Redesigned Flash by Jim Lee

The USA Today article about DC’s upcoming reboot includes a drawing of the Justice League with Jim Lee’s new costume designs…but not the entire image. Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman and Green Lantern are all visible, but the Flash and Batman are both off-panel, but it turns out that the article thumbnail on the newspaper’s home page shows the Flash’s mask.

I got the impression somewhere on Twitter that the full image appears in the print version of the article.

Update: I was in such a rush to post this that I forgot to comment on it. The only thing that really stands out in this picture is the chin guard (which was my least favorite element of the Walter West Dark Flash costume). The seams will get lost in the detail when drawn by most artists, and the earpieces change all the time anyway.

Update 2: SpeedsterSite found a copy of the full Jim Lee Justice League image. Here’s the Flash:

Oh, look, there’s that yellow outline around the circle, which Ethan Van Sciver so carefully added to Wally West’s costume in order to distinguish him from Barry Allen.

Update: You can see more of the costume in Francis Manapul’s cover for Flash #1.

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45 thoughts on “Redesigned Flash by Jim Lee

    1. Kelson Post author

      It’s not the first time – I mean, Greg LaRocque changed the belt, eyes, boots, earpieces, and fabric, and a lot of the details of the costume have been in flux ever since.

      Reply
      1. Kelson Post author

        Cyborg does look kind of…squished, doesn’t he?

        Personally, I prefer being able to tell that there’s more than just a head left of his human body.

        Reply
      1. Zeke

        That seems a bit premature. It wasn’t so long ago that Wally was gone completely, with no ETA for his return. Right now he’s an active superhero who could show up any time — and it’s not like DC doesn’t know we want him around. That’s a large part of the feedback they’re getting.

        Don’t get me wrong, Wally’s the Flash I grew up with and I want him to have a role in the comics. But at worst, we Wally fans are in the same position now that Jay Garrick fans were in back in the Silver Age. It’s not that bad a position to be in. Any day your character doesn’t go crazy and kill the Green Lantern Corps is a better day than some fans have had.

        Reply
        1. ky

          Active? Oh, you mean playing football in the park and sitting down at an intercession in order to gush utter nonsense about the his past feelings about Barry?

          Reply
    1. Lee H

      The yellow circle around the emblem first appeared on Barry Allen’s Flash costume in the 1960s Filmation cartoons. It was also the first time Wally West (as Kid Flash) had blanked out white eyelenses!

      Reply
  1. Zachary Adams

    Well, it doesn’t have a high-collar with a little V at the Adam’s apple, which puts it one up on Superman…

    Reply
    1. Kyer

      Or pockets. But then we aren’t seeing the whole thing. Maybe the pants have pockets and zippers.

      Actually (at least until I do see the whole thing) I’m relieved. Was actually expecting something horrid and -he- I can see eyes!

      Now if only I could tell whether they are green…or blue.

      Reply
  2. Zeke

    To quote Barry himself when he finds out Catgirl has changed his uniform in The Dark Knight Strikes Again: “Kids these days. Can’t tell the difference between just plain old and classic.”

    Reply
  3. Lia

    Looks very ’90s (not surprising, since it’s the work of Jim Lee)…that isn’t a compliment.

    Aquaman, Batman, and GL look fine to me, but Wonder Woman’s busting out all over again and I don’t care for the Flash’s chinstrap. Flash looks like a teenager, as does Superman.

    Reply
    1. Kyer

      Maybe they’ll tone down the chin strap? (we can only hope.)

      Dislike Aquaman’s shirt. It’s not smooth. As with a speedster, the shirt should be aerodynamic, yet it looks like it is molting.

      Oh god…if Wally is a teen, then that would leave Bart still in the futuristic lab crib? Jay pushing 25? Maybe everyone just got doused in a vat of rejuvenating cream?

      Reply
    1. Kyer

      I’ll cross my eyes if there are bell bottoms. If Diana starts sporting fringes on her magic lasso and a peace-symbol headband I am out of here.

