IO9 has a preview of Flash #9 online.

THE FLASH #9

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?

Written by: Brian Buccellato, Francis Manapul
Pencilled by: Francis Manapul
Inked by: Francis Manapul
Cover Color by: Brian Buccellato
Lettered by: DC Lettering
Colored by: Brian Buccellato, Francis Manapul

Flash #9 arrives in stores next week.

Flash #9 Preview Available is a post from Speed Force.

This completes the Mike Baron run on the character, except for the 1987 Flash Annual #1 (a stand-alone story mixing the Flash with movie-style martial arts as Wally accidentally develops the “death touch”). Since ComiXology already had the first four issues of the William Messner-Loebs run (including the recommended “Adventures of Speed McGee” three-parter), this also completes the first 18 issues of the series, and the Vandal Savage/Velocity 9 story that spans the transition between writers.

» The Flash (1987-2009) at ComiXology

This Week: Digital Flashback – Flash (Wally West) #13-14 is a post from Speed Force.

THE FLASH VOL. 2: THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and SCOTT KOLINS
Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale SEPTEMBER 26 • 120 pg, FC, $14.99 US

• Make way for Hot Pursuit – the latest speedster to come out of the Speed Force!
• Collects THE FLASH #8-12!

Release Date for Road to Flashpoint TP is a post from Speed Force.

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…

THE FLASH ANNUAL #1
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL, MARCUS TO and others
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale AUGUST 29 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T

• The Rogues – victorious? If THE FLASH had trouble with them individually, together they’ll kill him!

• Something worse than The Rogues is just waiting for the right moment to attack….

Marcus To was recently announced as the artist for issues #10 and 11, and it appears he’ll be working on the Annual as well.

EARTH 2 #4
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by NICOLA SCOTT and TREVOR SCOTT
Cover by IVAN REIS
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS
On sale AUGUST 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• THE GREEN LANTERN, THE FLASH and HAWKGIRL in action!

• The debut of the all-new ATOM SMASHER!

• A monstrous evil claws its way out of the poisoned soil of EARTH 2!

Jay is not included on the cover, which features the new Hawkgirl.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #12
Written by FABIAN NICIEZA
Art by JORGE JIMENEZ
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale AUGUST 15 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• KID FLASH stars in his first solo adventure, racing against time as he deals with the prehistoric trouble the TEEN TITANS brought back from MYSTERY ISLAND!

Flash #12 and Flash Annual Solicitations is a post from Speed Force.

Hey Speed Readers,

Just a friendly reminder for those anxiously awaiting the release of Mattel’s DC Signature Collection Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, the figure goes on sale on Mattycollector.com this Tuesday, May 15, 2012.  Of course those that signed up for the subscription (not I) will be getting theirs shipped out automatically. Although earlier this month Mattel posted on Matty’s news page that due to “logistics issues” the shipments of the figure won’t be arriving at the docks until pretty much the day of the sale. Due to that they’ve told customers to allow 5 to 7 additional days for orders containing the figure to arrive. Naturally the customers who subscribed to Club Infinite Earths 2012 will receive their orders first. The figure will set the rest of us back $18.99 usd plus shipping.

Now for those of you who want to make an intelligent, informed decision about whether you will be purchasing Mattel’s version of Jason Peter Garrick this Tuesday you are in luck:

Action Figure Insider has long been a source that I use to keep track of various toy collectible news. One of their founders and main contributors, Daniel “JuliusMarx” Pickett, has through sheer force of awesome worked out a deal where he receives sample figures from Mattel on the regular and before most people ever get a chance to lay their mitts on them. He snaps some great pictures of them, tells you a few details about them and gives us an overall impression of the figures. You can see AFI’s First Look HERE.

Another toy blogger, Dan “Pixel Dan” Eardley also receives samples from Mattel but likes to give us his impressions in video form. His website, Pixel-Dan.com, is immensely popular and his Youtube channel has over 11,000 subscribers with over 8 million views. Now I personally prefer to read reviews and check out pictures but Dan has some extremely professional looking work. He also works the crap out of the samples, testing out joints, and twisting limbs back and forth so we don’t have to. You can check out Dan’s extremely detailed and informative review of Jay Garrick HERE.

Remember DC Signature Collection Jay Garrick will be available this Tuesday. May 15, 2012. You can find the product page HERE.

So who plans on picking up Jay Garrick this Tuesday? For that matter who already has the figure pre-purchased through the Club Infinite Earths Subscription? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Devin “Flash” Johnson

Reminder: DC Signature Collection Golden Age Flash on Sale 5/15/12 is a post from Speed Force.

Flashy links

• Francis Manapul’s Flash Annual cover process
• IGN reviews The Flash #8
• Comics And Movie Reviews: Flash #8
• Truxillogical rants about the current state of the Flash
• Origin of the Flash’s earpieces at StackExchange
• Francis Manapul shares a Mother’s Day story

Digital Comics

• A new chapter of long-term Flash writer Mark Waid’s digital comic “Insufferable” is up at Thrillbent.
• Indie creators to launch digital comics imprint at Heroes Con: Artist Alley Comics features Michael May, Jason Copland, Rich Woodall, Craig Rousseau (Impulse), and Kelly Yates.

Creators’ Rights

• Stan Lee on comic creators’ rights. The Beat excerpts the relevant quotes, but if you have time, the full interview and article at Grantland is fascinating.
• Interesting: an episode of the TV show Fairly Legal tackles comic creator’s rights – Comics Worth Reading

More comics links

• CSBG considers: What should we call this age of comics?
• The Beat reviews (almost) all of Free Comic Book Day 2012
• Robot 6 rounds up New 52 Wave 2 reviews
• March 2012 DC Comics sales analysis at The Beat
• Fan art mash-up: Super-powers switcheroo at CSBG

Speed Reading is a post from Speed Force.

There’s been a lot of speculation among Young Justice fans about the fact that Kid Flash/Wally West has been missing from the five-years-later second season, and that the Flash has barely appeared (and hasn’t spoken). Did Wally West die during the gap? Did Barry Allen die, with Wally West stepping up to become the new Flash like he did in the comics?

One thing is known: An upcoming episode by Peter David will feature three Flashes: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen and Wally West. Geoff Pierson will provide the voice of Jay Garrick.

I haven’t found a definitive source for the airdate, but it appears to be the June 2 episode, “Bloodlines.”

Update: I meant to add this, but it seems to have gotten lost in editing. What we don’t know: When the episode takes place, or whether Jay, Barry and Wally all appear together or separately (or even in different time periods).

Set your DVRs, folks. This is going to be bigger than Wally’s spotlight in “Coldhearted.”

Image: Character design by Jerome K. Moore.

Thanks to @CraigRMacDonald for the reminder and the link to Charles Skaggs’ post which directed me to Peter David’s post, and to Kyer for remarking on the “Bloodlines” title.

Young Justice: Three Generations of Flashes is a post from Speed Force.

Francis Manapul Nominated for Shuster Award is a post from Speed Force.

More Flash news from The Source: Kid Flash stars in DCU Presents #12, a solo adventure written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Jorge Jimenez, with a cover by Ryan Sook.

In a special one-shot issue of the fan-favorite anthology series, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS, Kid Flash will race against time as he deals with the prehistoric trouble the Teen Titans brought back from Mystery Island.

“The Teen Titans survived the Culling and are in for some Prehistoric adventures in both SUPERBOY and TEEN TITANS number tens on the aptly named Mystery Island. And when all is said and done, they will be taking home some souvenirs,” editor Eddie Berganza revealed to THE SOURCE. “Helping Kid Flash have a yabba-doo time with the visiting Dino teens (in back-ups in both TEEN TITANS #11 and #12 with a prologue and epilogue that connects to DC PRESENTS #12) are writer Fabian Niceza and artist Jorge Jimenez. As this story unfolds, we will see which species is really set for extinction!”

I’ll have to check to be sure, but I think this is Bart Allen’s first full-length solo story since the end of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive five years ago, and his first as Kid Flash (not counting the issue of Impulse during “World Without Young Justice” in which he dressed up in one of Wally’s old costumes). Bart did have at least one short story in one of DC’s Halloween specials as Kid Flash. (IIRC, he was caught in a fight between Mirror Master and Bloody Mary.) Edit: Of course he starred in Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost just last year.

Kid Flash Goes Solo in DCU Presents #12 is a post from Speed Force.

“FLASH #10 spotlights the reimagined Weather Wizard and his twisted family tree, and we’re thrilled to welcome artist Marcus To and inker Ray McCarthy on board to tell the tale,” Editor Matt Idelson told THE SOURCE. “Marcus shares studio space with regular FLASH artist Francis Manapul (we’ve enjoyed hearing his snarky comments in the background of our calls with Francis), so we’re keeping things in the family, as it were… and as you can see from the double-page spread below, Marcus is gonna blow through this book like a hurricane! Issue #10 is going to be a blast, but just wait until July’s scorching issue #11, where — fittingly for the height of summer — you’ll be re-introduced to the very nasty, very crispy Heat Wave!

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato return as the regular artists with issue #12. On Twitter, they confirmed that they are still writing (or, more precisely, have already written) the scripts for those issues, and Marcus To is working from Francis Manapul’s layouts. The story is still building toward the Flash Annual.

@BrianBooch and I will still be doing the writing, and I’ll still be doing the layouts for Flash 10 and 11. I just needed bit of a breather

May 11, 2012 10:37 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@FrancisManapul

Francis Manapul

He’s definitely earned that breather after putting out nine issues in a row (well, eight so far, but there’s been no word of delays on #9) right on time while serving as both writer and artist!

Update! Newsarama has more info, including an interview with Marcus To.

Marcus To & Ray McCarthy Guest Artists on Flash #10-11 (Updated) is a post from Speed Force.