Category Archives: Creators

Speed Reading: Wally, Santa, Legacy and Icons

Okay, some catching up!

Comic Nexus’ Who’s Who in the DCU discusses the “Wally West conundrum”.

4thLetter! mulls the link between Santa Claus and the speed force.

Dan Didio discusses legacy vs. iconic characters (among lots of other stuff) in his latest 20 Questions column

Blog@Newsarama reviews Geoff Johns’ career to date.

DC’s solicitations for March come out later today. There won’t be any new Flash books (though The Flash Archives Vol.5 comes out that month), so it’ll be mainly team books that feature fast guys in red.

Edit: Also, today’s installment of What Were They Thinking shows one of those “classic” Flash/Green Lantern pairings — or rather, super-hero fights — complete with a giant-head Flash!

Geoff Johns Leaves JSA

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Geoff Johns has announced that he will be leaving Justice Society of America — a title that he has co-written even through a relaunch for nearly a decade — after the upcoming Justice Society of America #26.

At the center of his announcement is this:

The JSA to me represents everything good about life, work and superheroes. In life, generations past, present and future all provide different viewpoints. There can be something magical when it’s past from grandfather to father to son or from mother to daughter or son to grandfather. There’s nothing more important than family – and family means a lot more than just blood relatives. That’s what my very first book, STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E., was about and that’s what JSA, and life, is about.

So why am I leaving?

I have more stories to tell, and the characters are endless, but that’s also true for the DC Universe. I’m ready to move on to some other challenges like returning to THE FLASH and SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN. And I am also obsessed with making sure that GREEN LANTERN, BLACKEST NIGHT and everything around it is the absolute best it can possibly be.…and that’s only part of 2009. There are some new projects on the horizon.

It’s a shock to see him leave the book after so long, but as he says, the DC Universe is huge, and I can absolutely understand wanting to explore more facets of it.

Of course, this being a Flash blog, I’ll have to point out the phrasing, “returning to The Flash.” That may just be a reference to Flash: Rebirth, but it certainly sounds like he plans to stick around afterward.

(via Comic Book Resources)

And I thought there wouldn’t be any big Flash news to cover this week…

Update: Newsarama has an interview in which Geoff Johns clarifies what he’ll be working on next year:

With my runs on Action Comics and Justice Society of America coming to a close I’ll be focusing on Green Lantern, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin and Blackest Night. Technically that gives me one monthly book and three mini-series, but by the time 2009 is over I’ll be back on three monthly books. So that’s what it’ll look like a year from now.

Catching Up: Messner-Loebs, Guggenheim, Waid and Van Sciver

Twenty years ago, William Messner-Loebs started a four-year run on The Flash. Seven years ago, out of work, he and his wife lost their house. Michigan Live writes about how his life has turned around since then. (via The Beat).

Another former Flash scribe, Mark Waid, talks to CBR about his arrival on Spider-Man.

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive “Full Throttle” writer Marc Guggenheim’s TV show Eli Stone has not been renewed beyond the network’s current 13-episode commitment. Update: Newsarama also has an interview about Guggenheim’s “Character Assassination” arc on Amazing Spider-Man

Flash: Iron Heights and Impulse artist Ethan Van Sciver, currently working on Flash: Rebirth, has started a weekly column at Newsarama, Your Time Is Now Mine.

Update: One more: Geoff Johns talks with CBR about bringing the Legion of Super-Heroes to Smallville.

Speed Reading: Kolins, Johns, Morrison

IGN is running an interview, the Geoff Johns Marathon, in which the writer talks about just about everything he’s working on, including Flash: Rebirth (via trmnlvlctyyy at Comic Bloc). Among other things, he writes:

Right now I’m looking at the Flash with Rebirth, and I want to see how I can make this mythology even bigger. It’s already huge. The Flash has an awesome base, so cracking it open even more has been an incredible challenge.

and

The Flash has always been my favorite character since I was a kid. And it’s fun to get back to writing Wally West. I wrote him for five years. To get back to him and then write Barry Allen. Like I said earlier, I get to take what I’ve learned over the last several years writing comics and apply it to the Flash. Because I started writing the Flash almost when I started writing comics, and now I get to look at everything I’ve done to this point and see how I can apply that onto my original work on the character. I want to continue to elevate my writing, and hopefully I’ll achieve that.

Newsarama interviews artist Scott Kolins on Faces of Evil: Grundy, which reunites him with Flash and Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge collaborator Geoff Johns.

Finally, MTV’s Splash Page wonders why Grant Morrison can’t talk about a Flash movie, given the number of NDAs he’s signed in connection with various film projects. [Edit: Since the original page has vanished, I’m attaching a quote from the Google cache so you can have a little context. Thanks, Rockin’ Rich.]

“Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I can’t talk about,” Morrison said. “Yes, I have talked to them. I’m deeply involved in those discussions. I know what’s going down with all of that, and it’s actually really exciting. But beyond that, I can’t say anything. I wish I could tell you. I’m sure announcements will probably be made at some point, but I can’t say anything.”

Speed Reading: Rebirth, Crimson Lightning, Turner Tribute and More

Fellow Flash blogger Dixon of Crimson Lightning writes about catching up on his Flash comic index and launching a new feature, “Fast Talk,” all about the technobabble with which the Flashes breeze past the laws of physics.

Wizard Magazine’s 2009 preview, shipping in December, will feature an interview with Geoff Johns in which he talks about Flash: Rebirth. (via Comic Bloc’s BESTBUY)

That Flash neon sign coming in June? Comics Infinity is offering pre-orders for 10% off. (via aeryncrichton)

Aspen Studios’ planned tribute to founder Michael Turner has been making the rounds at The Pulse and elsewhere, and Newsarama has followed up with a short interview with Vince Hernandez.

Hiro and DaphneThe Pulse interviews Brea Grant, speedster Daphne from Heroes. Anyone else notice that they still keep dressing her in red?

Finally, Comics Should Be Good has a list of the Top Five Flashes. I’m sure most Flash fans will find something to disagree with in this list. 😀

Quick Link: EVS on Flash: Rebirth

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Newsarama spoke with Ethan Van Sciver at Mid-Ohio Con this weekend, and he talked about Flash: Rebirth. Some highlights:

But this is not just about Barry Allen’s return; this is about the Flash’s rebirth. This is the entire Flash legacy, all of the friends and neighbors, and bringing them all back and giving them a purpose and a new sort of lease on life. So even though Barry Allen has already appeared in Final Crisis, and was brought back in Final Crisis, which saved us a little bit of work, you’ll still see many long-lost friends. And you’ll be happy to see them again — some for the first time in ages.

And on Wally’s new costume:

He will have a very interesting and exciting new costume that will establish his own unique identity in the Flash Universe. When you see it, it will be instantly familiar. Nobody’s going to freak out. It’s not suddenly blue. He’s not reverting to the costume he wore as an infant, or as Kid Flash. It’s just a handy new look that fits right in, just like everything I’ve done. I just try to keep everything so that it looks like I didn’t create it. It was already there.