Speed Force

TwoMorrows is going beyond Cyber Monday to hold a full “Cyber Week” sale, putting their entire back-stock of books on sale for 50% off. That includes the Companion books focusing on characters, teams and series, the Modern masters books focusing on artists, and more.

If you’ve been eyeing that Flash Companion cover in the sidebar for a while and haven’t picked it up, now’s your chance. I’m planning to pick up the hardcover edition of Carmine Infantino: Penciler Publisher Provocateur. Fans of the Flash in the 1990s may also be interested in the Modern Masters: Mike Wieringo book.

The sale on Twomorrows’ website runs through December 5.

Some weekend linkblogging.

• Spoiler Sport: Flash #3 – Newsarama talks to Manapul & Buccellato.
• Black Flash Friday at That F’ing Monkey
• Can the Monorail outrun the Flash?
• Is this the end for our heroes? Shortpacked! author David Willis looks back on the Justice League Unlimited toy line and shows us such oddities as Scuba Flash, I-can-breathe-in-space Batman, and atmosphere-destroying-missile Superman.
• The DC Comics Store launches on Amazon.com
• The Line It Is Drawn: comic book characters/classic literature
• DC Fifty-TOO/Marvel Universe TOO to relaunch in 2012 as…RELAUNCHED!
• Now you can have that bacon latte you always wanted.

Flash co-writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are featured in a new interview at IGN, where they discuss the recent developments in Flash’s powers, new antagonist Mob Rule and the role the twin cities of Keystone and Central will play in their series.

Posted on Wednesday, the same day as the release of new issue #3, the interview is spoiler-free and delves deeply into the collaboration between Manapul and Buccellato.

UPDATE: The two also spoke with Newsarama about the ending to issue #3.  After it was originally posted, an exclusive image from Flash#5 was added to the article.  Check it out after the jump…

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The results are in! Comics Should Be Good has posted the top ten greatest Barry Allen stories ever told, as chosen by the blog’s readers.

The breakdown is interesting:

• 6 Silver-Age stories
• 2 Bronze-Age stories (one of which is the Death of Iris Allen storyline which Greg has heavily annotated here)
• Crisis on Infinite Earths #8
• 1 Secret Origins tale

Both the Flash’s origin tale and his death make the list…and the Secret Origins story retells both (and links them together)!

The writer breakdown is also interesting, especially when compared with the more focused results of the Wally West poll last year:

• 3 John Broome
• 2 Gardner Fox
• 2 Cary Bates
• 1 Robert Kanigher
• 1 Marv Wolfman
• 1 Robert Loren Fleming

Also neat: “Flash of Two Worlds” made both this list and the greatest Gardner Fox stories list a few weeks ago!

If the Fastest Man Alive is going to capture Mob Rule, he must first tap into his new amped-up super brain to save the citizens of Central City from the EMP that has blacked out the city. Witness a spectacular sequence of out-of-control cars, trains and even airplanes that must be stopped from destroying the city!

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO; Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL; 1:25 Variant cover by JIM LEE; 1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US

Notes: A four-page preview is up on DC Comics’ Google+ page. This is also the issue that Brian Buccellato gave me a sneak peek at when we talked at Long Beach Comic Con, and let me just say: it’s awesome. You don’t want to miss this one.

Update: I completely forgot to include the reprint of the Mark Waid/Brian Augustyn Life Story of the Flash in the new DC Comics Presents format.

DC Comics Presents: The Life Story of the Flash

This striking tale combines comic-book illustration and prose to follow Barry Allen from his humble childhood to his noble death, detailing his transformation from police scientist to one of the DC Universe’s most dynamic heroes.

Written by MARK WAID and BRIAN AUGUSTYN; Art by GIL KANE, JOE STATON and TOM PALMER; Cover by GLEN ORBIK

DC Universe 96pg. Color $7.99 US

Notes: It’s nice to see this back in print, though a lot of it’s been erased from history — first by Flash: Rebirth and then by Flashpoint/the New 52. The 1997 hardcover was written as Iris Allen’s in-universe biography of Barry Allen after his death has made his dual identity public.

Comics Should Be Good is running a poll all month for the greatest ____ stories ever told. Currently up for voting: Barry Allen. Send in your top 10 choices to CSBG by Tuesday, November 22.

Earlier this month, they featured the greatest Gardner Fox stories, and last year they featured the greatest Wally West stories, greatest Mark Waid stories, and greatest Geoff Johns stories ever told.

You get a giant-sized linkblogging post this weekend, since I was out of town last week.

Flash links

• New Flash Legacies podcast focuses on Wally West’s Flash series.
• That F’ing Monkey returns to Flashpoint and features the Eaglemoss Captain Boomerang statue
• Casting the Flash at the Twhipping Boys
• Superman trolls the Flash – Jay Garrick wants to know why he always has to to the dishes. (ComicsAlliance plugs Kerry Callen)
• The Full Run returns with Mark Waid’s Flash (Comics Bulletin).
• Translation: The Flash vs. Gurdjieff by Alejandro Jodorowsky (Comics Bulletin)
• Flash #3 art preview (Francis Manapul)
• Flash #6 cover process (Francis Manapul)
• Flash #5 sneak peek (Francis Manapul)
• The Rogues Kick Ass has been posting a lot of scans and art this past week.

More comics

• The Geoff Johns Literalism Method (Comics Alliance)
• Video: New 52 Round-Up: Hawkman, Aquaman, Firestorm & Flash
• More Family Bun Toons, YAY! Now with more BATMAN! – Ty Templeton’s ART LAND!!
• DC has canceled several announced collections. Are trade solicits really announcements, or just gauging interest? Collected Editions
• 10 Issues of Ongoing Comics that Prove Single Issues Can Be Great (IO9)
• Comikaze: DC Comics- The New 52 Q&A (Newsarama)
• The grammar of the word balloon at Blambot Comic Fonts and Lettering
• What dto do if your favorite comic is canceled (The Fifth Color/Robot 6)
• Emerald City Comicon launches Tales from the con weekly webcomic (via Comics Worth Reading)
• Are costume changes a bad thing? (Comic Book Revolution)
• The problem with costume changes – Halloween tales from Bun Toons
• Added: Once Upon a Geek is back
• Added: Rob Kelly (The Aquaman Shrine) and Dan O’Connor’s new webcomic Ace Kilroy, featuring 1930s Indiana Jones adventure and classic movie monsters, is seeking help through Kickstarter to get it through the critical first few months.

More stuff

• Francis Manapul is growing a mustache for Movember (not a typo) to raise money to fight prostate cancer. Help sponsor him today!
• US readers: Congress is still debating a bill that would open the door to censoring the internet. Speed Force participated in American Censorship Day this past Wednesday to highlight the cause. Read about the Stop Online Piracy Act (which won’t do anything of the sort) and Protect-IP Act, then write!
• Lots of people want to write a novel. National Novel Writing Month helps them do it. I’ve participated in the event twice, and actually finished a 50,000 page word novel one year (though it’s a long way from being polished enough to share with anyone.) Help keep the program going by donating today!
• The Spam Primer (run by the author of This Is True) is worth a look. It’s a quick run-down of how spammers operate, how spam-fighting works, and what you can do to keep junk out of your mailbox.

Also, remember that Speed Force is now on Google Plus.

Threadless has a Flash-inspired shirt design up for voting. Score this design: “Faster than E-mail,” to help it get printed on Threadless!

I particularly like the use of the earpiece as the flag.

(Via the Fastest Fan Alive)

The Hero Initiative is auctioning 104 pieces of original Justice League covers to benefit creators in need. The art was donated by a variety of artists, including popular Flash creators like Francis Manapul and Scott Kolins, and will be sold at three different auctions beginning in December. Because the theme is the Justice League, there are plenty of pieces with the Flash, but also Jesse Quick, the Crime Syndicate’s Johnny Quick, and even the occasional Flash foe.

See all the art pieces here, grouped by when they are to be sold. There are some fairly impressive pieces available, so even if you can’t afford to buy, it’s well worth a look! The site also includes details of when and where the live auctions will be held, and notes that people unable to attend will be permitted to bid by proxy. The proxy bid deadline for the first batch of covers is November 23rd, so be sure to check it out soon.

Hero Initiative is also selling hardcover and softcover books collecting all the art, available in December.

The Flash creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato made the rounds again this week, popping up over at MTV Geek! and at Yahoo! Associated Content to talk about the science behind the new Flash series and its roots in the real world.  The MTV article also included an exclusive look at Flash #5, which is located just below:

The duo talked about concepts like Augmented Cognition, which showed up in issue #2, as well as some of the science behind Mob Rule.  For excerpts, see you after the jump…

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