February 6, 2012
Retailer, Best Buy will be adding a little something extra to the Blu-Ray release of Justice League: Doom; an exclusive miniature Flash figurine. The figurine will be similar to past DC Animated release exclusives and will be the eighth statue released thus far:
Justice League: Doom is the latest direct to video film to be released through DC Animated. Slated for release February 28th, the film adapts the Tower of Babel story line from the “Morrison Era” League and penned by Mark Waid. In the story it is revealed that Batman has devised different methods of incapacitating his allies if they ever were to go rogue. Unfortunately the plans fall into the hands of the bad guys and we get to witness the fall out.
The story was adapted for the screen by the late Dwayne McDuffie and features Michael Rosenbaum, the voice of Wally West on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited and Lex Luthor on Smallville, as Barry Allen this time around.
I personally have to say, great move on DC’s part to include the Flash figurine. Now I will be picking it up on launch day as opposed to not at all. Who else is picking up the release now that the Flash figurine has been added? Who would have picked it up otherwise? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks to Phantom Stranger for the tip and pic.
-Devin “Flash” Johnson
August 11, 2011
DC Comics has announced a “Flash 101″ sale on digital comics. All listed Flash titles will be only 99 cents for 48 hours starting August 13. They don’t say where, but I think it’s safe to assume it’s at ComiXology, because they’re DC’s exclusive online vendor at this point.
And they’ve added a lot more issues.
Up to this point, ComiXology has had everything from Flash: Rebirth onward. Over the last few days, readers have spotted early issues from Wally West’s series, the beginning of Impulse, and a few scattered issues from the Bronze Age. Check out the full list of titles on sale after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
May 5, 2011
Well, that answers that question. Since Mark Waid was the Flash writer for most of the 1990s, but isn’t writing the 1990s issue of DC RetroActive: The Flash (Waid’s often-overlooked writing partner on the book, Brian Augustyn, is doing it solo), fans have been wondering: Why is he missing? Did he decline to return to the character? Did DC not want him on the book?
Esteban Pedreros of Comic Verso asked the writer on Twitter.
@ I’m curious. Did DC offer you the 90s Flash retroactive? Would you’ve accepted?
@ No and yes, in that order.
So now we know: DC didn’t offer Mark Waid the book, but he would have done it if asked.
Waid has been largely absent from the DC Universe since his run on Brave and the Bold and his brief return to The Flash in 2007-2008. In part, that was around the time he became EIC at BOOM! Studios, and was busy with those duties and writing his creator-owned books. But there was some public dispute with DC over the Flash, Countdown and related books, and it may be that the current regime simply doesn’t want him back.
Curiouser and curiouser…
April 1, 2011
At the WonderCon DC Nation panel, DC announced a series of one-shots coming this summer called “Retro-Active.” Each set features three one-shots set in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s continuity re-uniting the characters with the creators most associated with of classic runs from that era.
The Flash issues will be written by:
- Cary Bates for the 1970s
- William Messner-Loebs for the 1980s
- Brian Augustyn for the 1990s.
Each issue will feature 26 pages of new story and 20 pages of reprinted material and will run $4.99. No word yet on artists or release dates. Other characters announced include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America.
It’s odd that they’ve broken up the Waid/Augustyn team. Given that Waid has expressed willingness to work for DC again, I figure this means one of two things:
- DC doesn’t want to hire Mark Waid for now.
- Mark Waid doesn’t want to return to The Flash after the disaster of “The Wild Wests.”
Source: CBR coverage and Newsarama coverage.
Update (Monday): DC has released the logos and writers for the event.
“Chain Lightning” (Flash #143–150, including the lead-in) is a polarizing Flash storyline. Some fans love the look into the future of the Flash legacy. Others can’t stand that it hinges on Barry having an evil twin. (I’ve never been entirely sure how much of the objection is to the evil twin trope in general, or to the fact that Cobalt Blue is Barry’s evil twin.) Even Mark Waid admits that it didn’t work, though he maintains in The Flash Companion that the idea was sound, he just screwed up on the execution.
But then I had a thought: What if Cobalt Blue had appeared during the Silver Age instead of the late 1990s?
The evil twin trope hadn’t been discredited yet, so there would have been few objections on that basis. And with Barry as the new, current Flash rather than a fond memory, there would be no sense that DC was tarnishing a cherished hero’s legacy.
Consider: The Flash’s opposite number, who could have had his life but for a twist of fate, who fights against the law instead of for it, who uses magic instead of science. There’s some solid appeal there. And being a conceptual opposite makes him fill a different role than the Reverse-Flash, who is basically the Flash, but evil. (Sort of like Savitar vs. Zoom)
Obviously the big 6-issue epics didn’t exist back then, but I can imagine Chain Lightning as a recurring type of story, where once a year or so, the Flash has to go into the future to help another future Flash fight that generation’s Cobalt Blue.
So…
Is Cobalt Blue that much worse a name than Captain Cold, Professor Zoom, Pied Piper or Abra Kadabra? (Admittedly, Waid says in the same interview that he wanted to use the name Wildfire, but DC nixed it.)
