May 12, 2011
Well, here it is, the supposedly final issue of The Flash. So how does it read? And how does Geoff Johns & Francis Manapul’s brief 12-issue run hold together?
This one’s better than the previous issue, with a super-speed battle, revelations about Professor Zoom, the Speed Force, Flashpoint and Kid Flash, and even the background between Barry Allen and Patty Spivot. Scott Kolins’ art looks better as well — whether he had more time, or whether the super-heroics is just better suited for his current style, I couldn’t say — and Francis Manapul’s cover (revealed just yesterday) is great.
Still, the whole “Road to Flashpoint” arc feels like something’s missing. The biggest problem, I think, is that everything from Flash: Rebirth to this point was supposed to be a steady build toward Flashpoint, but the combination of slowly-paced long storylines and publishing delays meant that instead of progressing from A to B to C to D to E to Flashpoint, we instead spent a lot of time on A and then a lot of time on E without actually following the steps to get there.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think maybe making a clean break at this point and starting fresh after Flashpoint is exactly what the book needs.
A bit about the art:
I mentioned that I liked Kolins’ art better in this issue than last. One sequence that stood out was the way he portrayed Zoom and the negative speed force. It looked more like flowing energy streams within Zoom’s body than the usual lightning leaking around it, which was a nice change, and a good way of showing that Thawne was using the powers differently. Still, I miss the background details that Francis Manapul works into his art, like the fire extinguisher behind someone who’s still carrying a flame.
Further discussion will require SPOILERS! Read the rest of this entry »
May 11, 2011
Hey, Speed Readers! Earlier this afternoon Mattycollector.com’s Facebook page released carded images of DC Universe Classics Wave 17, Mattel’s own Blackest Night Wave. Of course any Flash fan that has been following the last few years of the DC Universe would know that Barry was deputized into the Blue Lantern Corps during Blackest Night and has already seen a release in the DC Direct Blackest Night Wave. Now DC Universe Classics collectors get a shot at him:
One cool thing to note that was absent from the DC Direct version of this figure is the ability for this figure to hold his included Lantern. The DCD version sports closed fists. In addition to that the figure has 23 points of articulation and has a lighter color scheme. Despite feeling pretty burnt out on the whole Rainbow Lantern thing I will still be picking this figure up. The completest in me will not let me pass up on it.
I also came across an auction posted by eBay seller, Last_Galaxy for a custom Wally West action figure in his latest uniform:
The figure’s base looks to be a DC Universe Classics Barry Allen with a sculpted on lightning belt, lightning forearms and Wally’s new (JLU) symbol. Still hoping to see some version of this figure from either DC Direct or Mattel soon. I really do not care who makes it I just want it! The auction ends in about 4 days and can be found HERE.
Thanks for reading,
-Devin “Flash” Johnson
Leading up to today’s release of Flashpoint and Flash #12, Flash fans across the country have been asking the same question: “Where is Wally West?”
While we do not know where Wally is now, where he will be, or how long it will be until he is anywhere, we certainly know where he was! With that knowledge, here is the latest installment in our ongoing contest feature, “Where Was Wally West?”
On Wednesdays, we will post a panel or sequence from a classic comic featuring Wally West visiting an alternate reality, the past or a “possible future”. Every fan who can tell us the issue, writer, artist(s) and a reasonable description of the locale/era, by Friday, will be entered into a raffle for a cool Flash prize!
Just send your responses to this email address (whereswally at speedforce dot org), and we’ll announce the winner on Monday!
So check out the image below and ask yourself, WWWW?
This week’s prize is the Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge hardcover by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. Winners must live in the continental US or Canada.
DC Comics has released one last teaser before Flashpoint #1 hits stores today. Comic Book Resources has the highest-resolution copy of the image that I’ve seen, while Comic Vine uses it to jump off with some commentary about the event.
May 10, 2011
DC has posted a one-page preview (yes, just one page) of this week’s The Flash #12, the final issue of the current series and of “The Road to Flashpoint.” They also confirm that Scott Kolins is the second artist joining Francis Manapul (not that there was much doubt), and released an entirely new Francis Manapul cover for the book. The variant cover is the Francis Portela cover released two weeks ago.
