Over the NYCC weekend, DC unveiled the Teen Titans #5 cover. Artist Brett Booth points out that it’s not Kid Flash’s final costume.
https://twitter.com/#!/Demonpuppy/status/125668066087546880
In addition to Bart Allen, Brett Booth has also been drawing Wally West a lot lately (for fun, not for any official comics), and spoke with Speed Force last week. Update: And now he’s posted a Max Mercury sketch.
DC’s Justice League Group for January is up on The Source, including The Flash #5.
THE FLASH #5
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by GARY FRANK
1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JANUARY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Central City in chaos! Iris West captive in Iron Heights prison! And as Flash tries to deal with all of it, he must also try to save the life of his old friend Manuel Lago from Mob Rule, DC Comics’ hottest new Super Villain!
“It’s a reboot” explains the existence of continuity changes. It doesn’t justify them. Good or bad, those new or altered characters, settings and concepts have to be judged on their own merits, not on whether there was an editor’s note explaining why it doesn’t line up with older stories.
Flash #1 Sells Estimated 129K in US, Over 150K Worldwide
ICv2’s September sales estimates are out, and The Flash #1 is ranked #4 on the charts with 129,260 units sold. Those are US-only numbers, based on sales through Diamond, and DC states that the book has sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. Let’s stick with the ICv2 numbers for now, though, because they’re the ones I’ve been tracking over the last few years, which means we can compare trends over time.
The new Flash #1 does in fact beat the previous record-holder, Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (2006, starring Bart Allen), which sold an estimated 126,741 copies after reorders.
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flash:TFMA #1 | 7 | June 2006 | 126,741 |
| All-Flash #1 | 22 | July 2007 | 78,955 |
| Flash v.2 #231 | 26 | August 2007 | 72,898 |
| Flash: Rebirth #1 | 2 | April 2009 | 102,429 |
| Flash v.3 #1 | 2 | April 2010 | 100,903 |
| Flashpoint #1 | 2 | May 2011 | 95,845 |
| Flash v.4 #1 | 4 | September 2011 | 129,260 |
I’m only listing the launches here, since none of the series lasted long enough to find its level and start building back up. Flash: TFMA (Bart) dropped to around 46K before experiencing a Countdown-powered uptick. The relaunched Flash vol.2 (Wally) dropped into the 20s, about half the numbers it was pulling in before Infinite Crisis, when it peaked at 50K for the final issue of Geoff Johns’ first run. Flash: vol.3 (Barry) seemed to level out around 54K over its last few issues.
It’s obvious that a lot of the success of this issue is due to the massive relaunch. But at the same time, while DC’s 52 #1s sold phenomenally well overall, they didn’t all sell over 100,000 copies. This has driven home the fact that the Flash really is one of DC’s top-tier characters. Even if half the general public thinks his name is Gordon, they at least know he’s the guy in red who runs fast. He really is cancellation-proof.
The real question now, of course, is how many of those readers who picked it up to try it out will stick around. Based on the last six years, I think if the book is still selling well over 55K a year from now, DC can count this Flash relaunch a success. If not, well…fifth time’s the charm, right?
A few key articles covering past sales (with lots of numbers):
As an artist working on DC Comics’ New 52, Brett Booth regularly deals with speed in the form of Kid Flash in Teen Titans. Written by Scott Lobdell, Titans features Booth on both covers and interiors. as well as character designs. The veteran artist is next featured in issue #2, due October 26th.
Booth has also received attention recently for his unofficial portrayals of Wally West, the third and now erstwhile Flash, as posted on his blog. Starting with a post on August 24th, Booth has given his fans a couple of different looks at his redesign of West as Flash, including finished versions with colors by Andrew Dalhouse.
We caught up with Booth via email and talked about what makes a Flash costume, his take on Wally West and his favorite Flash stories.
The new Flash writer/artist team, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, are both scheduled to be at New York Comic Con this weekend. You can also catch the Flashpoint team of Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert.
In addition to signings, Johns will be on Friday’s DC All Access: Green Lantern panel, and Johns, Manapul and Buccellato will all be on DC All Access: Justice League panel on Saturday.
This is Buccellato’s only east-coast appearance on his fall signing schedule, and the only event this fall where you can meet both halves of the current Flash creative team.
Update: Brian Buccellato has posted his schedule for the convention, including three signings:
FRIDAY October 14th
4-5 PM @ THE DC BOOTH (with Francis Manapul)
SATURDAY October 15th
3-4 PM @ THE DC BOOTH
SUNDAY October 16th
3-4 PM @ THE DC BOOTH (with Francis Manapul)