Is a literal evil twin that much harder to swallow than a clone (Inertia), a mimic who has been known to alter his appearance to match the original (Professor Zoom), the product of an imperfect duplicator ray (Bizarro), or an alternate universe version (Ultraman)?
Is the concept that much more hokey than a gang boss who dresses as a clown (Joker), a talking telepathic gorilla (Grodd), a villain who spins (The Top), runs around in a parka and snow goggles in the heat of summer (Captain Cold), or throws trick boomerangs (Captain Boomerang, of course)? Look at the reactions to Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge from people who don’t read The Flash. They were surprised to find that the Rogues were compelling characters. Readers outside the Flash fanbase look at the Rogues’ names, costumes, and powers and figure that they’re nothing but lame jokes, but when used properly, they transcend the cheese factor.
What do you think? Am I totally off-base here, or could Cobalt Blue have worked as a classic Silver-Age villain?
(Original post)
November 2, 2010
CBR has the transcript from Saturday’s 50 Questions in 50 Minutes With Mark Waid at Long Beach Comic Con. Among those questions was someone asking about a story the writer has hinted at for a long time: something disastrous happened the first time Wally West tried to travel through time as Kid Flash, something traumatic enough that it made him extremely reluctant to use the ability at all.
Waid decided to answer the question.
Possible spoilers in the event that he ever writes the full story.
Read the rest of this entry »
October 27, 2010
For the Southern California folks, this weekend is the second annual Long Beach Comic Con. I had a great time last year, and plan to go again this year for one day, if time permits.
One of the fun panels last year was 50 Questions in 50 Minutes with Mark Waid. The former Flash writer and current BOOM Studios EIC is doing it again this year, and collecting questions on CBR. The deadline for submitting questions is 3:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday.
On another note, my new employer has been sending me to the Adobe MAX conference this week. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a trade show, but I’ve been to a lot of fan conventions, including two Wizard Worlds at the same convention center (Los Angeles), so I can’t help but compare them. Read the rest of this entry »
October 8, 2010
New York Comic Con starts today, and the guests include The Flash‘s writer & artist team of Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul, former Flash writer Mark Waid, and former Flash artists Freddie Williams II (“Wild Wests” and “Fast Money”) and Salvador Larroca (“Terminal Velocity”).
Francis Manapul has posted his signing schedule, and notes that the program lists his Artist’s Alley table as A-8, but he’ll actually be at A-6.
DC booth (#2243).
I’ll be signing at the DC booth throughout the weekend.
FRIDAY, OCT 8
3:30-4:30pm: SIGNING @ DC booth
SATURDAY, OCT 9
4-5pm: SIGNING @ DC booth
SUNDAY, OCT 10
2:30-3:30pm: SIGNING @ DC booth
Hero Initiative booth #333
I’ll be doing sketches at the booth for a donation to this great cause. Hope you guys swing by!
Friday, October 8
1030-1130
Geoff Johns will likely be doing signings at the DC booth, and Mark Waid usually does signings at the BOOM! Studios booth.
Former Flash artists Greg LaRocque and Jose Marzan, Jr. also have tables in Artist’s Alley, as does Flash in Wednesday Comics’ Karl Kerschl.
Panels that will probably be of interest to Flash fans include:
- Friday 2:15pm: Spotlight on Geoff Johns
- Friday 3:15pm: DC 75th Anniversary
- Friday 6pm: DC Nation
- Saturday 12:15pm: DC Universe
- Saturday 3:45pm: Young Justice
(Sorry I haven’t posted much this week. I’ve just been waaay too busy!)
July 20, 2010
BOOM! Studios has promoted Mark Waid to Chief Creative Officer, promoting Managing Editor Matt Gagnon to succeed him as Editor-in-Chief.
It’s interesting that the two writers who have been most closely associated with the Flash over the past 25years, Geoff Johns and Mark Waid, now share the same executive title at different companies!
On a related note, BOOM!’s Comic-Con schedule is up, including signings and sketches. I’ve updated the Flash at CCI post with Waid’s signing schedule.
June 29, 2010
Jesse sent in this photo of an amazing piece of Flash artwork he recently bought:
Here’s how he describes it:
It’s a single board of paper with drawings of the Flash from some of his most notable artists. You’ve got the two main Flash artists from the ’90s: Greg LaRocque (my favorite Flash artist) drew the large picture of Wally on the left, and Mike Wieringo drew one, too! There are also drawings by Pop Mhan and Craig Rousseau. To top it off, Carmine Infantino did the sketch at the top. (I like to think that the 4 drawings are of Wally, with the spirit of Barry looking over, since it’s in a lighter ink.) Oh, and Mark Waid signed the bottom as well. I don’t own a lot of comic art, but even though this was expensive, I jumped at the chance to get it.
Wow!
It really makes me wonder what the story is behind the fan who originally went around collecting these sketches.
Update: Check out the comments below, where artist Greg LaRocque reveals the secret origin of the sketch!
