Monthly Archives: December 2013

This Week: Flash #26 vs Spitfire, Digital Impulse Genie

Flash #26Comics are out a day early this week to avoid New Year’s Day, including The Flash #26, a done-in-one story by Christos Gage and Neil Googe. You can read a preview of the issue at DC Comics’ blog.

Barry Allen is hot on the tail of Spitfire after investigating the death of his mentor, Dr. Carlson. But to catch the villain responsible, The Flash must figure out how to use his powers in the one place where they do him little good: the sky! Spitfire is sure to escape unless The Flash can go airborne! A special standalone issue, THE FLASH #26, written by Christos N. Gage and illustrated by Neil Googe, will be available in stores on December 31.

Update: I forgot to include Teen Titans #26, featuring the continuing exploration of the New 52 Kid Flash’s origin.

Impulse 86Digital re-releases continue for Impulse on ComiXology. Impulse #85 was already up, having been released as part of the “World Without Young Justice” crossover. Bedlam, the genie from World Without Grownups, has been forcing Bart’s “time scouts” to alter history. But his spells are all aimed at blocking Impulse…not at Kid Flash!

Today, DC releases Impulse #86. Bart Allen has gained the powers of a genie, and sets about creating the perfect world! But do we really want a reality designed by someone with the attention span of a fruit fly? Todd Dezago and Carlo Barberi.

Poll: Favorite Flash Stories of 2013

Gorilla Warfare, Reverse Flash, Villains Month/Forever Evil — plus guest spots in Smallville, Justice League Beyond, and of course the Arrow TV show. What was your favorite Flash story of the year?

Update: The survey is closed — here are the results!

Gorilla Warfare (Flash #13-#17) 2% (2 Votes)
Flash vs. Trickster (Flash #18-19) 1% (1 Votes)
Reverse Flash Saga (Flash #20-24) 15% (18 Votes)
Flash #25: Zero Year 31% (38 Votes)
Flash #26: Flash out of Water
Villains Month: Reverse Flash 1% (1 Votes)
Villains Month: Grodd 1% (1 Votes)
Villains Month: Rogues 4% (5 Votes)
Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 3% (4 Votes)
Smallville Season 11: “Haunted” guest-starring Bart Allen and Jay Garrick
Justice League Beyond: “Flashdrive” introducing Danica Williams 2% (3 Votes)
Justice League Beyond: The Flash (Danica Williams origin) 1% (1 Votes)
Injustice: Gods Among Us Chapter 13 (Flash spotlight) 2% (2 Votes)
Arrow: The Scientist / Three Ghosts 16% (19 Votes)
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox 12% (15 Votes)
My collection of back-issues 9% (11 Votes)

There’s a clear winner, and a sharp division between the top five and the rest:

  1. The “Zero Year” flashback in Flash #26 took the top spot handily with twice as many votes as the next one down. Is it the farewell to the Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato team? Or do we Flash fans just like our Barry/Iris moments?
  2. Arrow‘s “The Scientist” and “Three Ghosts”, guest-starring Barry Allen, came in next, another strong showing for a pre-Flash story.
  3. The Reverse Flash story to which Manapul and Buccellato had been building for their whole run on the series came in third.
  4. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the first animated feature to focus on the Flash (even if Warner Bros. was afraid to brand it anything other than Justice League), made a solid fourth-place showing, though not as strong as I was expecting.
  5. Back-issues took a surprisingly high slot with more than twice as many votes as the next item on the list — a reminder that there are still a lot of Flash fans out there who like the characters, but not the current direction.

Two choices pulled in no votes at all: Flash #26, which hit stores during the second day of the survey — no surprise, since most people hadn’t had a chance to read it by the time the survey closed, and I actually considered leaving it off because of that. Smallville Season 11: Haunted, a digital-first comic now available in print that focused on Bart Allen and introduced the Smallville universe’s Jay Garrick. Maybe Flash fans are just tired of characters getting killed off.

One problem with the survey: I had to relaunch it after it had been up for about an hour and a half because I realized I’d forgotten to include Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. (Seriously, how did I do that?) I had to decide whether it was better to relaunch the poll and lose about 40 votes, hoping most of them would see the notice and resubmit their votes, or leave out the Flash’s premiere animated movie. I’m still not sure I made the right call, but it’s a thoroughly unscientific survey.

Flash TV Update: Casting Rumors

Hi everyone! Just a quick update on the Flash TV pilot news and rumors.

First up: John Wesley Shipp (Barry Allen from the 1990s TV show) talks about Grant Gustin and Flash on the Out Loud and Live Podcast.

Speaking of podcasts, The Flash Podcast has an episode discussing the possible role of the Flash in the evolving DC Cinematic universe.

Bludhaven Banter indicates a Detective Eddie Thawne will be part of the cast for the TV pilot, a recent transfer to Central City from Keystone. Sure sounds like a cover identity for the Reverse-Flash, doesn’t it? (via Flash TV News.)

Moviehole reports on another character planned for the pilot: Cisco Ramon, a.k.a. Vibe. (via Spinoff)

Superhero Movie News reports that Ernie Hudson may be up for Detective West. Geeks who grew up in thw 1980s will best remember him from Ghostbusters. (also via Flash TV News)

Update: Word of the Nerd also rounds up casting rumors and comments on the lineup. Something I’d missed in Bludhaven Banter’s Thawne scoop was that there’s also rumored to be an openly gay character among the regular/recurring cast. Could Hartley Rathaway a.k.a. the Pied Piper be making his way to the screen as well?

This Week: Digital Dark Flash Conclusion

DC is only releasing two comics in print this week, Forever Evil #4 and Justice League #26. The digital backlist, however, is continuing: Today sees the release of Flash #159 on ComiXology, the final issue of the Dark Flash saga.

Abra Kadabra is defeated, Wally West and Linda Park are both back and ready to finish their wedding, and Walter West and Angela Margolin hope to spend some time together… Until Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman show up with an ultimatum: Walter must leave this timeline immediately before he endangers the fabric of reality.

There are just two more Waid/Augustyn issues after this, and two done in ones by Pat McGreal, before the backlist catches up to Geoff Johns’ run. #164-182 are already available digitally, so I hope DC will take the opportunity to go back and fill in the missing four issues from “Race Against Time” and “Final Night” in Flash #116-119.

Written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn. Cover by Steve Lightle. Art by Paul Pelletier and Jose Marzan, Jr.

Flash #159

Preview is up for Flash #26 (next week)

Flash #26

Flash #26 comes out next week, but you can see a preview of the issue at DC Comics’ blog.

Barry Allen is hot on the tail of Spitfire after investigating the death of his mentor, Dr. Carlson. But to catch the villain responsible, The Flash must figure out how to use his powers in the one place where they do him little good: the sky! Spitfire is sure to escape unless The Flash can go airborne! A special standalone issue, THE FLASH #26, written by Christos N. Gage and illustrated by Neil Googe, will be available in stores on December 31.

This is a done-in-one story. #27-29 will be a three-parter guest starring Deadman, by Brian Buccellato and Patrick Zircher. The new post-Forever Evil creative team hasn’t been announced yet.

The Rogues in Gotham! Review of Rogues Rebellion #3

Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #3Captain Cold has been stripped of his meta powers thanks to Deathstorm of the Crime Syndicate, and the rest of the Rogues are on the run!  As they find themselves in Gotham City, what will happen when one iconic group of Rogues meets another?  That’s the premise for this third issue of Rogues Rebellion, scripted by Brian Buccellato!

LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY

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