Monthly Archives: June 2009

EVS on the Future of the Flash

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Speedster Site has a round-up of hints from Ethan Van Sciver about the near future of the Flash franchise. In particular:

  • EVS will not do the art for the Blackest Night: Flash miniseries.
  • The Flash outfit seen on an upcoming cover for The Last Days of Animal Man is not related to EVS’ redesign of Wally’s costume.
  • A Flash monthly announcement is coming soon!

No earth-shattering surprises, but it’s always good to have confirmation. I figured DC wouldn’t have an Animal Man mini upstage the unveiling of Wally’s new Flash costume. He also drops hints about his own plans post-Flash: Rebirth

I’m looking forward to the announcement on the Flash monthly series. It’s a safe bet that Geoff Johns will be writing it, but we still don’t know whether it’s starting immediately after Flash: Rebirth or waiting until after Blackest Night finishes. And we don’t know who’ll take on the art. Though Ethan Van Sciver did mention in his interview with Word Balloon a while back that he was making an effort to learn to be a monthly artist, and one of the key conditions for getting that sixth issue of Flash: Rebirth was that he make his deadlines — which he apparently did — so it’s certainly possible the monthly could launch with the classic Johns/Van Sciver team.

Speed Reading: Resurrection Poll, Happy, Dorky, Launch Sales and Photos

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I’m saving up links to reviews of Flash: Rebirth #3, and I’ll post them in a few days. For now, here are some other Flash-related items I’ve stumbled across lately.

Crimson Lightning has the results from the latest poll, and respondents overwhelmingly wanted to see Max Mercury return. The next poll will be up soon, but first, they want your Flash casting ideas in the event of a Flash movie!

The Absorbascon‘s latest things that made me happy includes a couple of items from Flash: Rebirth #3.

4thletter! ponders Red Robin as compared to the days of Young Justice: “Remember when Tim Drake was a skinny little dork? And Superboy was even skinnier and dorkier? And Wonder Girl and Impulse were the skinniest and dorkiest of all? And they hung out together having skinny, dorky adventures?”

ComicsAlliance talks about rooting against the big guy in Flash: Rebirth #3.

The Beat looks at DC’s April sales, putting the success of Flash: Rebirth #1 (102K) in context with the last two Flash relaunches: Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (120K) and All-Flash #1 (98K), noting that “neither one of them had the benefit of the company’s most popular creator, as Rebirth arguably does.”

Every time I compare two photos of the same scene, one taken with a flash and one without, I always think of this joke. The image has been floating around long enough that I don’t know who made it.

Full Review: Flash: Rebirth #3 — “Rearview Mirrors”

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Flash: Rebirth #3

Well, the good news is that this issue does read better the second time through. I’ve re-read Flash: Rebirth #1 and #2, then read #3 again. Oddly enough, I liked the first two issues better the first time through than the second, and like this one better the second time through than the first read.

The bad news is that the cliffhanger still leaves me cold.

Now it could just be relaunch fatigue. The excitement of “Geoff Johns is back! With Ethan Van Sciver!” has worn off by now, and in a sense the actual relaunch isn’t going to be for another four months or more. Flash: Rebirth isn’t so much a new direction as it is the process of changing course. It’s not the new house, it’s the act of remodeling. And you know, it would be nice to actually move into that house instead of watch the contractors working on it.

But the main purpose of Flash: Rebirth is to convince people that the new direction is worth their time. People are asking, “Why should I get involved with a series that DC has relaunched 3 times in the last 3 years? Why should I let myself get attached to this new direction when they change it every 6 months? Why should I let myself get attached to the main character when they replace him every year?” By going back to Barry Allen, the one character whose resurrection was not an option for more than 20 years, they’re making a commitment: “This time, we really mean it!” In theory, that should clear away the baggage the Flash has accumulated over the last 3 years and leave it on the same level as any other comics launch.

Which still leaves hooking the readers on the Flash, and hooking them on Barry Allen.

I don’t think I can really go into the rest of the issue without spoilers, so… you’ve been warned! Continue reading →

Quick Review: Flash: Rebirth #3 First Impressions

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Flash: Rebirth #3

Full review coming later, but here are my initial thoughts on Flash: Rebirth #3.

