December 21, 2010
Written by MARK SABLE
Art by SEAN MURPHY
Cover by JAY FABOK
Don’t miss this untold tale from writer Mark Sable (Grounded, TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE) and red-hot artist Sean Murphy (JOE THE BARBARIAN) bringing the Teen Titans and The Flash’s Rogues Gallery into direct conflict! Two people already died over a mysterious object, and now both teams want it. How much more blood will be spilled to obtain it as this gets deadly personal for all involved?
Update: preview at CBR.
Other speedster appearances this week:
- DC Comics Presents Young Justice (Impulse)
- Justice League of America (Jesse Quick)
- Possibly in Superman/Batman (returning to the era of DC One Million)
October 23, 2010
From this week’s DC Universe Halloween Special 2010: Teen Titans Miss Martian and Blue Beetle encounter Klarion the Witch Boy and his familiar, Teekl, who have focused a bit too much on the “Trick” side of “Trick or Treat.” Written by Bryan Q. Miller, art by Trevor McCarthy.
Flash fans take note: The issue also has a Flash and Frankenstein story by Alex Segura and Kenneth Loh.
October 21, 2010
Karl Kerschl (The Flash in Wednesday Comics) has posted the artwork from his upcoming Teen Titans #90 variant cover, focusing on a certain yellow-clad teen speedster. Click through to the artist’s blog for a larger view.
October 1, 2010
Over at his blog, writer Mark Sable talks about Teen Titans: Cold Case, the one-shot “untold tale” that pits the Teen Titans against the Rogues. It’s a story he wrote for DC a few years ago, but that was shelved at the time. DC has opened up the vaults, possibly due to artist Sean Gordon Murphy’s current popularity, and is releasing it in December.
It’s actually the first meeting between the Titans and The Flash’s Rogues gallery, so Cold is just one of the MANY villains the Titans face. I don’t want to give too much away, but the story also ties into Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis, providing an answer to an unresolved mystery there.
If you’re worried that you won’t understand the book because it takes place in the Titans’ past (or because you didn’t read Identity Crisis, or follow the Titans or Flash etc.) – don’t. DC didn’t just dust this story off and publish it. I went back and did a major rewrite, with the primary aim being to make this book as accessible as any other I’ve written.
Head over to the blog entry for more about Cold Case and What if Spider-Man had Killed Kraven the Hunter?
(Thanks to @liabrown1 for the link!)
September 19, 2010
Another interesting item showed up on DC’s December solicitations (preview up now, full list available on Monday):
Teen Titans: Cold Case
Written by MARK SABLE
Art by SEAN MURPHY
Cover by JAY FABOK
Don’t miss this untold tale from writer Mark Sable (Grounded, TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE) and red-hot artist Sean Murphy (JOE THE BARBARIAN) bringing the Teen Titans and The Flash’s Rogues Gallery into direct conflict! Two people already died over a mysterious object, and now both teams want it. How much more blood will be spilled to obtain it as this gets deadly personal for all involved?
ONE-SHOT * On sale DECEMBER 22 * 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US
Notes: I’m guessing that by “untold tale,” DC only means that it’s set in the past. Though I suppose they could be dusting off an old two-part story that’s been sitting on a shelf for a while.
With Cyborg, Ravager, Wonder Girl (Cassie) and Robin on the cover, I’d guess it’s probably early in the “One Year Later” period right after Infinite Crisis and 52, before the Rogues were dragged into Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and shipped off to Salvation Run.
August 4, 2010
Some recent interviews at Newsarama:
Francis Manapul talks to Newsarama about Beast Legends.
UPDATE: Francis Manapul also talks to CBR about drawing the Flash.
Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani talk about the upcoming Young Justice comic that will tie into the animated series.
Artist Nicola Scott talks about Teen Titans.
July 26, 2010
One of the downsides to attending a convention is that you miss all the announcements at panels you didn’t attend — like an Astro City movie deal! *ahem* Anyway, on to speedster news.
At DC Universe Event Horizon, James Robinson stated that the Justice League would be battling the Crime Syndicate at some point, with Jesse Quick battling Johnny Quick , Batman vs. Owlman, Supergirl vs. Ultraman etc.
At DC Focus: Teams, incoming Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul said that Bart Allen “is past the Impulse stage but he still has that innocent, light-heartedness about him.” (Quote from Newsarama, may be paraphrasing him.)
At the Superman panel they announced that Superboy #3 will feature the first-ever Superboy/Kid Flash race.
» Full index of Comic-Con coverage
June 27, 2010
Some weekend linkblogging…
Once Upon a Geek can’t wait for the upcoming DC Adventures RPG.
