Speed Force

Some links related to the Flash and Comic-Con International.

Francis Manapul writes about SDCC, Beast Legends, and Flash #4.

Titans Tower Monitor Room has been posting convention sketches from Comic-Con International, including Kid Flash by Sean Philips [Update] and another Kid Flash by Francis Manapul.

DC Comics has teamed up with Converse for super-hero shoes, starting with Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. Somehow they managed to skip the hero who’s famous for running.

I’m still working on my overall convention report. Here are Thursday and Friday. Half-done, half to go!

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

For those who haven’t been able to check out the SDCC 2010 DC Universe Online Trailer here are some captures of The Flash in an alternate reality sporting an armored look.

Now for those who haven’t seen the trailer and care to know why The Flash is wearing those armored duds, this takes place in an alternate future in which Braniac quietly abducted superhumans and then finally launched an all out invasion force that wiped out humanity leaving only that world’s alternate version of Lex Luthor intact. He traveled through time to warn the Justice League of the past of what may be coming to them in the future. The story reminds me a little of the recent DC animated release, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths or JLA: Earth 2, the book the movie was loosely based on. Right down to the alternate version of Luthor trying to change things and the involvement of Braniac in the main plot. It’s not too similar though, where I feel like we’ve already seen this before. I can’t wait to see how the story ends up unfolding.

I’m digging the armored look overall. I know it’s probably not going to be present in the main part of the game but it’s still cool to see heroes armored up for super threats or super battles. It also reminds me a little bit of the Kid Flash design for the upcoming Young Justice animated series. Would be kind of cool to see it as an action figure and I wouldn’t be surprised to see an action figure line released with this game.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

The WB has uploaded a Young Justice Cartoon Preview from the San Diego Comic-Con. In it we get a look at the designs of the team members, including Kid Flash and some insights on what the show will be focusing on.

I’m liking Kid Flash’s look a little more. It looks a lot better in motion than it does static:

Read the rest of this entry »

The DC Nation panel at HeroesCon this weekend offered a glimmer of hope to those looking forward to the Kid Flash series originally announced at last year’s Comic-Con International and put on hold last December. ComicBloc’s trmnlvlctyyy spotted in Newsarama’s writeup of the panel that a fan asked about the series, and Franco Aureliani (Tiny Titans) said to “ask him again in August.”

In the following thread, Spire2000 notes that another fan asked about more kids’ books, and was also told to wait until August.

Neither exchange is mentioned in CBR’s coverage.

Could DC be planning a kid-friendly Kid Flash book?

I guess we’ll find out in August…

Lucky Aussies. Batman: The Brave and the Bold’s Facebook page announced a couple of hours ago that The Flash Family will be appearing this Saturday for the first time together (although Jay had an appearance in the episode “Trials of the Demon” last year) and it will be airing in Australia first.

Australian fans will be able to watch a brand new, never before seen episode this Saturday on Nine Network’s Kids WB block at 10:35a! “Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!” Barry Allen has long been presumed dead, but his “ghost” has been haunting Jay Garrick and Kid Flash. When Batman sees it too, they realize he is not dead!

Definitely sounds like a great episode in the making. I have to wonder though, who is under the cowl of Kid Flash? Wally West or Bart Allen? Since Barry has been long presumed dead in this continuity as well, did Wally ever step up to take over the mantle? Or did Jay just jump back into the role after Barry disappeared? And if either is the case how in the heck is Kid Flash still a “Kid”? Just how long are we talking about here?

As usual I can’t wait until we see more toy prospects. We’ve already seen a picture of The Brave and the Bold Flash (Barry Allen), I wonder if there is any chance we will be seeing a Jay Garrick and a Kid Flash in the near future as well? Flash Family box set? Yes please.

Interesting to note, this will be the first time we will ever be seeing The Flash Family all at once in a TV Show or movie. So excited for all the big things they have lined up for The Flash franchise.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Exciting news coming down the pipeline. Announced at Cartoon Network’s Annual Advertising Upfront Presentation and confirmed by DC Comics’ Official Blog, The Source, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation will be bringing “Young Justice” to the small screen for their 2010 Cartoon Line-Up.

The show is described as:

In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over—to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice—Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis—will found out, whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero. This all-new series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based upon characters from DC Comics. Sam Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is the executive producer. Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman Doomsday, The Batman) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H.) are the producers.

Not a bad little combination although very little reminds me of the Young Justice that I remember and loved. Not only with the presence of Aqualad but also with him randomly being Afro-Atlantean. I guess from a young african-american kids perspective it’s nice to be able to relate to characters, but you should have just thrown Static in there or something. But on the plus side this hopefully means that we will be seeing tons of different versions of Kid Flash action figures. Which will hopefully make up for never getting a Teen Titans one. Not surprised to see Sam Register on this instead of Bruce Timm, as Register is red hot on the TV animation scene, while Timm’s focus has been on the DC Animated Movie front for some time. I’m definitely hoping they tone down the animation this time around though. Teen Titans was almost obnoxious at times. But I guess it’s apples and oranges.

This is the first promotional picture released.

The design for Kid Flash looks a little busy with the random padding and armor look, but I guess it makes a little sense. The goggles I actually kind of like. They are practical for a speedster and a nice little nod to Impulse, although the red hair makes me think this might be Wally like in the Teen Titans cartoon. They may end up avoiding the secret identity thing completely though. It’s anyone’s guess. I wish they would have kept Bart’s original boots though. They would look great visually, especially with the new pseudo-armor look they have going for him. Robin, Miss Martian and Superboy barely sport any differences from their comic book counterparts. Except for Superboy’s random cargo pants tucked into his boots. Arrowette now known as Artemis (are they trying to go for a dual association with Green Arrow and Wonder Woman maybe?) looks kind of fugly as far as the suit goes. I have no more words for Spike…er Aqualad. Except for “Ugh”.

