Well, it’s official: One of the longest runs of the New 52 is coming to an end with Flash #25. From Brian Buccellato’s blog:
If you’ve seen the solicits for FLASH #26, you may notice that Francis and I are not listed as the creators… That’s because (as strange as it sounds to even us) we’ve reached the end of our Flash run. #25 is the final chapter in what’s been an incredible journey with the fastest man alive. Fun times!
We were REALLY honored to have the opportunity to usher Barry, Iris, Patty, Lenny, Forrest and the entire Flash universe into the New 52. We’ve lived and breathed Barry and are sorely gonna miss him, but after 3 years and over 30 issues (annuals, zero, Villains Month), we felt it was time to Move Forward and take on a new creative challenge.
Before anyone points out that it’s only been two years since the New 52, remember that Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato were the art team on the Brightest Day-era Flash series written by Geoff Johns before Flashpoint. They’ve been on the character since early 2010. At today’s DC Comics, that’s an astonishingly long run!
Unlike other high-profile creative changes that have made news recently, this appears to be an amicable split. Brian Buccellato remains as writer on Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion, and then there’s this:
Francis and I will be moving on to a NEW regular DC series that will hit stores in MARCH 2014. We can’t tell you what the series is (yet), but we are super excited about this new sandbox we get to play in!
March 2013 should be about the time Forever Evil wraps up. No doubt DC will be launching several new series at that time.
As for who’s next on The Flash, a new creative team hasn’t been announced. Christos Gage and Neil Googe are doing a one-shot for Flash #26.
I’ll miss this team on The Flash, but I feel a lot more content about this news than I did when Geoff Johns left — ironically, because I was more satisfied with the New 52 Flash than the Brightest Day version. The post-Rebirth Flash was a study in frustration and missed opportunities, with long waits and a lackluster ending.
Here? By the time “Reverse” wraps up next month, Manapul and Buccellato will have delivered on everything they set out to do.
They re-established Barry Allen and his supporting cast.
They revamped the Rogues, Grodd and Reverse Flash.
They re-established the Speed Force as something that you might be able to explain without a PowerPoint presentation.
Sure, I would have liked to see more new villains (we got Mob Rule and Dr. Elias, and that was really about it), and I really wish we’d gotten to see that cold case story that editorial canned in order to get the Captain Cold story out sooner. But it feels like, once the last few issues are out, the Manapul/Buccellato run will be a complete run on the book.
In addition to their upcoming series together, Brian Buccellato is continuing to write Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion at DC, The Black Bat at Dynamite, and Executive Assistant: Iris at Aspen.
One last THANKS to all the Flash fans out there that gave Francis and I an honest chance and stuck around for the ride. You know who you are. You guys make this job worth all the crazy deadlines and sleepless nights! Thanks again… we can’t wait to tell you what’s next! 🙂
We’re looking forward to it!
That’s a bummer. They’ve done such a good job developing the character.
ohh c’mon!!!
Will the comic continue on?
Joe, all indications are that the series will continue, just with a new creative team. Though after the way DC has canceled and relaunched the Flash whenever the whim strikes them over the last 7 years, I can totally understand why you’d be concerned.
@SpeedForceOrg @FrancisManapul @BrianBooch :'(
NOOOOOOOOOOO
Noooooooooooooooo!
This would be a good moment to have a Dislike button to click on.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
I’m one of the minority who has not enjoyed this new take on The Flash. I personally could not get over the fact that Wally was gone, Grodd has super speed, The Rogue’s have powers, and there is someone else entirely as Reverse-Flash. I honestly hope that a few of those issues I had with it are reversed, it’s the only thing that’ll get me reading Flash again.
I’m not saying they did a bad job, they didn’t, but I just can’t cope with this new Flash Universe.
My exact thoughts.
Not as far as JohnnyWellen’s comment, but I also am suffering from Wally West withdrawal, did not like the new Rogues powers, Grodd, or the Reverse Flash (albeit for reasons of grossness. Then again, I’ve also had the misfortune to run across some pretty gruesome Preview *covers* at CBR, so….in perspective, they are probably not so bad there.)
Will miss the lovely artwork and the sheer energy of ideas even if some of them I didn’t particularly care for. This was a powerful creative team. Kind of worried about the future of The Flash because:
” At today’s DC Comics, that’s an astonishingly long run!”
Honestly, that statement just strikes me as sad because I don’t see four years as long at all. Maybe for a Doctor Who actor, but comics? Seems the medium should be at least four years.
DUDE! I JUST bought my first issue of New 52 Flash, issue 23, and now they’re gone!?!?! I only tried it in the first place due to the fact that Brian Buccellato has been a complete class act over here. I am still having a hard time with Barry apparently wiping out his favorite nephew and marriage to bring his mom back that he couldn’t anyways. Maybe the team is moving onto a post Forever Evil book that brings back Wally? One can always hope!
Well…you have at least 22 previous issues to check out!
@SpeedForceOrg 🙁 Still gonna support the book though. New creative team, new stories.
@SpeedForceOrg That’s disappointing. I suppose all good things must come to an end at some point.
This is disappointing. I suppose all good things must come to an end at some point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eal4fep7pK4
Sad to learn, but not unexpected (I think they said at the beginning of the New 52 that they had about two years mapped out). At least they are going to go out while at the top of their game (imo) and before they got stale.
Don’t forget Turbine as a villain/hero!
I believe changing creators is in some ways essential to how comic book stories evolve, whether for the good or the bad. But at the same time I feel like they’re leaving Flash behind too soon. I will definitely miss them. And I’m probably being too hopeful but I wish their new book will be that of Wally West’s.
Wow. This is disappointing. Well, I hope whoever they get is a good choice….and I look forward to continue reading Barry Allen’s adventures in the future!
Noooooooooooo! Please dear god noo… *sob sob*, no, no, no…. *sob* *sniff*
Maybe it’ll be a Wally West book?
Let’s just hope the new team is a) competent and b) actually like Barry so that its not a case of ‘eh, it’s a paycheck’ versus ‘I’ve always wanted to write/draw Flash!’.
I would have preferred another year or so at least because there will still some things to show. I would have liked a chance to see the Barry-centric detective issue we were promised which got put to one side to push the main plot on faster. I would especially like to know why the two cities are called the Gem Cities, which I believe was mentioned as something of some importance at one point – and which we were told we would learn.
This is not a criticism and I certainly don’t feel short-changed. I am just pointing out that the Terrific Two obviously had a lot more stories they could tell – and I hope some of these are stories the new team will approach.
On the other hand isn’t the new book due to start at about the same time that Forever Evil ends? The new book might then be part of the “major changes” we have been promised. In that case either it might be somehow Flash related or Francis & Brian will once again have a corner of the DCU to build from scratch and make their own.
Either way I wish them look and look forward to what they do.
I’m disappointed to hear this, as THE FLASH has consistently been one of my favorite DC books since the New 52 launched. I read the news too quickly at first, and thought Gage and Googe (really, Gage and Googe?!!) were the new permanent team. That would have gotten me to drop the title. Now, though, I’ll wait until I hear the new team after them.
Just on length alone (from pre-Flashpoint to now), Manapul and Buccellato belong on the Mt. Rushmore of Flash Artists (w/ Infantino, Novick and LaRocque)…the artwork is definitive and innovative, exciting as hell. elements of Eisner but so much more, from Hergé to CC Beck to impressionism.
where Manapul carried the Johns issues, he and Buccellato developed a style that played to their strengths. The Buccellato-solo issues, especially Annual 2, have a great casual/catchy dialog. his approach to coloring Flash is specific to Manapul’s work and essential to the final product.
will miss this team!
Absolutely loved their run on The Flash. Hope they do good on their next project.
Man this team really refreshed the flash, I’m sad to see them go
Sure, they changed a lot, but giving the rogues powers and tying in the gorillas to the speed force added a lot of exciting conflict, mythos and pathos to the cast.
I hope the new creative team continues to shake up what I know and love about the flash. I wanna stay on my toes!
I haven’t picked up consequtive issues after Mob Rule. Good luck BB and FJM, but I am not a huge Barry fan. I’ll probably p/u #26, but I have been down on Flash ever sense DC negated Wally West.
I wasn’t a fan of the writing even at the best of times, but the art was pretty inventive. Plus, they showed that they cared about the characters. Best of luck to them in whatever comes next.
I tweeted Brian asking whether we will ever learn why Central and Keystone are called the Gem Cities and he said that 23.3 (The Rogues) will offer more than a little insight into that question.
That led me to think that not many series are getting three Evil Month issues, are they? And not many (if any) follow that with a limited series springing out of 23.3.
I have looked at a few of this month’s issues and they seem to split clearly into two groups. Some (like Green Arrow) are being done by one or more of the current creative team, and are being used to add additional depth to the ongoing storyline. Others (like JLA Dark) are being done by a seemingly random team writing a confusing fill-in issue that does nothing for the ongoing story at all. All the Flash spin-offs are clearly in the first camp and, given what Brian Boosh said in his tweet, they are all adding something to the ongoing world-building.
Manipul and Buccellato will be starting a new book immediately after the Rogues run (and Forever Evil itself) finish. I am really hopeful that they are starting a new book that ties into the world-building they have been doing for the last two years. Not Wally, I suspect, but maybe Kid Flash, or something else that ties into the Speed Force in some way.
My personal vote is for the reappearance of Max Mercury.
Either that, or I am completely wrong and they have been given the chance to introduce Prez into the New 52. And who could turn that down?
At least they are going out on-top. Wonder what their next project will be…