Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers interviews Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, the art team from Flash vol.3 who will be taking over both writing and art on September’s new series.
I’ve only had time to skim it, but the things that stand out to are:
- Even Geoff Johns encouraged them to figure out what the Flash, Barry, and his supporting case mean to them — not to try to give us a second-rate Geoff Johns book, but a first-rate Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato book. “I think what made Geoff’s run great was that it was personal to him. Brian and I needed to find a voice and find what was personal to us. And we did.”
- They had strong ideas about where they wanted to take the Flash, then had to figure out how that would fit within the new DCU.
- They plan to really push the envelope in terms of visually portraying super-speed.
- When asked about scheduling, they stressed that they weren’t the ones responsible for the delays on the previous volume. They wouldn’t talk about who or what was the cause, but added, “editorial would not put us in the position we’re in if they thought we weren’t capable of doing what we’re doing.”
Head over to Newsarama to read the full interview.
Hell yeah! I’m on board for this book. Everyone that thinks they will not do good… well I say we HAVE to give them a chance, I’m pretty sure they’ll blow our mind!
I think they will do well. At least, they should be given the chance without having the immediate backlash they’ve been getting from so many forums. Amazing how many people still blame Manapul even after his other interview. Why do so many fans auto blame the artist? There are a lot of people involved in a book, the artist being only one.
I’ll be paying attention to it, but it will be like I pay glancing attention to the rest of the DCU. May get the trade like I got a Booster Gold book and a Superman book if the reviews are 4 stars and up at Amazon. If economy tightens more…will save for old Wally stuff instead though.
I’m pretty sure I still got 20 odd Wally backissues stored somewhere if you want ’em.
Still no Wally though.
I know people dig Manapul’s Flash, but it just doesn’t work for me.
I don’t know if it’s the colouring or what, but it seems to lack the energy a Flash comic should have.
It’s pretty to look at, but not what I expect when reading Flash.
I’d take you up on that if I hadn’t gone and locked myself out of Paypal thanks to the same memory that made me type Beatles when I meant to type Beach Boys. *head slap* I may need a brain transplant more than comics in the near future. Yow. 🙁
Manupal’s art I like…but it does have this flat anime quality to it that I do wish was more 3D. Maybe more contrast between the lighting and the shadows? A larger color template? This is why I wanted to see his version of Wally so as to compare with Kollins. So much for that.
I’m looking forward to this. Manapul has an amazing take on the visuals for speed, and I’m glad they aren’t simply trying to do a “Geoff-lite” version of Barry. I still want to hear about what the possible Speed Force book would be like, as (in spite of my handle) I am also a big fan of Wally, but this is truly good news. I’m buying!
I enjoyed the article up until the “I know some people are partial to Wally” statement. WTF? “Partial” to Wally? Wally is THE Flash for a LOT of people and this just read like a slap in the face to his fans. If there is a Flash I’m “partial” to it would be Barry. He’s seems like a fine character, but he’s nowhere near as interesting (to me) as Wally is/was.
There goes my hope for Wally getting to see some of the spotlight in the post-Flashpoint DCU.
It seems clear he was using partial in the sense of “markedly fond of someone or something,” or possibly “inclined to favor one party more than the other.”
The only reason I still blame Manapul for the delays is because as soon as they had another guy to help him the books starting coming out on time. When it was just him the next book was suppose to be out in 2 weeks but it got pushed back another month. I’m not saying I’m 100 percent sure it was his fault. It very well could’ve been someone else. And if this book is delayed often then it will only make it seem like his fault even more, but I will still buy it.
Possibly a coincidence. Sometimes the dog really *does* eat the homework!
Kolins is known to be extremely fast. Manapul says it takes him 4-5 weeks to fully draw and ink a book. Maybe Kolins can do it in 2.
Let’s suppose that DC schedules 4-5 weeks for Manapul to draw he book, but the script comes in 2 weeks late. If he starts at that point, and takes the usual amount of time, the book ends up 2 weeks late. But if they hand it to Kolins, it can come out on time.
Under that circumstance, would you blame Manapul, or the late script?
It’s hypothetical, but given how heavily Geoff Johns was involved in Flashpoint & Brightest Day (both of which had hard-and-fast schedules that could not slip), the Green Lantern movie, being Chief Creative Officer and planning this reboot, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched.
I think that DC did a wonderful job assigning 2 artists to The Flash….so much of the Flash (for me, anyway) is visual, to see and feel the speedforce through the art. Manapul & Buccellato capture this and can work together through stories both from the writing and artwork to bring the Speedforce to life!
I’m pumped about the announcement.
I think they said all the right things. Now I hope that translates into a vibrant and exciting superhero title.
I also hope it doesn’t just reset continuity to an earlier time and fall back on all the same story ideas done from the 50s up to the 00s. Flash # 1 should serve as a ground floor for what the Flash will be, a book you’d want to hand to a new reader – vs. being reverential to past runs, even the great ones by Johns, Waid and the Silver Age comics.
Basically, reinvent everything outside the core ingredients. Reinvent the settings, supporting characters, concepts, even those badass rogues.
My hair just stood on end!
Can you imagine if the Rogue Faction joins the Wally and Barry and Bart Factions now?
The only thing from the 50’s I’d suddenly want to see is an atomic bomb shelter.
I’m encouraged by these comments. They seem to be taking this quite seriously and with the utmost responsibility.
Yet I find their comments about Barry ‘learning, personally, and as superhero’ odd. Life is a growing experience, sure, but he already knows how to be a superhero. This isn’t like Wally trying to learn to how to be Flash or live up to the Legacy.
I’m more interested in seeing how Barry fits into the modern DCU. He’s always been considered one of the noblest of the iconic heroes. Yet can that nobility survive in today’s rougher, tougher, still dark DCU? Can he adapt to the times?
If that is what they meant by ‘learning’, I’m all for that.
Savitar – I suspect they mean Barry is still a relatively new superhero. When they announced the new JLA and relaunch of the DCU, Dan Didio told USA Today:
“This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today’s audience.”
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-05-31-dc-comics-reinvents_n.htm
So post-Flashpoint, Bruce, Barry, Hal and Clark will all have been around only a couple of years.
Exactly. Just like in the YJ cartoon. Which is why Wally will most likely turn up as Kid Flash and I’m not 100% positive that it will be Dick under the Nightwing mask. Probably will be, but at this point could be Robin and some new character is Nightwing…just because DC hates me. 🙁
So this is in fact a re-boot? The last 30 years just got swept under the rug?
‘Today’s audience’? More often than not, today’s audience has been reading these four-color funnybooks for years, not just picked them up recently or because they saw a movie & liked it. How does this serve our best interests?
Then Wally will be Kid Flash and Tim Drake will be Robin. Welcome back to the old status quo.
I know I will be in a very small minority by saying this, but I hope that this is the only Flash book. In fact, I hope Barry Allen is the only speedster in the new DCU (okay, maybe we can have one other, like a kid flash). As a new reader to the Flash, the whole Flash family seems silly to me (Jay, Wally, Jesse, Irey, ect all having the same basic power). It would make Barry a lot more special and interesting to see him with a unique set of powers, not just one of many Flash clones.
Hi Josh,
you really should check out Waid’s Flash run. There you would see how having a whole CAST of speedsters can be a wonderful fuel for good stories.
Of course they have to written in a way that lets you understand how they’re actually different from one another, but in the same time related. Waid was a master in doing that. Those who came after him, well… not really.
Interesting. I hope they do well. I’ll definitely be reading. Hopefully they streamline the Flash’s universe a bit more with this. Very interested. I wonder what their take on Barry Allen will be. 🙂