May 14, 2012

Release Date for Road to Flashpoint TP

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

The softcover collection of the end of the 2010-2011 Flash series has been given a September 26 release date in DC’s latest solicitations. The hardcover came out last fall, and the trade paperback was announced in January with only the month listed.

THE FLASH VOL. 2: THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and SCOTT KOLINS
Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale SEPTEMBER 26 • 120 pg, FC, $14.99 US

  • Make way for Hot Pursuit – the latest speedster to come out of the Speed Force!
  • Collects THE FLASH #8-12!

Flash #12 and Flash Annual Solicitations

Category: Covers, Flash News — By Greg Elias

THE FLASH #12
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale AUGUST 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• Setting up THE ROGUES as a team as the next major storyline for the series begins!

• GLIDER takes center stage!

What a gorgeous cover.  DC’s August Justice League solicitations are up at The Source.  The cover for the Flash Annual was revealed last week.

For the full Annual solicit, plus Kid Flash solo and Jay Garrick’s Earth 2 adventures, follow the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

April 9, 2012

Return to the Silver Age in Flash Chronicles Volume 3

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

I’ve been wondering whether DC planned on continuing the Flash Chronicles line of reprints. With the return of the Archives this year, I should have guessed we’d see a new Chronicles volume soon, and in fact, volume three is listed in DC’s July+ solicitations.

THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 3 TP
Written by JOHN BROOME and GARDNER FOX
Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and MURPHY ANDERSON
Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON
On sale AUGUST 8 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US

  • In this third collection of 1960s adventures in chronological order, the Fastest Man Alive battles Rogues including The Trickster, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and more.
  • Collecting THE FLASH #113-118.

Update: It’s available for pre-order.

DC has three series of reprints designed to start at the beginning (or at least the beginning of the Silver Age) and collect everything in chronological order:

  • Archives: High-quality, hardcover, color reprints, typically about 200 pages, relatively expensive. For people who want a book that will last. Five volumes so far, with a sixth on its way.
  • Showcase Presents: Cheap, black and white paperbacks on newsprint, around 500-600 pages, for people who just want to read the stories. Currently on three volumes in the early 1960s, plus one featuring the Trial of the Flash in the 1980s.
  • Chronicles: Cheaper, color paperbacks, more like a typical collected edition of more recent comics.

I keep meaning to work out the math of just how many volumes each of these lines would need to reprint the entire 1956-1986 Barry Allen Flash series (including the four Showcase issues early on) — and how long it would take to complete them at DC’s current rate of publication.

March 13, 2012

Full Details on Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol.3

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

DC’s full June 2012 solicitations are out, including full details on The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol.3

THE FLASH OMNIBUS BY GEOFF JOHNS VOL. 3 HC

GEOFF JOHNS and GREG RUCKA
Art by HOWARD PORTER, ALBERTO DOSE and OTHERS
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
On sale AUGUST 29 • 640 pg, FC, $75.00 US

  • A third massive FLASH HC from superstar writer GEOFF JOHNS!
  • THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE clashes with his Rogues Gallery, including CAPTAIN COLD, THE PIED PIPER, TRICKSTER and MIRROR MASTER!
  • Collects THE FLASH #201-225 and WONDER WOMAN #214!

As predicted, it ships the final week in August and wraps up the entire Geoff Johns run on the Wally West Flash series. One question is answered: it does include both halves of that Flash/Wonder Woman/Villains United crossover. Another remains: What about The Flash #1/2, the short story leading into Rogue War that provided a little depth to the second Trickster?

Volume 2 runs through Flash #200 and collects what I think is the best of Geoff Johns’ run on the character. Volume 3 collects Ignition and runs through the Identity Crisis-to-Infinite Crisis era, finishing with Rogue War.

I still think we’re likely to get a fourth volume next year that collects Johns’ Barry Allen run, starting with Flash: Rebirth and running at least through The Road to Flashpoint, if not all the way through Flashpoint itself, though I imagine DC would like to put that off a while to give the current collections a bit more shelf life. Flashpoint only came out in paperback last week, after all.

Pre-order at Amazon:
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.2 ships in April.
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.3 ships in August/September.

(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip!)

March 12, 2012

Flash #10 Solicitation & Cover: Weather Wizard

Category: Covers — By Kelson

DC’s Justice League Group solicitations for June are up. You can find a larger cover at Newsarama.

THE FLASH #10
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JUNE 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

  • THE FLASH vs. THE WEATHER WIZARD!
  • The Flash may survive…but will BARRY ALLEN?

