July 27, 2010
After the madness of Comic-Con International, it’s time to get back to what that convention is all about: comics! And this Wednesday, we’ve got a new comic about that super-fast guy in a red suit.
The Flash #4
The original Captain Boomerang returns as BRIGHTEST DAY continues. Meanwhile, Barry must prove his innocence to the Renegades, cops from the 25th century. Discover what connection they have to the Rogues and what travesties have occurred in the future.
Written by GEOFF JOHNS · Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL · 1:10 variant cover by SCOTT KOLINS
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
DC has posted a 4-page preview at The Source, plus final cover art.
Other Speedster Appearances
- Justice League of America #47
- JSA vs. Kobra TPB
- Teen Titans #85
July 12, 2010
The Source has posted more detail on Spring 2011 collections.
We already knew that the hardcover edition of The Flash: The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues was coming out next February, but there’s been a slight change. Earlier reports showed it featuring The Flash #1-7 and The Flash Secret Files 2010, but now DC is saying that it collects The Flash #1-6 and The Flash Secret Files 2010. This makes more sense, because it lines up exactly with the first story arc instead of extending one issue beyond it. On the other hand…
The Flash: Rebirth paperback is scheduled for April, and someone forgot that the miniseries was six issues long and not five! I guess we shouldn’t rely too much on the numbers here.
Other books
Additionally, the Justice League International trade paperbacks start collecting Justice League Europe with volume 5. Flash Wally West was a founding member of that branch of the League, based at first in Paris and later in London. This volume features two JLI annuals and the first six issues of JLE. The next two issues are actually part of a JLA/JLE crossover, “The Teasdale Imperative,” which picks up where the previous volume left off collecting Justice League America. I’d guess that volume 6 will feature that crossover and some mix of the two series.
Justice League of America: The Rise and Fall collects the “Fall of Green Arrow” and “Rise of Arsenal” storylines spinning out of JLA: Cry for Justice. Barry Allen appears in the Green Arrow story.
There’s a new Showcase volume of Justice League of America.
I think Kid Flash Bart Allen is in Teen Titans: The Hunt for Raven.
Flash Barry Allen appears in at least the opening chapters of Brightest Day Vol.1.
Justice League of America: Dark Things covers the JLA/JSA crossover that just started, featuring Flash Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick.
July 1, 2010
Sorry this review is so late. Things just kept coming up, and I pushed it further and further back. Then my local comic store didn’t receive their order of The Flash #3 on time (Diamond sent them extra copies of Deadpool Team-Up instead), so I haven’t had a chance to read the new issue…and it occurs to me that this is my last chance to review The Flash #2 before reading issue #3!
So, on to the review!
I’m still enjoying this series a lot more than I did Flash: Rebirth. Francis Manapul’s artwork has a lot to do with that, but also the fact that they’re just telling stories about a guy with super-speed instead of trying so hard to justify why they’re telling stories about this guy with super-speed.
Admittedly not a whole lot happens in this issue, but it continues to move as quickly as the previous chapter did. I expect that when “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” is finished, pairing it with a collection of Silver-Age stories like Flash vs. The Rogues
will provide a great example of the change in comic-book storytelling styles from 1960 to 2010.
The expected confrontation with the Renegades is cut short, leaving the rest of the issue divided between the mystery aspects (presented through Barry Allen’s civilian life) and a visit with Captain Boomerang, providing the Brightest Day connection advertised on the cover. Also: the Flash evacuates, then rebuilds an apartment building at super-speed. Once again, the issue ends on a cliffhanger, only this time it has to do with Barry Allen, rather than the Flash.
Francis Manapul’s artwork continues to stand out, especially in sequences like the apartment evacuation, though there are some places where it seems a bit more static than last issue. Last issue I thought his faces seemed a bit off, but this time I started noticing the way he handles expressions. There are a couple of sequences where he really makes use of changing expressions with similar panel layouts. The last two pages stand out, as does a sequence earlier in which a girl complains that she lost her doll in the building collapse. (His attention to detail holds as well. If you flip back a few pages, there she is…and there’s her doll.)
