The conclusion to Forever Evil finally arrives this week, along with the associated issues of Justice League.
Digital backissues add Flash vol.2 #188, the conclusion to “Crossfire.” Everything’s been building to this, as Wally West and his allies take on the Thinker and the Rogues for the fate of two cities!
And in other speedster news, this week sees the the first issue of Mark Millar and Duncan Fegredo’s M.P.H., a miniseries about a Detroit teenager who gains super-speed.
DC’s new digital-first Sensation Comics series starring Wonder Woman got me thinking about the publisher’s digital-first strategy. In addition to continuity-free stories about Superman, Batman, and now Wonder Woman, it’s also their platform of choice for media tie-in comics to their games and TV shows: Smallville, Batman ’66, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Scribblenauts, Infinite Crisis, Arrow…
There’s an excellent chance that, with the Flash TV show launching in October, we’ll see a TV-continuity digital-first Flash series by the end of the year.
If so, this would be the first time in years that we’ve had two Flash series running concurrently, unless you count the Rogues-heavy miniseries tied to Forever Evil, Blackest Night, and Final Crisis. (And really, isn’t it awesome that DC has been doing Rogues miniseries with so many of their big events lately?) Flash and Impulse ran together from 1995-2002, and All-Flash ran alongside Flash Comics from 1941-1948, during which time the Flash also had a regular solo spot in Comic Cavalcade.
Admittedly, the Arrow tie-in comic only ran during the first season of the show, but maybe the Flash’s higher profile among comics readers will translate to better sales?
For those of you who haven’t looked into DC’s digital-first comics, they typically release three chapters a month at 99 cents through services like ComiXology, Kindle, iTunes, Google Play, and DC’s own branded portal. Each month’s chapters are then collected in a $3.99 print edition. The comics are designed around a horizontal page layout to make them fit better on tablets and widescreen monitors, with two digital pages stacked vertically to make each printed page. (It typically ends up being about 30 pages of story instead of 20.)
You can read on a tablet, a phone (panel-by-panel view can be awkward for converted comics, but these are designed for, well, digital first), or a desktop/laptop through the ComiXology or DC websites. Or you can wait a month or two for the print edition, or a bit longer for the trade paperback.
DC Comics’ August solicitations are up, including Flash #34…
THE FLASH #34
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI and VAN JENSEN
Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
DC UNIVERSE SELFIE variant cover
On sale AUGUST 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Time is getting closer as Future Flash reaches the point that broke his spirit – Wally West’s death – while Wally meets his uncle Daniel, the Reverse Flash, and Barry Allen is trapped in the middle!
Selfie variant? Um…okay…
Also of note: Grant Morrison’s “Multiversity” miniseries finally launches!
In collected editions, we have a date for the Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion collection. It’s going straight to paperback rather than hardcover-first.
FOREVER EVIL: ROGUES REBELLION TP
Written by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by PATRICK ZIRCHER, SCOTT HEPBURN and ANDRE COEHLO
Cover by SCOTT HEPBURN
On sale SEPTEMBER 24 • 160 pg, FC • $16.99 US
The Rogues call no man boss, but the threat of the Crime Syndicate isn’t leaving them much choice! Will they fall in line, or refuse and risk certain death? How can the Rogues take on the Crime Syndicate together? Collected from the 6-issue miniseries, plus THE FLASH #23.1: ROGUES.
DC keeps going back and forth as to whether the Grodd one-shot is in this collection or Flash vol.4: Reverse. It would make a lot more sense to put it here.
DC has revealed the last five Bombshells variant covers by Ant Lucia, featuring 1940s/50s style pin-up girl art, including the alternate cover for The Flash #32. The themed covers will appear on a number of DC’s comics in June.
I’d been wondering who was going to be the focus of the Flash cover ever since it was announced, since DC had erased their prominent female speedsters back in Flashpoint/New 52 launch.
News on the Flash TV show is hitting fast and furious — appropriately enough. The CW has released TWO more trailers in addition to yesterday’s Arrow teaser, “Don’t Blink” — including the following extended five-minute trailer!
There’s also another short clip, “New Name.”
As reported earlier, the show will air Tuesdays at 8pm, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s old timeslot. Marvel’s show is moving to 9pm. If they weren’t completely separate networks I’d almost think they’d coordinated it.
So what do you think of the new, longer look at The Flash?
Flash TV News is reporting that the Flash TV series will begin in October and air at 8 pm on Tuesdays. This is the former timeslot of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD series, and AoS will apparently be moving to Tuesdays at 9 pm.
(In case you missed it yesterday, the Flash teaser trailer can be seen here!)