Monthly Archives: August 2008

Review: Flash #243, “Everything, Always”

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Flash #243 marks the last issue of the Tom Peyer/Freddie Williams II run on the series, and the final issue of the “Fast Money” storyline. It resolves a number of plotlines from the past year, leaving other possibilities open.

Artist Freddie Williams II has really hit his stride on this book, which makes it a shame that he’s leaving. It took a while to get used to it, but a few issues ago I started to like it. It seemed to have more life, more energy, than it did at first — and in a book that’s all about speed, that’s critical. (Interestingly, when I spoke with him at Comic-Con, he mentioned that the editor had initially insisted on a slightly different style than his usual, and he’d been allowed to go back to his regular style around the same point that I started liking the art. He also had a page of original art from Flash #241 that I would have been seriously tempted by if I’d had a spare $250…)

Story-wise, I’ve really enjoyed the last three issues (parts 3-5), but I felt that the final chapter fell short. In part, there were three major plot threads to resolve, and only one really got any focus. Additionally, that resolution seemed to hinge on a piece of knowledge which they should already have had.

At this point I’ll have to break into spoilers. You have been warned. Continue reading →

Delays and Reprints

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This week’s DC Direct Channel newsletter has an incredibly long list of books that have been delayed for various reasons. Most of the list is made up of trades and hardcovers, which are all being pushed back one week “due to adjustments being made in DC’s manufacturing and production schedules.” It also includes most of the Final Crisis line-up.

Flash-related titles that have been postponed include:

Title Original Rescheduled Difference
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #1 (reprint) August 13 August 20 1 week
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #2 August 20 August 27 1 week
Final Crisis #4 September 17 October 1 2 weeks
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #2 September 17 October 1 2 weeks
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #3 September 17 October 15 4 weeks

Most of the delays in monthly titles are are offered with no explanation, though the reprints of Final Crisis: Requiem and Rogues’ Revenge #1 are blamed on “an error.” The books were supposed to ship last week, but instead they’re arriving in stores today.

In better news, the trade paperback Flash: Rogue War is going back to press for a second printing.

An End to Noble Causes

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Noble Causes ends in a few months with issue #40. Apparently the “Five Years Later” relaunch didn’t bring in many new readers, and on top of that, series writer and co-creator Jay Faerber “started feeling like [he] didn’t have much else to say about the characters.”

It’s disappointing news, but hey, it’s always better to leave on a high note than fade into obscurity. And it’s been a pretty solid run: three 4-issue miniseries, two specials, and a 40-issue ongoing.

Noble Causes is about a super-hero team as a dysfunctional family. There are elements of the Fantastic Four, but with personal secrets, double-crossing, affairs, family feuds, cover-ups, and celebrity scandals. The series initially focused on Liz Donnelly-Noble, an ordinary woman who married the family’s resident speedster, Race Noble, and found herself immersed in their bizarre world. (Every once in a while there are some interesting Wally/Linda parallels.) Over time, the scope broadened. A few months ago, the story jumped forward in time five years, and the former viewpoint character has been conspicuously absent.

If you only know Jay Faerber from his disastrous run on The Titans, it’s worth taking a look at some of his creator-owned books. The first Dynamo 5 trade is a good introduction to that team (and it’s pretty cheap), and Gemini is only two issues into a five-issue miniseries.

This Week (Aug 20): Flash #243

Flash #243

The conclusion of “Fast Money”! The Flash returns to Keystone, making some bold moves to get his life and reputation back on track – with some serious consequences for his family!

Written by Tom Peyer; Art and Cover by Freddie E. Williams II

Note: This is Tom Peyer’s and Freddie Williams II’s final issue before Alan Burnett and Paco Diaz take over for a 4-issue arc. Aftet that, the series goes on hold for Flash: Rebirth. Personally, I felt that Peyer and Williams finally “got” the book and would have made a good long-term creative team, but it’s clear from sales figures that a lot of readers either didn’t like their take, disliked the Flash Family concept, or had already dropped the book and didn’t want to pick it up again.

Williams is returning to Robin, while Peyer moves on to Galveston and Marvel Apes.

Continue reading →

Flash Sales Leveling Out?

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ICv2 has posted July sales estimates. The entire comics market is down, but the Flash numbers are better than expected. Flash #242 sold an estimated 30,325 copies. It’s still down from June, but only by 1.5% — and total comics sales have been declining over the last few months. This is the same data that The Beat uses for their sales commentary, so I can use the numbers from earlier posts.

02/2008: Flash #237     —  37,719 (-  9.0%)
03/2008: Flash #238     —  35,606 (-  5.6%)
04/2008: Flash #239     —  33,741 (-  5.2%)
05/2008: Flash #240     —  31,944 (-  5.3%)
06/2008: Flash #241     —  30,810 (-  3.6%)
07/2008: Flash #242     —  30,325 (-  1.5%)

Meanwhile, Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #1 sold an estimated 62,482 copies — more than twice the numbers on the main Flash title, despite costing more ($3.99 vs. $2.99). Factors at work: Final Crisis, Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins, multiple covers.

I mentioned that the overall market was in decline. ICv2 cites a 3% drop in sales, but I can’t tell whether they mean 3% between June and July 2008, or 3% between July 2007 and July 2008. If the former, then Flash actually dropped less than the overall market. (The 1.5% drop for Flash is in units sold, and the 3% drop overall is for dollar amount — but the price on Flash didn’t change between June and July, so it works out the same.)

70s Flashback: Super-Speed Twinkies

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If you read DC or Marvel comics during the late 1970s or early 1980s, or if you’ve read back issues from that era, chances are that you’ve seen the super-hero ads for Hostess cupcakes, Twinkies, etc. These were done as 1-page stories in which a low-rent villain would appear as a menace. Then a super-hero would arrive, and somehow use snack cakes to defeat the villain.

Yep.

There were at least four ads featuring the Flash:

These are all scanned and hosted by Seanbaby, who has a full set of these Hostess ads. (Watch out for NSFW language in the commentary.)

You know, now that I think about it, the subtext of the Flash helping The Destroyer fight off his depression by eating junk food is disturbingly reminiscent of the Golden Age Flash providing “happiness pills” to the Worry Wart.

Sadly, the Destroyer didn’t share the Flash’s hyper-accelerated metabolism.

(Inspired by a recent post at Mike’s Progressive Ruin.)