Immediately after the conclusion of Flash: Rebirth, December sees the launch of he three-issue Blackest Night: The Flash miniseries. There’s also a new set of Uni-Formz toys featuring the Flash, the Reverse-Flash, and Black Flash.
Blackest Night: The Flash #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Scott Kolins
Variant cover by Francis Manapul
The Flashes of Two Cities – Barry Allen and Wally West – battle the undead Rogues. Will the legendary speedsters be able to handle the Black Lantern Rogues’ revenge?
Plus, witness the resurrection of Barry’s greatest enemy, the Reverse Flash in this hyper-speed miniseries event reuniting the fan-favorite Flash creative team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins!
This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Scott Kolins), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Francis Manapul).
On sale December 2 – 1 of 3 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Notes: Francis Manapul, of course, was recently announced as the artist on the new, ongoing Flash series. And may I say I like the description of Barry and Wally as the “Flashes of Two Cities.”
Team books and more after the cut.
Event Books
Blackest Night #6
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert
Variant cover by Rodolfo Migliari
Sketch variant cover by Ivan Reis
The secrets of Nekron are revealed as darkness consumes the DC Universe.
Everything else: TOP SECRET.
This issue will ship with three covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Rodolfo Migliari). For every 100 copies of the Standard Edition, retailers may order one copy of the Sketch Variant Edition (with a cover by Ivan Reis).
On sale December 23 • 6 of 8 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Blackest Night: JSA #1
Written by James Robinson
Art by Eddy Barrows & Ruy José
Cover by Eddy Barrows
Variant cover by Gene Ha
The mystery men of yesterday are back and they seek the hearts of their new counterparts! It’s Mr. Terrific vs. Mr. Terrific, Dr. Midnite vs. Dr. Midnite, Sand vs Wesley Dodds! Can the new generation of heroes survive the rise of the Black Lantern JSA? Find out in this all-new miniseries from original JSA co-writer James Robinson and rising star artist Eddy Barrows (BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN)!
This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Eddy Barrows), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Gene Ha).
On sale December 23 • 1 of 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
DC Holiday Special 2009 #1
Written by Scott Kolins, Sterling Gates, Amy Wolfram, Fred Van Lente, Jay Faerber, Beau Smith, David Tischman, Jay Torres and others
Art by Scott Kolins, Jeff Lemire, Daniel Liester and others
Cover by Dustin Nguyen
It’s that time of year! You can’t miss your favorite characters bringing good cheer to all. Even Deadman and B’wana Beast find ways to celebrate the spirit of the season!
ONE-SHOT • On sale December 9 • 80 pg, FC, $5.99 US
Notes: Anyone else find it odd that comics companies regularly slap a “#1” on books that are clearly never going to have a #2? They aren’t going to do a DC Holiday Special 2009 #2. They probably will do a DC Holiday Special 2010 #1.
Team Books
Justice Society of America #34
Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Travis Moore & Dan Green
Cover by Jesus Merino
The Justice Society struggles to pick up the pieces after the team’s devastating break up! Regrouping at a new, temporary home base, the smaller team reflects on the recent infiltration of their ranks and how they can protect themselves from another such attack in the future! And why is the new Dr. Fate acting so weird?
On sale December 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Note: The team splits into two this month, with the rest of the group moving to JSA All-Stars. Based on the covers, it looks like Jay Garrick will be staying in Justice Society of America. Also, this looks like half of a diptych, but there’s no sign of a variant. Maybe next issue shows the over half? Or maybe it’s a wraparound? Update: DC has posted a sketch of the full image. The other half will be the cover of the following issue.
Titans #20
Written by Mike Johnson
Art by Angel Unzueta & Wayne Faucher
Cover by Angel Unzueta
Spotlight on Donna Troy! What happens when a young twenty-something woman feels like she grew up too fast and deprived herself of a twenty-something kind of life? As Donna ponders this, the Fearsome Five continue their Titans revenge streak. They picked the wrong time to do it…
On sale December 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Super Friends #22
Written by Sholly Fisch
Art by Dario Brizuela
Cover by J. Bone
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the Super Friends want to grant everyone’s holiday wishes! But the fiendish Mr. Memory may take away even their festive thoughts and leave no joy in the world!
