TwoMorrows Publishing is running a sale on their Companion books through Valentine’s Day…for 40% off list price! That means you can pick up The Flash Companion for only $16.17!
So what is The Flash Companion?
It’s a book published in 2008 detailing the behind-the-scenes history of The Flash from Jay Garrick’s first appearance in 1940 through the death of Bart Allen and return of Wally West, including the 1990 TV series.
Most of it is about the artists and writers who have worked on the character. Articles on Gardner Fox, Sheldon Mayer, and Julius Schwartz. Interviews with legends like Carmine Infantino, who reveals the origin of the Rogues, and Harry Lampert. Cary Bates on going serial in the seventies. Mike Baron’s fast living with Wally West. Mark Waid on creating Impulse, his reaction to Bart Allen’s death, and his tribute to the late Mike Wieringo.
“Flash facts” about critical turning points. Pages and plots from the stories that went unpublished when Flash Comics was canceled. The Flash who DC almost introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths. The actor who turned down the role of Barry Allen.
Artwork and photos. Lost covers. A Rogue’s Gallery.
The book was written by Keith Dallas, who recruited a number of Flash fans (including myself) from the Comic Bloc forums to contribute additional material.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the Flash, or in the writers and artists who have created and guided the character for the past 70 years.
(Full disclosure, since I contributed a few articles: No, I don’t get any money for it, unless you buy it through my Amazon link in the sidebar — but then, you’d miss out on the discount price at TwoMorrows.)
I highly recommend it as well and I didn’t write anything in this book!
I bought the book when it first came out…and now can’t find it. Lost somewhere in the disaster that is my room.
I recommend it too, by the way.
Fantastic book!
All Flash fans need to own a copy. I also have the Justice League Companion, which is also very good.
I got it when it first came out and absolutely loved it! I highly recommend it!!
The Flash Companion is already on my bookcase and I love the wealth of information in this book.
I have to jump in and add how much I love this book too. It should seriously be in every Flash fan’s collection.
It is a great book. The guy writing the section on Bart Allen seemed to be a bit of a Wally hater, though. I think he introduced the section by saying that Bart Allen was chosen to replace Wally because fans were tired of him and bored of him, and were clamoring for him to be replaced. Which…I don’t know, I’d respect that opinion more if he was only talking for himself, but he was kind of speaking for the entire fandom without really citing any evidence for it.
Hmm, I don’t remember getting that sense. I’ll have to go back and read it again. By any chance do you remember who wrote that section?
I mean, the only people I recall clamoring to replace Wally at the end of Geoff Johns’ run were those who had never really accepted him in the first place, not those who had accepted him and gotten tired of him — and they didn’t want Bart, they wanted Barry. I don’t think very many people actually wanted Bart to become the Flash at that point, even the Bart fans. The last few issues of Wally’s series were lackluster, sure, but the decision to cancel the book had already been made, and those issues were written to be an ending.
Please verify this. It’s bad enough running into trolls from either side of the My Flash Is The Best Flash While Your Flash Sucks fence in a public forum let alone in a licensed work. If that behavior is in fact there, I want to skip that section.
As I recall, there might have been several articles contributed to that section of the compendium. It was just the beginning paragraph of one of the interviews, and it didn’t really destroy what was otherwise an outstanding purchase…I just read it at a time when it really made an impression.
Re-reading that section again, it’s entirely possible that I’m thinking of a different article or website entirely. I was reading a lot of stuff at the time I purchased it. I feel bad for even mentioning it, but I will confirm it once I find it.
I’m an idiot, I apologize. Re-reading the book was a lot of fun, and I did not find anything a Wally West fan would object to. I must be thinking of a different article from god knows where.
There you have it, folks: if my recommendation isn’t enough, just look at these testimonials!
I’m with the rest of you. I purchased the companion when it first came out and I’ve read it cover to cover no less than 6 times. Since it is so cheap I might pick up another copy too.
Okay, you convinced me.
I’ll look at the advantages over Amazon while I’m also looking for any trades with Mark Waid as the writer. (Exploring my new high-speed [internet] muscles I ran across some scans of Brave & The Bold #16 (comedic Catwoman falls for comedic Superman) and am in love all over again with Mr. Waid’s work.)
I gotta echo everyone else…. great book! If you don’t own it, you should definitely pick it up.
The Irredeemable Shag
I already have the Blue Beetle one. Very complete in-detail books.
‘really want this one too! 😀
Worth every cent. LOVE this book!!