Speed Force

I understand DC’s decision to pick a single Flash. They want to make a fresh start (sort of — more about that in part 2). They don’t want incoming readers to be intimidated by 70 years of history. And they want a world in which super-heroes have only been around for a few years. But there’s value in the legacy concept, and I’d argue that it’s helped The Flash and its readership.

Crisis Management

We Flash fans have been extremely lucky. From 1940 to 2005 we’ve had three great versions of the character. We’ve had solid, long-running creative teams. Gardner Fox wrote most of the Golden Age and half the Silver Age. John Broome wrote the rest of it, with Robert Kanigher straddling the two eras. Cary Bates authored the entire Bronze Age, and I’d wager that nearly everyone reading this has experienced the incredible Flash runs by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns in the 1990s and early 2000s. We’ve had amazing artists like Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, and Mike Wieringo, and more recently Francis Manapul.

And unlike fans of Superman or Wonder Woman, we’ve never had to deal with DC outright erasing the stories we know and love. Because Barry Allen and Jay Garrick were different characters, DC was able to build a shared history in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and because they had promoted Wally West to the lead spot, they could start at the beginning of a hero’s (solo) career, again without wiping out what had gone before. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back to the Zoom Room, where we break down classic stories featuring Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash!

After last week’s look at Flash #186, we’re jumping forward to Flash #237 and “The Thousand-Year Separation!”, a Tale of the Multiverse by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin.  It is the conclusion of a three-part story featuring Jay Garrick, Doctor Fate, and a desperate search for Iris Allen.  Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post.  For previous annotations, click here!

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s guest post is by Shawn Coots, a.k.a. @BitterWallyWest.

I don’t need to tell you what an amazing character Wally West is. If you’re reading this article, I assume that you, too, witnessed the most organic evolution of a comic-book character first-hand. Thanks to Mike Baron, Bill Messner-Loebs, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns and several others, we have 247 issues of an amazing book that I’ll always cherish. You’ve read the news by now; those days are gone. So, what are WE going to do about it?

I attended a DC panel at SDCC this year, asking the question so many others have asked before. Where is Wally West? Between @speedstersite and myself, we finally solicited the painful answer. Wally has been shelved indefinitely, in order to make the character of Barry Allen unique. Here’s the part of the story where I’ll avoid pointing out the many contradictions behind this strategy and simply say, there are no bad characters, only bad (or limited) writing decisions.

Unfortunately, the rampant fanboy-ism of posting long-winded and bitchy complaints on message boards solves nothing. As fans, we don’t own or curate these characters, DC Comics does. I can’t stress this enough. So how do we get what we want (which is Wally West in his own series, by the way)? I’m getting there. Read the rest of this entry »

DC has posted a preview of the DC Retroactive Flash: 1980s, arriving in stores on Wednesday.

Central City is filled with villains cleverly trying to stay under the radar of The Flash. So then why is one of them doing everything in her power to attract his attention? And when an obsessed fan gets out of hand, Wally West must follow an unlikely trail of victims to his latest challenge: a gallery of his most notorious Rogues.

What becomes of this super-fan will shock you in an all-new story from writer William Messner-Loebs and art by Greg Larocque. DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH-THE 80s also includes a 22-page classic story originally published in the ’80s by Messner-Loebs, Larocque and Tim Dizon. Pick up this one-shot in stores on Wednesday.

USA Today has a preview and article up for Flashpoint #4, arriving in stores on Wednesday.

Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art by ANDY KUBERT and SANDRA HOPE; Covers by ANDY KUBERT and SANDRA HOPE; 1:25 Black and white variant covers A by ANDY KUBERT; Variant cover B by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PEREZ

FLASH FACT: The war between the Amazons and the Atlantians has arrived. The battle between Diana of Themyscira and Emperor Aquaman will tear this world apart – unless The Flash can fix it!
DC Universe 40pg. Color $3.99 US

I’ve completed my full convention write-up for this year’s Comic-Con International. Here’s hoping I’ll be spending a few more days in San Diego next summer!