By the way, did I miss an announcement or something? I was pretty sure that DC wasn’t allowed to use the Superboy name in anything while the legal stuff was being sorted out. For those that have been living under a rock for the past few years, DC Comics was sued by the estate of Jerry Siegel over the rightful ownership of the Superboy character. Honestly I haven’t been following the case that closely myself since I really don’t have that much invested in the character. Especially now. Something obviously must have changed though, with the recent return of Conner to comics and now his inclusion in “Young Justice”

Needless to say I’m anxiously awaiting this series and any announcements as far as action figures go especially. We will keep you posted.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Strathaar at Comic Bloc reports from Emerald City Comicon:

Sunday conversation or Superman panel today, I’m tired so everything is mixing together, Sattler was asked about Wally West and wtf is up with the backup being dropped. The fan asked where he could get his fix on.

Sattler replied he can’t say details just yet, but in the next little bit they will have an announcement, and they have big plans for Wally that we will enjoy.

In the same thread, Bookwriter sheds some light on the Kid Flash news.

I attended the DC Nation Panel yesterday at Emerald City Comic Con, and an audience member asked if there was still plans for a new Kid Flash monthly. Ian Sattler did not come out and answer the questions, but smiled, winked and nodded his head up and down. We all clapped and cheered.

Finally, Broken Frontier reports from MegaCon:

Flash is the character to watch next with it’s creative team striving to make Barry Allen the premier Flash. It was revealed that early iterations of the new ongoing was almost like a team book with the whole Flash family, but they decided to make it more Barry focused. Didio joked about it being akin to the Hannah Barbara’s Wacky Races. Visions of Dick Dastardly dressed as Zoom danced in my head.

Buried in Pop Culture Zoo’s write-up of DC Nation at Emerald City Comicon this weekend is this line:

A Kid Flash series is still being planned.

Whether it will ever see the light of day, who knows? I suppose anything’s possible. DC is finally launching that Zatanna series they talked about two years ago, Top Cow is doing that Velocity series that was supposed to spin out of 2007′s Pilot Season, and even Teen Titans: Games has finally got a release date after twenty years.

Also of possible interest to Flash fans: the JSA will return to Smallville at the end of this season, and there’s talk of Hal Jordan and possibly Barry Allen having adventures in the distant future.

More coverage at Comics Alliance, and Comic Book Resources, and a good round-up at Robot6.

You ever have moments where you are on the internet randomly searching for Kid Flash costume variations and you stumble upon something really cool yet completely unexpected? This happened to me a few weeks ago when I came across some great stuff I’m not sure many fans of the Scarlet Speedster have seen yet.

Remember that Flash video game that was cancelled a few months ago? The Flash video game that was was covered by Kelson back in September and October of last year? Well I mentioned I was randomly interested in Kid Flash costume variations and I stumbled upon a nifty one in google images that rocked my socks off:

Taking a closer look around the site I found a few more:

And a nice Pied Piper:

Turns out these were modeled by Helen Rusinoff for the cancelled Flash video game. The costumes were designed by Roger Robinson who was featured in the previous Flash video game article Kelson posted. There were a few pictures that I didn’t have room to show but you can find those at her website.

I emailed Helen about showcasing the pictures on Speedforce.org and she emailed me back promptly. Not only did she give me permission to repost her work, but she also pointed me in the direction of Roger Robinson yet again. I visited his website and didn’t really find anything new to report. Wandering around that site however I came across another blog, where I found these pictures:

You can find a few more at Roger Robinson’s other website.

Seeing that we could have had Kid Flash, and Jesse Quick in this game makes me downright depressed. I wonder if there were any cool multi-player modes that they might have had planned using the various members of The Flash Family? The Flash meets Sonic Adventure 2 Battle? That wouldn’t have been a bad thing. I also wonder if they had any plans to have alternate costumes. That was a very nice touch in Justice League Heroes, which included Jay Garrick and Walter West as alternate uniforms for Wally. Too bad the game was so dang mediocre.

Until they find a way to either bring this back from the dead or create another one I guess I’m stuck playing this:

Actually Justice League Heroes: The Flash isn’t bad. I preordered it when it was first announced and purchased a Gameboy Advance SP just to play it. I now have it on my PSP as well and have beaten it many, many times. A lot of fun to play on the go(although I take Bart’s advice and don’t use my “playtendo” while running).

I hope you all enjoyed a deeper glimpse into the game that could have been. The potential was definitely there for a good, solid, fun game to play. Here is hoping they decide to create another one sometime down the road.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Some weekend linkblogging…

Comics and…Other Imaginary Tales looks back at DC Two Thousand, a two-part story from the turn of the millennium in which the modern Justice League of America goes back in time to 1941 and meets the Justice Society. The Golden Age heroes aren’t entirely sure the JLA’s future is worth saving, though.

Collected Editions reviews Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds.

Comic Book Movie fan-casts Flash: Rebirth.

Chris Samnee sketches Kid Flash.

What Were They Thinking? has another example of why they called the Golden-Age Flash a comic “strip.”

Over at Comic Bloc there’s a comedic discussion of What else Zoom did to Barry (spoilers for Flash: Rebirth #5).

Finally, if you’ll excuse the plug, there are only a few hours left in my Farscape DVD auctions on eBay. If you’d like to pick up a season set, now’s your chance!