Multiversity Comics casts the Teen Titans
The Beat finds that Comic-Con brings money into San Diego after all. Who knew? Oh, right, we did: the ones spending it!
4thletter! looks at Flash and Batman in Final Crisis: “Everything about the Flash, any of them, in Final Crisis is dead on…”
Comics Worth Reading reviews Wednesday Comics.
May 19, 2010
I had an odd thought while reading The Flash #2* last week. Francis Manapul draws Barry and Iris in a way that makes them look fairly young, and I remembered someone’s remark that the cowl on Wally West’s new costume makes him look older than Barry, even though Wally used to be Barry’s younger sidekick.
Then it hit me: No, Wally isn’t older than Barry Allen (even with time travel) but when you factor in his earlier Kid Flash career, he actually has more experience than Barry at this point!
No, Really!
Wally West became Kid Flash very early in Barry Allen’s Flash career — only six issues into his solo series! Flash vol.1 started with #105, picking up from where the Golden Age Flash Comics left off, and Wally was struck by lightning in Flash #110, back in 1959. He didn’t retire as Kid Flash until very late in Barry’s career, in New Teen Titans #39 — just one year before Barry vanished in 1985.**
So Wally West has been running around for most of Barry’s career plus his own!
Team Player
During his JLA run, Grant Morrison is one of the few writers I can remember really building on the fact that the original Titans grew up as super-heroes. I don’t recall it being a plot point, but Morrison mentioned it in an interview, or possibly one of the Secret Files books, and it clearly factored into his characterization of Wally West. He might not have been as old as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but he’d been working with a team longer than they had, and he was a consummate professional.
Wally wasn’t the rookie on the team by any stretch. That honor went to Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.
Of course, neither Wally nor Barry can hold a candle to Jay Garrick, who has been speeding since 1940!
*Yes, I do still plan on reviewing it. It was just a busy week, and for some reason, it’s been hard to sit down and write it.
**These are of course the real-world publishing dates. The fictional DC Universe would use a vague “X years ago” timeline that always seems to change, but usually compresses everything from the dawn of the Silver Age onward into a 10-15–year period.
April 21, 2010
Exciting news coming down the pipeline. Announced at Cartoon Network’s Annual Advertising Upfront Presentation and confirmed by DC Comics’ Official Blog, The Source, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation will be bringing “Young Justice” to the small screen for their 2010 Cartoon Line-Up.
The show is described as:
In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over—to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice—Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis—will found out, whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero. This all-new series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based upon characters from DC Comics. Sam Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is the executive producer. Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman Doomsday, The Batman) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H.) are the producers.
Not a bad little combination although very little reminds me of the Young Justice that I remember and loved. Not only with the presence of Aqualad but also with him randomly being Afro-Atlantean. I guess from a young african-american kids perspective it’s nice to be able to relate to characters, but you should have just thrown Static in there or something. But on the plus side this hopefully means that we will be seeing tons of different versions of Kid Flash action figures. Which will hopefully make up for never getting a Teen Titans one. Not surprised to see Sam Register on this instead of Bruce Timm, as Register is red hot on the TV animation scene, while Timm’s focus has been on the DC Animated Movie front for some time. I’m definitely hoping they tone down the animation this time around though. Teen Titans was almost obnoxious at times. But I guess it’s apples and oranges.
This is the first promotional picture released.
The design for Kid Flash looks a little busy with the random padding and armor look, but I guess it makes a little sense. The goggles I actually kind of like. They are practical for a speedster and a nice little nod to Impulse, although the red hair makes me think this might be Wally like in the Teen Titans cartoon. They may end up avoiding the secret identity thing completely though. It’s anyone’s guess. I wish they would have kept Bart’s original boots though. They would look great visually, especially with the new pseudo-armor look they have going for him. Robin, Miss Martian and Superboy barely sport any differences from their comic book counterparts. Except for Superboy’s random cargo pants tucked into his boots. Arrowette now known as Artemis (are they trying to go for a dual association with Green Arrow and Wonder Woman maybe?) looks kind of fugly as far as the suit goes. I have no more words for Spike…er Aqualad. Except for “Ugh”.
By the way, did I miss an announcement or something? I was pretty sure that DC wasn’t allowed to use the Superboy name in anything while the legal stuff was being sorted out. For those that have been living under a rock for the past few years, DC Comics was sued by the estate of Jerry Siegel over the rightful ownership of the Superboy character. Honestly I haven’t been following the case that closely myself since I really don’t have that much invested in the character. Especially now. Something obviously must have changed though, with the recent return of Conner to comics and now his inclusion in “Young Justice”
Needless to say I’m anxiously awaiting this series and any announcements as far as action figures go especially. We will keep you posted.
-Devin “The Flash” Johnson
Written by MARK SABLE
