For those of you still playing DC Universe Online for the PS3 and PC (or that jumped back on board for the Free to Play Content), the second expansion pack, “Lightning Strikes” is forthcoming and will be focusing on some of our favorite speedsters and adding some new gameplay elements as well.

Newsrama posted an interview with the Sony Online Entertainment Creative Director, Jens Andersen and Executive Director of Development, Lorin Jameson that confirmed quite a few things:

• Electricity will be joining Fire, Gadgets, Ice, Mental, Sorcery, Nature and Light Manipulation as the standard powers available. It will be more of a support power than a straight up attack power.
• The Flash will be Barry Allen and Kid Flash will be Bart Allen. There is no Wally West content in the game at this time.
• Central City will be added as a new area to explore and although it will be not as expansive as Metropolis and Gotham City, it will feature the Flash Museum!
• Players will be able to access the Cosmic Treadmill(!) in order to go back in time through the Speed Force and play a part in Barry Allen’s origin.
• Weather Wizard(!), Professor Zoom, and Barry Allen are just some of the Flash-related bounties that will be appearing inside of the new Central City map. (Bounties are instances where your character can tackle iconic characters in an effort to bring villains in to answer for their crimes or take heroes out for getting in your way). In the rest of the open world The Trickster (apparently sporting a revamped design), Pied Piper, Abra Kadabra, and the Top (yay for Lia) will be around to menace heroes.
• And as a final piece of Flash-related content players will be able to acquire Flash’s costume ring as an in-game “trinket” item. Apparently it will grant the user special Speed Force-related powers.

“Lightning Strikes” DC Universe Online! is a post from Speed Force.

It was a pretty good show, with some great guests (including Flash artists Francis Manapul and Ethan Van Sciver) and quite a few vendors selling comics and action figures. I managed to get a couple of Professor Zoom figures and a Flash figurine, and commissioned Red Robin artist Marcus To for a drawing of Captain Boomerang.

The woman waiting in line behind me for Marcus To got this Impulse sketch from him, which she let me photograph.

Here’s Francis Manapul working on a Wonder Woman picture for a fan. I also saw him drawing several Flash pieces, and he drew the Flash on a t-shirt which was later given away in a contest. I didn’t take any photos of the shirt, but the gentleman who won it did!

Alas, we ran out of money quickly (part of that real-life thing I mentioned earlier), and eventually left the show early. After leaving the convention, we went for lunch and wandered around some of the nearby streets before heading back to the car. And stumbled across this: the dressing rooms, washrooms, and hair/makeup trailers for the television show Flashpoint! The series is filmed in Toronto, of course. It was fun to see it given the name of DC’s imminent crossover.

And then we walked by Piper Street, so I had to take photos of that too.

All in all, it was a pretty good day for a Flash fan!

Toronto Comicon (Fan Appreciation 2011) Photos is a post from Speed Force.

DC has been posting questions and answers from the writers of the various Flashpoint tie-ins today, including this piece of art depicting Mirror Master, Fallout(?), Tar Pit, Trickster (Axel Walker), Weather Wizard, and Pied Piper.

It seems appropriate that someone would have a goatee.

Kolins says of his miniseries:

There’s bunch of stuff in my CITIZEN COLD 3-parter that’s has never been done for [Captain] Cold or the Rogues. Can you imagine Cold being the hero of Central City? What kind of hero would he be? Plus there’s the whole Iris angle – that’s new and soooo much fun.

Click through to the article for more Q&A and a larger image. And don’t miss the first article in the series, either. Update: Part three is up. They’ve got quite a bit of unfinished art and logo designs on the these articles.

Flashpoint Rogues by Scott Kolins is a post from Speed Force.

DC has started posting covers for July’s Flashpoint comics at The Source, each one with a “Flash Question” (as opposed to a Flash Fact.)

FLASH QUESTION: Will Central City’s greatest hero be able to stand against the Rogues?

FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #2
Written by SCOTT KOLINS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale JULY 13 • 2 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

I guess this cover answers one question from the teaser for issue #1. Iris doesn’t exactly look too thrilled, does she?

Nice to see Piper back.

The closer we get to Flashpoint, the more overwhelming it gets trying to cover it. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been sticking with the directly Flash-related and Rogues-related announcements lately. Partly it’s keeping the site focused, but a lot of it is just time.

Flashpoint: Can Citizen Cold stand against the Rogues? (Cover) is a post from Speed Force.

Some of the speedy topics covered include working with Francis Manapul, writing Barry Allen vs. writing Wally West, and untangling the Reverse Flash’s timeline.

As for what’s coming up in The Flash:

Coming up, we’ll see a new supporting cast member, a new villain, the return of the Pied Piper, more on Captain Boomerang and, of course, the Flash Family as we race towards “Flashpoint.”

It’s nice to know we’ll see Piper again. He was set up to be a major player in Rogues’ Revenge, then sort of faded into the background. And I’m all for seeing more members of the Flash family.

He even dropped a little information about Flashpoint, the mysterious Andy Kubert-drawn story that was teased at the end of The Flash #1

“Flashpoint” is five-issue series that’s going to introduce a lot of new and familiar characters, focus on Barry Allen and the DCU and it’s out sometime next year.

Head over to CBR to read the whole feature.

Geoff Johns Talks Flash and Flashpoint is a post from Speed Force.

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

Remember that Flash Video Game that was cancelled about a year ago… is a post from Speed Force.

Comicbook.com includes the Flash’s Rogues in their Top 10 Costume-Dependent Comic Book Characters.

Seduction of the Indifferent is starting a feature on Pied Piper covers, and the first installment highlights Flash Comics #59. A decade before the Rogue of the same name first appeared, this other villain based on the Piper of legend fought Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Robot 6′s Grumpy Old Fan looks into “Flash of Two Worlds” and its influences on later comics as part of his “Towards A Modern Superhero Canon” series.

Speed Reading: Rogues, Waid, Crossovers is a post from Speed Force.