Some linkblogging for the week…
High Five! Comics looks at Flash #206: 24 Hours of Immortality and Nurse Barry.
The Idol-Head of Diabolu has located a 1967 board game featuring the Flash (via Crimson Lightning).
Speed Reading
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Category Archives: Flash History
On the Comics Code
The Comics Code Authority is little more than a rubber stamp these days, but in the 1950s, it was a last-ditch attempt to save the industry from a popular backlash against perceived immorality, primarily (but not exclusively) in crime and romance comics. (Though some people thought super-heroes were even worse.) Its restrictions, eventually relaxed during the 1970s, are no doubt responsible for many of the silly story elements of the Silver Age.
Check out the Illustrated Comics Code, which uses Golden Age comics panels to demonstrate just what the original version of the code prohibited. (Be warned: the first image on there is kind of gruesome. And misspells Wertham.)
On a related note, I recently finished reading David Hajdu’s The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. It’s a fascinating look at the early years of the comic book industry, the cultural landscape around it, and how a moral panic (not unlike current controversy over video games — actually, more or less exactly like current controversy over video games) nearly destroyed the industry.
Speed Reading: “Science,” Homages, and an Atomic Banana Peel
CBR Live found themselves “Flashed” by Warner Bros. — or rather, by an advertisement for The Big Bang Theory at their studios in Burbank, California.
What Were They Thinking? uncovers the amazing science behind Jay Garrick’s origin and more Golden Age “science.”
High Five! Comics notes a pair of Flash cover homages: the latest Irredeemable’s homage to “Flash of Two Worlds” and a tale of two Flash #105s.
Mark Waid has found the Flash’s ultimate adversary: the atomic banana peel. No, I am not making this up. And neither is he.
Breaking off-topic a bit, here’s the *ahem* cerealized Blackest Night that’s been making the rounds the last few days.
Lost “Flash” Game Footage Surfaces
I’m not entirely sure how I missed this when it was posted in June, but check this out:
According to the user who posted it on YouTube:
This is early game footage from the cancelled Flash video game. When our publisher Brash folded we were about 6 months into full production with about a year still to go on the game so please excuse the roughness of how it looks at this stage. A lot of the core elements were just starting to surface and we were all really saddened that the game couldn’t be saved. It was showing much potential. As such we just wanted to share a sample of what the game could have been like. Enjoy!
The Brash/BottleRocket game would have been for XBox 360 and PS3. I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I have to admit that this looks like it would have been really cool!
(Found via Superheroes R Us and Comic Book Movie. There’s a long thread at Topless Robot as well.)
An Earlier Identity Crisis
A brief exchange from The Flash 80-Page Giant #1 (1998).
The setup: The DCU version of comic book writer Mark Millar is interviewing the Flash to get ideas for his next script. Apparently DC Comics exists in the DCU, but they publish stories about “real world” heroes. As you can see, they don’t know all the details—like their secret identities—and have to fill in the gaps themselves.
Originally posted at K-Squared Ramblings.
In 1998 it was a play on the title of DC’s biggest ever crossover event. In 2004, it was the title of DC’s latest big crossover event.
Speed Reading: JLA, Drinks, Ridiculous Villains & More
Some weekend linkblogging…
News
Incoming Justice League writer James Robinson will include a speedster on the roster.
Yes. I’m talking to Geoff [Johns] about which one it will be. I just have to make sure that everyone at DC is happy with the choice. But there’s a definitely one I have in mind, and I think you’ll all find it an interesting choice.
Blackest Night editor Eddie Berganza contrasts Black Lanterns against Zombies.
The Flash: Rebirth team of Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver are both on the WonderCon 2010 Guest List.
Apparently Mark Waid isn’t evil anymore, judging by the new website www.markwaidwasevil.com.
Fan Commentary
High Five! Comics has invented the world’s fastest drink: the Scarlet Speedster. In true Flash fashion, though, it’s not the first drink to ride the lightning! They’ve also put together a list of the top 10 “Most Ridiculous Villains We Could Think Of”. Two Flash villains — the Turtle and Double Down — make the cut alongside such classics as Starro the Conqueror, Polka Dot Man, and Turner D. Century. (I am not making this up.)
Titans Tower Monitor Room has put together a list of Top 20 Iconic Titans Covers.
Comics and Geeks is tempted by the Uni-Formz Flash action figures.
Fanboy Power Hour looks back at DC Comics Presents #1, the first half of one of the classic Superman-Flash races.
Update: Crimson lightning ponders Wally West’s Last Stand.
Update: Today’s random flashback post on my other blog is a scan of a rather hilarious public service announcement from the 1960s, BEM: Ladies’ Man.