On sale December 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.50 US
Tiny Titans #23
Written by Art Baltazar & Franco
Art and cover by Art Baltazar
Wayne Manor has been overrun! There are penguins in the tub and bunnies in the bedroom, penguins in the freezer and bunnies in the fridge, penguins and bunnies everywhere – they’ve even driven the bats out of the Batcave! Poor Robin is caught in the middle of the bunny-penguin turf war and has to figure out how everyone can live together peacefully! (PS. Did we mention the penguins and bunnies?)
On sale December 16 • 32 pg, FC, $2.50 US
Previously Announced Collections for December
JLA Year One TP (New Printing)
Written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
Art by Barry Kitson & Michael Bair
Cover by Barry Kitson
The definitive tale of the JLA’s formation is back in a new printing of the massive book starring The Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman. Collecting the entire, original twelve-issue miniseries!
On sale December 9 · 320 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Teen Titans: Deathtrap TP
Written by Sean McKeever and Marv Wolfman
Art by Fernando Dagnino, Joe Bennett, Rick Leonardi and others
Cover by Andrew Robinson
The Teen Titans join forces with The Titans and The Vigilante in this new title collecting the “Deathtrap” storyline from TEEN TITANS ANNUAL 2009, TITANS #12 and 13, TEEN TITANS #70 and VIGILANTE #5 and 6.
On sale December 2 · 192 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Upcoming Collections and Merchandise (January and Beyond)
Justice League of America: Sanctuary TP
Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Alan Burnett
Art by Ed Benes, Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver and others
Cover by Ed Benes
The Justice League face off with The Suicide Squad when a cabal of Super-Villains turn themselves over to the Super Heroes for protection – much to the chagrin of Amanda Waller and her super-team. This volume collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17-21 and features a tale drawn by THE FLASH: REBIRTH artist Ethan Van Sciver!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 20 • 128 pg, FC, $14.99 U
Notes: That tale drawn by EVS would be the excellent Flash (Wally West)/Wonder Woman team-up from Justice League of America #20.
Justice Society of America: Strange Adventures TP
Written by Kevin J. Anderson
Art by Barry Kitson and Gary Erskine
Cover by John Watson
Johnny Thunder wants to become a big-time writer by chronicling the adventures of the JSA. But when a deadly villain called Lord Dynamo appears with a crew of deadly robot zombies, it’s up to Johnny and his mentor, real-life science fiction writer Jack Williamson, to help the rest of the JSA save the day! Collecting the 2004 six-issue miniseries for the first time!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 27 • 200 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Titans: Old Friends TP
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Ian Churchill, Joe Benitez and Julian Lopez
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
The former teen heroes known as the Teen Titans are all grown up and under siege in this trade paperback collecting TITANS #1-6 as well as the hard-to-find one-shot TEEN TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 6 • 200 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Uni-Formz: The Flash
The Flash is the fourth character to join the stylized vinyl UNI-FORMZ line, inspired by the designer toy phenomenon!
These unique versions of The Flash and related characters are must-haves for both collectors of contemporary toy design and fans of the Scarlet Speedster.
Three characters from The Flash’s life are available: the classic version of The Flash, dressed in his traditional red uniform; the villain Zoom, dressed in his traditional yellow uniform; and Black Flash, dressed, of course, in a black uniform.
Don’t miss out! These toys are extremely limited and once they are sold out, DC Direct will not produce them again!
In keeping with the tradition of designer toys, rarity of certain incarnations are the norm. The Flash variants (Zoom and Black Flash) will be produced in far lower quantities.
These limited-edition vinyl UNI-FORMZ The Flash figures each feature 12 points of articulation, stand approximately 8” tall and are packaged in a deluxe 4-color window box.
On sale May 26, 2010 · Vinyl · PI
Jay was in JSA: Strange Adventures, though I can’t remember how large a role he played. Also, are those Wally’s kids on the cover of the Christmas Special?
This is the first I’ve heard of Uni-formz toys but I’d like to get them for my godson. I don’t see a price listed though, and I doubt we’ll get them here. May have to see if I can order them online at some point.
Can’t wait for those uni-formz to come out. I’ve been waiting for them to make Flash ones for a while. Can’t wait.
I wonder when we’ll see the Manapul variant cover? Also, I’ll have to look up those Uni-Formz toys — I’m not familiar with them.
I’d never heard of the toys either, but I’m impressed that they made the effort to do the Black Flash. Though I suppose all three are probably just the same figure painted differently.
They’ve done them so far for Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern IIRC. You’re right about them all being the same figure painted differently and I also believe they are crazy expensive…