April 2, 2012
There’s no question that the 1990s are back in comics. Many of DC’s New 52 redesigns have been likened to the early 90s Image Comics look, and creators like Scott Lobdell and Rob Liefeld, virtually absent from DC for years, are now on multiple books. The Extreme-verse is back. Valiant is relaunching.
And you know what?
There’s going to be more.
Remember When…?
Pop culture nostalgia runs in a 20-year cycle. The 1970s had Happy Days and Grease. When I was growing up in the 1980s, it seemed like everything was about how great the 1960s were. (Oh, the hoopla over the 20th anniversary of Woodstock…) By the 1990s, we had Dazed and Confused and That 70s Show, and of course the first wave of big-screen TV remakes of shows like The Brady Bunch. Over the past decade or so we’ve seen Transformers and GI Joe made into mega-blockbuster movies.
People in the prime of their careers can create new pop culture inspired by their childhood or teenage years and get it produced and distributed. People who want to revisit those years can finally afford to buy the new version of that Millennium Falcon playset they wanted when they were 9, or see that band in concert that they wanted to see when they were 15. People who have children want to share those things they remember fondly from their own childhood.
What we’re seeing in comics is merely the leading edge of the wave of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, I’ll bet a lot of you are dreading this. “But the 80s were good!” you’ll say. “The 90s sucked!” Read the rest of this entry »
September 10, 2011
On Thursday I asked for help on Twitter listing the most successful original (non-legacy/revamp) DCU characters created since 1990.
My original thought was to look for characters who had solo series lasting at least 5 years, and all I could come up with was Hitman. Maybe Impulse, depending on how you defined original. I asked on Twitter, and @JCorduroy suggested Harley Quinn, whose solo series didn’t last that long, but who has undoubtedly had a huge impact on the Batman corner of the DCU, and I realized the criteria might be a bit too tight.
Thanks to everyone who’s helped me come up with this list so far:
Characters/Teams with long-running series:
- Azrael
- Hitman
- Impulse*
- Static (Milestone)
- Steel*
- Stormwatch/The Authority (WildStorm)
- Birds of Prey – new team with pre-existing characters
*I’m not 100% certain Impulse and Steel qualify as original. They’re spinoffs of existing characters, but they’re new roles and identities, so they’re certainly more original than, say, Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, Cassie Sandsmark as Wonder Girl, Tim Drake as Robin, or Linda Danvers as Supergirl.
Characters with less successful or no series, but who have made a major impact:
- Harley Quinn – import from Batman: The Animated series. Solo series was short, but hard to imagine the Bat-verse without her.
- Renee Montoya – I’m a little less certain about her than Harley.
- Bane
- Doomsday
I’m not counting Young Justice, since there’s so much overlap with the Teen Titans in concept and membership that I’m not sure you can really consider it a new team. A couple of people suggested Resurrection Man, but his series only lasted about two years, and he basically disappeared afterward. We’ll have to see how well the new book does. Chase was also suggested, but sadly her series crashed and burned despite being made of awesome.
So…who am I missing?
Again, I’m looking for original DCU characters created since 1990 that have had a long-running series or made a huge long-term impact on the DCU.
I know there are more Milestone and Wildstorm characters or teams with long-running series, but I’m not familiar enough with them to be able to say which have been the most successful.
August 16, 2011
Two Flash-related comics are out this week: DC Retroactive: The Flash 1990s and Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3.
DC Retroactive: The Flash 1990s
Written by BRIAN AUGUSTYN
Art and cover by MIKE BOWDEN
During the ’90s, Wally West took the title “The Fastest Man Alive” to a whole new level. Join the the writer who turned the sidekick into a hero in his own right for another race against evil, along with a classic tale from that decade.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 17 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
Newsarama has a set of DC Retroactive Previews including The Flash ’90s, which starts on page 6.
Be sure to catch our exclusive interview with Brian Augustyn about the special and his long-term collaboration with Mark Waid on The Flash.
Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3
In this final issue of FLASHPOINT: LEGION OF DOOM, Heatwave has escaped his prison and is dead-set on getting his revenge against Cyborg. But first, he plans on burning the city of Detroit to the ground to send his nemesis a warning. Will Cyborg be able to stop Heatwave before thousands of innocent lives are lost?
FLASHPOINT: LEGION OF DOOM #3, in stores on Wednesday, is written by Adam Glass and features art by Rodney Buchemi and Jose Marzan Jr.
The Source has a preview.
August 11, 2011
DC Comics has announced a “Flash 101″ sale on digital comics. All listed Flash titles will be only 99 cents for 48 hours starting August 13. They don’t say where, but I think it’s safe to assume it’s at ComiXology, because they’re DC’s exclusive online vendor at this point.
And they’ve added a lot more issues.
Up to this point, ComiXology has had everything from Flash: Rebirth onward. Over the last few days, readers have spotted early issues from Wally West’s series, the beginning of Impulse, and a few scattered issues from the Bronze Age. Check out the full list of titles on sale after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
June 14, 2011
Greg LaRocque, popular artist on the Flash in the ’90s, has given us our first look at some art from his upcoming Retroactive ’80s Flash project via The Flash & Other Members of the Speed Force group on Facebook:
Greg looks to be as sharp as ever. I really can’t wait for this to come out especially in light of recent events and announcements. This definitely lifted my spirits! Thank you Greg! And thank you Aaron Louis Kessler!
You can also read an exclusive Speed Force interview with Greg HERE!
Be sure to check out The Flash Retroactive ’80s one shot due out in August. Especially if you are in need of some classic Wally goodness. I know I am.
-Devin “Flash” Johnson
May 5, 2011
Well, that answers that question. Since Mark Waid was the Flash writer for most of the 1990s, but isn’t writing the 1990s issue of DC RetroActive: The Flash (Waid’s often-overlooked writing partner on the book, Brian Augustyn, is doing it solo), fans have been wondering: Why is he missing? Did he decline to return to the character? Did DC not want him on the book?
Esteban Pedreros of Comic Verso asked the writer on Twitter.
@ I’m curious. Did DC offer you the 90s Flash retroactive? Would you’ve accepted?
@ No and yes, in that order.
So now we know: DC didn’t offer Mark Waid the book, but he would have done it if asked.
Waid has been largely absent from the DC Universe since his run on Brave and the Bold and his brief return to The Flash in 2007-2008. In part, that was around the time he became EIC at BOOM! Studios, and was busy with those duties and writing his creator-owned books. But there was some public dispute with DC over the Flash, Countdown and related books, and it may be that the current regime simply doesn’t want him back.
Curiouser and curiouser…
May 3, 2011
DC has announced the creative team and release date for the final DC RetroActive: The Flash special, this one focusing on the 1990s. Each special features an all-new story reuniting one of the decade’s writers with the character, set in then-current continuity, and one reprinted story.
DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH – THE ’90s #1
When Wally West became The Flash in the ’90s*, he morphed from a sidekick into a hero in his own right. The creative team of writer Brian Augustyn and artist Mike Bowden set the Fastest Man Alive in another race against evil.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 17 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
So, now we know the creative teams for all three specials. I’ll admit I’m a bit disappointed that they only managed to reunite both writer and artist on the 1980s special, though in the case of the 1970s special, I think most of the main artists from that run are either retired or passed away.
Does anyone know who Mike Bowden is? I can’t find any credits in a search on Comics.org. For that matter, I only found one credit for Benito Gallego, the artist doing the 1970s book. I wonder if DC is using these specials to try out new talent when they can’t get a period artist.
On another note: I think this is the first time in over a year that the words “Wally West” have appeared in a solicitation for a comic containing new material.
