Monthly Archives: April 2010

What’s Retconned About Barry Allen’s Past?

With Flash: Rebirth complete, we can take a look at the changes the series made to the Flash mythos. I listed a lot of them in my review of issue #6 (resurrections, costume/identity/power changes, the re-imagining of the speed force itself, etc.), but I want to look at a specific set of changes: What the Reverse-Flash did to Barry Allen’s past, and the ripple effect from those changes.

Note that I’m specifically looking at things that contradict previous stories, not those that add new details that can be considered to have been hidden.

Spoilers for Flash: Rebirth, of course.

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Site Updates: Barry, Max & Intro

I’ve started in on the big catch-up project to bring Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning up to speed. Updates today include:

Plus a bunch of minor housekeeping bits scattered around the site. Typo fixes. Series in which characters are regulars. Team memberships. Things like that.

Design And Win Your Own Flash Ring Spotlight!

With only two weeks left in the contest, I’d like to take some time to highlight some of the entries we’ve received so far and will all be passed on to Arrobasilver for consideration:

Ryan cleverly combined elements of the Blue Lantern and The Flash:

While Adam Komar from Conroe, TX had the interests of those conflicted between light and dark in mind with his concept:

Cape Sandlin incorporated a variation of The Flash logo itself into a modest but visually stunning piece of work:

And Aaron Rivin Rivin took a more traditional approach to his concept: [Edit: Images removed because they were plagiarized (see comments).]

Kevin Allen from Rochester, MI described his concept as: “This is a ring he would wear when giving an interview, or at the opening of a new wing of the Flash Museum. It is a ring he would only take out for super important events. As such, it takes some of the elements of his normal ring, but also adds a few style choices to make it look more regal and important.”

And Joey Forlini delivers with a simple yet engaging piece framed with elements of The Fastest Man Alive.

And that’s only a few of the great submissions we have so far. Thanks for all the entries. I look forward to seeing even more of all your great work, so get those submissions in while you still can. You can visit the Official Contest Page HERE for details on submissions and such.

Devin “The Flash” Johnson

This Week: Flash #1 Launch!

It’s been almost two years since DC officially brought Barry Allen back from the dead in DC Universe #0. Two company-wide crossovers, eight more issues of Wally West’s series, two Flash miniseries and a Secret Files special later, DC has finally gotten to what we all knew was coming: a new ongoing Flash series starring Barry Allen.

Don’t forget our Design and Win Your Own Flash Ring Contest! We’re down to the last two weeks — entries need to be in by Monday, April 26.

Other likely Flash appearances this week: Brightest Day and Action Comics (guest-starring the JSA).

The Flash #1

40 pg, FC, $3.99 US (Note: this is a special oversized issue. The book goes down to $2.99 next month)
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!

A 5-page preview is available at DC’s website. Update: DC has re-released the preview with the final covers.

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Speed Reading: Blackest Night in 60 Seconds, Comics According to Geoff, Movie Thoughts & More

Some weekend linkblogging.

Art

Comics Alliance presents (in comic book form): Blackest Night in 60 Seconds….and on a more serious note, spotlights Comic Book Cartography — maps of various fictional worlds, buildings, and more. Edit: Here’s a direct link to the Comic Book Cartography blog.

Frank Ziegler draws a Cartoony Jay Garrick.

Commentary

Multiversity Comics looks at The DCU According to Geoff Johns, covering the entirety of the writer’s DC work to date.

Grumpy Old Fan considers The Gospel According to Geoff, looking at what made Blackest Night work as more than merely a “process story.”

It’s Just Movies’ Ben Fowler discusses, If I Was Making … ‘The Flash’.

Cool-Mo-De starts a Goofy villains series with the Rainbow Raider and Flash vol.2 Annual #10 (Pulp Heroes), with art by the late Dick Giordano.

Comics Daily asks, How do you solve a problem like Wally West?

Interview

A Comic Book Blog interviews Ethan Van Sciver.

WonderCon 2010 Con Report

I’ve finished my write-up of WonderCon over at K-Squared Ramblings. Most of the posts I’ve made here were about the news that came out of the convention, but this one covers the experience of actually being at the con.

» WonderCon 2010 Experience

Next weekend: C2E2 in Chicago and the awkwardly-named Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con in California. It looks like DC will have much more of a presence at C2E2 than Anaheim. I’m not traveling again for a while, but Anaheim is literally 10-15 minutes away, so I figure I may as well check it out.