Speed Force

I wrote on a Golden-Age Flash comic book the other day.

Not much. Just two numbers, three letters, and a couple of short strikethrough lines.

But you know, it took effort to bring myself to do it!

I’ve been collecting comics since I was around seven years old. I’m 34 now. And while I’ve never been the type to freak out when opening an action figure package, or even opening the covers of a comic book, I’ve always* tried to take care of my comics. Not as an investment — I have no illusions there. Just because I want to make them last.

So what happened? How did someone from the bag-and-board set come to actually put pen to paper and write on a collector’s item nearly twice his own age?

It had already been written on…and it was wrong.

Last week I won an auction on eBay for a coverless copy of what had been identified as Flash Comics #72 (June 1946). Based on the stories, it was actually Flash Comics #74 (August 1946). No big deal — I didn’t have either of them to start with, so it was something new either way. The problem is that a previous owner had actually written the wrong issue number and date in the corner of the splash page. (Interestingly, they had written the right cover date first, then crossed it out when they concluded it was actually #72 instead.)

Sure, I hate writing on collectibles. But I also hate leaving errors uncorrected. (Just look at this poll on correcting typos that I ran a few weeks ago.) Finally, I decided that if I ever forgot that it wasn’t really #72, or if it ended up in someone else’s collection, it would be better not to have the wrong information there. And as far as selling it goes, as long as I kept the writing small, it couldn’t be worse than what was already there.

Even so, it was a tougher decision than it really should have been. Margin annotations on newsprint should not be a big deal!

*OK, always since I realized that 7-year-old me was making a mistake trying to create his own collected editions of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew by binding them together with the only tool I had that was suitable: scotch tape. Apparently I wanted to be a trade reader before there were any trades around to read.

Last month, DC announced a collaboration with TASCHEN Books: a massive history of DC Comics, written by Paul Levitz with tons of artwork from DC’s 75-year history.

At the time, I asked, “How soon can I pre-order this?”

Well, now I can…for the low, low price of $126, marked down from $200.*

Yow! That may be a little out of my budget. Admittedly, it’s a 650+ page hardcover full of glossy color printing that weighs in at 15 pounds (6.8kg). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows weighs less than three pounds, and even the slipcase edition of Comic Book Tattoo “only” weighs eight. Still, when the price gets into triple digits, I start thinking seriously about what else I could buy with that money instead.

Two other items are on the listing that I don’t recall seeing when I looked last month: a cover and a release date. I don’t know if the cover is final or preliminary. It’s on Amazon’s schedule for November 1, 2010, making this a likely Christmas gift for historically-inclined DC fans.

Amazon: 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking

*This tracks with the £135 that Acrobatic Flea spotted on Amazon UK a few weeks ago. So much for it being a placeholder price.

Diamond has posted their top 100 comics for May, and The Flash #2 takes the #12 spot. The top 10 are full of Siege, Brightest Day and Batman–related comics.

Sales estimates should be available in the next few days.

Some quick convention notes:

Flash: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver will be at Wizard World’s Philadelphia Comic Con* this weekend, and will be signing this afternoon from 3:00-3:45.

Comic-Con International is gearing up for next month’s event with transportation news: they’re adding shuttle service to hotels in Mission Valley, Shelter Island, and North Harbor Island. Also, they’re partnering with some downtown San Diego parking lots to sell pre-paid parking. Amazingly enough, spaces in the lot below the convention center still seem to be available!

If you’re headed to San Diego, or to any other convention this summer, you may want to check out my Tips for Comic-Con.

Long Beach Comic Con has only been around for a year, but they’re already offering a limited-edition lifetime membership for $129. That’s comparable to three years at the full-weekend price of $45…or just over one year at Comic-Con International (currently $100 for 4½ days). They’re running a contest though the end of July to win one of the lifetime memberships.

I enjoyed the first LBCC last October, and I definitely plan on going back this year if I can.

*I don’t link to the individual convention pages anymore because they keep moving them around. Not to mention renaming the cons.

Don’t like Twitter? Can’t stand Facebook? Or just want a new way to follow Speed Force updates? You’re in luck: you can now follow Speed Force on Google Buzz.

For now, I’ll be using it similar to the way I use Twitter and Facebook with the site. You’ll find:

• New blog posts.
• Updates from Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning.
• Interesting Links (before they show up here).
• Occasional short commentary.

Follow on Buzz

On a related note, I’ve dropped the extra buttons for ComicsBlips and Stumbleupon for now. No one was using them as far as I can tell, and they just cluttered up the (already way too busy) page.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Warner Brothers has hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim to write treatments for Green Lantern 2…and The Flash! The trio will then write the screenplay for one of the movies.

Surprising no-one who has read any DC comics during the last two years, the movie “will take inspiration from [Geoff] Johns’ recent work and will feature the Barry Allen incarnation of the character.”*

The three writers have all been involved with the Green Lantern film. Greg Berlanti had been rumored as a possible director for The Flash, and of course Marc Guggenheim wrote the “Full Throttle” story for the comic book Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. Interestingly enough, Berlanti and Guggenheim will be bringing another speedster to the screen — the TV screen — in this fall’s No Ordinary Family.

Presumably this means they’ve abandoned the Dan Mazeau script announced last year. It’s hardly the first time the movie has been sent back to the drawing board in the nearly six years since it was first announced.

News found via The Nerdy Bird!

*Yes, I know that’s a picture of Wally West. THR used the cover for The Flash Secret Files #1 in their article, and I figured I would too just because it looks cool.

Sorry I haven’t been updating much this week. I’ve been busy, and there hasn’t been much Flash news. So, to tide things over a bit, here’s some linkblogging.

The Comic Book Letterheads Museum has been posting headers from The Flash letter columns, including 1988′s Fleet Sheet and 1989′s Speed Reading (where I got the title for this feature). Further back in the archives you can find Flash-Grams from 1970 and 1976.

Multiversity Comics casts a Flash movie. Has anyone else noticed how often Neil Patrick Harris shows up in these lists? (Also: Linda Park as…Linda Park.)

When Words Collide reviews Wednesday Comics in its new hardcover form, concluding that “The Flash is still, by far, the best thing in Wednesday Comics.

Following up on the reader-chosen Greatest Mark Waid Stories Ever Told, Comics Should Be Good got Mark Waid to pick his own list of favorite stories from his work. A lot of the usual suspects still appear, but one of the surprises was Impulse #3, Bart Allen’s first day at school.

Newsarama interviews Geoff Johns and asks him about Flashpoint. As usual, he can’t say more than we already know.

Judging by this cover for Guardians of the Globe #1 (not the joke one with Barack Obama and Harry Potter, the serious one further down), the design has been tweaked a bit for the Invincible spin-off’s resident speedster, Outrun. [Edit: I forgot to include the link when I posted this!]

The DC Nation panel at HeroesCon this weekend offered a glimmer of hope to those looking forward to the Kid Flash series originally announced at last year’s Comic-Con International and put on hold last December. ComicBloc’s trmnlvlctyyy spotted in Newsarama’s writeup of the panel that a fan asked about the series, and Franco Aureliani (Tiny Titans) said to “ask him again in August.”

In the following thread, Spire2000 notes that another fan asked about more kids’ books, and was also told to wait until August.

Neither exchange is mentioned in CBR’s coverage.

Could DC be planning a kid-friendly Kid Flash book?

I guess we’ll find out in August…

Collected Editions is always on the lookout for new DC hardcovers and trades, and has posted a round-up of DC hardcovers for early 2011. Among others, he spotted the Amazon listing for Flash vol.1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues. The hardcover collection is available for preorder and ships from Amazon on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, which probably means it will hit the direct market on February 2, 2011.

As announced last month, this collection features The Flash #1-7 and “material” (presumably the story) from The Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010.

Update (July 9): The Source has posted more detail on Spring 2011 collections, and now states that the book collects The Flash #1-6 and The Flash Secret Files 2010. This makes it line up exactly with the first story arc, rather than extending one issue beyond it.

Sony Online Entertainment has released a short video showing off super-speed in the upcoming DC Universe Online massively-multiplayer online game. Creative Director Jens Andersen introduces the clips, which feature both the Flash and player-created characters.

The video highlights not just running fast, but running up buildings, running upside-down on the ceiling, and special combat moves like whirlwinds.

If it doesn’t work here, or you want to watch it at a different size, you can watch it at YouTube. (Found via ComicBook Movie, though I couldn’t get the video to play there.)

Judging by the comments on yesterday’s Flash #3 variant cover, I should probably mention that this game has been in the works for quite a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Flash shown above was designed at a time when Wally West was still the main version of the character.