Good to see that the Weather Wizard still uses a wand (though it’s ironic that he’s one of the few Rogues whose power actually was internalized in the previous DCU). Not sure about the raincoat, though.

Also, the Earth Two issue featuring Jay Garrick on the cover will also reveal his new origin.

EARTH TWO #2
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by NICOLA SCOTT and TREVOR SCOTT
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale JUNE 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

  • MR. TERRIFIC – Michael Holt – lands on EARTH TWO!
  • Don’t miss the origin of the Earth Two FLASH – and the first time he uses his powers!
  • What could be a bigger threat to Earth Two than APOKOLIPS? Jay Garrick is about to find out!

I’ll admit that “hard water fumes” doesn’t hold up that well as a way to gain super-powers (though you can sort of excuse it if you assume they meant “heavy water fumes”), but is anyone else nervous about this?

February 13, 2012

Flash #9 Solicitation and Cover, the Return of Jay Garrick & Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 3

Category: Covers, Flash News — By Greg Elias

THE FLASH #9
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by TONY S. DANIEL
1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale MAY 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Continuing the debut of GORILLA GRODD in DC Comics – The New 52!
• THE FLASH travels to GORILLA CITY for the first time!
• Who are the “RUNNERS” – and what do they mean for THE FLASH and the SPEED FORCE?

Big thanks to Collected Editions for their always eagle-eyed approach, which spotted this listing for The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 3.  The hardcover collection is due Sept. 4.  More to follow on the expected contents of this 640-pager.

DC’s May Justice League solicitations are up at The Source.  Flash fans looking for Jay Garrick should check out the solicit for EARTH TWO #1 after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

January 30, 2012

Road to Flashpoint TPB in September

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

DC has released more on their fall collections, including this September item:

THE FLASH: THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Francis Manapul and Scott Kolins
Collects: THE FLASH #8-12
$14.99 US, 120 pg

The hardcover came out last November. There was a bit of confusion when the Dastardly Death of the Rogues TP was released, and DC identified it was only collecting The Flash #1-6, but that turned out to be a misprint.

This brings the last of Geoff Johns’ Barry Allen Flash run into trade paperback form.

January 26, 2012

Title & New Contents Announced for New 52 Flash Hardcover

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

When DC first announced the collection, they planned on including issues #1-7 in the hardcover. Today, they released an updated look at the New 52 collections, including a title, “Move Forward.” It also will contain issues #1-8, which brings the series up to April’s introduction of Turbine.

THE FLASH VOLUME 1: MOVE FORWARD HC
Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artist: Francis Manapul
Collects: THE FLASH #1-8
$22.99 US, 192 pg
November 2012

January 17, 2012

Flash #8 Solicitation and Cover

Category: Covers, Flash News — By Greg Elias

THE FLASH #8
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale APRIL 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The Flash gets pulled into the Speed Force that gives him his super-speed powers…and he learns he’s not alone in there! Introducing Turbine, a prisoner of the Speed Force who just wants out – even if it means trading places with The Flash!

DC’s April Justice League solicitations are up at The Source. Full solicitations including upcoming collections will be forthcoming.

January 2, 2012

Captain Cold Story Moved Up

Category: Flash News — By Kelson

Old news, but I missed it with all the Christmas/New Year/catching up with family from out of town/etc.:

Flash co-writer Brian Buccellato posted in a couple of forums last week that the Captain Cold arc originally scheduled for issue #7 has been moved up to #6, replacing the stand-alone CSI mystery originally solicited.

From the CBR thread:

Speaking of Captain Cold…

I wanted to give you all a heads up that we’ve moved the Captain Cold storyline up to ISSUE #6. Rumor has it that the folks REALLY wanna see the Snart. Done and done. :)

Jingle Bells!

In response to questions, he adds:

Hey guys… as it stand now, the Captain Cold arc is gonna be 3 issues. As far as the original #6 with the mystery… not sure when we are gonna get to that one. We still want to do it, though. :)

Personally, I’m kind of disappointed, since I was really looking forward to reading about the history of Central and Keystone Cities, and a straight CSI story would really take advantage of the fact that DC chose Barry Allen for this universe’s Flash. (To be honest, I was more intrigued by the 150-year-old cold case than by the Captain Cold story.)

Still, I can understand the decision. If there’s anything DC learned from “The Wild Wests” and “Lightning in a Bottle,” it’s that the Flash audience wants to see Rogues. And then there’s the “Eh, it’s just filler” attitude that many readers have toward done-in-ones. I can imagine DC might be afraid of losing momentum on the book.

Here’s hoping that they’ll be able to fit in the cold case story sometime soon!

(via The Rogues Kick Ass)

This Time Last Year