month.

Of course, since this is a side story to a larger event, it ends — or rather stops — with a big “To be continued” sign as several characters head back into the main Blackest Night story, and the big question from issue #1 is left unanswered.

Spoilers below!

Read the rest of this entry »

Way back when DC first solicited Flash: Rebirth #6, they used a placeholder cover: Barry Allen in costume, taking his mask off, on a background of swirly colors. Artist Ethan Van Sciver mentioned around that time that all of the covers in solicitations for issues #4–6 had been altered to hide spoilers, and fans speculated that he would be surrounded by other speedsters in the final version.

DC has updated the listing for the issue with the final cover, and it’s completely different:

The variant cover was revealed two weeks ago. Flash: Rebirth #6 arrives in stores next week.

Flash appearances in new comics this week…

Blackest Night: The Flash #3

Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Scott Kolins
Variant cover by Francis Manapul

It’s a case of the chicken-or-the-egg as Barry Allen takes on the Black Lantern Reverse-Flash and seeks answers to the very nature of Professor Zoom’s impending resurrection. Plus, the Rogues witness an act so horrifying that it changes one of their own forever.

This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Scott Kolins), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Francis Manapul).

3 of 3 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Update: IGN has posted a 5-page preview.

Tiny Titans #25

Written by Art Baltazar, Franco & Geoff Johns Art and cover by Art Baltazar

Special guest co-writer Geoff Johns comes to TINY TITANS, and he’s bringing Superboy along with him! And Superboy’s bringing his bizarro brother Match! And Match… well, Match always brings mischief wherever he goes. Join us for an extra-super issue jam-packed with colored rings and awesome things!

32 pg, FC, $2.50 US

DC Universe: Origins TP

Written by Mark Waid, Scott Beatty and Len Wein
Art by various
Cover by Alex Ross

Collecting the origins of over fifty characters from Animal Man to Zatanna, including Batman, Wonder Woman, The Joker and many more, from DC’s hit weekly series 52 and COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS as well as several first seen online, featuring the work of some of comics’ top talents!

144 pg, FC, $14.99 US

Note: It’s interesting to have Flash right there at the front, since neither 52 nor Countdown told any of their origins! Though if I’m not mistaken, this is reused from some other piece.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance TP

Written by Joe Casey
Art by ChrisCross, Eduardo Pansica, Rob Stull and others
Cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

Japan’s Super Young Team just wants to be seen as heroes by their adoring public in this title collecting the 6-issue miniseries. Unfortunately, their part in FINAL CRISIS went unnoticed, and they’ve been reduced to performing at public appearances and on TV. Now, intense media scrutiny and a deadly threat complicates the motives of the team.

144 pg, FC, $17.99 US

Note: The Super Young Team has its own speedster, Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash.

As a Flash collector I spend a lot of my time on eBay. Whether it’s looking for good deals on action figures or hunting for some rare gem of a collectible, I spend a lot of time on the site. This afternoon I came across a pretty sweet custom of Blue Lantern Barry Allen up for auction. Interesting to note that the custom is astonishingly pretty accurate to the official action figure of Blue Lantern Flash by DC Direct design wise.

I actually think I dig the custom on eBay a little more though. Especially the way the belt is worked right into the Blue Lantern chest design as opposed to being awkwardly painted over it. The previous design may work in the comic but on an action figure it stands out a lot more than it should. This custom is being brought to us by nissan_nx2004 and Black Lanterns Green Arrow and Hawkman are also included in the auction.

Pretty nice huh? The auction is currently at $75.00 with 2 days and 21 hours left in the auction and you can view it here. The listing also has some additional pics of Blue Lantern Flash and Black Lanterns Green Arrow and Hawkman.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson