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.
Newsarama 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.
When was that poll taken? S*t! I would have added to those scores for Wally, Ralph, and Ted!
Pruning books? Well, the only books I’ve purchased in 2012 have been two trades of West Coast Avengers featuring Hank Pym, a single featuring Ant Man 1& 3, Mighty Avengers (again, for Pym), the first Avengers Academy (because..yeah), and a few weeks back the DC52 Flash trade. I enjoyed the WCA enough to not bemoan having got them but reading the history of that series stopped getting the trades when the books got more serious than funny. Academy I gave upon when it became glaringly obvious the emphasis was on just the kids. Almost got into Daredevil, but…the reviews for the plot with Mole Man icked me too much on top of not being a fan of ‘flat’ artwork. Same problem with Hawkeye…hear its great fun, but 2-D color turns me off just enough to want to save my pennies and wait. Saga…opposite problem…nice art and plot from the previews, but the ghost icked me away.
As for DC52 Flash…..just started reading it yesterday. Got about 8 pages in and…well, I guess my pining for Wally is still alive and well because I’ve not felt compelled to get to page 9 as yet and I normally tend to devour a trade at one sitting (RL permitting.)
How the heck do artists survive in the field? I gave up pursuing my one talent during high school when I realized that in terms of hours worked and materials cost I’d actually lost money on a commission. Suddenly working for a retail company didn’t look so bad after that fiasco. 🙁
Btw, I find myself hoping Warner gets around to The Flash movie one day soon if mainly because I want to see how HISHE (you can find it on YouTube) depicts Flash. I absolutely adore their DC and Marvel Superhero CAFE scenes, but sadly so far the DC characters have mainly been just Supes and Bats with one Hal after that movie. Want to see them do Flash so darn bad. (Also, if you go there and have any love for James Bond, catch the first few seconds of the one for the latest Bond movie. They even included Woody Allen! Now that’s a fan! I was in stitches.)
Merry Christmas to all the Flash nutcases out there as you dream of your particular favorite Man Wearing A Ridiculous Red Suit. May your comics stay as mint as they can be and your action figures pristine whether In Box or Escaped.
😉
Check out the web. Apparently Dan Didio gave out a Merry Christmas message where he added “Even you, Wally. Maybe I’ll see you…”
Like they are saying…either a nice hint of a happy New Year down the road for Wally fans…or more cruel nose tweaking by Didio.
Given DC’s track record and Dan Didio’s history of trolling Flash fans in general and Wally fans in particular, I don’t see any reason to believe this is anything but nose-tweaking.