Monthly Archives: March 2009

This Week (March 25): Archives, Justice League

Just one week to Flash: Rebirth

The Flash Archives Vol.5

Flash Archives vol.5Written by John Broome and Gardner Fox
Art by Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella and Murphy Anderson
Cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella

The Fastest Man Alive takes on some of his greatest foes in this new Archive, including Captain Cold, Abra-Kadabra, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Heat Wave and The Reverse Flash! Collecting The Flash #133–#141 from 1962–1963.

248 pg, FC, $49.99 US.

Notes: See a write-up of the contents. Also: Amazon only wants $31.50 for pre-orders.

Justice League of America #31

Justice League of America #31Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Ed Benes & Sandra Hope
Cover by Ed Benes

Death, destruction and betrayal! The fallout from Final Crisis leaves the Justice League of America on the brink of dissolution. Black Canary faces her greatest test as she tries to hold her devastated team together. Will those who remain be enough to save the world?

32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The Brave and the Bold Vol.3: Demons and Dragons (HC)

Written by Mark Waid and Alan Brennert
Art by Scott Kolins, Jerry Ordway, Jim Aparo, Humberto Ramos, Oscar Jimenez and others
Cover by Scott Kolins

Superstar writer Mark Waid rounds out his run on The Brave and the Bold with this new hardcover! Collecting The Brave and the Bold #13-16 along with extra tales including The Brave and the Bold (Vol. 1) #181, The Flash (Vol.2) #107 and Impulse #17!

168 pg, FC, $24.99 US

Notes: This includes the Jay Garrick/Batman team-up against the Samuroids from The Brave and the Bold #13. Interesting choices for the additional stories. Flash #107 was an “Underworld Unleashed” tie-in that had Wally West teaming up with Captain Marvel against the Shadow Thief. Impulse #17 was a fun team-up with Zatanna.

Flash Comics For June 2009

DC’s June solicitations are up at Newsarama and elsewhere.

The Flash: Rebirth #3

Flash: Rebirth #3Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver

At last, the answer to the question that’s plagued DC fans for decades: Who’s faster, Superman or The Flash? Call your bookie and bet the farm, because you’ve never seen a run like this – and if speedsters keep dying at the pace they’re going, you might never see another one again!

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

On sale June 10 • 3 of 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Notes: As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the question of who’s faster has been answered many times over. It’s always close, and if there’s a winner, it’s always the Flash.

Team books, guest spots, collections and more after the cut. Continue reading

How Many Speedsters?

With the promos suggesting that Flash: Rebirth will see speedsters killed at an alarming rate, the question naturally arises: How many speedsters are there to kill?

Assuming we’re looking only at modern-day characters in the mainstream DC Universe, and not bringing in anyone from the future or alternate realities, we have…

Major Players:

  • Flash: Jay Garrick – the original. And the only major Flash who has not already “died” at some point.
  • Flash: Barry Allen – not likely to die, given that DC is building a major relaunch around him.
  • Flash: Wally West – depends on whether you believe DC about how he’ll have a major part in the DC Universe over the next year.
  • Kid Flash: Bart Allen – They just brought him back. It would be silly to kill him off again this soon. Not that I’d put it past DC…
  • Liberty Belle/Jesse Quick (Jesse Chambers) – she’s focusing on the Liberty Belle legacy these days, plus it would be bad form to kill off the only major female speedster. Again, not that I’d put it past DC…
  • Max Mercury – Rival’s spirit has taken possession of his body, so he’s not dead…though his spirit seems to be hanging around the Speed Force last we looked.

Likely Possibilities for Dead Speedsters:

  • The Rival – last seen in possession of Max’s body
  • Savitar – technically already dead, but only in the sense that Barry was.
  • Blue TrinityChristina is alive as of Salvation Run, and the other two members are unaccounted for.
  • Flash: John Fox – technically a future Flash, he’s visited the present day enough that he would make an impression on long-term readers.
  • Kapitalist Kouriers – Cassiopeia’s death kicked off Dead Heat. Presumably the other two members are still around.
  • Zoom II – just depowered in Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge
  • Mas y Menos – appeared in the DCU during 52 and haven’t been used much
  • Captain Boomerang, Jr. – can manage limited super-speed
  • Baroness Blitzkrieg – villain introduced in the Geoff Johns-penned Justice Society of America

