February 21, 2010

Answering Searchers’ Questions

Category: General — Kelson

It’s always interesting to see what searches bring people to the site. Every once in a while I look through for questions, or implied questions, that aren’t already answered here.

Current Events

Why did Reverse Flash have a Brightest Day symbol?

We don’t know for sure yet, but the implication is that Brightest Day is related to characters who come back from the dead after or at the end of Blackest Night.

Is Jesse Quick back?

Well, she seems to be…but then she’s still appearing as Liberty Belle in Justice Society of America and the second features in JSA All-Stars, so it’s hard to tell. Maybe those take place earlier, maybe she goes back to the other costume, or maybe she’s just going to switch costumes depending on who she’s teaming up with that day.

Did Jay Garrick die in Smallville?

He only appeared in flashback, when Checkmate was rounding up the Justice Society and arresting its members on false charges. He was mentioned by other characters as if he was still alive. (Spoilers for Absolute Justice.)

Is DC working on an animated Flash movie?

If they are, they haven’t said anything about it. A Newsarama article more than a year ago included the Flash in a list of upcoming projects, but there’s been no mention of it since then.

Looking Back

What comes before Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge?

Rogues’ Revenge concludes a sort of trilogy, which you can follow in these collections:

  1. Flash: The Fastest Man Alive – Full Throttle
  2. JLA: Salvation Run
  3. Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge

It also takes place after the end of Flash vol.2 and during the first three issues of Final Crisis.

What year did the Flash superhero gain lightning?

That depends on what the lightning in question is:

  • The symbol dates back to Jay Garrick’s first appearance in 1940.
  • Lightning in the Flash’s origin goes back to Barry Allen’s first appearance in 1956.
  • Lightning effects used to convey speed were used occasionally in the early 1990s, became more prominent when Mike Wieringo worked on the book (1993-1994), and really became established during Terminal Velocity (1995).

Slightly Off-Topic

What is Dan Didio’s twitter name?

As far as I’m aware, Dan Didio isn’t on Twitter.

Who was the female speedster in Heroes?

The character’s name was Daphne Millbrook, and she was played by actress Brea Grant.

Flashforward novel how did it know the pope’s name?

It’s off-topic, but I get a lot of these since I posted a review of the novel.

Author Robert J. Sawyer explains in this video interview that he looked at the list of past popes’ names for those that had good reputations and might be “ready for a comeback.”

November 8, 2008

Bolt From Above

Category: Fun — Kelson

Found in a movie theater lobby this weekend:

Large shiny golden 3D cardboard lightning bolt sticking up out of the floor.

I’m pretty sure it’s a subtle (in the sense of not having any words on it that I could see, not in the sense of being difficult to miss) ad for the upcoming Disney CGI cartoon, Bolt, but I couldn’t pass up a picture of a giant golden lightning bolt frozen in the lobby. My wife joked that it needed the caption, “Zeus was here.”

October 7, 2008

Linkage: Struck by Lightning – Dual Angle View

Category: Off-Topic — Kelson

The Weather Channel has posted a short interview and video clips with a man who survived being struck by lightning outside a gas station — and was caught on the station’s security cameras.

William Hall was filling up the tank when lightning struck the ground nearby, traveled along the ground, and passed through him, knocking him out. He survived with only minor burns.

The video includes three clips of surveillance footage:

  • Outside the station, a huge orange-yellow blast appears in the parking lot.
  • Inside the station, a brilliant light bleaches the frame almost to white.
  • Outside again, Hall collapses to the ground.

July 12, 2008

Lightning Strikes Through Window — on Video

Category: Off-Topic — Kelson


lightning strike on camera, originally uploaded by SLOWLORIS.

In case you haven’t seen this already…Washington artist Jessica Lynch was filming a rainstorm from her second-floor window last week, when she was struck by lightning. Incredibly, not only was she uninjured, but the camera got the whole thing on video.

Lynch sells T-shirts online at Slow Shirts, and has started offering lightning-bolt temporary tattoos with orders. Wired has an interview.

There is no indication that she gained super-speed from the experience.