Okay, spoiler time!
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Read the rest of this entry »
June 21, 2010
DC has posted a 5-page preview of next week’s The Flash #3.
It may be BRIGHTEST DAY, but when a mysterious group of so-called heroes turns up, another Rogue ends up dead. Plus, the mystery deepens as The Flash witnesses another murder — his own!
The preview picks up the Brightest Day angle and focuses on Captain Boomerang. “Digger” Harkness discovers that he’s a bit…different now that he’s back from the dead. It’s an interesting development, but if what’s seen here can be taken at face value, I’m not sure it’s necessary. It seems like a second attempt (after Owen’s super-speed) to give a villain who throws weaponized boomerangs an extra edge. It’s an odd choice for Geoff Johns, who managed to revitalize the rest of the Rogues simply by taking them seriously.
The Flash #3 arrives in stores next week, on June 30.
Update: I’ve added this issue to my gallery of Dead Flash Covers!
June 14, 2010
DC’s Brightest Day solicitations for September are up, including…
The Flash #6
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:10 Variant cover by ALE GARZA & SANDRA HOPE
BRIGHTEST DAY dashes on with the stunning conclusion of “The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues!” With Barry caught between the Rogues and the Renegades, the resurrected Captain Boomerang’s role in the adventure is revealed! You won’t believe how this leads to the upcoming FLASHPOINT…
On sale SEPTEMBER 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Update: Francis Manapul has posted the uncolored version of the cover.
So if “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” wraps up in #6, but the collection covers #1 through #7, presumably we’ve got a done-in-one story coming up in October.
And they’re already starting to plug Flashpoint.
In related news, DC has rescheduled The Flash from the beginning of each month to the end. Flash #3 is now June 30, Flash #4 has been moved from July 14 to July 28, and Flash #5 is now August 25 (previously August 18) — all in keeping with the September 22 date they just gave for #6.
Reminder: You can now follow Speed Force on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz.
June 5, 2010
Collected Editions is always on the lookout for new DC hardcovers and trades, and has posted a round-up of DC hardcovers for early 2011. Among others, he spotted the Amazon listing for Flash vol.1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues. The hardcover collection is available for preorder and ships from Amazon on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, which probably means it will hit the direct market on February 2, 2011.
As announced last month, this collection features The Flash #1-7 and “material” (presumably the story) from The Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010.
Update (July 9): The Source has posted more detail on Spring 2011 collections, and now states that the book collects The Flash #1-6 and The Flash Secret Files 2010. This makes it line up exactly with the first story arc, rather than extending one issue beyond it.
May 10, 2010
The Flash relaunch continues this week with…
The Flash #2
On sale MAY 12 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:10 variant cover by RYAN SOOK
BRIGHTEST DAY shines its light on the continuing saga of Barry Allen — The Fastest Man Alive! The Flash continues his investigation into the “Dastardly Death of the Rogues” as the case takes a dramatic turn and Barry corners a suspect — and can’t believe who it is!
This morning, DC released a five-page preview of the book at The Source, and unveiled the issue’s variant cover by Ryan Sook (after the cut): Read the rest of this entry »
May 3, 2010
DC has just announced a couple of hardcovers at The Source, including the first collection from The Flash vol.3:
The Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul*
In stores: February 2011
Collects THE FLASH #1-7 and material from The Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010
$19.99 US, 208 pages
What I find interesting is the length of the material collected. Six issues is a pretty typical story length these days, but it looks like the arc that just started may be seven issues — or it could be six followed by a one-shot, with the next big arc picking up with Flash #8.
*The blog post at the source actually lists two artists: Francis Manapul and Francis Manapul. I’m guessing they just exported the credits from a database through a template that expects a penciller and an inker.