It was fast — very fast. If Geoff Johns wanted to write a Flash book about speed, he’s succeeded. The Superman/Flash race worked well and grew organically out of the story. I liked Barry’s reactions to Wally, Jay and Bart. Not to mention seeing certain other speedsters again.

But the reveal of the villain? Too predictable. Too easy. It was the safe choice, like “killing” characters who are already dead. Too much “Let’s move the Flash franchise forward into the 1970s!” It reminded me of those Star Wars novels in the 1990s where every time you turned around they introduced yet another super-weapon, because what’s Star Wars without a Death Star? Or a Sun Crusher? Or a Galaxy Gun?

I’ve been willing to give Geoff Johns the benefit of the doubt up until now, based on his run on Wally’s series and buoyed by the excitement of getting a top-tier creative team on the book. Rather than convincing me of why Barry needs to be back, it’s making me wonder why I should care.

We’re at the halfway mark. I should be more enthusiastic than when I started, but instead I’m less. Here’s hoping it reads better on a second pass, and that it picks up over the back half of the story.

UPDATE: Full review is up.

See also:

Archive: 5 Possible Candidates for The Flash: Rebirth Mystery Villain

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Originally published as a guest post on The Weekly Crisis, on June 9, 2009. Imported here after that site shut down.

The biggest question in Flash: Rebirth so far — after “What’s up with Barry’ Allens parents?” and “How the heck did Barry come back, anyway?” — is “Who is the mystery villain?”

The very first scene in issue one is a break-in at a Central City crime lab: an unseen assailant kills the CSIs and re-creates the lightning-and-chemical accident that transformed Barry Allen into the Flash. In his internal monologue, he “speaks” as if he knows Barry Allen and even claims to have brought Barry back from the dead — and that it was the worst thing he could have done to him. It’s not likely that Geoff Johns is introducing an entirely new character. So, who might he be?

What we know for sure: He’s a man, has white hair, and carries a staff tipped with a lightning-bolt-shaped blade at each end. In short, not much. Also worth noting, Barry has picked up a new, traumatic backstory, which Geoff Johns has hinted is part of a crime committed against the Flash — in short, deliberate manipulation of history. One page of the preview for issue #3 also suggests a time traveler may be involved.

There’s been a lot of discussion on various message boards and around the web about the possible candidates and I’m sure everyone’s been wondering just who the mystery villain is. As such, I’ve put together my own list of candidates and reasons why each makes sense. Hit the jump to find out who made my short list of suspects!

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Speed Reading: Mystery Villain, Anticipation, iPhone Comics, and More

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Some quick linkblogging for the night before Flash: Rebirth #3 hits the stands.

Flash: Rebirth…

Mystery VillainFirst, I’ve got a guest post up at The Weekly Crisis detailing 5 Possible Candidates for The Flash: Rebirth‘s Mystery Villain.

‘Twas the Night Before Wednesday’s J. Caleb Mozzocco (Blog@Newsarama) is more enthused about the collected edition of Flash: The Human Race with “Huge Silver Age cosmic action and huge stakes” than about Flash: Rebirth #3, “in which your dad’s Flash races Superman.”

Can’t Wait for Wednesday’s JK Parkin (Robot 6), on the other hand, is solidly on board. “I wasn’t wild about the first issue, but the second one really sucked me in. This issue features the return of a classic: Superman racing The Flash.”

Update: I noticed a post from 2007 on my other blog is getting more attention than usual, probably because it links Barry Allen and the Black Flash.

…And Beyond

You will soon be able to read Perhapanauts and Tellos on the iPhone. The two creator-owned series have strong Impulse connections. Tellos is a fantasy adventure story created by Impulse writer Todd Dezago and Flash artist Mike Wieringo — Bart Allen’s co-creator. Perhapanauts an action/horror/comedy created by Dezago and Impulse artist Craig Rousseau. I highly recommend both series.

DC Collector posts a sketch of a Jay Garrick figurine from the Eaglemoss DC Super-Hero Collection. It makes me wish I lived in the UK.

Silver Age Comics profiles Julius Schwartz, legendary editor of DC’s Silver Age who oversaw the 1956 revamp of the Flash.

Cartoon Flophouse doesn’t shy away from strong opinions in 5 DC Comics Characters Which Would Translate Better to Film Than Wonder Woman or The Flash.

A bit off-topic, Watch This Space wants to know which of several serialized stories on the blog should not return.