Speed Force

It’s hard to believe that Francis Manapul’s first issue of Flash appeared in April, 2010.  Over less than two years, and 13 total issues, Manapul has already left an indelible mark on the character’s artistic history, pushing to join the ranks of inimitable long-term Flash artists alongside names like Carmine Infantino, Irv Novick, Greg LaRocque, Mike Wieringo and Scott Kolins.

Using innovative layouts and inventive portrayals of sound and perception, Manapul has brought readers deeper into the world of the Flash.  To celebrate a year that saw Manapul take over writing the Flash title with Brian Buccellato – a then-unexpected extension of his Flash run – we present the finest in Francis Manapul Flash artwork from 2011!  Drawing from The Road to Flashpoint and the first four issues of the New 52 story Mob Rule, there’s far more than we could fit into one post.  Check out the highlights after the jump…

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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)

It’s been a while since we wrote about TeeFury, but they’ve got another Flash-themed shirt available for one day only.

The design by Wenceslao A Romero is only available until midnight EST, so if you want one, buy it today.

On a related note, while Mimobot has the current license for actual DC Comics-inspired flash drives, they’ve been sticking with the Batman and Green Lantern characters for now. You’d think someone over there would see the inherent appeal of a Flash flash drive.

The story behind this little oddity is actually my husband’s — he bought two small bootleg fans from somebody on Ebay in 2007. He’s a Transformers geek, so he got Optimus Prime and Megatron for kicks. However, the cardboard packaging shows the other available fans, and one is the Flash! Because this is a foreign bootleg it has to have a bit of semi-sensical Engrish, and thus Flash cheerfully chirps “I’M HERO” while Spidey declares “Show Time!”

The obverse touchingly states “This summer is a little bit cooler than last summer because you are with me! I am so happy!” and always makes me smile. Anyway, unfortunately we didn’t buy the Flash one, which I rather regret now; the Optimus and Megatron fans are actually fairly decent quality.

One of many pieces of Flash news from Comic-Con that just didn’t sit right with me was the news that Barry Allen and Iris West were being retroactively split up for the New 52, and that Barry would be “playing the field.”

Really? This is the guy who, after Iris’ untimely death, when he finally forced himself to move out of the house where he lived with his late wife and try to get on with his life, promptly fell for the new girl next door. The idea of him dating someone else isn’t preposterous, but a player? That seems a little far-fe—

Oh, wait. Never mind.

(Seriously, though, this is one of the things that bugs me, because in my opinion, the Barry/Iris relationship should be central to the character(s). It might bother me less if DC wasn’t undoing the Lois/Clark marriage at the same time. I still haven’t decided whether to actually put together a post listing all the announced elements I do and don’t like and why.)

A sign I spotted last weekend. I couldn’t help thinking…is this where Barry Allen teaches you how to draw lines on your boots so you can run faster?

One of the booths I stumbled across at Comic-Con was selling trading cards and books featuring the Union of Superlative Heroes and Order of Nefarious Villains: steampunk characters inspired by certain well-known super-heroes and villains.

I had to pick up a set just for this one:

Phineas Fleetfoot, able to run at more than 800mph, phase into the fifth and sixth dimensions, and protect the world from the likes of King Congo, Frankenfahrenheit, Professor Perpetual Motion, Abra Le Clobber, and Dr. Didgeridoo.

The heroes set includes Marquis Le Bat and Duchesse Le Bat, Flatiron Knight, Arachno Kid, the Magic Lantern, Baron von Ocular, and more.

I was sorely tempted by the hand-bound flip book featuring both heroes and villains with additional stories, but couldn’t quite bring myself to spend $45 on it. Then I got home, really looked through the cards I’d bought, and regretted missing my chance.

Huzzah for the internet. When the artists got back from the con, they made the remaining stock available through Etsy.

Image c/o Chet Phillips Illustration.

There are some big changes on the horizon at DC Comics, many of which have fans wondering if this brave new world will even remotely resemble the one they fell in love with.  DC is even taking a look back at its rich history with the line of Retroactive books, beginning this week.

While some current stories will continue on and adapt with the changes, most will be re-cast in the light of the new universe.  There’s no denying the magnitude of many of the updates and revamps due this fall.  However, anyone concerned about the future is best served to learn from the past.

From his first appearance in 1956, Barry Allen sported a distinct crew-cut.  It, along with the now even-more-dated bow-tie, defined the character’s look and “regular-guy” personality to the point that it has become the default look for any stories set prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths.  However, in 1970, DC Comics decided to do away with all vestiges of the heretofore unwavering ‘do.  In its place, a golden mane of modern manhood crested atop Barry’s visage.

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The webcomic Shortpacked! explains all the extra detail on the Flash’s new, post-relaunch boots. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Read the whole strip for Batman’s reaction.

Hmm, I wonder if the chin guard helps him breathe in space?

A local movie theater has been running special screenings of the extended-edition Lord of the Rings trilogy over the last few weeks (almost certainly in connection with this week’s Blu-Ray release). I just watched Green Lantern, another movie in which a ring figures prominently, at the same theater. And of course we’re knee-deep in Flashpoint. The stories collided in a mental three-car pile-up during an afternoon running errands, and I started thinking: What would The Lord of the Rings have been like as a modern “event” comic book like Final Crisis or Blackest Night?

• The Hobbit would have been subtitled, “Countdown to Lord of the Rings,” and continuity wouldn’t have lined up quite right with the main series.*
• The core story would have been six volumes, with the first three shipping on time, and increasing delays for volumes four, five and six.
• We would have seen side stories and flashbacks in specials or miniseries such as “Lord of the Rings: War in the North,” “Lord of the Rings: Arwen’s Story,” “Lord of the Rings: Faramir’s War” and “Lord of the Rings: Balin’s Last Stand.”
• The first issue of the main series would have been accompanied by plastic replicas of The One Ring. The first issue of each tie-in miniseries would have included one of the rings given to elves, dwarves, or men.
• To fill the gaps in the schedule, they would have added additional character specials like “Lord of the Rings: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil” and “Lord of the Rings: Radagast the Brown.”
• The main series would have ended with destroying the ring, and a group of follow-up miniseries would have detailed “Lord of the Rings Aftermath: The Scouring of the Shire”, “Lord of the Rings Aftermath: The Greening of Isengard” and “Lord of the Rings Aftermath: Quest for the Entwives”
• “Bow and Axe,” an adventure-comedy-buddy series starring Legolas and Gimli, would be the most successful of several ongoing spinoffs. “Settlers of Mordor,” on the other hand, would be canceled after just a few issues.

And then there are all the alternate-universe stories that would show up several years down the line, set in a world in which they failed to destroy the ring.

So…what do you think would have changed?

*Actually, this one really did happen. In the original edition of The Hobbit, Gollum gives Bilbo the ring as the prize for winning the riddle contest. By the time Tolkein got to The Lord of the Rings, that completely contradicted the ring’s effect on its bearers. He revised The Hobbit so that Bilbo finds the ring on his own, then wrote into LOTR that Bilbo had lied in the first edition to make himself look better.