April 9, 2013
Hey Speed Readers,
So DC Collectibles put out their solicits for September/October 2013 and one item of interest stands out to New 52 Flash fans:
DC COMICS – SUPER–VILLAINS CAPTAIN COLD ACTION FIGURE
The DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 look of The Flash’s Rogues Gallery member Captain Cold is perfectly captured with this action figure based on his all-new design.
On Sale September 2013 • Action Figure • $24.95 US
*Allocations May Occur
Yeah, yeah I know *New 52 grumble*. Still great looking figure and one that I can’t wait to add to my display. I’m loving the ice accessories that match up with his current powers (makes the $24.95 price point a bit easier to swallow) and what looks to be a swanky removable hood so we can see New 52 Len in all of his glory. We haven’t had a new Captain Cold six-inch version since Mattel’s ( mostly disappointing, imo) DC Universe Classics Captain Cold which while detailed (with removable gun and holster) they flubbed his height when compared to the other Rogues in the line. He looks super short standing next to Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang.
The good Captain has had two previous DC Collectibles (DC Direct) figures that both pretty much knocked it out of the part. The first was from DC Direct’s 2001 Rogues series featuring Captain Cold (in a beautiful sculpt reminiscent of Scott Kolins’ work on Captain Cold in the Flash) and came with his freeze gun and removable glasses. The figure still holds up well compared to the more recent releases from DC Collectibles but this figure came out 12 years ago so we desperately need some updated Rogues in the line up. The second came about through DC Direct’s Alex Ross Justice line based on the 12 issue maxi-series. This one definitely has the most detail of all of the Cold releases (removable gun from holster and you can kind of pull down the hood to get a glimpse at Len pre-New 52). Unfortunately the “good” captain is horribly out of scale with just about all of your average DC Direct/DC Collectibles releases not to mention the stylistic differences (being based on the photo-realistic art of Alex Ross) makes it stand out big time among a display of basic DC Direct/DC Collectibles figures.
So who else is looking forward to adding a New 52 styled Captain Cold to your display? Any other Flash Rogues you hope to see from the New 52? Let us know in the comments below!
-Devin
January 31, 2011
Salutations, fellow Speed Readers. I’m here today with pictures of a beautiful piece of Flash sculpture courtesy of Glenmarc “Flash” Antonio. Glen may seem a bit familiar as he was the subject of Speed Force’s first Flash Collector Showcase. Hailing from the Republic of the Philippines, Glen is nationally known as the biggest Flash collector in the country. Glen and his collection make regular appearances at various toy and comic conventions throughout the year where he usually shows off his vast Flash collection. In addition to collecting Flash stuff he also has large collections of Marvel Comics action figures (particularly Deadpool and Blade), G.I. Joes, and many others. He also cosplays frequently and customizes action figures.
Now this bust is sold only in the Philippines and can be found in some hobby shops for Php 1,000 or about $20. Usually you have to go directly to the sculptor to get one made. While it is not exactly a custom sculpt it does have a few distinctions that set it apart from other versions of this bust on the market. But before we go into that have a look:
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September 29, 2010
Today, a group of comics bloggers have gotten together to recommend lesser-known gems of the comics world. Comics are more than Brightest Day and Heroic Age, and you just might want to…read this too!
Astro City. Written by Kurt Busiek; art by Brent Anderson; covers by Alex Ross. Published by WildStorm Comics.
A big part of the appeal for many comics fans is the shared universe. Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four all share the same New York. Flash and Green Lantern can fight each other’s villains. There’s a sense that, beyond what you’ve read, there’s more…a bigger world, one where things matter beyond a single story.
Astro City takes that feeling and creates a whole shared super-hero universe in a single book. Instead of following one character or team, the anthology focuses on a different hero, villain, or civilian in each story. The stories are usually about the human element, focusing more on character than on super-villain beat-downs.
Many (but not all) of the heroes are based on classic characters or familiar archetypes. Samaritan is Superman down to the blue hair. The First Family is very much like the Fantastic Four. Others are original, or far enough removed from their sources that I can’t place them.
The first volume, Life in the Big City, features:
- A day in the life of Samaritan, who is so busy rescuing people that he can’t slow down to enjoy flying.
- A newspaper editor tells about his first published story as a cub reporter, when he witnessed a team of heroes turning back an interdimensional invasion in the caverns beneath the city.
- A small-time crook accidentally discovers the hero Jack-in-the-Box’s identity, and tries to figure out what he can do with the knowledge.
- A woman who grew up in a neighborhood fraught with supernatural dangers finds herself confronted with the very different, scientific dangers that threaten downtown.
- A neighborhood recluse turns out to be an alien spy, scouting out Earth as a potential invasion target. His decision rests on the discovery that one of his neighbors is secretly a super-hero.
