Blue Lantern Flash arrived a little bit ago and I finally got around to taking some pictures of the figure mint on card, loose and alongside some alternate versions of the figure. First the mint on card pictures:

When this figure was first announced I was pretty burnt out on the idea of Blue Lantern Barry and I wasn’t really anticipating it. But after I’ve seen it in person I have to eat my words. Absolutely great redeco that beats the pants off of the DC Direct version. See for yourself:

And now both figures compared:

In the past I have always expressed a preference towards DC Direct’s more limited form of articulation. I think part of it was from the fact that my real toy collecting started in the Toy Biz X-Men and Spider-Man action figure days and I thought the articulation of those action figures was perfect. Of course this was when we had the ugly super-poseable figures that looked out of place compared with the rest of the line (I’m looking at you super-poseable Spidey) so I think it was just that I wanted uniformity more than anything. Over the years though I have to admit that these figures have grown by leaps and bounds and the extent of what they can articulate without sacrificing the sculpt is pretty impressive and evident in all of the newer DC Universe Classics figures.

As you can see both figures come with their own lanterns. Mattel’s version actually has an open hand that can hold the lantern while the DC Direct version’s closed hands make it so I had to simulate him holding it by placing it on his forearm. The DC Direct version also comes with a Blue Lantern stand that I have to admit looks pretty cool and is a nice little bonus that fits along nicely with the other DC Direct Lantern Stands (I have a White Lantern and Black Lantern one too).

The figures are different versions of the same character so they have pretty much the same design, the place where they differ is in the choices of metallic darker blues and silver compared with non-metallic various shades of blue. I personally prefer the Mattel color scheme of using various shades of blue; it just looks more natural and like a real costume. I could see The Flash wearing a variation of this costume on a regular basis and not have a problem with it. In fact it reminds me a little of John Fox’s second costume. The glossy metallic paint looks better on Wally West than it does on Barry Allen and the Mattel version is also more comic book accurate in my opinion.

Another picture with the Blue Lantern Flash Heroclix included:

This is the third figure released of Barry Allen by Mattel and we can expect another variation on the shelves soon (slightly different body type):

And finally the entire Blackest Night Flash collection:

DC Direct’s Blue Lantern Flash, Mattel’s Blue Lantern Flash, Graphitti Designs/DC Direct exclusive White Lantern Flash, DC Direct’s Black Lantern Zoom, Heroclix White Lantern Kid Flash, Heroclix Blue Lantern Flash and Heroclix White Lantern Flash.

Keep a look out for comparison pics of DC Universe Classics Wave 18 Captain Boomerang and thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

DC Universe Classics 17 Blue Lantern Flash Pics is a post from Speed Force.

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.

What If…Lord of the Rings had been an “Event” Comic? is a post from Speed Force.

One cool thing to note that was absent from the DC Direct version of this figure is the ability for this figure to hold his included Lantern. The DCD version sports closed fists. In addition to that the figure has 23 points of articulation and has a lighter color scheme. Despite feeling pretty burnt out on the whole Rainbow Lantern thing I will still be picking this figure up. The completest in me will not let me pass up on it.

I also came across an auction posted by eBay seller, Last_Galaxy for a custom Wally West action figure in his latest uniform:

The figure’s base looks to be a DC Universe Classics Barry Allen with a sculpted on lightning belt, lightning forearms and Wally’s new (JLU) symbol. Still hoping to see some version of this figure from either DC Direct or Mattel soon. I really do not care who makes it I just want it! The auction ends in about 4 days and can be found HERE.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

DC Universe Classics Blue Lantern Flash Carded Images and Wally West Custom is a post from Speed Force.

Hey Speed Readers, Devin here again with another edition of Recent Acquisitions. Now I mentioned last week that I was going to start showcasing older pieces from my collection in a new series of articles tentatively named “Off The Shelf”. Now while I may still do something with that idea down the line I’ve recently discovered a more attractive avenue for showcasing my collection: Tumblr! I plan on posting quite often, and since I don’t have to write up a whole article every time I post you can expect to see posts a lot more frequently. Yesterday I posted four different pictures, including a custom Flash Football Jersey. You can view my Tumblr at Fastestfanalive.tumblr.com and if you already follow my Twitter you can get updates on the fly without having to sign up. My Facebook friends can also receive updates through the news feed for the time being but I’m thinking of disabling that feature as it can probably get annoying getting 4 or 5 different posts a day. Twitter just seems more conducive to that kind of posting.  Now onto the toys!

You may notice that the title of this edition is “In Blackest Night” and yes I know the crossover is long over but the toys keep coming. In fact I just received the latest offering from DC Direct in the mail today. First up though is going to be a guy that I received a week or so ago, DC Direct’s Blue Lantern Flash:

Blue Lantern Barry before his release from his plastic prison.

Barry comes with a Blue Lantern and a Blue Lantern display stand. The sculpt is nearly perfect. I would have to say this guy is tied with Justice League of America Series 1 Wally West also by DC Direct as one of my favorites.

