Monthly Archives: August 2008

Blogging Elite?

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When I launched this blog, I did several things in order to promote it. I added it to my forum signatures. I took blogs that I read occasionally and made them regular reads, and started using this URL when commenting. And I submitted the site to some relevant blog directories.

I found Comic Blog Elite through Collected Editions. Speed Force started off fairly low in rank (in part because it started late in the day, so the daily averages were pulled down by that first day with only 1 or 2 hours), but it’s been slowly climbing up the ranks. I figured it would eventually settle around #5 or so.

Amazingly, for the last few days, Speed Force and Collected Editions have been vying for the #3 spot.

Wow!

Here’s a big thank-you to everyone who’s been reading!

Free-Falling Flash Sales

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It’s depressing, but sales on The Flash have continued to drop through June. Personally, I’d been hoping to see an uptick in the Tom Peyer/Freddie Williams II “Fast Money” arc, which has been quite good (IMO)…but with figures in for the fourth issue of their run, the numbers just keep dropping. The Beat’s sales charts for June:

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%)

They go on to add:

In what seems like a last-ditch effort to salvage the property, DC are apparently looking to exchange the title character again, which would be the third time since June 2006. Given that it won’t happen until January 2009, however, the next six months worth of The Flash sales are bound to be ugly.

Given that there’s a trend among comics fans to only care about books that “matter” — just look at how stand-alone books like The Brave and the Bold, JLA: Classified and JSA Classified, etc. tend to do vs. Final Infinite Countdown Crisis tie-ins — I can imagine plenty of potential readers will be sitting out the next five months, waiting until Flash: Rebirth not because they’re waiting specifically for Barry, but because they feel the current book is just filler.

It makes me wonder why DC is even bothering with another 4-issue arc, particularly one with a new creative team, when they’ve effectively undercut interest in it by announcing Rebirth before it starts.

Linkage: Rumors of Bart

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While many fans seem to be taking it as given that Bart Allen will return in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, there’s been considerably less certainty as to where he might continue to appear afterward. Will he return to the present, or stay in the 31st century? Will he return as Impulse, Kid Flash, or the Flash? Will he appear on any sort of regular basis, or just be an occasional guest star?

Rumor column Lying in the Gutters suggests he might be staying with the Legion, or at least be available in that setting:

One San Diegoer tells me, “I was waiting at the Aspen booth at Comic-Con getting a sketch done by current Legion Artist Francis Manapul, when Geoff Johns came over and interrupted to talk to him for a second. Johns had a copy of…his first Teen Titans trade, and handed it to Manapul, which Manapul said, ‘I eventually did get my hands on a copy and read it last night.’ The two of them talked about Bart Allen for a couple of minutes, with Manapul being very complimentary of how he was written. Johns looked around, saw people were watching, and turned his back and the two of them continued to talk inaudibly for about 10 minutes about something before Johns left.

“Combine that with the vague question that Johns asked at one panel: ‘Does anyone miss Bart Allen?’ and there has to be something there.”

Rich Johnston gives the rumor a yellow light on his traffic-light scale of reliability, so even he isn’t sure what — if anything — the conversation means. It could mean absolutely nothing.

What I want to see after Flash: Rebirth

Okay. Time to lay it all on the line. As much as I’m a Flash fan, I’m more specifically a Wally West fan.

I’ve read Barry’s entire run. I’ve read nearly half of Jay’s (and spent way too much tracking down back issues). I’ve read all of Impulse and the one year of Bart’s run as Flash. But Wally will always be my Flash. So obviously I’m facing Barry’s return and practically-guaranteed retaking of the spotlight with some trepidation. Some of the rumors floating around haven’t helped matters.

But I’m trying to be positive.

So, DC, I know you don’t care about one particular fan’s preferences, but here’s what would make me happy at the end of Flash: Rebirth and the start of the new era in The Flash.

  • Barry and Iris together.
  • Wally and Linda together.
  • Iris II and Jai alive, preferably somewhere between 8 and 17 years old physically & mentally so they can actually be characters. Powers optional. (Yes, I’m one of the weirdos who likes the twins. And yes, I’ve read last month’s issue. I’m still holding out to see how the cliffhanger resolves.)
  • Wally still prominent as the Flash, not shoved off into a corner or renamed “Mr. Zip.”
  • Jay alive.
  • Bart alive, if possible. It’s okay if he’s in the 31st century. And I think he worked better as Impulse (though I think he could have worked as the Flash, if DC had really gotten behind the series and given it a chance instead of bailing at the first sign of audience discontent).

What would make me feel that Wally hasn’t gotten shafted?

  • Nothing that screams “demotion” or “second-rate” or “sidekick.” No “Thanks for filling in, the real Flash is back. Go back to the kids’ table.” (Obviously some of this is inherent in Barry taking over the spotlight and Wally getting the costume change, but let’s minimize it, okay?)
  • Put him in an outfit that doesn’t evoke his old Kid Flash costume.
  • Have him appear in more than just The Titans on a monthly basis. I spent most of a decade picking up various incarnations of that book solely out of hope that it would get better, and finally broke myself of the habit during Infinite Crisis. (Actually, I did like the first year and a half of Geoff Johns’ run, but other than that, I didn’t really care for more than the occasional storyline from Titans Hunt onward). Unless I start hearing that it’s fantastic, I’m not going to pick it up just because it’s the only place I can read new stories with Wally West.
  • Wally in Justice League of America and Barry in Justice League. This is such an obvious win-win solution, especially since Barry’s friends Hal, Ollie and Ray are all supposed to be in the latter book.

Also, assuming Barry takes over the main Flash title, I’d like to see Wally in a parallel title. Some ideas:

  • Pick up Barry’s series as The Flash with #351, and start Wally’s series up again with #248 and a title change.
  • Launch The Flash starring Barry with #1, and launch All-Flash with a rotating cast of Wally, Jay and others, also with #1.

So, there you have it, DC. One of many points you can add to your marketing data.

Linkage: Flash Week

The blog Once Upon a Geek has just wrapped up Flash Week, focusing on everyone’s favorite speedster.