Events

• DC Nation Kickoff (Thursday) live blog. (Dan Didio, Jim Lee, James Robinson, JT Krul, Nicola Scott, Jeff Lamire, Bill Willingham, Bob Wayne)
• DC Focus: Geoff Johns (Thursday) live blog.
• DC Nation Special Edition (Friday) live blog. (Geoff Johns, JMS, Grant Morisson, Jim Lee, Dan Didio)
• No Ordinary Family (Saturday) features some cool speed effects for Julie Benz’ character.

News

• DC plans Flash: Speed Force second ongoing book for next year.
• Young Justice Cartoon Preview
• DC Universe Online Trailer
• DC Universe Online: Flash in Armor
• SDCC Catch-up – bits that I missed.

Sightings

• Photos of costumes, displays, sightseeing and more. Some Flashy highlights:
  • Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash
  • Justice League
  • Flash on the iPad
  • Window Art: Cartoony Flash
  • Window Art: Serious Flash
  • More window art at Flickr.
  • Jesse Quick as the Flash Ame-Comi Statue
  • Blackest Night Action Figures
• Flash at Comic-Con (Flickr gallery of other people’s photos)
• Flash Sketch by Francis Manapul
• Blue Lantern Flash T-Shirt

More than Speedsters

• Four Days of Comic-Con index at K-Squared Ramblings.

You can follow Speed Force on Twitter, on Facebook or on Google Buzz.

At DC Universe Event Horizon, James Robinson stated that the Justice League would be battling the Crime Syndicate at some point, with Jesse Quick battling Johnny Quick , Batman vs. Owlman, Supergirl vs. Ultraman etc.

At DC Focus: Teams, incoming Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul said that Bart Allen “is past the Impulse stage but he still has that innocent, light-heartedness about him.” (Quote from Newsarama, may be paraphrasing him.)

At the Superman panel they announced that Superboy #3 will feature the first-ever Superboy/Kid Flash race.

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

Now for those who haven’t seen the trailer and care to know why The Flash is wearing those armored duds, this takes place in an alternate future in which Braniac quietly abducted superhumans and then finally launched an all out invasion force that wiped out humanity leaving only that world’s alternate version of Lex Luthor intact. He traveled through time to warn the Justice League of the past of what may be coming to them in the future. The story reminds me a little of the recent DC animated release, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths or JLA: Earth 2, the book the movie was loosely based on. Right down to the alternate version of Luthor trying to change things and the involvement of Braniac in the main plot. It’s not too similar though, where I feel like we’ve already seen this before. I can’t wait to see how the story ends up unfolding.

I’m digging the armored look overall. I know it’s probably not going to be present in the main part of the game but it’s still cool to see heroes armored up for super threats or super battles. It also reminds me a little bit of the Kid Flash design for the upcoming Young Justice animated series. Would be kind of cool to see it as an action figure and I wouldn’t be surprised to see an action figure line released with this game.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

The look, at least for the cut-scenes, is fantastic…though I’m not too big on the image of the Flash in armor.

Update: Devin has some pictures of the Flash in armor and further commentary.

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

At the DC Nation Special Edition Panel, Geoff Johns revealed some plans:

For all you Wally fans and Bart fans, we’re doing a second Flash book next year called Flash: Speed Force

COOL!

*ahem* Sadly, that’s the most I’m letting myself get excited about it. Plans change, and even when they go through as planned, they don’t always happen when planned. If I were to guess, it probably spins out of or into Flashpoint (probably out of, given the timing), and since he mentioned both Wally and Bart (and talked about Jesse, Jay, John Fox, and even XS when answering other questions), it’s probably a Flash team book or rotating cast — either of which I could get behind.

Anyway, I’ve got to get going. I just figured this should get a little more attention than being buried inside the live blog.

(Thanks to comics.org for the cover of the 1997 Speed Force one-shot. And a shout-out to the High Five Comics crew, whom I finally met in person after the panel!)

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Featuring: Dan Didio, Jim Lee, Grant Morisson, Geoff Johns and J. Michael Straczynski with fans dressed as Darkseid, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.

