Monthly Archives: May 2010

Speed Reading: Recommendations

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The linkblogging catchup continues!

Comics Should Be Good features Flash #54: “Nobody Dies” (William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque) in their Year of Cool Comics. It’s one of my favorite one-issue stories from Wally West’s run, and not surprisingly it made the reader-selected list of top 10 Wally West stories a few weeks later.

A bit off topic, CSBG also reviews Mysterius the Unfathomable. It was a fun fantasy/horror/comedy miniseries last year, and is now available as a trade paperback.

Multiversity Comics recommends the new Flash series. Among other reasons: “he has a secret identity which actually gets used, instead of being forgotten for more exciting superhero stories.” And of course, “Flash has some of the best and most fleshed out rogues in the business.”

Update: One more! Several Flash storylines appear in CSBG’s Greatest Mark Waid Stories Ever Told list: Dead Heat, Terminal Velocity and The Return of Barry Allen.

Speed Reading: Things to Think About

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More linkblogging! Here are some (mostly) non-Flash-related posts on general comics, fandom, and online community issues.

Orbital Vector analyzes an aspect of super-speed that’s usually glossed over: Just How Old is the Flash, subjectively? (via dhusk’s comment on the Flashes’ experience post)

Techland has eight questions for comics creators to consider before putting a book on the market. (via @SpeedsterSite)

Multiversity Comics looks at some of the pros and cons of waiting for the trade.

Comic Vine has 5 Things to be Aware of When Buying Back Issues.

What do websites with open comments do when they realize that people are jerks? Reining in Nasty Comments. (via @ThisIsTrue) I’m reminded of Penny Arcade’s expression of the Greater Internet ****wad Theory (NSFW language): Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total ****wad.

Technologizer tracks down the origin of the term Fanboy (via The Beat)

High Five Comics considers The Problem with Madame Lady Girl-Woman.

In the 1940s, Crash Comics introduced a super-hero named Blue Streak. He was a “skilled fighter.” With that name, how did they not make him a speedster?

There have been a lot of articles on the battle for the future of Comic-Con International, but one question jumped out at me in this one at Deadline Hollywood: Jeff Katz asks, “Are you a fan show with trade elements, or are you a trade show that lets in fans…or is there a happy medium?”

Speed Reading: To the Art

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Some art-related linkblogging…

Yildiray Cinar draws an impressive Reverse Flash (via @SpeedsterSite)

There’s a new Rogue in town…a new Rogues blog, that is: The Rogues Kick Ass (via @liabrown1). So far, it’s mostly comedic scans from published comics. (Context? What context?)

This is Knutz presents: The Rogues as kittens. (via @SpeedsterSite) Hilarious!

The Best Comic Covers looks back on the 9 Best Superman vs Flash Covers.

Various people at DC Comics weigh in on their favorite DC covers. Dan Didio’s is Michael Turner’s Flash #207 (via @SpeedsterSite).

Last week, Once Upon a Geek posted a series of poster galleries, including the JSA, Flash, Green Lantern, Sandman, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and more.

Behind the Scenes

Francis Manapul has been posting a lot of Flash art on Twitter lately: the uncolored art for the Flash #5 cover and five pages from Flash #2.

Val Victory’s review of the Flash: Rebirth hardcover includes scans of Ethan Van Sciver’s discarded designs for Wally West’s new costume.

Lots of places have been posting about Wednesday Comics with the release of the hardcover this week. The Source has some of the extras, including art from Karl Kerschl’s Flash strip.

Comic Strips

OK, none of these strips are Flash-related… but I had to share them anyway.

Comic Critics points out that Gotham City is a bad place to open themed businesses.

Creebobby presents Batman after a bad night on patrol: Bat-Fail.

Quick News: Velocity, DC History, Green Lantern, World’s Fastest Man

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A few brief news items:

Top Cow’s delayed Velocity #1 is shipping June 16. I’ve been looking forward to this since reading the Pilot Season book, though of course this is an entirely new creative team. On the plus side, it’s a miniseries, so there’s not a huge commitment to picking it up.

Cartoon Network will be producing a Green Lantern animated series. Green Lantern: First Flight was pretty good, but of course there’s no guarantee that any of the same people will be working on this.

DC will be teaming up with TASCHEN Books to produce 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Basically it’s a history of DC Comics. How soon can I pre-order this?

Hypergeek notes that the UK graphic novel Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man? has been nominated for the 2009 Eagle Awards. From his review, it looks like it’s not about a speester so much as it’s about a man who can stop time, and reluctantly becomes a hero. I’m going to have to look for this one as well. [Edit: I should note that I stopped reading the review once I decided the book looked interesting, just in case there were spoilers.]

Flash Movie Nearing Greenlight

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The Hollywood Reporter reports on a presentation by Warner Bros. chariman and CEO Barry Meyer to investors. The big news is a release date for the next Sherlock Holmes movie (December 2011), but he also talked about upcoming super-hero movies, saying that the Flash movie is “nearing” a greenlight.

WB has previously said that they intend to make DC’s super-heroes the new “tentpole” movies once the Harry Potter series is over (the last book has been split into two films, with part two coming out in July next year). Green Lantern will arrive in theaters June 17, 2011, and Batman and Superman films are in the works for 2012. Meyer also mentioned Wonder Woman and Aquaman movies in development…and, oddly enough, Mad Magazine characters. (I’m blanking. Maybe a live-action Spy vs. Spy? Could the premise actually sustain a full-length movie?)

The Flash has taken a long, slow road to the silver screen, starting with the David Goyer version announced in 2004. Since then, Warner Bros. has gone darker, lighter, then darker again, dropped Goyer’s script entirely, and run through several directors. The current version of the film is being written by Dan Mazeau from a story treatment by Geoff Johns.

Flash Family to appear on Batman: The Brave and the Bold this Saturday in Australia

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Lucky Aussies. Batman: The Brave and the Bold’s Facebook page announced a couple of hours ago that The Flash Family will be appearing this Saturday for the first time together (although Jay had an appearance in the episode “Trials of the Demon” last year) and it will be airing in Australia first.

Australian fans will be able to watch a brand new, never before seen episode this Saturday on Nine Network’s Kids WB block at 10:35a! “Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!” Barry Allen has long been presumed dead, but his “ghost” has been haunting Jay Garrick and Kid Flash. When Batman sees it too, they realize he is not dead!

Definitely sounds like a great episode in the making. I have to wonder though, who is under the cowl of Kid Flash? Wally West or Bart Allen? Since Barry has been long presumed dead in this continuity as well, did Wally ever step up to take over the mantle? Or did Jay just jump back into the role after Barry disappeared? And if either is the case how in the heck is Kid Flash still a “Kid”? Just how long are we talking about here?

As usual I can’t wait until we see more toy prospects. We’ve already seen a picture of The Brave and the Bold Flash (Barry Allen), I wonder if there is any chance we will be seeing a Jay Garrick and a Kid Flash in the near future as well? Flash Family box set? Yes please.

Interesting to note, this will be the first time we will ever be seeing The Flash Family all at once in a TV Show or movie. So excited for all the big things they have lined up for The Flash franchise.

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson