Monthly Archives: June 2012

Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes Featuring The Flash Available 6/19

Hey Speed Readers,

Just a quick reminder that Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes featuring The Flash is available tomorrow, 06/19/2012. Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes features for the first time in a Lego game: open world game play, actual voice acting and a healthy roster of DC heroes and villains. In fact, this game almost sounds like Lego Justice League.

As with most games these days retail exclusive and downloadable content will be available for Lego Batman 2. Gamestop/EB Games is offering a special villains pack featuring Flash villains, Captain Cold and Gorilla Grodd if you preorder by today 06/18/2012. Black Adam, Bizarro, and Black Manta are also included:

On that same token if one preorders the game from Best Buy or Amazon they will be privy to a bonus Heroes pack featuring Shazam (Captain Marvel), Robin (Damian Wayne), Nightwing, Zatanna, and Katana:

Of course this also means that if you want both at launch you will have to purchase two copies of the game to get two different codes from two different outlets. Or you could wait until they inevitably release the bonus characters as separate downloadable content. Although who knows how long that could take? Of course one could just return the unwanted, unopened copy, but should one have to go through this much trouble?

That is one of the problems I have with retailer exclusive and downloadable content. Oftentimes if you want the complete game you have to jump through hoops or shell out extra money after you’ve already plopped down 50 or 60 bucks. And for minuscule additions or things that really should have been included in the game in the first place (I’m looking at you Capcom) at that. Remember when Capcom released Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and then not six months later released a much more complete game called Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3? I won’t be purchasing another Capcom game anytime soon unless they somehow manage to pull off DC vs. Marvel. And even then I would wait six months to buy it to see if they will release a slightly cheaper version of the game, with more characters, more stages, and more awesomeness called Ultimate DC vs. Marvel.

I really can’t complain too much though as I’m going to be one of those people grabbing two copies of the game and returning one effectively contributing to the problem. Oh well. I want my bonus characters!

Who else is going to be picking up Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes? Anyone plan on preordering an extra copy for all of the bonus characters? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

–Devin ‘Flash’ Johnson

Happy Anniversary!: The Flash, Years Four

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As Speed Force marks its fourth birthday, we decided to take a look back at where each of the Fastest Men Alive were in the fourth year of their titles. Happy Speed Fourth!

Flash fans know a lot can change in four years, but Speed Force is still the place for Flash news, commentary and analysis. But what of the heroes throughout the history of Flash comics? Where were Jay Garrick, Barry Allen and Wally West exactly four years after their first solo titles launched? After the jump, we’ll take a look at comics out on and around their fourth anniversaries, and the stories and creators involved.

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My favourite Flash memory

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As odd as it may sound, I think my favourite Flash memory might be related to the Justice League Unlimited episode “Flash And Substance”. I got into comics through Marvel, and for years had no interest in the DC universe. But eventually I slowly dipped my toe into the DC pool, for a variety of reasons that could really be detailed in its own post.

I didn’t watch every episode of JLU (and still haven’t seen them all — that should really be rectified someday), but was rather excited to hear there would be a Flash Rogues episode. I was fairly new to the Rogues at the time, but definitely made certain to watch when it aired. I enjoyed the episode, which was a lot of fun and probably made me like the Rogues (and Flash!) even more.

Time passed, and I learned more about the Rogues and Flashverse. At some point I watched the episode again, and was delighted by how many more easter eggs I recognized that I’d not understood before (the scene in the Flash Museum is particularly great for all the visual references crammed in there). I was tickled by all the character cameos I now recognized.

Yet more time passed, and I continued to learn more about the Flashverse. When I watched the episode for the third time, there were even more references I understood. That’s the sign of a great episode: I was never left confused by the stuff I didn’t understand, it merely went over my head. But there’s a wealth of riches to be found in it if you know what to look for, and it’s great fun for Flash fans.

So in addition to being my favourite episode of the series, I have fond memories of watching it repeatedly and realizing that I was understanding more about the Rogues and Flashverse. It actually became better and more enjoyable with each viewing. I’ve long since reached the point where I think I get all the references, and in a way that’s kind of sad because there won’t be any new easter eggs to discover, but it’s also a triumph too. And I still love re-watching it.

I tip my hat to the creative team of the show — not only did they produce a quality episode, but I have happy memories associated with watching it, and for that they deserve thanks.

Contest: Your favorite Flash memory!

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Hey there, Flash fans, and welcome to Speed Force’s fourth anniversary celebration! We four regular contributors will be writing about some of our favorite Flash memories, and thought it might be nice to get you folks involved as well. What better way to do that than with a contest?

Here’s how it’ll go: simply share your favorite Flash-related memory, or an early memory that you think is pretty special (for whatever reason — it could be entirely personal) in the comments section of this post. We’ll collect the stories and set them up as a poll to be voted on by readers, and the top-rated four will win!

There will be four winners, and the contest will run until 9 pm ET on Tuesday, June 19. Prizes will include Flash variant issues. There aren’t any rules or restrictions, although please share just one story to make things fair for everyone. So dig deep into your memories, and have fun!

Update: The results are in!

Surprise Star of DC Digital Father’s Day Sale

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I never thought I’d open up an email from ComiXology with a giant banner featuring Wally West with Iris and Jai, but here you go:

ComiXology’s DC Father’s Day Sale features “The Wild Wests” and Flash #237, since they deal heavily with Wally West as a father, as well as the main Flashpoint and Batman Knight of Vengeance miniseries (less for the Flash, and more for the Batman). The Flashpoint books have been up for a while, and are discounted to 99 cents each for the sale. The Flash issues are up for the first time.

I’m thinking this might be a good opportunity to read Batwoman: Elegy or some more Starman. (Unfortunately I can’t remember how far into the series I got when I started – I may have already read all the ones in the sale.)

Four Years of Speed Force

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Can you believe it’s been four years since the first post at Speed Force?

Amazing, isn’t it?

Back when it started, it was just me, running WordPress on a shared webserver at work. It’s since grown to four regular writers, the occasional guest writer, a bunch of regular commenters and lots of readers.

This was a time when the iPad didn’t exist, the iPhone had only been around two years, and Android had yet to release a single phone. Digital comics were something that the print publishers still looked at as maybe a threat, or maybe a fad, but certainly not something viable, even though webcomics had been around for over a decade. Wally West was still the main Flash and Barry Allen’s return had only been hinted at on panel. The previous Comic-Con International had still sold tickets at the door, and the next Comic-Con wouldn’t sell out until about a week before the event. No one had ever complained that Twilight “ruined” Comic-Con, because the movie hadn’t come out yet. No one had heard of a Black Lantern.

For comparison, here are the covers of the most recent Flash issues at the time the site launched vs. today.

Hmm, two relaunches (three if you count Flash vol.3 separate from Flash: Rebirth) later, and they’re still monkeying around…

I launched Speed Force on June 15, 2008, because I wanted to write about the Morrison/Millar Flash run being collected. A few days later I lucked into my first “scoop:” images of the Flash in Mortal Kombat vs. DCU. That and the reputation of Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning helped the blog hit the ground running (so to speak), and it’s been a mad dash ever since.

Over the next four days, each of us at Speed Force — me, Devin, Greg and Lia — will be writing something special for the event. We’ll have a contest, too, so be sure to check in over the weekend!

Thanks to all of you for coming along on this ride!