Flash artists Ethan Van Sciver (Flash: Rebirth) and Jackson Guice (early Wally West solo issues) are among the guests of honor at C2E2 in Chicago next year.

Ain’t It Cool News talks with Geoff Johns about Blackest Night, Flash: Rebirth, and the Flash and Green Lantern movies.

More sites remember Mike Wieringo: Panels on Pages remembers the artist through Tellos. Pipeline reprints the original column with some updates on matters such as the ‘Ringo scholarship, the What If…? tribute book, and so forth.

Creator Catch-Up: Johns on Shazam, EVS & Guice at C2E2, Remembering Ringo is a post from Speed Force.

In remembrance, I’m re-running the post I made two years ago, on the day I learned he had died.

Mike Wieringo (1963-2007)

This weekend I re-read Tellos, a fantasy comic book that ran from 1999-2000. Writer Todd Dezago and artist Mike Wieringo took a 6-month hiatus to prepare the next story arc, but that arc never materialized. Just a few one-shots and an anthology mini that explored backstories and aftermath, with a few hints at the upcoming story. Though from the sketches and posts on Wieringo’s blog—the latest (at left) posted just last Friday, it was clear they were working on relaunching the series, possibly this year.

So it came as a real shock when I checked my e-mail this morning and saw a post on Warren Ellis’ Bad Signal saying that Mike Wieringo died yesterday at the age of 44.

A second obituary appears at Comic Book Resources. Newsarama also spoke with his friends and collaborators, collecting remembrances from Mark Waid, Todd Dezago and Karl Kesel.

The Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo run on The Flash was one of my favorites. Even though other artists drew Wally West for longer, it’s “’Ringo’s” take that I always associate with the character. That run got me interested in Tellos, which sits alongside Chronos and Chase as a favorite series that should have lasted longer than it did.

Two months ago, DC Comics killed off the most recent Flash, Bart Allen—originally Impulse, a character Wieringo co-created with Mark Waid. Wieringo’s remarks on Bart’s fate were widely read, widely quoted, and sparked debate on whether killing characters was merited by story, or simply the this decade’s sales gimmick of choice. He posted the sketch at the right as a memorial to Bart Allen.

His blog has been up and down all day, and Newsarama’s been having trouble keeping up with the traffic to their own site—a testament to how much he’s missed.

At least one fan memorial has sprung up: The ’Ringo Project is collecting copies of convention sketches to present a memorial collage at next month’s Baltimore Comic-Con.

Wieringo’s family has asked that donations be made in his name to the ASPCA or the Hero Initiative.

In re-reading Tellos this weekend, I came across this remark by Todd Dezago in the letters column for Tellos #10. It seems appropriate to quote it here:

If the concept of Tellos really sprang from anything, it might be that old saying that “no one is really gone as long as we keep them in our hearts.”

Just as some characters in the story lived on in the land of Tellos after death, ’Ringo will live on in the many stories he told.

Originally posted at K-Squared Ramblings on August 13, 2007.

Other Remembrances

I didn’t know it at the time, but Mark Gruenwald also died on August 12, albeit a decade earlier. Other tributes to Wieringo and to Gruenwald include: Todd Dezago, Matt Wieringo, Mark Waid, Blog@Newsarama, Cully Hamner, Crispy Comics, Tom Brevoort, Nerdage.

Remembering Mike Wieringo is a post from Speed Force.

Flash: Rebirth…

First, I’ve got a guest post up at The Weekly Crisis detailing 5 Possible Candidates for The Flash: Rebirth‘s Mystery Villain.

‘Twas the Night Before Wednesday’s J. Caleb Mozzocco (Blog@Newsarama) is more enthused about the collected edition of Flash: The Human Race with “Huge Silver Age cosmic action and huge stakes” than about Flash: Rebirth #3, “in which your dad’s Flash races Superman.”

Can’t Wait for Wednesday’s JK Parkin (Robot 6), on the other hand, is solidly on board. “I wasn’t wild about the first issue, but the second one really sucked me in. This issue features the return of a classic: Superman racing The Flash.”

Update: I noticed a post from 2007 on my other blog is getting more attention than usual, probably because it links Barry Allen and the Black Flash.

…And Beyond

You will soon be able to read Perhapanauts and Tellos on the iPhone. The two creator-owned series have strong Impulse connections. Tellos is a fantasy adventure story created by Impulse writer Todd Dezago and Flash artist Mike Wieringo — Bart Allen’s co-creator. Perhapanauts an action/horror/comedy created by Dezago and Impulse artist Craig Rousseau. I highly recommend both series.

DC Collector posts a sketch of a Jay Garrick figurine from the Eaglemoss DC Super-Hero Collection. It makes me wish I lived in the UK.

Silver Age Comics profiles Julius Schwartz, legendary editor of DC’s Silver Age who oversaw the 1956 revamp of the Flash.

Cartoon Flophouse doesn’t shy away from strong opinions in 5 DC Comics Characters Which Would Translate Better to Film Than Wonder Woman or The Flash.

A bit off-topic, Watch This Space wants to know which of several serialized stories on the blog should not return.

Speed Reading: Mystery Villain, Anticipation, iPhone Comics, and More is a post from Speed Force.