January 30, 2012
DC has released more on their fall collections, including this September item:
THE FLASH: THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Francis Manapul and Scott Kolins
Collects: THE FLASH #8-12
$14.99 US, 120 pg
The hardcover came out last November. There was a bit of confusion when the Dastardly Death of the Rogues TP was released, and DC identified it was only collecting The Flash #1-6, but that turned out to be a misprint.
This brings the last of Geoff Johns’ Barry Allen Flash run into trade paperback form.
January 26, 2012
When DC first announced the collection, they planned on including issues #1-7 in the hardcover. Today, they released an updated look at the New 52 collections, including a title, “Move Forward.” It also will contain issues #1-8, which brings the series up to April’s introduction of Turbine.
THE FLASH VOLUME 1: MOVE FORWARD HC
Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Collects: THE FLASH #1-8
$22.99 US, 192 pg
November 2012
January 25, 2012
I hope today’s release of Flash vol.2 #2-6 on ComiXology signals the beginning of a complete digital release of the Wally West Flash series. This brings the total to 63 issues scattered around the 249-issue series (including #0 and #1,000,000, both already available), mostly from the Waid and Johns runs, but there are still a lot of gaps…and most of the material is out of print.
»Flash comics at ComiXology.
The Mike Baron (#1-14) and William Messner-Loebs (#15-61) runs on The Flash have never been reprinted in trade paperback, and only the highlights of the extensive Mark Waid/Brian Augustyn run (#62-162, minus a year off for Morrison/Millar) have been collected. A lot of that is due to the changing market during the 1990s. When Waid started, collected editions were rare. Vertigo was seeing some success, but the idea that people would shell out for a whole series in graphic novel form hadn’t yet sunk in. (These were the days when studios weren’t sure there was a market for complete TV seasons on home video, either.) By the time Geoff Johns took over the title, DC was collecting full runs of a few high-profile series, but not all, or even most of their books.
Now, of course, everyone expects most comic books will be collected, and waiting for the trade is actually a workable strategy. But it’s not often that DC Comics goes back to fill in the gaps in their library — at least, not in print.
Gold and Bronze
With any luck, digital releases will also be the way we’ll finally get the Bronze Age and the Golden Age re-released. I’ve grumbled on a number of occasions that DC seems to keep reprinting the same early years of the Silver Age every time they come up with a new format, and never seem to get past the early/mid-1960s on Barry Allen’s series. (Even the upcoming Flash Archives vol.6 brings that series up to…1964.)
I’d really like to see more Golden Age Flash Archives. DC has only gotten as far as issue #24 out of 104, and the first super-villain (The Shade, as it turns out) doesn’t appear until #33…but these volumes seem to come out so rarely that I expect to die of old age before DC finishes collecting the series. In print, anyway. This is one of the reasons I went forward with my effort to hunt down the original comics, or at least as many of the key issues as I could find in my price range. Read the rest of this entry »
January 11, 2012
Previously available in hardcover, the first (and IMO better) half of Geoff Johns’ post-Rebirth run on The Flash is now available as a trade paperback.
Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS; Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
The Fastest Man Alive must solve the murder of one of his greatest foes and protect his other foes from an elusive killer in this title collection THE FLASH #1–6 7 and THE FLASH SECRET FILES 2010!
Racing out of BLACKEST NIGHT, The Flash returns to his life in Central City – but when one of his Rogues Gallery of foes turns up murdered under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to The Fastest Man Alive to solve this bizarre crime and protect those who are targeted by the killer.
DC Universe 228pg. Color Softcover $14.99 US
An odd note: The hardcover also included The Flash #7, the Captain Boomerang one-shot. Usually DC tends to collect the same material in the hardcover and softcover releases, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see that the inevitable softcover of The Road to Flashpoint starts with #7 instead of #8.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if this is a copy-paste misprint, and this book does include #7, since the solicitation text for the hardcover also listed only Flash #1-6. Update: It’s a misprint, as Jason points out in the comments.
December 14, 2011
The Flash Archives vol.6, announced last month, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. $45 is still a bit steep compared to a trade paperback (funny thing, hardcovers and high-quality paper cost extra), but it’s a hefty discount off the list price.
Written by GARDNER FOX and JOHN BROOME • Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and FRANK GIACOIA Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON Advance solicited • On sale JULY 25 • 240 pg, FC, $59.99 US
It’s a Rogues Gallery parade in these tales from THE FLASH #142-150, as the Scarlet Speedster battles The Trickster, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, Mr. Element, The Reverse Flash, Captain Boomerang and Captain Cold! Plus, a tale guest-starring Green Lantern!