Amazon: Flash Vol.1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
April 15, 2010
It’s refreshing to be able to read a Flash story that’s just a Flash story. After four months of retrospective on Wally West, three months off, then a year of rearranging the Flash mythos to make Barry Allen the Most Important Flash of All Time(TM), we finally get Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul’s Flash #1 — a story about the Flash vs. Rogues, and about Barry Allen and his day job.
You don’t need to have read Flash: Rebirth to follow this book. Or Blackest Night. Or, despite the banner across the top, Brightest Day. Actually, you don’t need to have read anything about the Flash to follow this book — and that’s something else that we haven’t seen in a while.
Story
Broadly speaking, the issue can be broken down into three main segments:
- Introduce the Flash.
- Introduce Barry Allen.
- Get the story going.
It moves in a way that the last three “first issues” of a Flash launch didn’t. The opening segment, after the equivalent of a cinematic pan-in, is one long action sequence. The middle segment slows down a bit, but manages to strike a good balance of exposition and characterization. Then the third segment jumps head-first into the mystery.
And the amazing thing? It’s actually fun. I know that’s the kiss of death in comics these days, but it also happens to be what I find myself wanting to read in a super-hero book lately. It has a sense of adventure that The Flash hasn’t really had since the days of Mark Waid’s classic run in the 1990s.
In a lot of ways, this book is 180 degrees away from Flash: Rebirth…and I have to wonder why Geoff Johns couldn’t have started with this approach a year ago, instead of spending 9 issues telling us, “It’s going to be great! Really! Barry is awesome! Can’t you just see how awesome he is?”
Art
Of course, a year ago, one thing would have been missing: Francis Manapul’s art. It’s refreshingly clean after Ethan Van Sciver’s incredibly detailed work on Flash: Rebirth, and while I love Scott Kolins’ pencils on the Rogues, Manapul’s is a better fit for the Flash himself. Rather than focusing on multiple images, speed lines, or lightning, he mixes and matches all of them along with blur effects to show speed.
Manapul also works in a lot of details that stay in the background, but reward a second read: Barry’s and Iris’ chat icons, a bystander taking a photo with a cell phone at a crime scene, the Weather Wizard’s rap sheet slipping out of a file while Captain Frye tells Barry of his latest exploits. Iris has a coffee cup within arm’s reach in every single panel in which you can see her hands, except one. These things are fun to catch, but they don’t take over.
The only problem I have with his art is that his faces sometimes (but not always) seem a bit off. I can’t quite put my finger on why.
Okay, it’s SPOILER TIME!
Read the rest of this entry »
April 12, 2010
It’s been almost two years since DC officially brought Barry Allen back from the dead in DC Universe #0. Two company-wide crossovers, eight more issues of Wally West’s series, two Flash miniseries and a Secret Files special later, DC has finally gotten to what we all knew was coming: a new ongoing Flash series starring Barry Allen.
Don’t forget our Design and Win Your Own Flash Ring Contest! We’re down to the last two weeks — entries need to be in by Monday, April 26.
Other likely Flash appearances this week: Brightest Day and Action Comics (guest-starring the JSA).
The Flash #1
40 pg, FC, $3.99 US (Note: this is a special oversized issue. The book goes down to $2.99 next month)
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art, cover and 1:100 variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 Variant cover by Tony Harris
A BRIGHTEST DAY tie-in! Get in on the ground floor of DC’s next epic in the making! The Flash races out of BLACKEST NIGHT and into his own monthly title as the all-new adventures of The Fastest Man Alive start with “Case One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues!” Barry Allen runs back to his life in Central City, but when one of the Rogues turns up murdered under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to The Flash to not only solve this bizarre crime, but protect those that are still targeted by the elusive killer. Plus, don’t miss a peek into the future of the Flash universe in this special, extra-sized starting point issue!
A 5-page preview is available at DC’s website. Update: DC has re-released the preview with the final covers. If you can’t see the images on DC’s website (IE users sometimes have problems with it), try First Comics News.
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