Speed Force

Hey Speed Readers,

DC Collectibles released their solicits for November 2013 and there is only one real item of interest for New 52 Flash fans:

DC COMICS—THE NEW 52 SUPER HEROES VS. SUPER-VILLAINS ACTION FIGURE 7-PACK

The battle between good and evil rages on with this special 7-pack action figure set that includes Aquaman, The Flash, Batman, Catwoman, The Joker, Captain Cold, and Black Manta!

FEATURES:

All-New Aquaman Head Sculpt and Sceptre

The Flash Metallic Redeco

Batman Metallic Redeco

All-New Catwoman Action Figure

The Joker and Captain Cold Redeco

*Action Figures* $99.95 US • On Sale November 2013

*Allocations May Occur

Nothing too exciting if you plan on just purchasing the Captain Cold figure separately in September, but since I’ve been trying to build and expand my own DC Universe in action figure form, Catwoman, The Joker, and Black Manta will come in quite handy. I have to decide which Batman and Aquaman I prefer to have in my display but I have a feeling they will both be joining that new Flash figure in my Justice League team. Batman looks especially boss with that darker color scheme.

The Flash collector in me will be thrilled to have a Flash with the lightning seams painted in and that excellent metallic sheen reminiscent of the Kotobukiya Flash statue. I’m not sure what exactly is different about the Captain Cold redeco (maybe that icey arm?) but I won’t mind having two; one to put with my Secret Society of Super Villains display and one to put with my Rogues display.

These figures usually retail for about $24.99 a piece so even at the regular price of $99.95 this set is a steal. Of course I’m going to keep an eye out for a deal similar to what I found on the We Can Be Heroes 7 pack set but they only come out to about 14 bucks at regular price which isn’t bad.

While I’m not too upset about the exclusive figures being packed in with figures I already have I can understand the frustrations of others. Catwoman, Katana, and Vibe are figures that can only acquired by purchasing figures that many of us have already procured. They feature some new additions like head sculpts and paint jobs but they are still the exact same character. I understand the logic that it could possibly help to move little known characters like Vibe and Katana by packing them in with more popular heroes and playing on their in-story connections (Vibe’s abilities can disrupt the Speed Force and Katana has been chosen to join the JLofA to counteract Wonder Woman)  but the target audience is pretty much going to be buying the very first (and probably only figures) of Vibe and Katana anyway. It seems more like them trying to artificially inflate the price by giving us something we already have. Yeah, Flash features a new head sculpt (or more accurately his original head sculpt) but is it enough to justify the $39.95 price point?

I’ve praised DC Collectibles in the past for their 7 pack releases and I will continue to do so with this one. Yeah there are 3 figures that most of us probably don’t need, but for the patient this is a chance to get 4 figures in one fell swoop and for a fraction of the cost. As long as you aren’t a super completist and need things like weapons and accessories you should be good.

So what do you all think of DC Collectibles’ latest offering? Who plans on picking up this 7 pack in addition to the single of Captain Cold? Let us know in the comments below.

-Devin

This issue of Justice League Dark begins a three-issue arc that will include The Flash as they fight a power that has taken over the House of Mystery! Flash fans may be a bit disappointed in this first issue of the arc, as there isn’t much of an appearance from the Scarlet Speedster…but hopefully this is just the start of a much greater role for The Flash in this story arc.  Barry isn’t the only guest star present, though…and that’s where the fun begins!

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD – PLEASE READ THE ISSUE BEFORE MOVING FORWARD!

This story begins with Constantine at the race track, actually attempting to lose without much success (and yes, I know that sounds odd).  But, it is the prelude to an attack, one that severs his connection to the House of Mystery just long enough for it to be taken over! Constantine gathers the JL Dark (although at least Deadman hates that name for the group) and calls in help from Swamp Thing to locate the missing House.  Swamp Thing does help them find the House of Mystery…but that triggers nightmare visions sent by the House for each member of the league!  Madame Xanadu does manage to get a cryptic message out to Frankenstein before they are separated, saying “when the lightning comes, make it your friend.”

That lightning does come…in the form of The Flash!  His brief appearance is a lead in to the next issue of Justice League Dark, as they fight the villain who is revealed in the final panel of the story.  If you want to know just who they are up against, you’ll need to buy the issue.

Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes scripted this issue, with Mikel Janin and Vicente Cifuentes on art with colors by Jeromy Cox.  Their work on the JL Dark characters is amazing and their Flash is credible, though we will have to wait for next issue to see just what they do with Barry in a longer appearance.  If you are a JL Dark fan this should be a good issue for you.  Flash fans may be a little disappointed as the cover gives the indication of a longer appearance than what actually happens in this issue.  However, we may see a lot more Flash-oriented action as this arc progresses, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the House of Mystery before this arc is through.

When we last left Jay and Khalid in the pages of Earth 2, they were searching the Tower of Fate for the helm of Nabu while Wotan held Jay’s mother hostage. Can Jay fight off the beast that lives within the tower? Can Khalid find the Helm of Nabu without losing his own sanity? Will Mrs. Garrick survive Wotan? This action-packed story has at least some of those answers…and it continues with the level of quality we’ve come to expect from this excellent series.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE ISSUE!