» Pre-order at Amazon
November 16, 2011
Out today in comic stores, or next Tuesday in book stores, it’s the second collection of the post-Rebirth Flash series, bridging Brightest Day and Flashpoint.
Flash: The Road to Flashpoint (HC)
Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS; Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Make way for Hot Pursuit – the latest speedster to come out of the Speed Force! He’s here to make sure no one breaks the speed limit – hero or villain! And just wait until you see whose face is under Hot Pursuit’s helmet!
This hardcover collection of THE FLASH #8-12 leads up to FLASHPOINT, the biggest comic-book event for summer 2011!
DC Universe 128pg. Color Hardcover $22.99 US
Full Run
This completes the collection of Geoff Johns’ return to the Flash and re-introduction of Barry Allen. Here’s the full list of Rebirth-era Flash collections by Geoff Johns:
- Flash: Rebirth
- Blackest Night (not really a Flash collection, but a lot of people describe the main story as being a Hal/Barry story)
- Blackest Night: The Black Lantern Corps. Vol.2 (Including Blackest Night: The Flash)
- Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
- Flash: The Road to Flashpoint
- Flashpoint
That still leaves one more collection of Flash material from this era: World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash, announced just this Monday and arriving in March, containing stories by Scott Kolins, Sterling Gates and others.
Edit: I forgot to include Captain Atom #3, which features the Flash as a guest star, and is also out today.
Captain Atom #3
Written by J.T. KRUL; Art by FREDDIE WILLIAMS II; Cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
Captain Atom is taking his powers to new heights – saving people all across the world in the blink of an eye. But he’s not the only one who can move at super speed. Enter: The Flash! And when their paths cross, don’t expect them to share the secret hero’s handshake – because Captain Atom may be a bigger threat than any villain.
DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US
November 15, 2011
Also in DC’s February solicitations: the titles and contents of the Flashpoint tie-in collections, all coming in March.
Oddly, DC has decided to organize their collected editions around major characters, rather than the “Whatever happened to…” themes they used to announce the miniseries to begin with. This makes for some strange combinations — Secret Seven isn’t remotely related to Batman, for instance — but The World of Flashpoint Featuring The Flash is exactly what you would expect: Kid Flash Lost, Citizen Cold, Reverse-Flash, Grodd of War, and Legion of Doom.
FLASHPOINT TP
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by ANDY KUBERT and SANDRA HOPE
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
On sale MARCH 7 • 176 pg, FC, $14.99 US
The red-hot, sold-out five-issue miniseries from Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert is on its way in trade paperback!
This is Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it?
It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of The Outsider, The Secret 7, S!H!A!Z!A!M!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces! It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT FEATURING BATMAN TP
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO, J.T. KRUL, JIMMY PALMIOTTI and PETER MILLIGAN
Art by EDUARDO RISSO, MIKEL JANIN, JOE BENNETT, GEORGE PEREZ, FERNANDO BLANCO, SCOTT KOBLISH and JOHN DELL
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
On sale MARCH 14 • 272 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Batman volume collecting BATMAN: KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1-3, DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1- 3, DEATHSTROKE AND THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER #1-3 and SECRET SEVEN #1-3.
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT FEATURING SUPERMAN TP
Written by MIKE CARLIN, REX OGLE, DAN JURGENS, SCOTT SNYDER and LOWELL FRANCIS
Art by RAGS MORALES, PAULO SIQUEIRA, GENE HA, EDUARDO FRANCISCO, DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by GENE HA
On sale MARCH 14 • 256 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Superman volume collecting WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1-3, BOOSTER GOLD #44-47, THE CANTERBURY CRICKET #1 and PROJECT SUPERMAN #1-3.
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT FEATURING WONDER WOMAN TP
Written by TONY BEDARD, JAMES ROBINSON, DAN ABNETT and ANDY LANNING
Art by ARDIAN SYAF, VICENTE CIFUENTES, EDDIE NUNEZ, JAVI FERNANDEZ, SCOTT CLARK and DAVID BEATY
Cover by ED BENES
On sale MARCH 14 • 272 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Wonder Woman volume collecting EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1- 3, OUTSIDER #1-3, LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1-3 and WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1-3.
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT FEATURING GREEN LANTERN TP
Written by PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE, ADAM SCHLAGMAN and JEFF LEMIRE
Art by MARK CASTIELLO, BEN OLIVER, FELIPE MASSAFERA and IBRAIM ROBERSON
Cover by FELIPE MASSAFERA
On sale MARCH 21 • 224 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Green Lantern volume collecting HAL JORDAN #1-3, ABIN SUR #1- 3, FRANKENSTEIN AND THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1-3 and GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES #1.
