Monthly Archives: June 2009

How Long is Flash: Rebirth, Anyway?

Wally’s New Costume Unveiling Announced

Yesterday, Ethan Van Sciver answered a question at Comic Bloc about when we’d finally see Wally West’s new costume — the one that should make it easier to tell the difference between Wally West and Barry Allen at a glance. The new costume will debut in Flash: Rebirth #6.

Yeah, in the grand scheme of things it’s a trivial matter, but Wally’s fans do care about the issue. It’ll be nice not to feel like our favorite Flash is getting thrown under the metaphorical bus to make way for the “real” Flash.

Update November 18: Wally’s costume has in fact been revealed in Flash: Rebirth #5. If you want to see it, head over to get spoiled!.

This Week (June 10): Rebirth, Human Race, and More!

It’s a big Flash week, with the third issue of the now-six-part Flash: Rebirth, a new trade paperback collecting the second half of the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run from the late 1990s, the Final Crisis hardcover, and various team books.

The Flash: Rebirth #3

Written 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). 5-page preview.

3 of 5 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Notes: I’ve mentioned before that 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.

Flash: The Human Race TP

Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
Art by Mike Parobeck, Paul Ryan, Pop Mhan, Steve Lightle and others
Cover by Steve Lightle

Grant Morrison and Mark Millar’s run with the Fastest Man Alive continues here! Collects The Flash #136-141 as well as a story from Secret Origins #50.

160 pg, FC, $14.99 US

Note: The story from Secret Origins #50 is almost certainly Grant Morrison’s retelling of “Flash of Two Worlds.” Pre-order from Amazon or read about it here.

Team books and more after the cut: Continue reading →

Quick Thoughts: Twitter Through 2009-06-07

Aha: @richjohnston’s new site, Bleeding Cool is up! And I won’t have time to do more than skim it today…
Marc Guggenheim’s post-alien-invasion “Resurrection” launches vol.2. Been meaning to pick up the v1 trade since FCBD
Had big writing plans tonight. Ended up organizing last ~12 months of comics instead.
If @boomstudios says so, @MarkWaid must really be Mark Waid
There’s a Zombie On Your Lawn hilarious music video. And the game is total crack (in a good way)
Woo Hoo! Planetary to wrap in October!
OK, DNS change submitted. If anyone has trouble loading Speed Force in the next few days, please let me know.
San Diego Convention Center expansion plans c/o the Beat.
Flash: Rebirth #1 – 3rd printing on Diamond’s schedule for next week
Heh: Comic Critics on the state of superhero comics.
Back from San Diego. Visiting in June feels like scouting for Comic-Con.
CSBG highlights another Cool Comic Book moment from The Return of Barry Allen

Speed Reading: Lightning Blades, Bronze Age, Variant Covers and More

2 Replies

RikDad identifies a precedent for those lightning-bolt blades seen in Flash: Rebirth…way back in the Golden Age.

Comic Bronze Age tries to identify…What IS the Bronze Age of Comics? Considering that many fans today are of the opinion that the Silver Age lasted through 1985, it’s a good question.

The podcast Views From the Longbox has their second installment of Views from the Speed Force, focusing on Flash: Rebirth #2.

Newsarama asks retailers, do variant covers sell more books? Personally, when a comic has alternate covers that are distributed equally (like they’ve done with the Final Crisis books) I’ll just pick the one I like better. When the variant is rare, like the 1-in-25 alternate covers they’re doing for Flash: Rebirth, I usually won’t bother. Though I am going to try to pick up the alternate cover for #3, which is 100% more interesting than the standard cover.

Speaking of variant covers, it looks like I forgot to link to the site updates I did last weekend: I updated the collections of variant covers and cover homages to include current and upcoming Flash: Rebirth covers. Still need to work through an email backlog of homages, though.

Crimson Lightning is back from a three-week hiatus with new posts.

Mania’s Top 20 writers of all time includes long-term Flash writers Mark Waid, Geoff Johns and Gardner Fox.

Speaking of foxes, and still somewhat relevant to this blog’s topic, Firefox is holding a video contest called “Show Us Your Speed“ to promote the upcoming Firefox 3.5 release. Submit a 30-second video of your fastest talent to www.fastestfirefox.com.

This Week (June 3): Superman/Batman?

Light week…especially since I’m not 100% certain the Flash shows up in the “Lil JLA” story!

Superman/Batman: Finest Worlds

Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson; Art by Ed Benes, Rafael Albuquerque,
Rags Morales and John Dell; Cover by Rags Morales

Collecting three titanic tales from SUPERMAN/BATMAN #50-56! First up, it’s the untold story of how Superman’s dad and Batman’s father had a fateful meeting many years ago! Then, the Li’I League is on the scene as miniature versions of the JLA find their way into the DCU! It’s up to Superman, Batman and their peers to keep the tykes from destroying everything in their path. And in the third story, The Man of Steel’s powers find a new home in the body of The Dark Knight. Now Batman possesses incredible Kryptonian abilities while Superman stands powerless. How will they adjust physically and psychologically to these bizarre changes? And will Batman’s new absolute powers corrupt him absolutely?

* 192pg.
* Hardcover
* $19.99 US