DC’s site has several preview pages from this week’s Flash Annual #1, written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato and featuring the work of several artists.
The issue promises to tell how the Rogues got their powers, and also features a tale of Barry’s youth.
As part of a weeklong look at the upcoming New 52 Annuals, DC Comics’ Source blog has a new post up with some new information on the upcoming Flash Annual #1, by Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato and a cast of artists working from Manapul’s layouts. From Brian Buccellato:
“We couldn’t be happier with the collection of talent we assembled to work from Francis’ layouts. Broken up into chapters, on art duties we have Marcus To, Diogenes Neves, Marcio Takara, Wes Craig, and FLASH legend Scott Kolins! We just had to offer Scott the Rogues ‘flashback chapter,’ and were delighted that he accepted. His take on ‘The Old Rogues’ is new and fresh, yet pays homage to the gang’s history. It might sound clichéd, but it’s truly everything we hoped for and more.”
In the post, Buccellato also promises that the Annual will deliver the first Rogues team-up of the New 52 Flash series, as well as the much-anticipated tale of their journey from “…the old ‘gun-toting’ Rogues that everyone remembers from previous continuity, and the new meta-powered incarnations. In the Annual, we finally reveal HOW the Rogues got their super powers and at what cost.”
Check it out at The Source! Flash Annual #1 is in stores August 29.
MTV Geek has a five-page preview of next week’s The Flash #12 by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.
Manapul is back on art this month, following a short breather. In the preview, we get a new look at (formerly Golden) Glider and more of the recently-debuted Heat Wave. Plus…Kelson!
ComiXology is holding a Nightwing 101 sale this weekend, with 101 comics featuring Nightwing for 99¢ each. In addition to issues of Nightwing, Robin Year One, and Robin’s first appearance in Detective Comics #38, there’s also a “Friends and Allies” section with team-ups and a significant New Teen Titans arc. There’s some solid Flash content from the Wally West series in here:
DC has released the Justice League November solicitations, including…
THE FLASH #14
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale NOVEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
It’s been a while since I’ve written up sales analysis, partly because of time, and partly because I’m really not sure my analysis means anything. So here are three months of rankings from Diamond and the sales estimates* from ICv2: for #19 in May, #31 in June, and #29 in July, selling roughly 53K copies of Flash #11.
There’s a really steep drop with #10. As The Beat points out, DC stopped shipping a 1:200 variant covers with that issue. Additionally, Flash #10 and Flash #11 both have fill-in artists, which may have led retailers to order less.
We’re also seeing, a year into the New 52, the series dropping below the level where volume 3 settled at around 55K.
It’s been dropping in the rankings as well, but a lot of that can be attributed to Avengers vs. X-Men and Before Watchmen. (Note the sharp drop in rankings between April and May, while estimated sales numbers stayed pretty close.) And the Flash isn’t alone. The New 52 seems to have lost a lot of its initial luster, which is no doubt part of why DC plans to revitalize the line with its Zero Month in September.
| Issue | Rank | Month | Units Sold | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash vol.4 | ||||
| Flash v.4 #1 | 4 | September 2011 | 129,260 | |
| Flash v.4 #2 | 5 | October 2011 | 114,137 | -11.7% |
| Flash v.4 #3 | 9 | November 2011 | 90,417 | -20.8% |
| Flash v.4 #4 | 8 | December 2011 | 77,336 | -14.5% |
| Flash v.4 #5 | 8 | January 2012 | 71,611 | -7.4% |
| Flash v.4 #6 | 8 | February2012 | 68,061 | -5.0% |
| Flash v.4 #7 | 11 | March 2012 | 64,975 | -4.5% |
| Flash v.4 #8 | 11 | April 2012 | 63,702 | -2.0% |
| Flash v.4 #9 | 19 | May 2012 | 62,807 | -1.4% |
| Flash v.4 #10 | 31 | June 2012 | 55,681 | -11.3% |
| Flash v.4 #11 | 29 | July 2012 | 53,674 | -3.6% |
A few key articles covering past sales (with lots of numbers):
*What these numbers measure: US-only sales, wholesale from Diamond to comics retailers. They don’t count sales through bookstores, they don’t count international sales, and they don’t count how many copies were actually bought and read…but they do measure the same thing every month, which means they can be used to spot trends.