Welcome to the final installment in our 15-part series of annotations on “The Death Of Iris Allen”! Halved by our two-part interview with author Cary Bates, previous issues can be found here! Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post.
UP TO SPEED: Trapped aboard a runaway time-machine with the murderous Professor Zoom, Flash has chosen to take on the flow of time himself in a desperate attempt to avoid certain doom…
Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost is one of the more pleasant surprises to spin out of Flashpoint and the first time we’ve seen Bart Allen in a solo book since the end of Impulse way back in 2002. Yes, I am aware of the short-lived Flash: The Fastest Man Alive but that was not Bart Allen, at least not the Bart that I know and love. Sterling has managed to do what Geoff Johns, Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo , and Marc Guggenheim were never able to do; he has successfully captured Bart’s voice. That makes all the difference when it comes to my enjoyment of this story. Sterling has clearly done his research and given that he has reportedly pitched three different ideas for a Kid Flash series to DC since 2007 he obviously has a passion for the character. I have to say that they chose the right man for the job.
NOTE: This review contains spoilers regarding the events of Kid Flash Lost #1 of 3
The story opens with Hot Pursuit (a character introduced during the final issues of the last Flash series and obviously an integral part of the story) evading the police and from the get go it is made pretty clear that this is not the same Hot Pursuit that met his demise in The Flash #12. This new super speedster has stolen Hot Pursuit’s suit, Baton and Speed Force-powered motorcycle and escapes by riding up a wall (an old speedster trick) and soon disappears into the time stream.
Among the collection of Flashpoint tie-ins this week is one directly Flash-related book: Citizen Cold.
Citizen Cold is known by Central City as a hero. But when an entire gallery of Rogues kidnaps his sister, Lisa Snart, they’ll use her as bait to lure him into a deathtrap. Will Citizen Cold be able to save both Lisa and himself? And what does Wally West’s disappearance have to do with all of this?
Written by SCOTT KOLINS; Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
32pg. – $2.99 US
Be sure to catch the preview if you haven’t already seen it.
DC has started releasing information about its October comics this week, including several miniseries launching in the second month of the DC relaunch. Among them: James Robinson’s 12-issue miniseries featuring The Shade, as reported by CBR.
The Shade is probably more associated with Starman these days, but he started life as a Golden-Age Flash villain, one of the trio whose place in DC history was later secured by appearing in Flash of Two Worlds.
Even though he only made one appearance in the Golden Age (as compared to the many tines Jay Garrick fought the Thinker or Fiddler), the Shade is the oldest Flash villain to survive it. The only older themed/named villain, the Threat (All-Flash #2), was a one-off who died in his first appearance and never returned.
THE SHADE #1
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by CULLY HAMNER
Cover by TONY HARRIS
1:10 Variant cover by CULLY HAMNER
On sale OCTOBER 12 * 1 of 12, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T+
James Robinson returns to the world of his acclaimed STARMAN series with a new 12-issue series starring the antihero known as The Shade! An attack at the Starman museum kicks off a globe-hopping, centuries spanning quest that will irrevocably change The Shade’s life, and ultimately shed light on his true origin! Artist extraordinaire Cully Hamner (RED) kicks off the series, and upcoming issues will feature art by such luminaries as Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving and Gene Ha!
UPDATE: CBR interviews Robinson about the series.
Newsarama interviews Cary Bates about his work on The Flash and Justice League of America back in the 1970s, and his upcoming DC Retroactive specials revisiting those books.
With the books closer to release (DC Retroactive: The Flash: The 70s comes out next week), he’s able to say a little more than he did in our interview back in May, plus of course we weren’t asking him about the JLA! There’s some strange spoilery information about “Son of Grodd,” but what really caught my eye was what Bates said about the timeframe of the DC Retrocative books:
The deadlines for the retro books were very tight, so once I signed on I had to come up with the plots for both books within 24 hours.
24 hours! Wow! I’d gotten the impression that the Retroactive specials were a last-minute addition to the schedule, and this seems to confirm it. My suspicion: After DC decided to push full-steam-ahead on the reboot/relaunch/whatever it actually is, they decided to give the previous versions of the major characters a “last hurrah” before moving on.
When you’re done reading the Newsarama interview, jump back and check out our two-part interview in which Cary Bates talks more about his 1970s Flash run, the Death of Iris Allen, and where The Flash would have gone if it hadn’t been canceled during Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Weekend linkblogging.
Flash-related links:
Other stuff