It turns out that today is Greg LaRocque’s birthday! LaRocque drew The Flash vol.2 through all of William Messner-Loebs’ run and the beginning of Mark Waid’s, finishing up with the well-regarded story, The Return of Barry Allen. He pencilled the book for five years, from Flash vol.2 #15 in 1988 through Flash vol.2 #79 in 1993, with only a handful of fill-in issues by other artists, making him the longest-running artist on Wally West’s series.
Along the way he designed Wally West’s shiny costume, which debuted in the above Flash vol.2 #50. In my opinion, he’s still the artist who made it look the best. As Scott Mateo points out on Comic Bloc, when LaRocque drew Wally and Barry together, you could easily tell them apart even at a glance. The artist talks about the redesign in his interview in The Flash Companion.
It’s interesting that LaRocque and Messner-Loebs worked together on the book for roughly four years, and their birthdays are only a few days apart!
I absolutely enjoyed Greg LaRocque’s artistry on the Flash. Happy Birthday to a wonderful artist.
thats my uncle!
Thanks for the kind words.
Your run on the Flash was the best! Thanks for the great artwork, you really helped make Wally’s run as the Flash memorable.
Love the art! Still do.
Happy Birthday! I really can’t say much more than what has already been said. Fantastic work on a fantastic run on a fantastic series.
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