Monthly Archives: December 2012

Flash #15 Preview is Up!

Flash #15

DC has a preview of Flash #15 up at The Source.

“Gorilla Warfare” rages on! In THE FLASH #15, Barry Allen must go to extreme measures to defeat Grodd while the Gorillas take over the Gem Cities. With his body out of commission, The Flash uses the Speed Mind to glimpse the future, and things are not looking good for him and the Rogues! Can Barry think of a way out of this situation? Or are the Gem Cities doomed forever? From the creative team of Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Marcus To, and Ryan Winn, THE FLASH #15 races into stores this Wednesday.

Peter David Suffers Stroke

Writer Peter David suffered a stroke this weekend. He’s lost control of his right arm and can’t see out of his right eye, but is mentally acute (he wrote the first report himself) and joking with hospital staff.

Among many other works, Peter David wrote the entire original run of the Young Justice comic book, which might actually give him the record for the most issues featuring Impulse. More recently, he wrote the animated Young Justice episode “Bloodlines,” which this blog’s readers voted as favorite Flash story of 2012 just last week.

Best wishes to Peter David and his family, and hopes for a speedy recovery.

Review: The Law of Superheroes

The Law of Superheroes Cover

Could Batman patent the Batmobile? Is it murder if you kill Wolverine, knowing he’ll regenerate? Does Superman need a warrant to use his X-ray vision on your house? How much trouble can Stark Industries get in if one of Iron Man’s fights levels your business?

James Daily, J.D. and Ryan Davidson, J.D.’s The Law of Superheroes answers these and more questions about the legal implications of super-heroic tropes. You may recognize the names or the concept: The pair of lawyers and self-described comic-book nerds also write the blog Law and the Multiverse.

You’d think a book about law would be a dry read, but it’s actually a lot of fun. That’s sort of the point: some land dispute might not grab the average reader’s attention, but Superman’s troubles with the IRS? That’s something anyone can relate to. More than a “what if?” collection, the book works as an overview of U.S. and international law, told through the lens of comic books.

Examples

Some of the implications are kind of surprising. For instance: Music from a parallel universe where the Beatles never broke up (New Excalibur 4) might not be protected by copyright, because Earth-2182’s U.S. and U.K. never signed our universe’s Berne Convention. On the other hand, the surviving Beatles might still be able to control distribution through trademark law.

Another interesting thing to think about: if Commissioner Gordon calls Batman in on a case, he’s legally required to follow the same rules as the police regarding search warrants and the like, or else evidence may not be admissible. But if Batman goes after the Riddler on his own, he can probably sneak into the villain’s hideout looking for clues and not jeopardize the case (although he’d technically be guilty of breaking and entering). Continue reading

This Week: Digital Flash vs. Santa & Impulse vs. Virtual Pe(s)ts

Flash #87: Flash vs. a gang of machine-gun-toting Hawaiian shirt-wearing Santa Clauses.

ComiXology’s digital reprint schedule for the 1990s Flash series brings us up to Flash #87 the day after Christmas. Though these Hawaiian-shirt-wearing, machine-gun toting Santas would rather fill up their own sacks than deliver anything to children.

Remember the Tamagotchi craze of the 1990s? Kids were as determined to take care of their virtual pets as today’s Farmville players are worried about harvesting their crops. Impulse #42 follows the fad off the deep end, as the virtual pets come alive and threaten the real world.

And finally, be sure to check back on Friday for the next chapter of “Haunted,” the Smallville Season 11 story guest-starring Impulse.

Impulse #42: Virtual Pest!

Results: Your Favorite Flash Stories of 2012!

The results are in, and Speed Force readers’ favorite Flash story of 2012 was….

Young Justice: Bloodlines - Four Speedsters

Young Justice: Bloodlines! This episode of the animated TV series featured for the first time ever four generations of Flashes in the same episode: Jay Garrick and Barry Allen as the Flash, Wally West as Kid Flash, and Bart Allen as Impulse.

The top comic book story was Flash #0, retelling the origin of Barry Allen.

Chart: Favorite Flash Stories of 2012

Here are the full results of the poll.

Story Votes
Young Justice: Bloodlines   30   23%
Flash #0 (Origin)   23   17%
Young Justice: Coldhearted   17   13%
Flash Annual (Rogues)   13   10%
Earth 2 #2 (Jay Garrick’s Origin)   11   8%
Flash #6-7 (Captain Cold)   9   7%
Other   8   6%
Flash #13-14 (Gorilla Warfare)   8   6%
Flash #10 (Weather Wizard)   4   3%
Flash #12 (Glider)   3   2%
Flash #11 (Heat Wave)   3   2%
Flash #9 (Gorilla Grodd)   2   2%
Flash #8 (Turbine)   2   2%

The “Other” choices were interesting, including two write-in votes for DC Universe Presents #12 (Kid Flash), which I literally thought of adding about 30 seconds after the poll went live, and several expressing dissatisfaction with the current book.

  • The one where Wally West was re-introduced in the New 52, exactly the same way as he appeared pre-Flashpoint.
  • They all made me sad and unhappy.
  • Comixology reprints Flash 48-50 Wally west stops Vandal Savage and gets “the Shiny Suit” that he would wear icionically until Flash #107
  • Absolutely Nothing; No Wally West Flash means no favorite story of 2012.
  • Didn’t like any of it.

It’s much more varied than last year’s poll, though since 2011 was dominated by Flashpoint and the launch of the New 52, that’s understandable.

Speed Reading: Notpocalypse Edition

Sorry I haven’t had time to keep this round-up column going lately. I’ve picked a few highlights since the last round-up, focusing on the more recent ones:

Sterling Gates talks about that Kid Flash series that was announced in 2009 but never actually launched, saying “I don’t think it ever made it past the initial pitch and a couple written scenes.”

The FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST mini I wrote in 2011 was sort of the tone we were planning on for that series: serious stories with humor in the mix. Woulda been a belter, too, with Bart, Max Mercury, and Xs returning to Blue Valley, Nebraska to fight villainy…and other super speedsters.

Comic Book Legends Revealed brings us a Christmas story with the Three Dimwits — who were basically the Three Stooges, inserted wholesale into the Golden Age Flash comics by Gardner Fox.

Mark Waid & Impulse DrawingNewsarama tells the story of how Mike Wieringo’s first Impulse drawing made its way back to Mark Waid.

Speaking of Mark Waid, his run on the Flash was voted #36 in the Top 100 comic runs as selected by Comics Should Be Good readers back in October, the only Flash run to make the list.

Brian Buccellato is writing a revival of The Black Bat, a pulp-era superhero who’s been largely forgotten in favor of that other guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime. Here are two interviews at Newsarama and at CBR.

Jim Zub breaks down where your $2.99 goes on a typical indie comic. There isn’t much left over for the writer and artist. Follow-up: looking at digital sales.

Jill Pantozzi has resurrected “Hey, That’s My Cape!” at IGN, starting with a piece of advice that sounds simple on its face, but seems to be hard for comics fans to follow through on: Stop reading comics you don’t like. For me, the last straw was Countdown to Final Crisis. From that point on, I resolved to only read comics that looked interesting, not those that I felt obligated to read. I slip up sometimes, but overall I enjoy my comics more than I used to.

Update: CBR has the results of their poll for who fans want to debut in the New 52. A certain missing speedster handily takes the number one spot.