The Flash creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato were featured in an interview posted yesterday at Comic Vine. Within, the two talk about their plans for the title in 2013, including the fates of Iris West and her family, the introduction and genesis of the new Reverse-Flash and more!
Media Blitz! features highlights from recent Flash news items. Follow the jump for the latest! There are some interesting threads in the writers’ responses…
DC’s April solicitations are trickling out today, and in addition to The Flash #19 and the usual team books, the scarlet speedster is guest starring in at least two three other comics: Justice League Dark, Dial H (hinted at in the March solicitations) and DC Universe Presents. Plus, Impulse’s guest spots in Smallville Season 11 continue for a fourth issue as Bart and Clark face off against the Black Flash.
From the Justice League group:
THE FLASH #19
Written by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by MARCIO TAKARA
Fold-out cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 MAD Variant cover by The Usual Gang of Idiots
On sale APRIL 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
That’s not a proper riddle, now is it, my precious?
Update: I forgot to mention that this is the second of two issues that Francis Manapul is taking off. Assuming plans don’t change, he’ll be back for Flash #20 and the start of the Reverse Flash storyline.
Update: I missed the fact that this is the book attached to the sword cover we posted on Friday:
DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #19
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by JESUS SAIZ
Fold-out cover by JESUS MERINO
On sale APRIL 17 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE
From the Dark group:
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19
Written by JEFF LEMIRE and RAY FAWKES
Art and fold-out cover by MIKEL JANIN
On sale APRIL 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
DIAL H #11
Written by CHINA MIEVILLE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI and DAN GREEN
Fold-out cover by BRIAN BOLLAND
On sale APRIL 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
So that’s what WTF means. And all this time I thought it stood for something else.
From the Beyond the New 52 group:
SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 #12
Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by JORGE JIMENEZ
Cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale APRIL 3 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
+1 for the Black Flash, -1 for Electric Superman.
ComicList reports that the trade paperback Impulse: Runs in the Family has been canceled. I guess that explains why it hasn’t shown up on any of the solicitations. [Correction: It was solicited in October.]
This isn’t the first collection DC has canceled before release. Usually it means they looked at the pre-orders and just didn’t see the demand.
On the plus side, the issues that would have been collected are all available digitally now. Of course, that brings up an interesting question: What role did digital sales play in this decision? Did DC see poor digital sales and low print pre-orders and decide to cancel it? Or did they see better digital sales than print pre-orders and decide to focus on the more effective market?
Comics used to be disposable entertainment, but since the early 1990s, readers tend to keep their collections for years. With that sort of audience, what’s the market for reprints of 20-year-old comics that have been kept bagged and boarded so that the people who have the most nostalgia for them also still have a copy in good condition?
(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip.)
While DC Comic’s solicitations for April’s new issues isn’t due until Monday, Comic Book Resources (via Gotham Spoilers) has an early selection of covers. This includes Francis Manapul’s cover art for Flash #19 (below) and Flash prominently featured on what appears to be that month’s Justice League the cover to DC Universe Presents #19.
Flash #19 will be the second of two issues written solo by Brian Buccellato, with art by Marcio Takara. The solicit for issue #18 features both the Trickster and Dial H.
Check out the Justice League DC Universe Presents #19 cover after the jump!
DC has a preview of Flash #15 up at The Source.
“Gorilla Warfare” rages on! In THE FLASH #15, Barry Allen must go to extreme measures to defeat Grodd while the Gorillas take over the Gem Cities. With his body out of commission, The Flash uses the Speed Mind to glimpse the future, and things are not looking good for him and the Rogues! Can Barry think of a way out of this situation? Or are the Gem Cities doomed forever? From the creative team of Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Marcus To, and Ryan Winn, THE FLASH #15 races into stores this Wednesday.
TV Guide has an article about Bart Allen’s return to Smallville, including a preview of the new storyline, “Haunted.” Smallville Season 11 takes place in the TV show continuity, where Bart Allen is a founding member of the Justice League under the code name Impulse, though his origin was left extremely vague. So vague, in fact, that Bart himself doesn’t remember how he got his powers beyond there being an accident and a “flash of light.”
The new arc, “Haunted,” will explore the origins of Bart’s ability to run at super speed. “There’s something that has been haunting Bart for some time, some baggage he’s been carrying,” says writer Bryan Q. Miller of the title. “Everyone in our story is being haunted — physically, metaphorically — by some element of their past.”
Other story elements involve Lex Luthor attempting to recover his own lost memories, and Chloe’s quest to learn about her doppelganger from Earth-2. Miller goes on:
“Haunted” will have more direct connections to the television show than Season 11’s earlier stories. “It’s the first time we are relying heavily on previous Smallville series history,” Miller says. “This arc has many more roots in specific episodes and mythology from the series.”
Check out a view of Bart’s new costume after the cut: Continue reading