      Although I think I could tolerate an “I Grok Spock” button. 😀

      Reply
  4. Phantom Stranger

    The costumes are not too bad, except the uplifted collar on Superman. No one should ever tamper with that costume.

    Reply
      1. Kyer

        Yeah. Be incredibly thankful we have yet to see Superman in a muscle shirt. Or worse (if DC is really hurting as bad as some say) advertisements on the clothing. So far Wally has yet to start sporting Nike logos or Supes protein powders.

        Reply
  5. Hermi

    Okay…now it’s official.

    Just because Jim Lee drew it doesn’t mean it looks super special awesome.

    For a fresh start they look kinda…no, pretty 90’s to me D:
    And please…as if ANYBODY picks up a comic book with the words:
    “Oh wow, look, that is suuuuch a cool costume!”

    DC sometimes you confuse me…

    Reply
    1. Blair Brown

      And please…as if ANYBODY picks up a comic book with the words:
      “Oh wow, look, that is suuuuch a cool costume!”

      Let it be noted for the record,that I picked up the recent issues of Batman because of Bruce Wayne’s new duds,which I thought were cool.

      Reply
  6. Esteban Pedreros

    I haven’t read all the comments.
    Flash looks awfully young IMHO, and bulky. That’s a cause of concern for me.

    They said that they would be launching titles with younger characters, maybe the Flash is one of them, maybe he is not even Barry, Wally or Bart.

    I fear that in a Younger DC there might not be room for grown-up sidekicks or young replacements for traditional heroes (Kyle anybody?).

    Reply
  7. James McEwan

    I think most artists will forget the lightning seams on the mask. It almost seems like they were trying to come up with a motif to replace the earpieces much like the painted on wings on Captain America’s movie costume, but backed out at the last minute.

    Reply
  8. russ_005

    It looks lilke Barry.

    West is gone.

    I look forward to the post Johns writting era with less formula and more real story telling.

    Reply
  9. russ_005

    Ok so It could be Wally. (Last hope) The eye color is not a definite Barry give away.I have read that Wally’s eyes have fluxed between Blue and Green though the years.

    Reply
  10. Imitorar

    It’s still basically the Infantino design. Sure, there are minor variations, but there have been ever since the LaRocque redesign. It’s still pretty much the same costume. There are no major differences for anyone on that poster except for Wonder Woman. And personally, I like that. The Flash, the Green Lantern, and Superman have always had excellent costumes. I don’t even mind the collars. I just think of them as protection for the neck. And the Flash’s chin-guard looks cool, I think.

    Reply
  11. Devin "The Flash" Johnson

    Hmmmm. Definitely looks like Barry to me and really is there any doubt after all the effort DC has put into making him the main Flash? They aren’t going to do all of that and then just toss it all away. Well at least not twice in a row.

    As for the costume itself? Really what was the point? It looks to me like they took Bart’s cowl from Titans Tomorrow and just slapped it on a slightly revised Flash costume with added padding ala The Flash TV Show. I’ve said it again and I’ll yell it from the rooftops “I hate when they draw the speedsters to look like weight lifters. They should definitely be toned and have muscle but this is ridiculous.

    In fact now that I think about it, this suit reminds me a bit of the DC Universe Online armor suit (also designed by Jim Lee). Just with spandex instead of armor:

    https://speedforce.org/2010/07/sdcc-2010-dc-universe-online-trailer-flash-armor-pictures/

    Reply
  12. Realitätsprüfung

    This pic is of the JLA shortly after they formed. DC is resetting the continuity so that all the characters are only a few years into their careeers. So that’s clearly Barry.

    Makes you wonder who will be Kid Flash though – Wally or Bart? Unless one of them doesn’t exist in the new continuity. (Easy enough to not do this though – Bart could join the Legion as Impulse, and all 3 remain. 4 including Jay.)

    Reply
    1. kyer

      Aw hell….then I could well be right about Young Justice DCAU? That’s supposed to be set when the JL is only a few years together as a team as well.

