Flash News from Two (Media) Worlds! Friday saw the unveiling of a new image from the upcoming DC Entertainment animated feature Justice League: War, featuring Christopher Gorham as The Flash. Meanwhile, over at Newsarama, writer Christos Gage spoke about his upcoming standalone story in Flash #26!
Justice League: War is adapted from the opening arc of the New 52 Justice League series, written by Geoff Johns. It is currently set for an early 2014 release.
Over on Earth-Print, Gage has the task of helming the first issue due after the Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato team take their final bows on the title as a duo (Buccellatto will be writing issues 27 – 29 solo). For more on the roots of Gage’s Flash fandom and what to expect from his “Flash Out of Water” tale, follow the jump!
On his growing up with and enduring love for Barry Allen:
…I love Barry Allen as a character. He’s the Flash I grew up with, and I missed him during the 20 years or so when he was gone, and I couldn’t resist the chance to write him. Also, Wil challenged me to come up with a cool, high-concept done-in-one story, and I enjoy a creative challenge like that.
As a kid I discovered Silver Age Flash reprints in the digests DC was putting out in the late ’70s/early ’80s, and I loved the high concept Julie Schwartz/John Broome stories and the awesome Carmine Infantino art.
On the villain of the story, Spitfire, and bringing The Flash out of his element:
[Spitfire]’s kind of a reimagining of an obscure Golden Age villain called the Sky Pirate, but only very loosely. She’s an aviatrix who is motivated by the thrill of pulling off impossible feats as much as getting rich. And she’s a conscience-less sociopath. So she’s fun to write. The threat she represents is, well, she operates in the sky…and there’s not a lot to run on in the sky!
It was the “fish out of water” aspect of the story I liked – in fact, the title is “Flash Out Of Water.” You take the hero and put him in a place – the sky – where his greatest advantage, his running speed, would seem to be taken away. That’s the fun part for me – setting up that premise, then figuring out how the hero tackles the challenge.
On his approach to this specific done-in-one Flash tale:
For me, it was a love letter to the classic Flash stories…the ones where the cover would give you a fantastic high concept you had to know more about, and the interior gave you a fast-paced, clever, entertaining done-in-one story. But it’s not a Silver Age pastiche; it applies modern storytelling sensibilities to that approach. I definitely tried to push myself to think cinematically, with cool visuals. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
For more from Gage, including his experience working with issue #26 artist Neil Googe, check out the full interview at Newsarama!
Are you looking forward to JL: War and/or Gage’s upcoming one-shot? Do you enjoy the DC animated features? Do you wonder if Flash #26 will be a callback to the classic “Nobody Dies”? Sound off in the comments!
Can’t say I’m looking forward to either, no. Not against, just not particularly what I want to read/watch.
Initial (and therefore candid) Thoughts: Why does it look like someone had been playing ‘spin the wheel’ with Flash’s chest icon there in the animated still shot?
Spitfire. Oh god. Why did the villain have to be a woman named so? (Think about *another* show with a speedster in it. Bad coincidence, that.)
You’re right. His logo looks off. I’m relatively excited for the film, but they ditched aquaman and that bums me out. A lot. I really enjoyed flashpoint though, so I hope this is good
But I don’t know what you’re talking about with spitfire? What other show with a speedster?
Yeah, I’m missing who this other Spitfire is too, the only other one I know is Marvel’s Invaders star. Anyway, I’m looking forward to this, done-in-ones are so refreshing, and Gage and Googe are both excellent – plus, I love the way their names sound together.
In the cartoon series Young Justice, Wally was romantically paired with Artemis (sister of Cheshire.) Kent (Doctor Fate) had previously told Wally to find his own ‘spitfire (strong-willed girlfriend) and thus started one of those relationship name things you see all the time in places like Tumbler and so forth. (Note: I was not a ‘spitfire’ fan having much preferred Linda Park. Just fyi’ing where ‘spitfire’ was used before with speedsters.)
Right, thanks Kyer. Random!
It’s always good to see a Done-In-One story, the concept and villain sounds very interesting. Gage is one of the most under-appreciated writers in the industry and I’ve enjoyed his work with both Marvel and Valiant. Looking forward to this issue.
The chest’s icon is bad, the belt is too simple +.+