DC’s full April 2010 solicitations won’t go up for a few more hours, but they’ve posted the Brightest Day books at the Source…including the first issue of the new ongoing Flash series.
The Flash #1
- On sale APRIL 14
- 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US
- Written by GEOFF JOHNS
- Art, cover and 1:100 variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
- 1:25 Variant cover by Tony Harris
A BRIGHTEST DAY tie-in! Get in on the ground floor of DC’s next epic in the making! The Flash races out of BLACKEST NIGHT and into his own monthly title as the all-new adventures of The Fastest Man Alive start with “Case One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues!” Barry Allen runs back to his life in Central City, but when one of the Rogues turns up murdered under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to The Flash to not only solve this bizarre crime, but protect those that are still targeted by the elusive killer. Plus, don’t miss a peek into the future of the Flash universe in this special, extra-sized starting point issue!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
Some Thoughts:
- After a year of reshuffling the series’ concept, we finally have an official launch date for The Flash.
- Now we know what happened to the cover Tony Harris was working on for Flash Secret Files.
- I wonder how long they’ll keep doing variant covers.
- It’s kind of funny that they dropped the backup stories in order to keep the price point at $2.99, but they’re starting with an oversized $3.99 first issue.
Oh yeah baby! It’s on like Donkey Kong!
I agree it’s strange about the dropping a co-feature but going oversized, but maybe the co-feature was going to debut in #2? Anyways, very excited about this new series and having a Flash title on the shelf every month.
.-= Luke’s latest blog post: Hawkman Paper Doll by… Alex Ross?! =-.
It’s not strange at all.
It’s an oversized first issue. Just like the Justice League relaunch had. Or the Green Lantern one had. Or the first issues of Blackest Night, and Infinite Crisis, and so on.
Really, you don’t see anything strange in this?
“We’re going to avoid the $3.99 price point — well, except for the next book we announce after making that decision.”
Understandable in the “I’ll go on a diet, but first I’m going to eat this cake” way, but it’s still a contradiction.
Again…no:
First issues often are oversized, just like anniversary issues are. Despite DC moving away from co-features, anniversary issues (issue #1, #50, etc.) are still going to be oversized.
Those types of issues sell through the roof, as an extra page count does nothing to reduce interest in what are landmark celebrations.
Whereas issue # 5 of an extended, decompressed arc? Yeah, that extra $1 for what is basically filler material can drag sales down, which explains DC’s reduced interest in co-features.
Again, the point isn’t that they’re launching with a $3.99 issue, but that they did so after saying they wanted to avoid $3.99 issues.
That there’s a valid economic reason behind it doesn’t eliminate the irony.
Will pick this up, though more for the Francis Manapul art than for Geoff Johns’ retconned “tragic” and mopey Barry Allen, sad to say.
Also, solicits also list a double pack of Flash action figures (Barry and Jay).
I don’t know about this series. I know I am going to have a difficult time reading a Flash title without Wally as the main character. To me this is a serious step backwards in the Flash legacy!
Have to agree with Mike on this. However, I’m sure DC would argue the point. They sidelined Kyle Rayner as the primary GL to bring back Hal and sales of the book are higher than ever, though mainly due to Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, rather than Hal himself being an integral character.
If this new Flash series tanks the way the last two relaunches did, DC may very well put the franchise on hold for a few years (like they’re doing with Aquaman now) until they can get a good team together and a solid idea for another relaunch.
Although given Geoff’s history with the Flash, and the name of the first arc, this series will probably focus more on the Rogues than on Barry anyway.
Craig – Hal is more than “integral” to the GL relaunch; the concepts in play and driving momentum both stem from bringing him back to his primary role. The GL book features him, his villains, his cast and the mega events are all based on his history. From Parallax to Sinestro to Blackest Night and Nekron…these are all pieces of the Hal/GL mythos. (Which is why DC reclaimed the character to begin with. To bring all that iconography back.)
That said, I doubt they expected it to be embraced as it has, or for Hal to become such an important player across the DCU.
And yet, there are those of us out there who love the OTHER Green Lantern title more! I could personally care less if I ever read another Green Lantern story featuring Hal Jordan he has never been my favorite and he never will be. GL Corps is a way better title featuring more interesting characters and everyone I talk to seem to enjoy reading about Guy Gardner more than Hal Jordan. That said, I have said this in another topic, if there were two Flash titles I would most likely buy both. One with Wally(NOT Kid Flash) amd the other speedsters aka, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, Jay, Impulse. The other with Barry and Bart as the focus characters. Best of both worlds are given their fair shake and whenever you need a crossover to tell a longer story you can get it done over a shorter period of time.
I don’t know about most of you but, I’m guessing that DC is taking the GL approach to The Flash right now. First we got Green Lantern then a year later we got Green Lantern Corps. Both titles do well in their own right and crossover stories work so much better with both titles giving us differing views toward the same end result.
But back to what Craig said above. I don’t really see Barry being the integral part of The Flash family of characters. Sure the powers that be have brought him back to life etc. Great fine whatever works. The primary driving force in The Flash titles has always been the Rogues. Having two equally powerful characters as The Flash(and yes I believe Wally and Barry to be equals not one better than the other… though we will all be wanting the story of who is The Fastest Man Alive eventually) should make the Rogues stand up and take notice.