Close up of the messenger of hope! Love the colors and the paint apps for the most part. There is a slight issue with the lightning on each of the forearms but it isn’t noticeable unless you are really looking for it. I really dig this figure and the Blue Lantern Flash uniform in general. Although I mentioned being burned out on Blue Lantern Barry I’m still anxious to see how the DC Universe Classics version is going to look.

Next we have Barry’s miniature counterpart the Blue Lantern Barry Heroclix:

Not bad. These pictures honestly don’t do this heroclix justice. The details are especially clean for such a small figure.

The clear blue plastic simulates the blue lighting effect and adds a little flavor to the piece.

And as promised via my Tumblr and Twitter earlier today, Black Lantern Black Flash:

Mint on card.

Eobard Thawne of Earth. Rise. Another great sculpt!

Great details on our reanimated friend here. Funny though with his teeth like that and his exaggerated features here and in the comic he kind of reminds me of Flash crossed with Venom. Flash and Spider-Man would be a fun crossover come to think of it.

All three together:

And that concludes another edition of Recent Acquisitions. I’m still holding out for a Black Lantern Bart Allen but it looks like the focus is going to be shifting to Flashpoint fairly soon. I can live with that. Flashpoint has lit a fire in me that I haven’t felt in a while. I’m really excited to see what the future holds for the Flash franchise.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

Recent Acquisitions Volume 5: In Blackest Night *Image Intensive* is a post from Speed Force.

Sometimes…they don’t.

This was the case with the Rainbow Raiders.

During his 2000-2005 run on The Flash, Geoff Johns killed off the Rainbow Raider, a Bronze-Age Rogue who could shoot colored energy beams and could drain or add color to people and objects, changing them based on the characteristics of that color. Red would enrage someone, yellow would make them afraid, etc. He was killed by Blacksmith in the prologue to “Crossfire” (Flash #183, 2002), presumably with the thought that he had less potential alive than as an example of how tough the new villain was.

Ironically, a few years later, Geoff Johns would introduce the concept of the emotional spectrum to the Green Lantern mythos, on which he built Blackest Night and Brightest Day. The Rainbow Raider’s powers would have fit right in.

Comics publishers never like to leave a name unused, and a few years later, Johns introduced the Rainbow Raiders in the pages of The Flash. They didn’t do much other than introduce themselves at Captain Boomerang’s funeral (Flash #217, 2005).

As far as I know, the villains have only been used once since then, just one month after their initial appearance: in JLA: Syndicate Rules (Kurt Busiek), Johnny Quick and Power Ring of the Crime Syndicate are impersonating the Flash and Green Lantern while they stumble upon an attack in progress by the Raiders. They have to fight or else blow their cover, but they don’t have the heroes’ restraint with using their powers, and make brutally short work of the Raiders.

That was pretty much it, and even I forgot about them until last week, when they showed up on a list of characters killed during Blackest Night.

“Wait? What?”

Lia was kind enough to point me to relevant posts on The Rogues Kick Ass from a couple of months ago (page 1and page 2). It turns out a two-page sequence in Untold Tales of Blackest Night revealed their ultimate fate: On discovering that the dead are rising, they decide to be on the winning side…so they kill themselves. They don’t even rise as Black Lanterns, though, because no heroes actually care about them enough for the rings to re-animate them.

The Late Rainbow Raiders is a post from Speed Force.

Okay, I’m always excited for just about anything Flash, especially when it comes to action figures, and I hate to be ungrateful but do we really need another Barry in the DC Universe Classics Line so soon? Yes, I can understand the inclusion of the figure because 1) It’s cheaper to reuse a mold than to commission a new one, 2) Blackest Night is DC’s most successful comic event to date and I would be foolish to expect them not to try and cash in on it and 3) Barry is the main Flash again and DC is determined to avoid highlighting any other speedsters until Barry has been firmly established in every medium.  Still is it too much to ask for even a Zoom? I’m already kind of burnt out on Blue Lantern Barry (after the Heroclix and the aforementioned DC Direct version) and I can never get enough of Zoom. Although what I would really want is Wally or Jay.

I will say that the Blue Lantern uniforms are still very striking visually and despite my annoyance at essentially already owning three of the same figure (Wave 7, TRU Gold Repaint and Giants of Justice) and having to add yet another repaint to my DCUC collection, I still may pick this up. Funny how I complain yet still plan on purchasing it anyway.

As far as this one versus DC Direct’s version? I’m digging the glossy paint job on the DC Direct version a lot more, that and the overall sculpt is just more pleasing to me. Especially since I prefer to have less articulation in my figures. I will say that Mattel has done a great job at making the many points of articulation on their figures less noticeable but I still find them to be less appealing. I’m going to have fun comparing and contrasting them once I have the DCUC version as well.