- Heroes Samaritan and Winged Victory try to go on a date, but their professional lives keep getting in the way.
You don’t have to start there, though. With very few exceptions, Astro City stories can be read in any order. Most of the stories only take one or two issues, and are collected in Life in the Big City, Family Album, and Local Heroes. There have been a few longer ones: Confession and The Tarnished Angel each take up an entire volume, and the longest story, The Dark Age, will be collected in two volumes.
Some of my favorites include:
- Confession re-imagines Batman and Robin with a supernatural twist.
- In Family Album, Jack-in-the-Box meets his future son…or rather, three different possible versions of his future son, all traumatized by his death. The encounters force him to rethink the life he leads as he and his wife try to start a family.
- Also in Family Album, A man is troubled by vivid dreams of a woman he’s never met, and eventually learns that she was his wife before the reality-altering Crisis event erased her from existence. This 16-page story from 1998 is still my favorite take on the genre created by Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- In Local Heroes, a lawyer gets in over his head when he successfully uses the doppelganger defense.
- In the upcoming Shining Stars collection, sworn enemies Samaritan and Infidel meet once a year for a cordial dinner, while a living “Beautie” doll with super-powers seeks out her origins.
Astro City took a long break earlier this decade, and has been on a series-of-miniseries schedule for the last few years. With The Dark Age finished just a few months ago, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson have been planning to relaunch the series as an ongoing monthly again, but the recently-announced shuttering of WildStorm may throw a bit of a wrench into those plans (or it may just launch with a DC logo on it instead).
Oh, one more thing: Flash fans might be interested in the Astro City: Silver Agent two-parter that wrapped this month (and will be included in Shining Stars). He’s not a speedster, but you’ll see what I mean. More about this in an upcoming post…
But That’s Not All!
Interested in reading more? Good! I’ve also reviewed The Unwritten at K-Squared Ramblings, and there are a lot of other bloggers participating in today’s event. Check out the lesser-known titles reviewed in these other blogs and read these, too!
April 25, 2010
Two weeks’ worth of linkblogging, so you’ll probably have seen a lot of these by now…
Commentary
Multiversity Comics presents A Crisis of Chronology: The Flash, as well as thoughts on early solicitations in a digital age.
Silver Age Gold presents: I Hate the Flash’s Girlfriend, all about Iris West! Silver Age Comics responds: Ending with Iris.
Art
slaterman23 has a Flickr set featuring vintage-style DC Comics posters (via The Nerdy Bird).
Paxton Holley has found a comic in which Superman Becomes the Flash (Action Comics #314, 1964)
Chris Samnee sketches Flash vs. Captain Cold at C2E2.
Mr. Maczaps presents Death in the form of the Black Flash.
Bobby Timony draws Jay Garrick (also at C2E2).
By now you’ve probably all seen this visual pun on Flash and the iPad using Alex Ross’ art.
The Top Cow Panel at C2E2 has some incredible samples of Kenneth Rocafort’s art from the upcoming Velocity miniseries.
seanicus found a Japanese Flash T-Shirt.
Karl Kerschl’s webcomic, The Abominable Charles Christopher, is coming to print.
The webcomic Comic Critics tackles Greg Rucka leaving DC.
Other
Comic Book Resources has put together a Comics Twitter Directory
Cinema Spy considers how the new status quo seen in Flash #1 might influence the Flash movie.
July 20, 2009
I decided to switch the Twitter digests from weekly to daily for the week of Comic-Con International. This is a bit cleaned up and reorganized.
Observations
Comic-Con
Other Links
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March 3, 2009
The landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, came out in 1985-1986, but it took until 1998 for DC to collect the whole series in one volume. The slipcased hardcover featured a wraparound painted cover by Perez and superstar Alex Ross. (That edition is no longer available, but the paperback edition is based around the same cover.)
The Flashes figured prominently in the story. Jay Garrick and Barry Allen shared the story that introduced the concept of the DC Multiverse, “Flash of Two Worlds” (Flash v.1 #123, 1963). And of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths featured Barry Allen’s death, and Wally West taking up the mantle. So naturally, the Flashes had a prominent spot on the cover, arguably the second most-visible after the pair of Supermen holding the bodies of Wonder Woman and Supergirl. A streak of crimson, yellow and white runs along the lower half of the cover, colliding dead center in a burst of lightning, and finally images of the Flash disintegrate and collapse at the end.
The Run-Down
Read on for an in-depth examination of the scarlet speedsters on this cover. Read the rest of this entry »
December 4, 2008
One of the themes in “Thy Kingdom Come,” the storyline that’s been running through Justice Society of America this year, has been exploring the link between the present-day DC Universe with the future shown in the groundbreaking 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come. This week’s Justice Society of America #21 looks into the mystery of the Kingdom Come version of the Flash. Read the rest of this entry »
