Category Archives: Flash History

Flash Sales: 1996-2002

Following up on yesterday’s graph showing Flash Sales from 2001-2008, I did some more searching and found a site with figures going back to 1996. More importantly, this one also has relative rankings.

Sales — but not ranking — dropped heavily in 1996 and early 1997. Of course, this was in the middle of the speculator crash, so the entire comics industry was doing pretty badly at the time. (Also, the first issue in these stats might have been higher, since #119 was a Final Night tie-in.)

They stayed in the low-to-mid 40,000s for the next few years, during the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run and the return of Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn. Highlights during this period include:

#130, the first Morrison/Millar issue.
#135, part of the “Three of a Kind” crossover with Green Lantern and Green Arrow.
#1,000,000, part of the DC One Million crossover. Oddly, it didn’t jump much the previous month, when Waid and Augustyn returned with #142.
Small spike for #150, conclusion of Chain Lightning and a milestone issue.
Larger spike for #152, start of the Dark Flash saga.
I’m not sure what made #157 catch on, unless it was the striking cover showing Linda’s grave.

Sales started dropping as soon as Waid and Augustyn wrapped up the main part of their run (#159), and the book went into a series of done-in-ones.

Geoff Johns took over for a 6-part arc, “Wonderland,” with #164. I was surprised to find that sales dropped through the whole arc, but DC decided to give him the regular gig anyway. They kept dropping through “Blood Will Run,” bottoming out with the conclusion in #174. Oddly enough, that was also the highest rated issue since he’d taken over. The next year and a half held steady around 30,000. And the post-2002 climb is shown in yesterday’s post.

This shows an interesting contrast to DC’s current tactic of changing the creative team every time sales come in lower than the month before.

Other Observations

These years also cover most of Impulse‘s 90-issue run. At the start of this period it was selling in the mid-to-low-30K range, dropped to around 20K in 1998, and down to 15K from 2000-2002.

This also includes the overlap period between regular Annuals and Secret Files.

For three months in 1999, there were four Flash-related books each month: Flash, Impulse, and the miniseries Flashpoint and Flash/Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold. The latter miniseries outsold Flash for the first two months, then dropped below it for the next four issues.

The actual figures from CBGXtra appear after the cut. Continue reading →

Flash Sales: 2001-2008

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This week’s Permanent Damage at CBR brings up the issue of maximizing profits, and just what that means in today’s comic-book marketplace. At one point, Stephen Grant mentions:

As far as I know, Geoff Johns wasn’t thrown off The Flash. He left the book. There was no indication that Wally West… pardon me… had legs left, and it’s not like sales had been going up and up and up under Geoff either. Just not that many people are interested in The Flash.

While the first part is true, the second part is incorrect. Sales had been going up under Geoff Johns. ~~When he came on board~~ In the middle of his run, the series was selling in the 20,000-30,000 range. After a few years, around #200, it started climbing steadily until it actually broke 50,000 with his final issue, #225. [Edit: I’ve found some earlier sales figures that cover the Waid-to-Johns transition, and got some surprises.]

I’ve compiled the following sales chart from posts at The Beat over the last few years:

Some Highlights:

#200 is the conclusion of Blitz, and being a milestone issue, it’s not surprising to see a spike. Cameo guest spots by Hal Jordan and Barry Allen probably helped as well.

#209 guest-stars the Justice League and features a race with Superman.

#214-216 is the Identity Crisis tie-in, “The Secret of Barry Allen.” #217 is also billed as a tie-in, and features the funeral for Captain Boomerang.

#225 is the conclusion of “Rogue War” and Geoff Johns’ final issue on the series. Notice the brief dip for the following issue, which is a fill-in, then a hasty drop over the final 4-issue arc of the series.

Both relaunches show huge spikes followed by dramatic dives as people tried them out, then decided no, this wasn’t what they wanted to read. And the second spike was only half the height of the first. Interestingly, current numbers are actually higher that they were early in Geoff Johns’ run (though the precipitous slope suggests they won’t be for long, unless people have responded favorably to the middle issues of Tom Peyer’s arc).

I’ve been of the opinion that another relaunch would further damage the book — but it might be necessary just to get people to look at it. Sales charts for a healthy book do show attrition, with occasional jumps like those shown on the left side of this graph, but DC may want that quick injection of readers. The trick, of course, is going to be figuring out what will resonate with readers and get them to stay after they pick it up, instead of dropping it again once curiosity is satisfied.

The actual data, compiled from The Beat’s sales charts, follows after the cut. Continue reading →

Flash Companion Preview: Lost Gold

Lost Gold: The Unpublished Golden Age Flash Stories

By John Wells

The abrupt cancellation of Flash Comics left Julius Schwartz with no chance to burn off the inventory of completed material he’d assembled for future issues. Instead, each page was stamped “Written Off 9-30-49,” filed away and ultimately marked for destruction in the late 1960s. Unpublished samples of all five features in Flash Comics survived to the present. Most remarkably, there were five Flash stories — three preserved in their entirety! They are:

“Journey Into Danger”: A criminal discovers a formula capable of accelerating speed and motion — but not the means of controlling it. In an effort to force Jay Garrick to give up his own formula for slowing down energy, the Farmer unleashes his speed solution on an unsuspecting Keystone City and the Flash himself (published in The Flash #205: April, 1971).