Long Shots:

  • Speed Demon – hasn’t had his powers in years, and likes it that way
  • Professor Zoom – dead, but with Barry returning and Zoom II being de-powered, it wouldn’t surprise me to see another dead character return to life – though killing him again right away seems unlikely.
  • Blitzen (Shadow Cabinet) – with the Milestone characters being incorporated into the DCU, she’s presumably on the table…but it wouldn’t make sense to kill someone off immediately after getting the rights to the character.
  • Blur – genetically engineered Martian/human hybrid, seen briefly in the Son of Vulcan miniseries
  • Jay Garrick clone created by the Brotherhood of Evil in Outsiders; probably degenerated by now
  • Edit: Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash of the Super Young Team – introduced in Final Crisis, not only is he a new character, but his team will be appearing in Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance at the same time as Flash: Rebirth.
  • Anyone from Doralla Kon’s dimension, which runs at a different speed than Earth’s universe.  She hasn’t appeared since 1965, but odd ideas from the Silver Age have been cropping up quite a bit in DC comics lately.

Wow…there are more speedsters in the DCU than I thought.

Quick Thoughts: Twitter Through 2009-03-22 (including Hotel Madness)

  • Saw Watchmen. Better than expected. Spectacular, detailed, but unsubtle and gored-up. Best music cue: “Everybody Wants To Rule the World”
  • OK, I am officially sick of the phrase, “What recession?”
  • Read Mysterius the Unfathomable #1-2. Annoyed at first that the only skeptic is portrayed as a total a-hole. OTOH, so is everyone else.
  • San Diego Comic-Con hotel list and prices are up. Rooms go on sale Thursday morning.
  • 24 hours to go until SDCC hotel madness…after which I probably WILL want to be sedated.
  • Retweeting @SpeedsterSite: iFanboy names Wally as one of the most underused characters in the DCU.
  • Countdown: 14 days to Flash: Rebirth
  • Pics of Flash Jay Garrick on Friday’s Batman: Brave and the Bold

Special Report: Comic-Con International Hotel Day

  • ComicCon hotel prep: Firefox+Win for compatibility, desktop in case wifi goes out, other sites up in Chrome so crash won’t take out Fx.
  • ComicCon Hotel Rush: filled with antici…
  • …pation.
  • ComicCon: In the Waiting Room!
  • “We’re sorry. All circuits are busy now.” Over and over and over and over.
  • Why the hell am I live-tweeting Comic-Con Hotel Reservations?
  • OK, now I know that it takes 20 minutes for me to start getting annoyed with the #comiccon reservation line.
  • Every once in a while I get a 2nd or even 3rd ring before comiccon hotel line goes to “all circuits are busy now” msg. false hope…
  • I hope the “waiting room” page for comiccon hotels is actually doing something and not just sitting there.
  • OK, the comiccon hotel waiting room page DOES hit the network every once in a while. It must be doing SOMETHING.
  • Last two years I got through the ComicCon hotel reservations by 10:04. It’s 10:05 and I’m still in the “waiting room.”
  • On the plus side I’m starting to see “success!” posts from other people on Twitter.
  • Swivel chair picked this time to fall apart. Reassembled. Still waiting in comiccon hotel queue.
  • Phone connected!
  • Got through comiccon hotel process on phone. Left top 5 choices, name addr & phone # and they’ll call back for credit card info. *whew!*
  • *sigh* ComicCon hotel reservation has my name & addr wrong. Can’t fix online b/c they don’t have the CC yet, call center closed for the day

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Flash: Rebirth #3 Solicit

Newsarama has a preview of DC’s June Solicitations, featuring The Flash: Rebirth #3.

The Flash: Rebirth #3

Flash: Rebirth #3Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver

At last, the answer to the question that’s plagued DC fans for decades: Who’s faster, Superman or The Flash? Call your bookie and bet the farm, because you’ve never seen a run like this – and if speedsters keep dying at the pace they’re going, you might never see another one again!

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

On sale June 10 • 3 of 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Comment #1. That question of who’s faster? It’s been answered many times over. It’s always close, and if there’s a winner, it’s always the Flash.

Comment #2. Nothing says “Bringing back Flash from the dead” like “Killing off a bunch of Flashes.” I swear DC is trying to kill my interest in this book a little more every time they release new information about it.