Category Archives: Creators

Speed Reading: Creator Catch-Up

Catching up with various Flash writers and an artist.

Mark Waid and BOOM! Studios are working at LA’s Meltdown Comics shop on Wednesdays this month, spinning off from an earlier promotion for the new book Hexed.

Comics Should Be Good is running a Year of Writing stars. Monday’s installment: Tom Peyer, who wrote last year’s six-part Flash arc, “Fast Money”

Marc Guggenheim, writer of the “Full Throttle” arc on Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, tells Newsarama that his Green Lantern movie is still on track, and that there may be hope for Eli Stone. He also talks (along with Steve Wacker) about Spider-Man, and talks to CBR about Super-Zombies, his upcoming mini-series from Dynamite.

The Comic Treadmill writes up Alter Ego #54, focusing on 1970s Flash artist Mike Esposito, and Gold– and Silver-Age Flash writer, Robert Kanigher.

Geoff Johns on Flash: Rebirth, Smallville and More

Geoff Johns was all over the place this week, talking with Hero Complex about several projects including Flash: Rebirth, to Newsarama about his Smallville episode, Legion, and to Wizard about the comic book projects he has for 2009.

Regarding Flash: Rebirth, he tells Hero Complex about series losing their focus:

When the book starts to not be about that, maybe it needs to refocus. Writing Flash with Wally West, he was kind of the sidekick to Barry Allen, the original, then he became the main Flash after Barry left and died. But you look at what the theme of Flash’s book has been for the last 200-something issues with Wally West and it’s been about a man trying to fill someone else’s boots. It doesn’t really have anything to do with speed. I mean, it has something to do with speed, but it was not totally what the book was about. The new Flash that I’m doing is all about speed. What speed means. I’m sure that you have a Blackberry or cellphone, or I’m sure that you’ve downloaded songs or something and asked, “Why is it taking so long?” Everyone wants everything faster today, so speed is even more of something that we can all relate to on a different level.

I like the fact that he wants to focus the book on speed. However….

The guy writing Flash: Rebirth, who also wrote ~60 issues of the last series, feels that Wally West’s defining characteristic is being a wannabe. Remind me again why Wally’s fans should simply relax and trust him? 🙄

Speed Reading: Best-Of, Classics, Kerschl and Waid

And the year-end round-ups keep coming!

At Comic Fodder, Tpull’s Top Ten Mini-Series of 2008 counts Rogues Revenge at .

CBR’s When Worlds Collide lists Geoff Johns among its 15 Creators to Watch in 2009.

Geoff Johns makes iFanboy’s list of The Top 5 Best Things About Comic Books in 2008.

Also:

Bags and Boards looks at Flash v.1 #309 (May 1982), pitting the Flash against a man from the future who would, by the end of the issue, become the first future Flash

According to David S. Goyer, all DC movies at Warner Bros. are on hold while they figure out how to get them right. (via The Beat)

The Montreal Mirror profiles artist Karl Kerschl, who penciled Teen Titans Year One and one issue of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. The article focuses on his work with the band Ragni and his webcomic, The Abominable Charles Christopher.

Major Spoilers has some preview pages from the upcoming The Incredibles comic written by Mark Waid.

Speed Reading: Favorites

Usually I save these up for the weekend, but there’s been a lot more Flash commentary around the net than usual. I blame the new year.

First, some more year-end lists:

The Flash Companion makes the spot on Scoop’s Best of 2008: Publications About Comics, Characters, or Collectibles! (via Keith Dallas)

The Comic Treadmill’s 11th Day of Christmas features the team’s favorite Flash covers.

Grumpy Old Fan (now at Robot 6, along with the rest of the old Blog@Newsarama crew) lists Ten from the old year, ten for the new — items he watched at DC in 2008 or will be watching in 2009. Not surprisingly, Geoff Johns features prominently in both.

Now, on to more general stuff

Crimson Lightning has results of the Favorite Rogue poll. January’s sidebar poll: Who is your favorite regular writer from The Flash (v.2)?

4 Color Commentary profiles John Broome, who helped usher in the Silver Age Flash.

Lying in the Gutters’ Rich Johnston catches up to the fanbase by pondering whether Wally’s upcoming costume change comes along with an identity change, though message-board accounts indicate that EVS said at WWTX that Wally will always be the Flash, “just like John Stewart will always be Green Lantern.” (On the minus side, I remember when John Stewart wasn’t Green Lantern, and they kept trying to find other roles for him, such as joining the Darkstars…)

Comics In Crisis recommends the DC audio books by GraphicAudio, saying “these really are high quality and pretty faithful to the comic characters.” He particularly cites the adaptation of Flash: Stop Motion as “one of the best Flash stories I’ve ‘read’ in a long time.”

Speed Reading for the Holidays

A couple of fan redesigns of Bart Allen’s costumes: Kid Flash by PO! and The Flash (Bart Allen) by Ming Doyle. (I found the first through a Google alert, and the second on the DC Boards.)

Ring from Will Triumph Fights AloneComiccon.com interviews the creators of Will Triumph Fights Alone. The power ring on the cover, with its yellow band, circular setting, and lightning insignia looks oddly familiar.

Comics Should Be Good’s Top 100 battles adds more Flash material, including Flash vs. Zoom (Blitz) (thanks, Craig MD) and #47, Flash vs. Professor Zoom (Return of Barry Allen)

Hero Complex has 10 favorite Wonder Woman battles including Wonder Woman vs. Zoom.

Update: I missed this one in my rush to post this before heading out to a family gathering that, as it turned out, was starting several hours before we expected. Newsarama has an interview with Greg LaRocque about his new project, The Dreaming. LaRocque worked on The Flash during the late 1980s and early 1990s with both William Messner-Loebs and Mark Waid.

Update 2: It’s All Just Comics has original art for one of the Superman/Flash races. Sadly, it’s a little out of my price range. OK, it’s a LOT out of my price range.

Speed Reading: TV, Battles, Run!

Crimson Lightning reviews the Flash TV Episode, “Twin Streaks.”

Ethan Van Sciver’s Your Time is Now Mine column continues.

Matt Sturges talks to CBR about the post-Final Crisis miniseries he’s doing with Freddie Williams II, Run!, which, as it turns out, isn’t connected to the Flash at all.

Comics Should Be Good has started posting the results of the Top 100 Comic Battles poll. #100 is Superboy-Prime vs. the Teen Titans from Infinite Crisis, a battle which ended only when the Flashes got together and pushed him into the speed force…at significant cost to the Flash franchise.