It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a year since I launched Speed Force!

Flash in Limbo

June 2008 was a very uncertain time for Flash fans.

Over the previous two years, DC had changed Flashes twice and creative teams four times. Sharp sales spikes with each relaunch were followed by sharp drops as readers rejected each new direction. Bart Allen was dead. Wally West‘s revived series, already on its second writer and artist, continued to shed readers at an alarming rate.

It had become clear that the Infinite Crisis relaunch had completely derailed the book.

And then there was Barry Allen. DC had announced his return in April when they released DC Universe #0 (which very heavily hints that it’s narrated by Barry Allen)…but after mearly two months, he hadn’t actually appeared on-panel anywhere. Fans weren’t even sure they believed DC when they said he was back for good.

Still, with sales continuing to drop and the apparent return of an earlier Flash, DC was obviously planning another relaunch. It was just a question of when the hammer would fall, and who would wield it.

There were two bright spots:

• Barry Allen’s fans knew he was returning…sometime.
• Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge was coming up, reuniting the fan-favorite team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins.

Jumping Into the Deep End

So what on Earth-Prime made me think that was a good time to launch a blog about the Flash?

Well, the idea had been kicking around in my head for a few months, just as a better place to post news. If I’d been on Twitter at the time, I might have just stuck with that. I had the domain already. I’d picked it up the previous year when I noticed it was available, and hadn’t figured out what to do with it yet.

The trigger was reading about the plans to release a Morrison/Millar Flash collection (or, rather, collections as it’s turned out). I installed a new copy of WordPress on a Sunday afternoon, picked a theme, wrote an intro post and then posted the news.

Running Commentary

Over the past year I’ve made more than 500 posts here. I’ve collected news (and on occasion broken it), reviewed more than a dozen comics, written opinion pieces and the occasional rant, promoted a book, reported on two conventions, done a couple of guest posts and participated in a group April Fool’s joke. I’ve gotten to know (virtually) a bunch of commenters and bloggers, some of whom I’d read or corresponded with before, many of them new. I’ve expanded the site onto Twitter and Facebook.

Meanwhile, as DC announced a new focus on the Flash in Flash: Rebirth, other people started launching Flash websites: Crimson Lightning returned from hiatus. Speedster Site launched a dedicated Flash forum. Tom vs. JLA transformed itself into Tom vs. the Flash, reviewing old Silver-Age Flash comics. The Flash-Back Podcast launched with an eye toward covering Flash: Rebirth, and there’s even a set of Flash: Rebirth Annotations.

It’s been a heck of a year, even if it has kept me really busy, between writing here and keeping up with everyone else. Thanks to all the readers, commenters, linkers, and fellow bloggers out there!