Barry Allen is having a tough time balancing his life. Not only is he faced with his job as a CSI, his family, and being a super hero, but he’s struggling with a past that still haunts him.
In the conclusion of THE FLASH (on sale tomorrow), written by superstar writer Geoff Johns and drawn by the amazing artists Scott Kolins and Francis Manapul, emotions are running high and Barry needs to make a change…fast.
THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT storyline ends here and then everything you know will change in a Flash.
It’s a big week for the Flash: The final issue of this series (though of course you know it’s coming back), plus the start of DC Comics’ first-ever Flash-centric giant event, plus a reprint collection of classic Flash stories.
The Flash #12
Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL [edit: and SCOTT KOLINS]; 1:10 Variant cover by GEORGE PEREZ FRANCIS PORTELA.
“The Road to Flashpoint” concludes as everything Barry Allen knows and cares about is lost. What is the Flashpoint? Find out in FLASHPOINT #1!
DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US
Flashpoint #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT; 1:25 Variant cover A by ANDY KUBERT; Variant cover by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PÉREZ
Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it? It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of The Outsider, The Secret 7, S!H!A!Z!A!M!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces! It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!
Welcome to FLASHPOINT!
DC Universe 40pg. Color $3.99 US
DC Comics Presents: The Flash
Written by JOHN BROOME and ROBERT KANIGHER; Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and others; Cover by ANDY KUBERT and JOE KUBERT
Spotlighting tales of time travel and the Rogues, these tales from SHOWCASE #4 and 14, THE FLASH #125, 130 and 139 pit The Scarlet Speedster against “The Giants of The Time World,” “The Conquerors of Time,” along with Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, The Top, Captain Cold, The Trickster and The Reverse Flash!
DC Universe 96pg. Color $7.99 US
May 9, 2011
Thanks to everyone who participated in this week’s installation of our “Where Was Wally West?” contest here at Speed Force!
We posted a panel from a classic Flash comic, featuring Wally West in an alternate reality, the past or a “possible future”. Correct answers were put into a raffle, and a winner was drawn at random. To refresh your memory, here is the latest subject:
With clasps of solid lightning, the Box of Speed holds the key to some of the deepest secrets and darkest corners of Flash contests…
…and the winner is…
Congrats to Esteban! This week’s answer was Flash V. 2 #169, art by Angel Unzueta and Doug Hazlewood. In Geoff Johns’ first Flash story, Wally struggles to overcome the challenges of being powerless a mirror world, rife with haunting alternate versions of his friends and enemies…
Esteban has had a big week when it comes to Flash. He is the man who got the low-down on the lack of Mark Waid on the DC: Retroactive 90′s Flash story, and now he is this week’s WWWW winner! His site, Comic Verso, is a great source for Spanish-language comic book news, reviews and features.
See you on Wednesday for the next installment in “Where Was Wally West?”!
For those who missed the preview in DC’s Free Comic Book Day offering this weekend, you can catch several pages of the 8-page preview online at USA Today and at Comics Nexus.
The pages at USA Today answer another question that has had speedster fans confused since Saturday: a possible new speedster in the Flash Family panel. Fans had been debating whether she was a horribly mis-colored XS or a new character. The USA Today pages have been corrected, making it clear that yes, she’s meant to be XS.
Good to know, though I have to wonder how getting a character’s skin, hair and costume all wrong made it as far as the printed copy of a high-profile promotional book. (Though I suspect DC put far more effort into the Green Lantern part of the book, because, let’s be honest: a big summer movie trumps a big summer comic book every time.)
[Update: DC Women Kicking Ass has the panel in question, with the printed FCBD and corrected online versions. (via Bleeding Cool)]
Along with the preview, USA Today interviews Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert and others about the event.
May 8, 2011
Some weekend linkblogging as we race toward Flashpoint.
Flash Art.
Flash and Flashpoint.
Other comics stuff.
Linkblogging: reviews of the latest issue of The Flash.