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With issue #6 hitting stands today, the Flash creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are featured in two new interviews, one over at Newsarama and the other at PopMatters.

The Newsarama piece discusses the reintroduction of Captain Cold, the new character Turbine, as well as the vision for Speed Force as it appears New 52 version of Flash.  They also discuss the pacing of the title, noting stories will be told in one-to-two issue sets for the next few months.  The article features preview pages from issue #6, out today, as well as the first announcement of a new Flash Annual, due before issue #12 hits stands.

On their upcoming portrayal of the Speed Force:

Manapul: Inside the speed force itself will be quite different. I think before, it’s always been portrayed as just these speed lines and light and stuff like that. We really want to make it a world that’s fully realized, you know? And when the Flash enters this world, we want the readers to be in awe just as much as Barry Allen is.

It’s really going to be quite different visually.

More after the jump, including selections from a new interview with PopMatters.

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Hey Speed Readers,

Beginning today, February 20th, 2012, participating Sonic Restaurants nationwide will begin offering Justice League Tots along with their Wacky Pack Kid’s Meals. The website specifically states that the Justice League Tots are only available with the purchase of a kid’s meal, but I went to McDonald’s a few times when they were running the Young Justice promotion and just purchased them straight up without buying the kid’s meal. So that may be a possibility.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bleeding Cool has just posted a report from this weekend’s Megacon in Orlando, Florida.  Within, there appears to be the first acknowledgement of a possible return of Wally West in the New 52 DCU:

That led us to a young man that asked about Wally West…[DC's Dan Didio and Eddie Berganza] said because there were de-aging Barry, they didnt want him to be the same age as Wally. Plus they didnt want to take away Wally’s kids and family or make him a teenager again, especially with Bart already in that role…Their answer was that they are simply focusing on establishing the characters they started out with in this new 52, but not saying those other characters don’t exist or aren’t around in some way. They understand that everyone’s character is someone’s favorite. They just ask us Wally and Donna [Troy] fans to be a bit more patient with them and those characters will be seen once more.

Haven’t seen this corroborated elsewhere as of yet, but it is still early in the day.  Watch this space for more!

Salutations Speed Readers,

Last Saturday McDonald’s started it’s second Batman: Brave and the Bold Happy Meal promotion! Just like the Young Justice Happy Meal promotion from a couple months ago this set will feature two Flash-related characters: Barry Allen’s version of The Flash and Gorilla Grodd, one of the Scarlet Speedster’s greatest villains. Unlike the Young Justice promotion I didn’t feel like dealing with McDonald’s at all. So I went the evilBay route. Unfortunately when I wanted them no one was selling just Grodd and Flash (Since they come in two different sets) so I just went ahead and purchased all eight of the sets. I’m only going to show the Flash-related ones right now but if enough of you want to see the rest I may post them at a future time. Check ‘em out:

The seller was kind enough to include the Happy Meal box along with the sets.

And a couple more pics of Barry and Grodd:

As you can see they didn’t really fill in the details. Flash’s wings on his cowl are just blotches of paint and although they included the lightning details on his forearms and belt they neglected to fill them in with paint. Grodd isn’t that big of a deal, he is just missing some minor details on the helmet which I wouldn’t realistically expect anyway. Also whereas the initial Brave and the Bold line and even the Young Justice line from a couple months ago were fairly large and featured some decent details where it counted, it looks like they opted for quantity over quality this time around and released 24 different toys. Kids get more bang for their buck with three smaller toys in one package instead of just the standard one.

Just for comparison:

Yep, pretty tiny. Still not bad figures, and it is always good to see some more mainstream Flash love.

Anyone else gotten their hands on these guys yet?

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

The Fwoosh has the first look at the San Diego Comic Con 2010 Exclusive Starro the Conqueror set featuring the original Justice League of America. This of course includes Barry Allen, the second Flash:

Big surprise from what I was expecting. Compared to past Infinite Heroes offerings this one takes the cake, especially in terms of articulation. The Fwoosh has more photos of the complete set at their site. You can get to the main article HERE.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson

With only two weeks left in the contest, I’d like to take some time to highlight some of the entries we’ve received so far and will all be passed on to Arrobasilver for consideration:

Ryan cleverly combined elements of the Blue Lantern and The Flash:

While Adam Komar from Conroe, TX had the interests of those conflicted between light and dark in mind with his concept:

Cape Sandlin incorporated a variation of The Flash logo itself into a modest but visually stunning piece of work:

And Aaron Rivin Rivin took a more traditional approach to his concept: [Edit: Images removed because they were plagiarized (see comments).]

Kevin Allen from Rochester, MI described his concept as: “This is a ring he would wear when giving an interview, or at the opening of a new wing of the Flash Museum. It is a ring he would only take out for super important events. As such, it takes some of the elements of his normal ring, but also adds a few style choices to make it look more regal and important.”

And Joey Forlini delivers with a simple yet engaging piece framed with elements of The Fastest Man Alive.

And that’s only a few of the great submissions we have so far. Thanks for all the entries. I look forward to seeing even more of all your great work, so get those submissions in while you still can. You can visit the Official Contest Page HERE for details on submissions and such.

-Devin “The Flash” Johnson