DC Universe Classics Wave 17 will also feature Hal Jordan as a White and Black Lantern, Violet Lantern Wonder Woman, Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, Indigo Lantern Atom, and Yellow Lantern Scarecrow. The Collect and Connect figure is going to be the modern version of the Anti-Monitor. A Red Lantern Mera was planned to be included but she was scrapped due to the cost of tooling another figure. There are plans to include her sometime down the road. The wave is planned for release in late Spring next year, just in time for my birthday.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Blue Lantern Barry Announced for DC Universe Classics is a post from Speed Force.

First, we have the Flash vs. the Rogues meet-up:

I love the staging in this next one, with the Flashes all punching in the same position. If they were all in the same costume, they could be super-speed after-images!

Shag also made it to the Blackest Night meet-up. There are two Blue Lantern Flashes and a Black Lantern Reverse-Flash.

Check out the detail on these Black Lanterns:

And here’s one of the Blue Lantern Flashes:

Out on the floor, Shag snapped several groups with Flashes, including this mix featuring Captain Marvel, Superman, J’onn J’onnz, Green Lantern, and Slade (the animated Teen Titans version of Deathstroke).

Interestingly, I found another shot on Flickr of the same group, in the same place, in the same pose, down to the bag on the floor, but taken from way off on the left. I often see large groups of photographers taking pictures of the same people at the same time, but for some reason I rarely see more than one of those shots online.

Moving along, there’s this one with Zatanna, Hawkman and the Flash:

And then there’s this guy:

All I can think is, he went beyond light speed…to ludicrous speed.

Shag has literally hundreds of photos from Dragon*Con. The best place to start is at his Dragon*Con Recap on Once Upon a Geek.

I’ll post more Dragon*Con Flickr finds shortly, [Update: Here's the second set] and I’ll try to jump on NYCC more quickly.

Flash & Rogues Costumes at Dragon*Con 2010 – Part 1 (Image-Intensive!) is a post from Speed Force.

Way back in April, DC ran a Flash trivia contest on Twitter for a signed copy of The Flash #1. A new question each day for a week, with winners chosen from the first few correct responses. I won one of the days with the answer to a question about “Flash of Two Worlds,” and immediately sent in my mailing address.

And waited.

And waited.

After about a month, one of the other winners contacted me through Comic Bloc trying to get us all together to write to DC and ask what was going on. DC wrote back, assuring us that the signed books would be out within a few weeks.

Eventually, September rolled around, along with a second or third round of, “Hey, what happened?” This time, they assured us all that the books would be sent out by the end of the month.

Guess what?

Last Friday (October 8), I came home and found an envelope from DC Comics! In it was not only a copy of The Flash #1, but a copy of the Blackest Night hardcover to make up for the long wait time!

When I checked in on Comic Bloc, it turned out that they’d sent Blackest Night to some of us, and Flash Rebirth to others.

I remember last year telling someone that I wasn’t planning to read Blackest Night because I had no interest in it, but I’d read it if someone else bought it for me. It’s weird that not only did someone end up buying it for me, but it was DC themselves! I guess they really want me to read this book!

Another funny thing: Back in July, I got Francis Manapul to sign my copy of The Flash #1 at Comic-Con International. So now I have two signed copies: one signed by the writer, and one signed by the artist!

Remember That Twitter Contest? is a post from Speed Force.

• Collected Editions reviews Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2 (Flash, Wonder Woman & JSA)
• The Snark Files presents: The Flash in a Marathon.
• Remember Mopee? Major Spoilers reviews Flash Vol. 1 #167 – the “real” origin of the Flash (1967).
• Grumpy Old Fan looks at Earth-Two, where second-generation heroes created their own identities.
• Comic Book Revolution asks: Can super-heroes have long-term relationships?
• Quick Time has declared September to be Zoom Month.

Speed Reading is a post from Speed Force.

Art

I finally placed what that Funko Flash plush toy reminds me of: paintings by Degrazia.

Michael Cho is bringing some great paintings of the Flash and Mister Miracle to Fan Expo. (via @FrancisManapul)

In Brightest Day, In Blackest…Coffee? The Nerdy Bird has found an awesome T-shirt on Etsy.

Giant Size Geek (formerly Photon Torpedoes) found a “trippy” Martin Ansin painting of the Flash. Actually, there’s another Giant Size Geek find that’s going to get its own post…

Commentary and News

Quick Time is a new blog focusing on Jesse Quick and Hourman. Recent posts include costumes, low points (Jesse in Titans, anyone?), and thoughts on the Justice Society roster.

That F’ing Monkey looks at Flash postage stamps in the Fastest Mail Alive.

The Source has a new video ad for DC Universe Online, “I am the Next Legend.”

The Flash makes IGN’s top DC series list at #8.

CSBG has completed their series on the Top 75 Most Memorable Moments in DC Comics History.

Speed Reading: Art, Quick Time, DCUO, Fast Mail and More is a post from Speed Force.