Our series on reactions to DC’s September relaunch continues. Last time we looked at the Justice League titles. This time it’s the Green Lantern collection of comics, which appears to be less of a reboot and more of a restructuring.
Green Lantern · Green Lantern Corps · Green Lantern: The New Guardians · Red Lanterns
DC Comics is revamping their characters and entire publishing line this September after Flashpoint in what appears to be the largest-scale shake-up since Crisis on Infinite Earths ushered in a new era back in 1986. As you might imagine, here at Speed Force, we all keep an eye on DC’s output. The four regular contributors here have written up our first impressions of the new line-up. [Edit: restructured to break things down by series instead of by commenter.]
Justice League · Wonder Woman · The Flash · Green Arrow · The Fury of Firestorm · Aquaman · Justice League International · Mister Terrific · The Savage Hawkman · Captain Atom · DC Universe Presents
Welcome to the latest installment in our annotations of classic Flash tales by Cary Bates! We’re leading up to the August 9th release of Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash. Links to research and artwork are included throughout this post.
UP TO SPEED: After coming to terms with the death of his wife, Iris, Flash embarked on a personal manhunt for her accused killer, Clive Yorkin. Mutated into a murderous beast by the experimental rehabilitation procedures of Dr. Nephron (issues 270 – 274), Yorkin discovered he could supplant his dependency on Nephron’s machines by feeding on the emotional energy of human beings. Drawn to a battle between Flash and Heat Wave, Yorkin devastated the Rogue before ambushing Flash…
DC has officially announced 48 of the 52 comics being relaunched in September. The remaining books are sure to include Action Comics and Superman, and covers have leaked featuring Superman, Supergirl and Superboy. It seems a safe bet that unless one of the younger heroes is headlining Action, that wraps up the 52 series.
Conspicuously absent from the DC Reboot (from a Flash fan’s perspective): Justice Society (of the JSA roster, only Mr. Terrific has appeared so far) and the second Flash book, Speed Force, announced by Geoff Johns last summer.
While Barry Allen headlines The Flash and Bart Allen appears as Kid Flash in Teen Titans, there appears to be nowhere in the initial wave for fans to read about Wally West or Jay Garrick.
Factor in the emphasis on younger heroes, the implication that Barry Allen is still learning the ropes in the new series, and the focus on keeping things simple for new readers to figure out, and you have to wonder whether Jay and Wally even exist in the new DCU.
I asked as much on Twitter, and The Flash co-writer/artist Francis Manapul replied:
It’s neither a confirmation nor a denial, but at least the writer working on the new book wants to keep them around, if the higher-ups allow it.
Reportedly there are more series planned for the following months. We know, for instance, that Batman, Inc. will relaunch in 2012 after a hiatus to allow Grant Morrison to work on another project, and we know that Batman Beyond will be back, though it’s not among the 52 books announced for September.
Are there plans for Wally West and Jay Garrick in a second wave of launches? Have they been wiped from existence? Are they still around, sitting on the back burner, waiting for someone to use them? Are their fans (OK, Wally’s fans) still willing to wait after years of false starts, broken promises, and generally being jerked around?
Update: Dan Didio has this to say about the Justice Society (thanks, @SpeedsterSite):
AS for JSA, we have decided to rest this concept while we devote our attention on the launch of the three new Justice League series. As for other characters and series not part of the initial 52, there are plenty of stories to be told, and we’re just getting started.
So it sounds like the “back burner” approach, at least with Jay and the JSA.
With Flashpoint upon us, and major changes for DC Comics heroes on the horizon, 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, we present 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 a Barry Allen poster by Alex Ross! Winners must live in the continental US or Canada.
Today, DC announced its teenage superhero titles, including the new Teen Titans series.
Tim Drake is forced to step out from behind his keyboard when an international organization seeks to capture or kill super-powered teenagers. As Red Robin, he must team up with the mysterious and belligerent powerhouse thief known as Wonder Girl and a hyperactive speedster calling himself Kid Flash in TEEN TITANS #1, by Scott Lobdell and artists Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund.