“The Tale of the Three Tokens”: A stranger gives common objects to Jay and two other men that prove instrumental in saving each of their lives during the Thinker’s attempt to use a stolen time machine (published in The Flash #214: April, 1972).

“Strange Confession”: After the Flash’s third encounter with the Thorn, her “sister” Rose confesses to Jay Garrick that she and the villainess are one and the same. Her evil personality kidnaps Joan Williams in retaliation, and the Flash ultimately asks Green Lantern to transport Rose to the curative Transformation Island at the suggestion of Wonder Woman (pages 11 and 12 published in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #113: Sept.-Oct., 1971. Later published in its entirety in Robin Snyder’s fanzine The Comics [Vol. 6] #10: Oct., 1995.).

Continue reading →

Barry Allen: The Collected Flash

Showcase Presents: The Flash

The easiest and cheapest way to pick up classic Barry Allen stories is through the two volumes of Showcase Presents: The Flash. These are black-and-white paperbacks on newsprint, but include roughly 500 pages in each book for under $20. The idea is to put the content out as cheaply as possible for people who want to read it. So far, these books cover 1956–1963.

The first volume covers the Flash’s initial appearances in Showcase up through issue #119, and features the first appearances of most of the classic Rogues Gallery. The second, released last week, collects issues #120-140, and includes such classics as “The Flash of Two Worlds.”

Showcase Presents: The Flash at Amazon
Showcase Presents: The Flash at Mile High Comics

The Flash Archives

For the higher-end collector, DC’s Archive Editions include four volumes of Flash Archives. These are hardcover, color books on glossy paper, around 200–250 pages apiece, retailing for $50. (Though if you shop around, you can usually find them for closer to $30.) The Archives are designed to last as part of a personal library. The Silver Age Flash Archives cover 1956–1962.

DC has been cutting back on its archive program in recent years, and it’s not clear whether they will release any more volumes of the Flash Archives. These four could be it.

The Flash Archives at Amazon
The Flash Archives at Mile High Comics

The Greatest Stories Ever Told

Rather than sequential collections, this book collects the high points of the Flash’s entire run. There are actually two versions, one released in 1991 and out of print, and one released in 2007, with different content.

The 2007 trade paperback, Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, is easier to find, and features five Barry Allen stories including “Flash of Two Worlds,” (Barry crosses to Earth-2 and meets Jay) “One Bridegroom Too Many” (Barry and Iris marry), “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains” (the first major Rogues Gallery story) and the 80-page crossover, “Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier.” (It also features two Jay Garrick stories and a Wally West story.) My other blog has a detailed breakdown of the contents.

Harder to find is the 1991 hardcover, The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told. This was a longer book, and featured 12 Barry Allen stories — all but one of them different from the 2007 book. (Only two stories appear in both editions: the Golden-Age “Stone-Age Menace” and the late Silver-Age “The Flash — Fact or Fiction?”) There’s also a paperback version. If you can track this down at a reasonable price, it’s worth picking up.

Superman vs. the Flash

This TPB covers all of the major races between Superman and the Flash. It includes four races with Barry Allen including the original in Superman #199, the rematch in Flash #175, and two longer races from World’s Finest #198–199 and DC Comics Presents #1–2.

The Life Story of the Flash

Mark Waid’s 1997 biography of Barry Allen, done in the form of an in-universe book written by Barry’s widow, Iris. It covers the high points of his career, putting a different spin on some events. This is available in both hardcover and trade paperback.

Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave & the Bold

This collects the 1999 miniseries by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and Barry Kitson. The stories focus on the friendship between Barry Allen and Green Lantern Hal Jordan over the course of their super-hero careers. It’s also a follow-up to the Waid/Augustyn/Kitson JLA: Year One.

Crisis on Multiple Earths

During the 1960s and 1970s, cross-overs between the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America became an annual event. They started with “Crisis on Earth-One” and “Crisis on Earth-Two,” setting the phrasing that would eventually become Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC has four trade paperbacks under the Crisis on Multiple Earths banner that feature these JLA/JSA team-ups.

There are also two volumes of Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups, which feature individual characters from Earth-1 and Earth-2 working together. These include several meetings between Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, such as “Flash of Two Worlds,” “Double Danger on Earth,” and “Vengeance of the Immortal Villain.”

Crisis on Multiple Earths at Amazon
Crisis on Multiple Earths at Mile High Comics
Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups at Mile High Comics

Other Series

(Added July 1)

Naturally, the Flash appears in various other collections from the Silver and Bronze ages, especially Justice League of America. JLA trades include the Crisis on Multiple Earths series, three (so far) Showcase Presents volumes and nine Archive editions covering most of the 1960s.

Showcase Presents: Justice League of America at Amazon
Showcase Presents: Justice League of America at Mile High Comics
Justice League of America at the Trade Paperback List

Back Issues

As mentioned above, the 1970s and onward (the Bronze Age) are almost completely unrepresented in collections. Fortunately, the Internet has made it easier than ever to track down back issues. Sites like eBay and Mile High Comics make it easy to track down what you can’t find at a local comic store or a convention.

A number of stories from the 1960s have been reprinted in later issues of The Flash and in smaller reprint collections from the 1970s, as you can see in this list of Silver-Age Flash Reprints (work in progress). Sure, you won’t find them at Barnes & Noble or Borders, but if you find yourself looking for something from the mid-1960s, it may be easier to find a 1970s reprint in decent condition.

Speed Force

Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive