May 14, 2012

THE FLASH #12
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale AUGUST 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Setting up THE ROGUES as a team as the next major storyline for the series begins!
• GLIDER takes center stage!
What a gorgeous cover. DC’s August Justice League solicitations are up at The Source. The cover for the Flash Annual was revealed last week.
For the full Annual solicit, plus Kid Flash solo and Jay Garrick’s Earth 2 adventures, follow the jump…
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May 8, 2012
Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are featured in a new interview over at Newsarama where they discuss the title’s next steps on the road to the one-year mark of the New 52. Within, the cover for the upcoming Flash Annual, due in September, is revealed. It features the first looks at new versions of Mirror Master, Heat Wave and a re-imagined Golden Glider, alongside Captain Cold, Turbine and the new Weather Wizard, forming a Gauntlet of Super Villains for the New 52 Flash.

Check out what the duo had to say about thematic ties to Flashpoint, the new, “crispy” Heat Wave, Weather Wizard: Drug Lord and the reintroduction of the Pied Piper (and much more!) after the jump…
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April 24, 2012

DC has released the variant cover to Flash #9 (the Gorilla City issue) by Tony Daniel, inked by Sandu Florea and colored by Tomeu Morey.
April 9, 2012

THE FLASH #11
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• The New 52 debut of HEAT WAVE!
• THE FLASH is on a crash course with THE ROGUES!
The image above is new and is included in the cover gallery for the solicits, but a caption does state it is not the final cover.
DC’s July Justice League solicitations are up at The Source. Flash fans looking for more Jay Garrick should check out the solicit for EARTH TWO #3 after the jump…
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March 27, 2012

DC has revealed Bernard Chang’s variant cover for next month’s The Flash #8. The artist talks about the process, starting with deciding what approach to take.
Before starting on the drawing, I need to decide whether I want to take a more story-centric or graphic design approach to the cover. I’m equally a fan of both directions, but in this case, opted for the “scene out of the story.” I then pulled up some images of athletes running and sprinting, trying to generate some inspiration and understanding details to capturing figures in motion.
The original solicitation indicated that Kenneth Rocafort (Red Hood and the Outlaws, Velocity) would provide the variant cover. For whatever reason, it seems to have been changed long enough ago that DC asked Chang to cover this specific issue.
March 12, 2012

DC’s Justice League Group solicitations for June are up. You can find a larger cover at Newsarama.
THE FLASH #10
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JUNE 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
- THE FLASH vs. THE WEATHER WIZARD!
- The Flash may survive…but will BARRY ALLEN?
Good to see that the Weather Wizard still uses a wand (though it’s ironic that he’s one of the few Rogues whose power actually was internalized in the previous DCU). Not sure about the raincoat, though.
Also, the Earth Two issue featuring Jay Garrick on the cover will also reveal his new origin.
EARTH TWO #2
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by NICOLA SCOTT and TREVOR SCOTT
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale JUNE 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
- MR. TERRIFIC – Michael Holt – lands on EARTH TWO!
- Don’t miss the origin of the Earth Two FLASH – and the first time he uses his powers!
- What could be a bigger threat to Earth Two than APOKOLIPS? Jay Garrick is about to find out!
I’ll admit that “hard water fumes” doesn’t hold up that well as a way to gain super-powers (though you can sort of excuse it if you assume they meant “heavy water fumes”), but is anyone else nervous about this?
March 5, 2012

Newsarama has revealed the new Jay Garrick design with the Earth 2 #2 cover in this interview with James Robinson.
As the book unfolds, Jay Garrick is very much our point of entry to the world. He’s the “everyman” character that we all like, that we all want to be, want to hang out with. That’s kind of the role he was in the original Earth-2, and I think it suits him well. He’s the likable guy, the one you care about.
The description of Jay himself sounds okay, but I think the costume is a horrible move. Over on Twitter, Greg paraphrased Barry Allen in The Dark Knight Strikes Again: “folks don’t know the difference between ‘old’ and ‘classic’.” The rest of the interview doesn’t do anything to help the concerns I raised yesterday about this this book and alternate reality being his only home in the New 52.
So what do you think? Is this a great redesign? A terrible one? Good for some Flash, but bad for Jay Garrick?
March 2, 2012

The Source has unveiled Dale Keown’s variant cover for The Flash #7. They also hint that there’s more behind Captain Cold’s rampage than was revealed last issue.
On the art process:
“I was sent a few sentences about the story and an existing cover to get started,” Keown told THE SOURCE when asked about his creative process. “I worked up a sketch for editorial, which was approved with some notes. I usually do the digital inks with some gray scale rendering so it’s just a matter of throwing on some color and hi-lites.”
The Flash #7 concludes the two-part Captain Cold story, and races into stores on March 28.
February 14, 2012
The Source has posted the new cover to Flash #7, featuring Captain Cold. The solicit still features the cover to issue #6, which was originally intended to be #7 but was bumped up. A time-hopping CSI story originally intended for #6 was scrapped in favor of moving up the New 52 debut of the Man Who Mastered Absolute Zero.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the post focuses on the love triangle that has been on display since the last issues of the pre-Flashpoint series. Editor Brian Cunningham poses some rhetorical questions about the relationship between Barry and Patty, with Iris on the outside (for now).
The fun part is building a love triangle where no one knows how the heck it’ll turn out. For now, Barry’s happily dating Patty…and it might stay that way for a while, with Iris outta luck waiting in the wings. Will Barry someday succumb to Iris’s charms and brassy style, making for a difficult time at work with Patty shooting daggers with her eyes?
Maybe…maybe not. Keep reading to find out. In fact, the cover to FLASH #7 shown below is probably an apt metaphor for our hero with Patty on the left, and Iris on the right.

Happy Valentine’s Day, speed-readers!
February 13, 2012

THE FLASH #9
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by TONY S. DANIEL
1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale MAY 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Continuing the debut of GORILLA GRODD in DC Comics – The New 52!
• THE FLASH travels to GORILLA CITY for the first time!
• Who are the “RUNNERS” – and what do they mean for THE FLASH and the SPEED FORCE?
Big thanks to Collected Editions for their always eagle-eyed approach, which spotted this listing for The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 3. The hardcover collection is due Sept. 4. More to follow on the expected contents of this 640-pager.
DC’s May Justice League solicitations are up at The Source. Flash fans looking for Jay Garrick should check out the solicit for EARTH TWO #1 after the jump…
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