Speed Force

A sign I spotted last weekend. I couldn’t help thinking…is this where Barry Allen teaches you how to draw lines on your boots so you can run faster?

I missed it in the build-up to Comic-Con, but Collected Editions’s latest post on upcoming DC collections includes a sighting of The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 2 with an April 2012 release date. The current placeholder cover is from Flash #200 (the end of Blitz), but the site speculates that it will likely cover “Rogues” and “Crossfire,” roughly The Flash v.2 #177-191. If the listed page count of 648 is accurate (and not also a placeholder), the hardcover could easily run through “Blitz.”

The first volume clocked in at 448 pages and included Flash v.2 #164-176 plus Iron Heights, the Flash tie-in for Our Worlds At War and Flash Secret Files #3.

I’ve been speculating that the series of massive hardcovers would take three or four volumes to cover Geoff Johns’ run on Wally West’s series, then one more for Flash: Rebirth, Blackest Night: The Flash, Flash Secret Files 2010 and Flash vol.3, which should all fit in a roughly 500-page volume.

Some linkblogging for the weekend.

Art & Costumes

• Hello Kitty Slave Leia at Comic-Con. I knew I could count on @comicsalliance to catch the weird ones.
• The Line It Is Drawn #50 – Super Team Extravaganza! (CSBG)
• Quickly, Robin! To the LEGO Batcave!
• Kid Flash (Bart) by Joel Gomez (via Francis Manapul)
• The true story of the tortoise and the hare by DeeYouGee from Worth1000′s Critter Superheroes 2 (Fastest Fan Alive)
• Impulse (Irey) by Joel Gomez (via Francis Manapul)

Flash

• Drawing Crazy Patterns: Flash Stories Ending With Iris West Complaining About Barry Allen (CSBG). No wonder Barry and Iris split up in the New 52.
• The Deadbeats (That F’ing Monkey)
• Brett Booth on Donna and Wally: Still M.I.A. in the DCnU (Titans Tower)
• Petition: Create a new Flash series featuring Wally West and other speedster characters

Other Comics Links

• An Interview with the Batgirl of the SDCC panels (DC Women Kicking Ass)
• Vote in CSBG’s Top 100 DC and Marvel Characters Poll

DC has released a series of house ads featuring their premier New 52 books. And by “premier” I mean the books that never get canceled for very long: Detective Comics, Action Comics, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Justice League. Newsarama has the gallery.

This gives us a clearer look at the new Flash logo, since our previous view was incorporated into the Flash #2 cover with artistic license and blur effects. (See also: The Flash Logo Through the Years.) Read the rest of this entry »

Today, DC released the main and variant covers for Flashpoint #5, due at the end of August. The standard cover, featuring the Flash, Professor Zoom and Batman, is by series artist Andy Kubert, with the Batman vs. Professor Zoom variant by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to our newest series of Flash annotations!  Following our breakdown of the “Death of Iris Allen” story from 1979 and 1980, we’ll be looking at some classic, perhaps lesser-known stories featuring Professor Zoom!  This week features a great issue by a writer not normally linked with the Silver Age Flash title, with a complex plot and ties to the Golden Age. Links to research and artwork are included throughout this post.  For a list of issues we’ve hit so far, click here!

EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THAWNE:  Prior to Flash #186, Zoom’s previous appearance was in Flash #175.  In that story, he masqueraded as one of the alien gamblers in the second Superman/Flash race.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, on discovering that his flight home from San Diego offered free Wifi, incoming Flash writer/current artist Francis Manapul decided to answer reader questions on Twitter. I’m sure I’ve missed some, but here you go.

I’ve reformatted these for easier reading. In many cases, the question and answer appeared in the same post, as a retweet with a comment (ex: “Answer. RT @asker question”), so they’re really terse. Read the rest of this entry »

The new Flash Story begins in September.  This time around, there is no speculation about the focus of the book, or who will be behind the mask.  It looks like Flash’s new launch will take off without baggage – an all-new Flash for the all-new DC.

Well, sort of.

In the cases of Batman and Green Lantern, it has been announced that the stories and key elements will (more or less) continue.  In the cases of Superman and most other properties, the stories are looking more and more like a fresh and somewhat rootsy start.  For Flash, it appears the new series will be a pretty hard reset.

Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Speed Readers,

For those not in the know Young Justice is DC Comic’s latest animated series to hit Cartoon Network. The Kid Flash featured on this show has been stated and explicitly named as Wally West. This is obviously Wally before he graduates on to (possibly) becoming the Fastest Man Alive. The 4.25″ action figure of Kid Flash has been hitting stores all over the country and I finally got my hands on one via Amazon.com. First some mint on card pics:

Read the rest of this entry »

Edit: Phil Jimenez’ variant cover for the double-sized finale.

They seem to be going for everyone who has ever been a Titan (who’s still alive). They even included Protector (who was a stand-in for Robin in a series of anti-drug PSAs from the 1980s when they discovered that the rights to using Robin were tied up.)

Speedsters I’ve spotted: Wally West (as both Kid Flash and the Flash), Bart Allen as Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, Mas y Menos.

From Comic Book Resources.