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» More Comic-Con photos

I’m liking Kid Flash’s look a little more. It looks a lot better in motion than it does static:

We also get a glimpse at his secret identity which looks to me like a younger version of Wally.

The producers, Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti mentioned that the show was a DC Universe show. Meaning that it was going to showcase all kinds of characters from the DC Universe including the Young Justice mentors in the Justice League. They also seem to be going for a slightly older audience for the show. The characters are teenagers and are going to be dealing with things like relationships, friendships, hormones, and quite possibly death.

It also looks like the Justice League is going to play a much larger role in this show than I think anyone anticipated. The League is sporting a larger roster than usual with 16 members, and some of the designs look like they were completely lifted from the recent DC Universe Animated Movie, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths.

In fact the designs for Flash look exactly like the ones from JL: CO2E:

So if the civilian design for Kid Flash looks like a young Wally West but the Flash in the league looks like an adult Wally, which one (if any) is Wally and which one is another Flash (Barry or Bart respectively)?

A Few Clues:

They said that Robin had been doing the hero thing the longest at four years which makes sense when compared to the comic continuity. Tim Drake was active way before Connor Kent or Bart Allen.

We also saw pictures of Roy Harper as Speedy and pictures of him later as Red Arrow.

Going by this information I’m inclined to think that the Flash in the League is Wally. But from a marketing standpoint and with DC trying to push Barry Allen as the primary Scarlet Speedster I don’t see much logic in them using Wally instead of Barry. That is unless they are deliberately trying to educate the uninitiated about the differences between the various different Flashes, which would be pretty cool.

Definitely can’t wait to see more news as it comes down the pipeline about this series. Especially the action figure and merchandising prospects. What do you guys think about the designs so far?

Special Thanks to Live Pa for the heads up.

*****UPDATE*****

Titan’s Tower has a Panel Report that reveals a lot of information including the secret identities of the team. You can find it HERE. Thanks Bill for the heads up. Great report!

- Devin “The Flash” Johnson

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

Some of the speedy topics covered include working with Francis Manapul, writing Barry Allen vs. writing Wally West, and untangling the Reverse Flash’s timeline.

As for what’s coming up in The Flash:

Coming up, we’ll see a new supporting cast member, a new villain, the return of the Pied Piper, more on Captain Boomerang and, of course, the Flash Family as we race towards “Flashpoint.”

It’s nice to know we’ll see Piper again. He was set up to be a major player in Rogues’ Revenge, then sort of faded into the background. And I’m all for seeing more members of the Flash family.

He even dropped a little information about Flashpoint, the mysterious Andy Kubert-drawn story that was teased at the end of The Flash #1

“Flashpoint” is five-issue series that’s going to introduce a lot of new and familiar characters, focus on Barry Allen and the DCU and it’s out sometime next year.

Head over to CBR to read the whole feature.

The Flash #7

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by SCOTT KOLINS
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:10 “DC 75th Anniversary” Variant cover by DARWYN COOKE

The Rogue Profile issues return as BRIGHTEST DAY zips on with a spotlight turned toward the resurrected Captain Boomerang! He knows why he’s back and what he needs to do. But does he still have what it takes to be a Rogue?

On sale OCTOBER 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Notes: I’d been speculating that we might see a done-in-one story after “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” finished, though it didn’t occur to me that it might be a Rogue Profile.

For those who weren’t reading The Flash during Geoff Johns’ first run on the title, in between major storylines he would take a break and focus on one of the villains for an issue, often with a guest artist. He started with Captain Cold, then Pied Piper, Zoom, Mirror Master and finally Heat Wave. These off-format issues were a highlight of Johns’ previous run, and I’m glad to see him returning to the concept.

Scott Kolins is really carving out a niche as the artist for the Rogues. His initial run on The Flash, Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge, Blackest Night: The Flash, and now this Captain Boomerang Spotlight.

Update: Not that this should come as a surprise, but Francis Manapul confirmed on Twitter that he’s still on the book and will return for the second story arc.

Big surprise from what I was expecting. Compared to past Infinite Heroes offerings this one takes the cake, especially in terms of articulation. The Fwoosh has more photos of the complete set at their site. You can get to the main article HERE.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson