Spoilers if you’re trade-waiting Flash: The Road to Flashpoint, but if you’ve read The Flash #9, you know that…
April 1, 2011
Who Is Hot Pursuit, REALLY?
Cobalt Blue T-Shirt Available Exclusively At VA Comicon
All right! With wild speculation concerning the identity of the individual(s) behind Flashpoint swirling about, we have a surprise exclusive being released first through VA Comicon coming up April 9, 2011 in Richmond, VA. The remaining t-shirts will be distributed through various outlets until they are gone.
Check it out:
The T-Shirt retails for $19.99 and will only be available in limited quantities.
I think the timing of the shirt is indicative of what I’ve known all along; Malcolm Thawne is behind Flashpoint and Barry Allen has no hope of stopping him.
Who plans on picking this baby up?
Flash Facts: Cobalt Blue
Cobalt is an element obtained from the smelting of metallic ores such as cobaltite, copper, and nickel. The smelted form is a hard silvery metal with magnetic properties.
Cobalt-based blue pigments have been used since the Bronze Age (3000 BC) for glass, ceramics, jewellery, and paint. In modern times, the element is also used as part of a superalloy metal (which is a combination of metals) for diverse items like prosthetics, batteries, jet engines and turbines. A radioactive isotope of cobalt is commonly used in medical tests and to sterilize food and equipment.
Cobalt Blue is the name of a deep blue pigment used in ceramics, paint, glass, and even ophthalmology filters. It’s made from cobalt salts of alumina, and its popularity is in part due to its stability (meaning it doesn’t degrade or break down quickly). However, it’s toxic if ingested, much as I’d imagine Malcolm Thawne to be.
Cobalt Blue Tarantula
The Cobalt Blue tarantula is a spider species native to Myanmar and Thailand, notable for its iridescent blue legs, speed, and aggression. Somehow…this seems fitting. This site describes them as “a psychotic, high-strung burrowing species”, which makes them seem even less appealing.
There are many similarities between a blue tarantula and Malcolm Thawne: one is despised by most people and looks ridiculous. The other is a spider.
A “Retro-Active” Flash-Back
At the WonderCon DC Nation panel, DC announced a series of one-shots coming this summer called “Retro-Active.” Each set features three one-shots set in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s continuity re-uniting the characters with the creators most associated with of classic runs from that era.
The Flash issues will be written by:
- Cary Bates for the 1970s
- William Messner-Loebs for the 1980s
- Brian Augustyn for the 1990s.
Each issue will feature 26 pages of new story and 20 pages of reprinted material and will run $4.99. No word yet on artists or release dates. Other characters announced include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America.
It’s odd that they’ve broken up the Waid/Augustyn team. Given that Waid has expressed willingness to work for DC again, I figure this means one of two things:
- DC doesn’t want to hire Mark Waid for now.
- Mark Waid doesn’t want to return to The Flash after the disaster of “The Wild Wests.”
Source: CBR coverage and Newsarama coverage.
Update (Monday): DC has released the logos and writers for the event.
Flashpoint #3 Cover Revealed
Road to Flashpoint Hardcover in October
Collected Editions spotted a number of late-2011 DC collections last week, including Flash Vol. 2: The Road to Flashpoint
Vol. 1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
» Pre-order The Flash Vol.2 at Amazon
Top This!
For some reason, there are a lot of new character-focused blogs launching today. Among them is a site dedicated to another classic Flash Rogue: Nobody Tops The Top!
Geoff Johns: Flashpoint-by-Point
Newsarama has an extensive interview with Geoff Johns. Here are the items they thought were worth highlighting:
- In the Flashpoint mini-series, Flash and Batman team up “Brave and the Bold style.”
- Johns says his mini-series is the “most accessible event I’ve ever done,” saying there is no other comic necessary to read before or during his story.
- The writer has been working on the concept for years.
- One of the reasons there are multiple tie-ins is that comic creators were told about the event at a meeting, and they came up with what Johns calls “quality stories” they wanted to tell in the Flashpoint world.
- Although Johns won’t clarify whether the mini-series has lasting ramifications, he keeps saying things like, “where DC is going” … and “what we have coming out of” Flashpoint.
A few additional items that will probably be of interest:
- Andy Kubert is currently drawing issue #4 of the 5-issue miniseries, and Geoff Johns is currently writing #5.
- “The tie-ins aren’t just, like, ‘look, so-and-so is this way.’ It’s exploring ‘how did they get there, and why?’”
- “The first rule about Flashpoint is, don’t talk about what happens after Flashpoint.”
- “There’s another character that’s very obscure who is going to have a bigger role in the Flashpoint mini-series than she’s ever had in the DC Universe.”
- “In a way, Hot Pursuit will appear in Kid Flash: Lost, by Sterling Gates.”
“In a way?” That’s odd phrasing. Sort of like how Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker “from a certain point of view.” Hmm….
Meanwhile, let’s start speculation on the “very obscure” female character who will have a bigger role in this series. I’m guessing it’s not Element Girl/Element Woman since she’s already been mentioned (assuming they’re even the same character).
There’s a whole lot more in the full interview.
In other Flashpoint news, The Source has been posting more character designs with commentary by artist Andy Kubert.
Additionally, ComicsAlliance has a scoop with a new set of Flashpoint variant covers.
“Seeing” Blue: TV’s Cobalt Blue Prototype
When it comes to the 1990 Flash TV series, true Cobalt Blue fans usually list the “Twin Streaks” episode at the top of their playlist.
Predating Blue’s first appearance by eight years, ”Twin Streaks” introduced Pollux, a clone of the Flash created from a sample of his blood.
Grown in a lab, Pollux was a prototype for what his creators hoped would be a line of super-soldiers. He also held some of the traits that would become associated with the Cobalt Blue character. While Rogues like Captain Cold, Trickster and Mirror Master appeared in modified versions of their comic book counterparts, Pollux mixed “reverse Flash” with evil-clone/twin and was driven by jealous rage.
While it would be a stretch to suggest that Pollux inspired writers Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn when creating Cobalt Blue, the raging jealousy and evil-twinness are something that both characters hold in common. Upon reaching a certain level of self-awareness, Pollux set out to annex aspects of Barry’s life, real and percieved, leading up to a super-speed showdown at the lab where he was weaned.
Pollux hit close to home for a lot of CB fans, and even inspired this loving tribute.
For more information on Pollux (TV’s Cobalt Blue!), check out this bio, and a review of the episode (from Crimson Lightning).
The Flash vs…Barry Allen? The Bronze-Age Origin of Cobalt Blue
Most Flash readers, if they know about Cobalt Blue at all, know him as a new character introduced in the second half of the Mark Waid/Brian Augustyn run on The Flash in 1999. They might know that his link to Barry Allen was hinted at in The Life Story of the Flash and the first Flash Secret Files (both 1997), or that two Cobalt Blues appeared in the 1997 Speed Force special.
But Cobalt Blue’s origins can be traced all the way back to 1980!
Let’s return to the Bronze Age of comics. Read the rest of this entry »