      Shazbot! If that becomes official I already hate this because then Wally will either be Kid Flash (a current trend I am so very much starting to despise) or not yet a twinkle in the speed forces bolt. Damn it! Will drop, drop, drop like a diseased apple! I only watch YJ because there are only a small handful of somewhat interesting shows on as it is. I don’t love it by any means.

      Reply
      1. Kyer

        Double shazbot! I bet they aren’t showing the lower half yet because then we’d be seeing that the belt is Wally’s and we’d think this was Wally except that later they are going to verify it’s Barry but with Wally’s belt and chin strap and man the fandom is going to hit the ceiling and keep right on blasting to the moooooon! Damn, I’m all paranoid now! Next thing you know “Barry” will be cracking wise and the start of the book will be “My name is Barry Allen….I’m the Flash.”

        Reply
  13. TheFlash1990

    Well I am excited for Johns on a JLA book finally. I always hoped it’d be with the original lineup tho, since we haven’t really seen them in a regular book since the 60s and 70s. But this is close enough I suppose. I just wonder who is going to be writing The Flash book now with Johns doing the Aquaman book with Ivan Reis. I was really looking forward to his Flash: Secret Origin (with Reis art ideally), but oh well.

    As for the suits….HATE the chin strap. The ear pieces look huge but again they vary from artist to artist. Personally I prefer them to look sleek and rather sharp, almost how Kubert draws them in Flashpoint. It’s no surprise they’d raise the logo a la a cinematic version I suppose? I guess GL wears armor now too? And what is up with Cyborg? I guess if Wonder Woman and Batman get makeovers the rest of the team isn’t exempt. Cest la vie. Idk why but for some reason this reminds me of Marvel’s Heroes Reborn thing somewhat lol…let’s hope it’s nothing like it.

    Yeah, say what you will, but Cyborg is there because the rest of the team is primarily white. Now I’ve nothing against his character but seeing him there…it just always feels so out of place to me because of the whole Teen Titans thing, but perhaps my preference for the original lineup has biased me to anyone else holding a “founding” position. I always thought if they were to “ultimatize” the JLA, Martian Manhunter’s John Jones alias would be black. But given the fact that the Martian Manhunter is green I suppose it again would defeat the purpose of getting an ethnicity in there.

    Now having said all that, I am very much looking forward to this. Should be exciting and interesting to say the least. I just really, REALLY hope we get some straight up Flash stories after this. It’s been YEARS. I’m tired of giant ass event books. One of the defining things about the heavy weight DC characters is that they can support their own stories and remain interesting without ever interacting with or mentioning the rest of the DCU, not that I’d prefer that, but there was a time when say, Superman showed up in The Flash book it was a “special” issue, not so much anymore nowadays where everyone’s bleeding into each other. Some of it, to me, is unnecessary. Marvel’s always been like that because most of their characters were created by the same guys.

    Reply
  14. Kyer

    Like the ear pieces, meh on the chin strip, abhor the Flash Is Wearing A Flash Muscle Suit Over His Regular Suit look, meh on the cowl lightning additions…

    Am so angry they added to Barry’s suit what were supposed to make Wally different from Barry…not least that for an hour I actually thought this WAS Wally…I’m livid. Still. Went to bed, got to get to work soon…and I’m still livid. Also about Cyborg being there rather than J’onn. Where the helll is J’onn? To me J’onn IS the JLA.

    Reply
    1. Lee H

      It’s been stated that the new Justice League will consist of 14 members. That image only shows 7. It looks like it might be half of a wrap around cover. I’d be very surprised if Martian Manhunter is absent.

      Reply
  15. Esteban Pedreros

    Now I don’t know what to think.

    I saw Manapul’s cover for the Flash, and I liked it a lot, it’s a different costume but it looks good. Which confuses me because I don’t understand how you relaunch a whole line of comics and you get to be inconsistent with the look of one of your main characters the next day. Makes very little sense.

    Seems to me like all the JLers are using some kind of body armor in this promotional image… Batman has metallic gloves… GL is using a light armor… whatever, I don’t get it.

    Reply

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