Monthly Archives: December 2008

Flash: Rebirth — What We Know So Far

Flash: Rebirth The current series of The Flash ends with #247, arriving in stores tomorrow.

Flash: Rebirth will be a ~~6-issue~~ 5-issue miniseries written by Geoff Johns with art by Ethan Van Sciver, and is scheduled to start in April 2009. Ethan Van Sciver is drawing it, and has released one panel of preview art (see below).

Flash: Rebirth is centered on Barry Allen, but will “touch on all the other Flashes”—presumably meaning at least Jay, Wally and Bart.

Geoff Johns wants to “make [the Flash] mythology even bigger” in Flash: Rebirth, much like Green Lantern: Rebirth and Sinestro Corps War expanded the Green Lantern mythology. Johns says it “will be very science based, but will also blend in the quasi-science of the Speed Force”

Wally West will be getting a new costume designed by Ethan Van Sciver, and will still be called the Flash.

Update (Jan 19): The solicitation for the first issue is now available, confirming a release date of April 1 and the format: 5 oversized issues, 40 pages each for $3.99 (like Rogues’ Revenge).

Update (Feb 6): DC has released a 5-page preview through New York Comic-Con and Newsarama.

Update (Mar 27): The covers for issue #1 have been revealed.

A new Flash series will almost certainly launch after Flash: Rebirth finishes. DC hasn’t officially announced when, who will write it, who will draw it, or even which Flash will be the star. Geoff Johns has been very strongly hinted, and it’s almost guaranteed that Barry will headline the book. It seems unlikely that they’d go to all the effort to bring him back, do a high-profile mini-series, and relaunch the book, just to keep someone else as the focus.

I think that covers the major issues. There is, of course, lots of speculation. Here’s a quick link to all posts here about Flash: Rebirth.

This Week (Dec 24): Flash #247 (Final Issue)

This Wednesday marks the final issue of The Flash…for the third time in as many years. DC’s been making a real habit of canceling and relaunching.

The Scarlet Speedster will return in April 2009 with the 6-issue miniseries Flash: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.

The Flash #247

Written by Alan Burnett
Art by Carlo Barberi & Drew Geraci
Cover by Brian Stelfreeze

“This Was Your Life, Wally West” concludes! As Flash stands alone without his powers or family to support him, only one question remains – is this end of the Fastest Man Alive?

On sale December 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Other Stuff

The Flash may also appear in this week’s Trinity.

Also: Next week’s comics arrive on Friday instead of Wednesday. I guess they’re delayed one day due to Christmas, which pushes them onto New Year’s Day itself, which then pushes them to January 2.

Review: Flashforward

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This has nothing to do with The Flash except the title, but I’ve been a fan of Robert J. Sawyer’s novels for several years and figured this site’s audience might still appreciate the review.

Flashforward has been in the entertainment news quite a bit the last few weeks with casting for the TV series pilot (more about that later). Strangely enough for a story that’s all about time and the role of the observer, I started reading the novel the day before the first casting news hit.

The novel looks at what happens when, at the moment a scientific experiment begins, everyone on the planet blacks out for two minutes. For those two minutes, everyone sees through the eyes of their future selves, two decades down the line. The world is transformed: first by the millions of accidents caused as drivers, pilots and surgeons lost control of their vehicles and instruments, and second by the survivors’ knowledge of the future.

What follows is an exploration of the nature of time, destiny and free will. Is this a glimpse of the future as it will be, or as it may be? Did the experiment cause the event, or was it a coincidence? Is foreknowledge a blessing or a curse?

Dilemmas

Flashforward is at its best when it focuses on characters’ dilemmas. While it sounds like the TV series will feature a wider cast, the original novel centers on the personal lives of researchers at CERN, particularly the two scientists who designed the experiment: Lloyd Simcoe, a 45-year-old Canadian who is shocked to learn that his impending marriage is doomed to collapse, and Theo Procopides, a 27-year-old Greek who learns that he will be dead by the time the visions come to pass. Lloyd wrestles with his responsibility for the event and whether it’s worth going through with a marriage he knows won’t last. Theo is consumed with preemptively solving his own murder.

Continue reading →

Sales Still Trailing Off Through November

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ICV2’s November sales estimates are out, and The Flash is still dropping. (via The Beat). It’s getting downright depressing to post this slide month after month.

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%)
08/2008: Flash #243     —  29,647 (-  2.2%)
09/2008: Flash #244     —  29,180 (-  1.6%)
10/2008: Flash #245     —  28,085 (-  3.8%)
11/2008: Flash #246     —  26,746 (-  4.7%)

This month’s sales figure, on it’s own, would still be respectable, not far off from what the series was doing when Geoff Johns picked up the book in 2000. But factor in the steep drop, the fact that 3 years ago it was selling 50,000/month (Flash #225), and the fact that the last two relaunches spiked sales to 120,000 (Flash: TFMA #1) and 79,000 (All-Flash), and it’s clear that something has gone disastrously wrong. The Flash clearly can support a higher audience, but just hasn’t connected. (Of course, being a lame-duck series can’t help.)

Flash:Rebirth is pretty much guaranteed to produce another sales spike. The real question is: can DC hold onto the new readers this time?

This Week (Dec 17): Tangent & Trinity

This week’s Flash action is mostly uncertain or in reprints. Tangent: Superman’s Reign and Trinity have both regularly featured Wally West. Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold: The Batman Team-Ups Vol.3 appears to have a Barry Allen team-up. And there’ll be at least one man in a red suit racing around the world in the DCU Holiday Special 2008… Continue reading →

Trade Contents Confirmed: Mercury Falling and The Human Race