*It was, of course, the ’80s when Wally West became the Flash. Apparently DC is too busy with Flashpoint to get someone to copy-edit their solicitations.
April 1, 2011
At the WonderCon DC Nation panel, DC announced a series of one-shots coming this summer called “Retro-Active.” Each set features three one-shots set in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s continuity re-uniting the characters with the creators most associated with of classic runs from that era.
The Flash issues will be written by:
- Cary Bates for the 1970s
- William Messner-Loebs for the 1980s
- Brian Augustyn for the 1990s.
Each issue will feature 26 pages of new story and 20 pages of reprinted material and will run $4.99. No word yet on artists or release dates. Other characters announced include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America.
It’s odd that they’ve broken up the Waid/Augustyn team. Given that Waid has expressed willingness to work for DC again, I figure this means one of two things:
- DC doesn’t want to hire Mark Waid for now.
- Mark Waid doesn’t want to return to The Flash after the disaster of “The Wild Wests.”
Source: CBR coverage and Newsarama coverage.
Update (Monday): DC has released the logos and writers for the event.
May 19, 2010
I had an odd thought while reading The Flash #2* last week. Francis Manapul draws Barry and Iris in a way that makes them look fairly young, and I remembered someone’s remark that the cowl on Wally West’s new costume makes him look older than Barry, even though Wally used to be Barry’s younger sidekick.
Then it hit me: No, Wally isn’t older than Barry Allen (even with time travel) but when you factor in his earlier Kid Flash career, he actually has more experience than Barry at this point!
No, Really!
Wally West became Kid Flash very early in Barry Allen’s Flash career — only six issues into his solo series! Flash vol.1 started with #105, picking up from where the Golden Age Flash Comics left off, and Wally was struck by lightning in Flash #110, back in 1959. He didn’t retire as Kid Flash until very late in Barry’s career, in New Teen Titans #39 — just one year before Barry vanished in 1985.**
So Wally West has been running around for most of Barry’s career plus his own!
Team Player
During his JLA run, Grant Morrison is one of the few writers I can remember really building on the fact that the original Titans grew up as super-heroes. I don’t recall it being a plot point, but Morrison mentioned it in an interview, or possibly one of the Secret Files books, and it clearly factored into his characterization of Wally West. He might not have been as old as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but he’d been working with a team longer than they had, and he was a consummate professional.
Wally wasn’t the rookie on the team by any stretch. That honor went to Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.
Of course, neither Wally nor Barry can hold a candle to Jay Garrick, who has been speeding since 1940!
*Yes, I do still plan on reviewing it. It was just a busy week, and for some reason, it’s been hard to sit down and write it.
**These are of course the real-world publishing dates. The fictional DC Universe would use a vague “X years ago” timeline that always seems to change, but usually compresses everything from the dawn of the Silver Age onward into a 10-15–year period.
February 20, 2010
Strangely enough, a lot of the sites I’ve linked to on Twitter or Facebook over the last few weeks were looking back at the 1990s and Mark Waid’s run on The Flash
High Five! Comics profiles Max Mercury: The Speedster Time Forgot (for a while). Of course, Max goes back farther than — he started as Quality Comics’ Golden Age hero, Quicksilver — but the version of the character known today was established in “The Return of Barry Allen,” “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and Impulse.
For Valentine’s Day, Comics Should be Good’s Year of Cool Comics spotlights Flash: Terminal Velocity and a key event in the relationship between Wally West and Linda Park.
Westfield Comics’ Josh Crawley looks back at Mark Waid’s first run on The Flash, picking up with Flash #0 and running through “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and “Race Against Time.”
Mania spotlights the 1990s Flash TV series in 15 more shows that were canceled before their time over the last 25 years. It’s an interesting mix of shows I remember fondly (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), shows I remember hearing about but never watched (Murder One), and shows I’ve completely forgotten (Street Hawk?). It also reminds me that I never got around to watching the last few episodes of Journeyman.
