Category Archives: Creators

Geoff Johns: Why the Flash?

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From CCI: Johns, Van Sciver Present “The Flash: Rebirth”:

“I think everybody, at one time or another, wishes they were faster. Everyone wishes they had more time. Everyone wishes they were never late. Everyone wishes they just had a little bit more time to do something. And that’s a really important element to the Flash,” said Johns. “Because if we had super-speed, we could get everything done that we wanted to do. What would you do if you could do everything that you wanted to do? Instead of thinking, ‘Hey, I could run 10 miles in a second,’ what if you could do everything on your ‘Hey, I want to do this,’ list? If you could do all of that, what would you do? Everyone has a stack of books that they say, ‘Oh, I’m never going to read those.’ What if you could? What if you got all of them done? Then what? You want to learn a language? You just did it.”

Iris Sketch by Freddie Williams II

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I stumbled on Freddie Williams II’s Artist’s Alley table at Comic-Con today, and commissioned a sketch of Iris West II in her Flash phase.

I had time, so I waited around while he did the sketch, looked through his portfolio, and talked about the book. Several other people came by to talk, or to look at his art, or to commission sketches of their own. When he was almost done, Dan Didio dropped by to say hello. (To the artist, of course!)

He had original art for sale, including a few pages from the last few issues of The Flash. I was seriously tempted by the page that showed Wally, Iris and Jai running into battle from #241, but I just don’t have the spare $250 lying around…

I mentioned that I’d really liked his run with Tom Peyer, especially the last few issues, and he mentioned that the editor had previously asked him to go with a more open, flat, happy style to his art, and he actually felt better about the art the last few issues. We talked about the harshness of internet fandom — when people like something, they don’t always go out of their way to post about it, but when they dislike it, and when they can hide behind anonymity, it’s almost a compulsion to say so, loudly, as brutally as possible.

Linkage: Rogues, True Believers, and More

1. Lying in the Gutters comments on Rogues’ Revenge:

If “Captain Britain” is the “Secret Invasion” spinoff that’s more entertaining than the series it spins off from, then “Rogue’s Revenge” is the “Final Crisis” spinoff that you can actually understand and enjoy, even if you have no idea of the continuity and characters it refers to?

2. CBR has an article on True Believers, the Marvel mini-series by 1970s Flash writer Cary Bates, including 6 pages of preview art. The first issue comes out next week.

3. Flash Companion author Keith Dallas has posted his San Diego schedule:

On Thursday from 3-4PM I’ll be a panelist on “TwoMorrows Publishing Today” in Room 10.

I’ll also be at the TwoMorrows booth (#1215) autographing The Flash Companion during these dates and times:

Thursday, 4-5pm
Friday, 3-4pm
Saturday, 11-12pm

Peyer Moves to “Galveston”

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Tom Peyer isn’t slowing down after he wraps up his run on The Flash next month. In addition to writing Tek Jansen and back-up stories for Marvel Apes, he’s also co-writing Galveston, an upcoming miniseries from BOOM! Studios.

“’Galveston’ is a light-hearted, violent, Butch & Sundancey look at the friendship between Texas legend Jim Bowie and pirate Jean LeFitte, which really happened,” Peyer told CBR News. “They really were business associates for a while. What Mark and I have done is researched their personalities and built a tall tale around them. It’s centered in Galveston Island, Texas, where LaFitte actually lived in a mansion with cannons on the roof. A stolen mansion, at that.”

Hmm, cannons on the roof, from BOOM! Studios. Sounds appropriate…

Full article at CBR.

Ethan van Sciver at Wizard World

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Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers spoke with Ethan van Sciver at Wizard World Chicago last week about his upcoming projects, including Green Lantern: Blackest Night with Geoff Johns and an untitled Wonder Woman project with Gail Simone. They also discussed the rumors of an upcoming Flash project with Geoff Johns.

The artist had just come from a DC panel where Dan DiDio seemed to always turn to him to answer any question about The Flash. We asked: Why is that?

“Because he’s a sadist, deep down. He even told me that. He said, “I just like to see you squirm.’ I honestly have no idea. He likes to get the rumors going,” Van Sciver said.

We talked about the rumor mill and how most fans think his upcoming “secret project” with Geoff Johns is either Aquaman or The Flash.

“Aquaman’s leading the pack?” Van Sciver said in obviously feigned surprise….

The mysterious van Sciver/Johns project — whether it’s Flash, Aquaman, or something else — will be announced in San Diego later this month.

More at Newsarama.

Ethan van Sciver is no stranger to the Flash, having worked with Geoff Johns on the 2001 graphic novel The Flash: Iron Heights (now collected in the second edition of Flash: Blood Will Run, released earlier this year). He also worked on Impulse with Todd Dezago, where he helped create Inertia, and did several covers for The Flash in 2004 and for The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive in 2007.

What’s Next for Peyer and Williams

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The Flash’s current writer Tom Peyer and artist Freddie Williams II will both wrap up their runs with the conclusion of “Fast Money” in August’s Flash #243. So what’s next on their plates?

CBR spoke with Tom Peyer about his work on Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen at Oni and back-up stories for the upcoming Marvel Apes miniseries.

As for the artist half of the team, The Pulse interviewed Freddie Williams II about his past and current work at DC, including his return to Robin. He answered several questions about The Flash, including how drawing a super-speed family differs from drawing Batman’s protege.

Visually, they are almost completely opposite. Even though Robin can get a bit animated, he was pretty grim and hid in the shadows allot, as well being able to use his cape and his mop of hair to show motion and movement. As opposed to Flash, which was art directed to be more open and cartoony. Flash is basically just a naked figured with nothing except for lightening to help in showing motion. Also, drawing the team dynamic was a bit different as well – having to account for some many figures.

When asked which artists most influenced his work on The Flash, Williams cited Daniel Acuña (his immediate predecessor), and Mike Wieringo.