Tag Archives: Sterling Gates

Vibe Meets Kid Flash – Do I Have To Say More? (Review of Vibe #3)

This issue of Justice League of America’s Vibe (wow, what a long name!) marks the start of Sterling Gates’ run as writer for the title. If this issue is any indication, Vibe is in very good hands…and I can only wish to see Sterling Gates write more stories that include Kid Flash as well. Gates truly gets his characters – the transition for Cisco is smooth as glass from Johns to Gates, and this issue has just about the best characterization of Bart Allen that we’ve seen in the New52. Vibe is well worth the read, and this series is quickly becoming one of the very best the New52 has to offer.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD – DO NOT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE ISSUE! Continue reading →

Vibe vs. Kid Flash for April WT(K)F

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CBR has revealed the Vibe #3 fold-out cover…and it features Vibe vs. Kid Flash!

“What is the one super power that is more than a match for Vibe and how can it tear the universe apart?” Now we know…though considering that Vibe was apparently picked for the JLA to counterbalance the Flash’s powers, it should have been clear already.

Vibe #3 is written by Sterling Gates (Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost) with a cover by Brett Booth.

Speed Reading: Notpocalypse Edition

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Sorry I haven’t had time to keep this round-up column going lately. I’ve picked a few highlights since the last round-up, focusing on the more recent ones:

Sterling Gates talks about that Kid Flash series that was announced in 2009 but never actually launched, saying “I don’t think it ever made it past the initial pitch and a couple written scenes.”

The FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST mini I wrote in 2011 was sort of the tone we were planning on for that series: serious stories with humor in the mix. Woulda been a belter, too, with Bart, Max Mercury, and Xs returning to Blue Valley, Nebraska to fight villainy…and other super speedsters.

Comic Book Legends Revealed brings us a Christmas story with the Three Dimwits — who were basically the Three Stooges, inserted wholesale into the Golden Age Flash comics by Gardner Fox.

Newsarama tells the story of how Mike Wieringo’s first Impulse drawing made its way back to Mark Waid.

Speaking of Mark Waid, his run on the Flash was voted #36 in the Top 100 comic runs as selected by Comics Should Be Good readers back in October, the only Flash run to make the list.

Brian Buccellato is writing a revival of The Black Bat, a pulp-era superhero who’s been largely forgotten in favor of that other guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime. Here are two interviews at Newsarama and at CBR.

Jim Zub breaks down where your $2.99 goes on a typical indie comic. There isn’t much left over for the writer and artist. Follow-up: looking at digital sales.

Jill Pantozzi has resurrected “Hey, That’s My Cape!” at IGN, starting with a piece of advice that sounds simple on its face, but seems to be hard for comics fans to follow through on: Stop reading comics you don’t like. For me, the last straw was Countdown to Final Crisis. From that point on, I resolved to only read comics that looked interesting, not those that I felt obligated to read. I slip up sometimes, but overall I enjoy my comics more than I used to.

Update: CBR has the results of their poll for who fans want to debut in the New 52. A certain missing speedster handily takes the number one spot.

Review – Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1

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Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost is one of the more pleasant surprises to spin out of Flashpoint and the first time we’ve seen Bart Allen in a solo book since the end of Impulse way back in 2002. Yes, I am aware of the short-lived Flash: The Fastest Man Alive but that was not Bart Allen, at least not the Bart that I know and love. Sterling has managed to do what Geoff Johns, Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo , and Marc Guggenheim were never able to do; he has successfully captured Bart’s voice. That makes all the difference when it comes to my enjoyment of this story. Sterling has clearly done his research and given that he has reportedly pitched three different ideas for a Kid Flash series to DC since 2007 he obviously has a passion for the character. I have to say that they chose the right man for the job.

NOTE: This review contains spoilers regarding the events of Kid Flash Lost #1 of 3

The story opens with Hot Pursuit (a character introduced during the final issues of the last Flash series and obviously an integral part of the story) evading the police and from the get go it is made pretty clear that this is not the same Hot Pursuit that met his demise in The Flash #12. This new super speedster has stolen Hot Pursuit’s suit, Baton and Speed Force-powered motorcycle and escapes by riding up a wall (an old speedster trick) and soon disappears into the time stream.

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Sterling Gates Talks Kid Flash Lost at CBR

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Just a quick note for those who haven’t seen it: CBR interviews Sterling Gates about Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost. In addition to the current book, he talks about his connection to Bart Allen, how that grew out of a connection to Wally West, and the fact that he’s pitched a Kid Flash series to DC three times since 2007.

Sterling Gates talks Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost

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Newsarama interviews Sterling Gates on his Flashpoint tie-in miniseries, Kid Flash Lost. As he describes it:

In Kid Flash Lost, Bart also remembers the regular universe. The only difference is that Barry is in the present day of Flashpoint, while Bart is in the future…. So he wakes up in a very, very different future from the one in which he grew up, the one he knew when he was a very small kid…. Bart realizes he needs to get back in time, or else the timestream will sort of correct itself, meaning he will pull a Marty McFly and fade out.

(Key points clipped together from several different paragraphs.)

We’re going to see a lot of things that aren’t covered in the main Flashpoint book, as Bart explores the future and finds out what happened to the Flash family.

What happened to Jay Garrick? What happened to Wally West? And where’s Max Mercury? Bart’s going to dig in and dig through some historical stuff over the course of the three issues, and we’re going to see where a lot of our speedsters are. It’s a Flash story as well as a Kid Flash story.

There’s a lot more in there about the tone, how Hot Pursuit fits in, and Bart Allen’s idea of “Kid Flash Facts.” Read the whole interview!