Monthly Archives: July 2009

Flash Meets the Blackhawks in Brave & the Bold #28

Newsarama has a preview of DC’s October solicitations, including Brave and the Bold #28. Justice Society of America, Titans, and the DCU Halloween Special 2009 also appear on the preview.

The Brave and the Bold #28

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art and cover by Jesus Saiz

J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) and Jesus Saiz (OMAC PROJECT) continue their series of unlikely pairings with a match that spans the decades! When an experiment meant to alter the speed of light goes awry, Barry Allen finds himself face-to-face with some surprising allies – World War II’s legendary Blackhawks! But Barry isn’t the Flash they know, and he’s not even the kind of hero they need to help fight history’s most grueling war! What must Barry sacrifice to serve his country – and his world?

On sale October 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Notes: I’m certainly intrigued to see JMS writing the Flash. I actually think he’d be a good fit for the character, either on a second Flash book or to follow Geoff Johns when he eventually leaves the main Flash book.

Also: this guarantees that we’ll have at least one Flash book in October, the month between the end of Flash: Rebirth (unless, as is likely, issues #5 and #6 are delayed in addition to #4) and the beginning of the three-issue Blackest Night: The Flash miniseries in November.

I suspect that the new Flash ongoing won’t launch in October, though even if it does, they will probably hold the solicitation for a few days so that they can announce it at Comic-Con.

Full solicitations go up on Monday at 5 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

Speed Reading: Interviews and Flashbacks

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Some Friday morning linkblogging…

Creator Interviews

Remember that interview with Carmine Infantino last week? The legendary artist was unhappy about how he was portrayed in the article, and has fired back a complaint at the interviewer. The Beat has the whole story.

CBR goes in-depth with Ethan Van Sciver, talking with the artist about everything from Cyberfrog and Impulse to Green Lantern: Rebirth, Blackest Night, and Flash: Rebirth.

The Half Hour Wasted podcast devotes its latest episode to Ethan Van Sciver. Despite the name, it’s actually over two hours long, and the artist talks about topics as varied as his recent trip to South Africa, balancing previews against spoilers (apparently none of the solicited covers for Flash: Rebirth issues 4-6 are the “real” cover — I’m guessing that the cover for #5 is mostly the same image, only with Professor Zoom instead of the Black Flash), redesigning Sinestro, and much, much more.

CBR presents the second monthly Geoff Johns Prime question-and-answer column.

Marc Guggenheim will attempt to re-imagine the campy Battlestar Galactica spin-off Galactica 1980 as a comic book.

Flashing Back

Comics in Crisis has Attack of the Cartoon Heroes part 2, including a Justice League clip.

Castle Vardulon presents: the amazing single-sentence continuity error from Flash v.1 #133.

Comics Should Be Good looks at DC’s June 1965 covers, including Flash v.1 #153, featuring Professor Zoom and the Mightiest Punch of All Time!

Silver Age Comics looks back on Neal Adams’ Brave and the Bold run, including his take on guest stars like the Flash.

A nifty series of superhero illustrations, with several nice Flash pieces in part 2.

Blog@Newsarama has an interesting idea: What if the JLA membership were chosen by DC’s sales rankings?

Thoughts on the Anaheim Comic-Con Announcement

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Ever since Wizard canceled Wizard World Los Angeles back in January, just two months before the event, they’ve claimed that the show was not actually canceled, but merely “postponed” (as opposed to WWTX, which was canceled outright). They can probably stop claiming that now that they’ve announced Anaheim Comic-Con, launching April 16-18, 2010.

In the six months since Wizard World canceled half their convention slate, the owners of New York Comic-Con have announced a new Chicago-area show, C2E2, launching next April 16-18 (does that date sound familiar?), and a group of former Wizard staffers have put together Long Beach Comic-Con, starting October 2-4, to take the place of the missing WWLA. Wizard, meanwhile, has renamed Wizard World Chicago as Chicago Comic-Con (its original name before they bought it a decade(?) ago), bought Big Apple Con, and bought Paradise Toronto Con. Or, to be more precise, Gareb Shamus, owner of Wizard, has bought them.