Tim Drake’s actually named. That’s clearly Cassie and Connor. Not sure about the other two women, but Jim Lee mentions adding new characters. As for Kid Flash, they seem to be going out of their way not to name him. His personality sounds like Bart Allen, but the shoulder symbol is the one usually used for Wally West. Can Dan Didio shed some light on this?
All of these characters have history with the DC Universe that existed before the team is built, but it might be just slightly different. But I think in capturing the voice and the spirit of these characters, I think they’re exactly who people think they are.
Newsarama adds that it’s Bart Allen, which certainly fits with Didio’s “exactly who people think they are” statement.
I wonder if he’ll still be a time-traveler? If he’ll still be Barry’s grandson? He could be a distant descendant (the way the Tornado Twins originally were in the Silver Age), which would remove one of the problematic aspects of Barry Allen’s return (namely that he’s supposed to be ~30 and has a teenage grandson, and even though he’s capable of traveling through time, he doesn’t use the ability to actually raise his kids).
13 titles left. Barry and Bart Allen are confirmed. Is there a place in the new DCU for Jay Garrick or Wally West?
Update: Several people, including Craig MacDonald and Scott Mateo, pointed me to this second image, which appears to be the actual cover for Teen Titans #1.
Update 2: Live Pa pointed out that there’s some more info in the discussion on Brett Booth’s blog.
Comic Book Resources interviews Adam Glass, writer of the miniseries Flashpoint: Legion of Doom, about the miniseries and the key role of long-time Flash villain Heat Wave, who in the Flashpoint reality is “Cyborg’s greatest threat.”
I guess the best way to explain it is, this is basically Heat Wave’s story, and it’s a classic revenge story. Cyborg, who is the Superman of this world, is his target because he stopped Heat Wave from doing something he really wanted. In the process, Heat Wave received burns over 60 percent of his body and he loses his sense of smell and taste. So he can’t smell or feel fire, which sets him off even more.
The series starts out in a supermax prison, and follows Heat Wave and other villains as he plans his escape and revenge. Glass promises a “ton of action” balanced with psychological depth as he explores Heat Wave’s obsessions with fire and revenge.
Head over to CBR to read the full interview. Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1 arrives in stores next week.
Two Flash-related books are out this week: The first issue of Flashpoint tie-in Citizen Cold, featuring a heroic (or is he?) version of Captain Cold as Central City’s resident hero, and a collection of the Impulse comics that introduced Inertia, Bart Allen’s dark twin.
Covers: Scott Kolins
Writer: Scott Kolins
Art: Scott Kolins
FLASH FACT! He loves someone he should not!
1 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED T
UPDATE: Newsarama has a 5-page preview of the issue.
Written by TODD DEZAGO
Art by ETHAN VAN SCIVER, WALTER SIMONSON, ANGEL UNZUETA and others
Cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER and WAYNE FAUCHER
It’s Batman vs. The Joker — with Impulse caught in the middle! Plus, Impulse battles Kalibak, son of Darkseid — and meets Inertia, the Reverse-Impulse! Featuring art by Ethan Van Sciver, from IMPULSE #50-53!
96 pg, FC, $7.99 US
Three major launches from 1940-2005 (four if you count Showcase #4 and Flash #105 separately, which I suppose I should if I’m counting Flash: Rebirth separately from Flash vol.3), with remarkably consistent creative teams. Five relaunches from 2006-2011.
Things have changed a bit…
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:
Tell it like it is, Box of Speed…
Congrats to Robert! This week’s subject was Flash #136, (February 1998): “Radio Days,” writer – Grant Morrison, artist – Paul Ryan. Flash is forced to race his childhood imaginary friend across the universe, to the death. Robert wins his choice of Flash posters!
See you next time, when we’ll ask “Where Was Wally West?”!
Welcome to SpeedForce.org, a blog focusing on DC Comics' super-hero, The Flash. It's a companion site to Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning, a fan reference site for the Fastest Man Alive.
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