Speed Force

The results are in! Here are readers’ favorite Flash stories from 2011, as voted on at twtpoll:

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s current New 52 storyline, “Mob Rule,” is the clear winner, with Flashpoint taking a solid second-place spot and the DC Retroactive: The Flash 1980s special a respectable third. the 1990s Retroactive book and Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost round out the top 5, with the rest of the stories — including the second half of the Geoff Johns’ run on the regular series — barely represented at all.

Full results after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

I thought this was going to be a shorter list, but then I remembered a bunch of guest spots from earlier in the year. (I’ve probably missed a few, and I deliberately didn’t include Justice League since it’s a team book & not a Flash spotlight.)

If you have any problems voting here on Speed Force, or you just want to see the results, you can view the poll at Twtpoll.

Longtime Flash artist Greg LaRocque needs little introduction for readers of this site.  Hot on the heels of his return to the character in DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’80s, we caught up with the man once again to talk about the story, his past and future work, as well as the apparent fate of Wally West.

This is the third Speed Force interview with Mr. LaRocque.  We’ve previously discussed “The Return of Barry Allen” and previewed the Retroactive issue with him.  Part three is after the jump!

UPDATE:  Added some comments from LaRocque, which were originally made in response to the Speed Force review of the issue.

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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.

This week, former Flash editor and writer Brian Augustyn will return to the character he built for over a decade.

From 1989 – 1996, Augustyn was the editor on highly regarded runs by writers William Messner-Loebs and Mark Waid, including the landmark issue #50, “Born to Run,” “The Return of Barry Allen” and “Terminal Velocity.”  In 1996, with issue #118, Augustyn joined Waid as co-writer.  Save for a year-long break over 1997 – 1998, he would remain on the title until issue #162 (2000).

Augustyn will be joined by artist Mike Bowden on this week’s Retroactive installment.  We reached the writer via email and asked about the new issue, his Flash run and the fate of Wally West.

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DC has posted a preview of the DC Retroactive Flash: 1980s, arriving in stores on Wednesday.

Central City is filled with villains cleverly trying to stay under the radar of The Flash. So then why is one of them doing everything in her power to attract his attention? And when an obsessed fan gets out of hand, Wally West must follow an unlikely trail of victims to his latest challenge: a gallery of his most notorious Rogues.

What becomes of this super-fan will shock you in an all-new story from writer William Messner-Loebs and art by Greg Larocque. DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH-THE 80s also includes a 22-page classic story originally published in the ’80s by Messner-Loebs, Larocque and Tim Dizon. Pick up this one-shot in stores on Wednesday.

It has been over 25 years since Cary Bates’ last Flash story was published in Flash #350, but his DC Retroactive: 1970s issue shows he hasn’t forgotten how to have fun with the Scarlet Speedster.

Opening with a page that would have been right at home in any Julius Schwartz-edited Flash magazine, Bates crafts a story that recalls his many years as writer on the book, while also addressing a lingering question regarding Barry Allen’s relationship with his wife Iris.  The pitch-perfect plot and dialog give this book a place in the story of the Allens’ marriage.  It could easily be slotted at any point during the early-to-mid 70s and would not feel out of place in terms of narrative.

The artwork by Benito Gallego and the legendary Sal Buscema is great, and more than appropriate for this story.  Based on the cover pencils, Buscema’s inks are a comfortable compliment to Gallego’s style.  It took me a few minutes, but Gallego’s Flash and Barry Allen portrayals are occasionally reminiscent of Joe Kubert’s late-60s Flash covers.  It is also easy to picture this story illustrated by the late, great Irv Novick, especially considering the pacing and structure of Bates’ plot.

For further analysis, including spoilers, see you after the jump…

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DC has released a preview for this week’s flashback comic starring the Scarlet Speedster of the Seventies.

DC Retroactive: The Flash (1970s)

The Flash may be able to save cities from tsunamis and stop criminals in their tracks at the blink of an eye, but he’s just found out that his super-powers come at an incredible cost. And when arch nemesis Gorilla Grodd strikes at the heart of Barry Allen, he’ll use every weapon he can think of against him…including Barry’s wife.

RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH – THE ’70s features a classic tale from the 1970s as well as a new one written as an homage to the decade. From the cumulative creative teams of Cary Bates, Benito Gallego, Sal Buscema, Martin Pasko, J.L. Garcia Lopez and Dan Adkins, don’t miss this one-shot when it hits stores tomorrow.

Newsarama interviews Cary Bates about his work on The Flash and Justice League of America back in the 1970s, and his upcoming DC Retroactive specials revisiting those books.

With the books closer to release (DC Retroactive: The Flash: The 70s comes out next week), he’s able to say a little more than he did in our interview back in May, plus of course we weren’t asking him about the JLA! There’s some strange spoilery information about “Son of Grodd,” but what really caught my eye was what Bates said about the timeframe of the DC Retrocative books:

The deadlines for the retro books were very tight, so once I signed on I had to come up with the plots for both books within 24 hours.

24 hours! Wow! I’d gotten the impression that the Retroactive specials were a last-minute addition to the schedule, and this seems to confirm it. My suspicion: After DC decided to push full-steam-ahead on the reboot/relaunch/whatever it actually is, they decided to give the previous versions of the major characters a “last hurrah” before moving on.

When you’re done reading the Newsarama interview, jump back and check out our two-part interview in which Cary Bates talks more about his 1970s Flash run, the Death of Iris Allen, and where The Flash would have gone if it hadn’t been canceled during Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Starting in July, DC Comics Retroactive series will bring back classic creators to the characters they helped define.  Covering the last three decades of the 20th Century, the three Flash issues will feature writer Cary Bates (1970s), writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Greg LaRocque (1980s), and writer Brian Augustyn (1990s).

LaRocque was the penciller on Flash for the entirety of Messner-Loebs’ tenure from 1988 – 1991, and illustrated a portion of Mark Waid’s run including the classic “Born to Run” and “The Return of Barry Allen”.  In all, LaRocque pencilled nearly 60 issues of Flash over a five-year stretch.

We’ve previously interviewed LaRocque about his work on “The Return of Barry Allen,” and contacted him via email when the Retroactive issue was announced.  Once the artwork was complete, he provided us with some details.  He also posted preview images on Facebook last week, and those are included below along with the solicited cover.  See what the man has to say after the jump…

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