Immediately obvious:

Anaheim Comic Con replaces Wizard World Los Angeles on the WW slate.
Shamus is downplaying the Wizard World brand name for the convention circuit.
Whether intentional or not, Anaheim Comic Con is scheduled to maximize damage to their primary Chicago competitor.

Making some Magic

Six months ago it looked like the LA/Orange County area wouldn’t have any big conventions for a while (aside from being 2-3 hours from San Diego). Now there are two. The timing (April) is far enough from both San Diego (July) and Long Beach (October) that it won’t feel like overkill to hit all three. It’s even far enough from WonderCon (usually February or Early March) that it might be worth hitting both.

And I did have fun at WWLA last year and the year before.

And yet… Continue reading →

Quick Thoughts: Wednesday Comics #2

6:18:35 PM: Batman’s story is getting more intriguing

6:19:21 PM: Kamandi makes me want to re-read Tellos.

6:20:35 PM: I love the giant splash page on Metamorpho! (And the joke about a subscription to Element Dog!)

6:23:15 PM: That’s an awful lot of typos in Teen Titans for a one page story.

6:25:43 PM: It must suck to have only one soldier to defend your capital city.

6:29:04 PM: When I think “Wonder Woman,” I always think of a talking, glowing fish for a sidekick. (Okay, maybe not.)

6:33:27 PM: Whoa, awkward moment for Barry, Iris and Barry!

6:34:26 PM: The different coloring techniques stand out more this week, too.

6:35:49 PM: I can see a paradox brewin’, though.

6:36:57 PM: Hah! “Stately Blood Manor.”

6:41:47 PM: The Demon and the Cat. Yes, Demon and the Cat. One is a burglar, the other’s a prat.

6:45:55 PM: Hey, kids! Learn Hawkman’s secret sign language! You too can join the Junior JSA!

Geoff Johns: Flash News Coming Soon

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With that single sentence on Comic Bloc, Flash: Rebirth writer Geoff Johns touched off a flood of speculation. DC has been very quiet about the post-Rebirth plans for the scarlet speedster, though it seems obvious they plan at least one new ongoing series (if not more).

Of course, Comic-Con International is next week, and chances are excellent that the news will be announced at next Friday’s DC Nation panel. It was at that panel last year that DC announced Flash: Rebirth in an almost offhand way: Dan Didio introduced Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver as working on “Barry Allen: Rebirth.”

Speculation at Comic Bloc has turned to an unspecified Geoff Johns/Gary Frank project coming up after Superman: Secret Origin and to a mysterious “Top Secret Forum” that has just appeared in the Geoff Johns section of the site. The forum is likely related to something else, as Comic Bloc has a history of combining related topics: The Flash topic was retitled as Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern is now Blackest Night/Green Lantern, and so on.

My guess: At DC Nation, Dan Didio will announce the creative team and start date for the new Flash ongoing with Barry Allen and for the Flash: Blackest Night miniseries. It would be great if they’re planning a second ongoing, but even if they are, I don’t think we’ll get one right away. More likely a miniseries showcasing Wally West, or a second feature featuring Bart Allen as Kid Flash.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I plan to attend the DC Nation panel next week, and will probably be live-tweeting it (or at least the Flash-relevant bits) at @SpeedForceOrg. If all goes well, those posts should also get imported to a live blog entry here on Speed Force.

Comic-Con Trolley Tips

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The trolley is a good way to get around Downtown San Diego. Here are some tips for making the most of it during Comic-Con International:

Trolley maps and schedules are on ~~sdcommute.com and~~ sdmts.com. Here’s a direct link to the trolley map.
You can get a 4-day pass online at ~~sdcommute.com~~. They mail it, so it’s probably too late for this year, but next time…
There are 2 trolley stops near the convention center: Convention Center and Gaslamp Quarter.
Downtown trolleys run every 15 min/day, 30 min/evening, until around midnight (later on weekends)
Trolleys are crowded, especially on Fri and Sat, so plan for at least 30 min delay.
MTS has posted the special event trolley schedule for the con (via @SD_Comic_Con)

Check out my full list of Tips for Comic-Con here at Speed Force!