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT FEATURING THE FLASH TP
Written by SEAN RYAN, STERLING GATES, ADAM GLASS and SCOTT KOLINS
Art by IG GUARA, OLIVER NOME, RODNEY BUCHEMI, JOEL GOMEZ, SCOTT KOLINS and JOSE MARZAN JR.
Cover by ARDIAN SYAF and VICENTE CIFUENTES
On sale MARCH 21 • 256 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Flash volume collecting GRODD OF WAR #1, KID FLASH LOST #1-3, LEGION OF DOOM #1-3, REVERSE FLASH #1 and CITIZEN COLD #1-3.
DC announced a new volume of the hardcover Flash Archives reprint series in their February 2012 solicitations yesterday. These high-quality books reprint the Silver Age run of The Flash that introduced Barry Allen as the Flash, Wally West as Kid Flash, and most of the Flash’s well-known Rogues.
The Flash Archive Vol.6 HC
Written by GARDNER FOX and JOHN BROOME • Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and FRANK GIACOIA Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON Advance solicited • On sale JULY 25 • 240 pg, FC, $59.99 US
It’s a Rogues Gallery parade in these tales from THE FLASH #142-150, as the Scarlet Speedster battles The Trickster, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, Mr. Element, The Reverse Flash, Captain Boomerang and Captain Cold! Plus, a tale guest-starring Green Lantern!
I’d been worried that the focus on the newer reprint lines, the large black and white Showcase Presents: The Flash series and the smaller color paperback Flash Chronicles series, had derailed the archives, so I’m very glad to see that they’re continuing. I’ll definitely be pre-ordering this as soon as I can. (More on DC’s reprint lines at Flash series, books & specials.)
DC started this series in 1996, and seems to have settled into releasing one volume every three years. Sixteen years in, we’re just getting to 1964. (Also: inflation seems to have finally hit it. The last five volumes were $49.99 each.) It’s going to take a long time even to finish the Silver Age, never mind completing the series!
Now if we can just get a third volume of the Golden Age Flash Archives…
Update (December): It’s available for pre-order on Amazon.
November 9, 2011
DC has announced their New 52 collection schedule for 2012. Rather than blasting them all out at once at the end of spring, they’re spreading the collections across the second half of the year. That’s good news if you plan on buying several of the books. It’s not so good news if you’re waiting for the first post-reboot Flash collection, because that one won’t arrive until next November.
As announced, it collects The Flash #1-7. That covers the five-issue “Mob Rule” storyline kicking off the relaunch, plus two more. Those next two issues are planned to be two done-in-one stories, the first focusing on Barry Allen: CSI, and the other going for all-out science fiction.
The Collected Editions blog breaks down the stats on which books are getting the hardcover treatment, which are launching in paperback, how far along some series will be by the time the first collection is out, and just how much it would cost if you wanted to buy them all.
THE FLASH VOL. 1 HC
Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Collects: THE FLASH #1-7
$22.99 US, 168 pg
November 2012
October 17, 2011
DC’s full January solicitations include the official announcement of The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 2…and its contents. It clocks in at a massive 648 pages, covering two years’ worth of the Wally West Flash series, including Rogues, Crossfire, Run Riot and Blitz. Volume One was considerably shorter, covering Wonderland and Blood Will Run, including Iron Heights and The Flash Secret Files #3.
I believe this is the first time the DC 1st: Flash/Superman one-shot has been collected.
Personally, I think this is the best of Geoff Johns’ run on the book. Everything built toward first Crossfire and then Blitz as he built up a fantastic supporting cast, revitalized the Rogues, and introduced a bunch of new villains. (IMO it lost direction after Ignition, but sales went up from #200 to 225, so the overall audience seems to have liked the second half of Johns’ run better.)
My guess as to the future of this series: DC will release one more volume from the Wally West series covering #201-225 (Ignition through Rogue War). Then Volume 4 will consist of Johns’ Barry Allen run: Flash: Rebirth, Blackest Night: The Flash, Flash vol.3 and Flashpoint.
THE FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by SCOTT KOLINS, DOUG HAZLEWOOD, RICK BURCHETT, PHIL WINSLADE, DAN PANOSIAN and others
Cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale MARCH 28 • 648 pg, FC, $75.00 US
It’s the second hardcover volume collecting all the issues of THE FLASH written by comics superstar Geoff Johns! In this massive collection featuring issues #177-200 and DC FIRST: FLASH/SUPERMAN #1, an old friend of Wally West becomes the portal to another universe and Gorilla Grodd goes wild in Keystone City! Plus, don’t miss the Fastest Man Alive’s clashes with members of his infamous rogues gallery, including Captain Cold, The Trickster, the Pied Piper and more!
» Pre-order from Amazon
