Category Archives: Flash News

Return to the Silver Age in Flash Chronicles Volume 3

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I’ve been wondering whether DC planned on continuing the Flash Chronicles line of reprints. With the return of the Archives this year, I should have guessed we’d see a new Chronicles volume soon, and in fact, volume three is listed in DC’s July+ solicitations.

THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 3 TP
Written by JOHN BROOME and GARDNER FOX
Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and MURPHY ANDERSON
Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON
On sale AUGUST 8 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US

  • In this third collection of 1960s adventures in chronological order, the Fastest Man Alive battles Rogues including The Trickster, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and more.
  • Collecting THE FLASH #113-118.

Update: It’s available for pre-order.

DC has three series of reprints designed to start at the beginning (or at least the beginning of the Silver Age) and collect everything in chronological order:

  • Archives: High-quality, hardcover, color reprints, typically about 200 pages, relatively expensive. For people who want a book that will last. Five volumes so far, with a sixth on its way.
  • Showcase Presents: Cheap, black and white paperbacks on newsprint, around 500-600 pages, for people who just want to read the stories. Currently on three volumes in the early 1960s, plus one featuring the Trial of the Flash in the 1980s.
  • Chronicles: Cheaper, color paperbacks, more like a typical collected edition of more recent comics.

I keep meaning to work out the math of just how many volumes each of these lines would need to reprint the entire 1956-1986 Barry Allen Flash series (including the four Showcase issues early on) — and how long it would take to complete them at DC’s current rate of publication.

Flash #11 Solicitation & Cover

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THE FLASH #11
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• The New 52 debut of HEAT WAVE!

• THE FLASH is on a crash course with THE ROGUES!

The image above is new and is included in the cover gallery for the solicits, but a caption does state it is not the final cover.

DC’s July Justice League solicitations are up at The Source.  Flash fans looking for more Jay Garrick should check out the solicit for EARTH TWO #3 after the jump…

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Flash Sales for February

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February estimates at ICv2 have The Flash #6 selling an estimated 68,061 copies, down 5% from the previous month. Given the high profile of the relaunch and the usual trend of series to shed readers over time, it’s hard to say what the numbers really tell us…but the drops are shrinking, the rankings are steady at #8, and it’s still ahead of the 57K sold by Flash vol.3 #6 and the 55K mark where volume 3 settled.

Numbers

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%

It’s worth noting that we’ve had seven issues in a row with no delays and no creative team changes.

Update: I forgot to mention that, like last month, Flash didn’t appear in the digital top 10.

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.

Checking In: Flash Movie Not Dead Yet

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Normally I wouldn’t bother reporting non-news, but it’s been a while since we heard anything about Warner Bros. plans for a big-screen Flash movie. Blastr recently talked to Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans), who told them that despite Green Lantern’s disappointing performance, DC is still planning to move ahead with more super-hero films outside the Superman/Batman worlds, and “The Flash is very high on the list.”

“It’s like anything, though,” he continued. “It has to come together with the right cast. It has to come together with the right director and sort of the right moment, and so they’re trying to push the rock up the hill … hopefully there will be some news soon, but right now I can’t really say anything else.”

The Flash has been in development hell for years, having first been announced way back in 2004 as a David Goyer film. Writers and directors have come and gone, the tone has gone from dark to light and back, and even the starring character has changed. Goyer’s script included both Barry Allen and Wally West, Mazeau’s featured Barry with nods to Wally fans, and the latest version, written by the Green Lantern screenwriting team, is entirely Barry Allen. You can read the whole sordid history over at Flash: Ride the Lightning.

(Via The Comic Reel at CBR)

Media Blitz!: Flash Team Talks Shop with Word Balloon, Comic Vine, The MiXXTapes

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On the road to today’s release of Flash #7, the creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato has been making the interview rounds.  Here’s a roundup of the past few days, covering their appearances in multiple outlets.

First up, Manapul stopped by iFanboy’s Word Balloon podcast to talk about his work on the title, include the nature of his collaboration with Buccellato.  From the description:

Artist/writer Francis Manapul is back to tell us what’s been happening in the pages of The Flash for DC Comics. We talk about his unique art choices to display the hero’s super speed, and the Flash’s point of view when faced with the choices of how to stop a crime or disaster from happening.

More after the jump!

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Full Details on Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol.3

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DC’s full June 2012 solicitations are out, including full details on The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol.3

THE FLASH OMNIBUS BY GEOFF JOHNS VOL. 3 HC

GEOFF JOHNS and GREG RUCKA
Art by HOWARD PORTER, ALBERTO DOSE and OTHERS
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
On sale AUGUST 29 • 640 pg, FC, $75.00 US

  • A third massive FLASH HC from superstar writer GEOFF JOHNS!
  • THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE clashes with his Rogues Gallery, including CAPTAIN COLD, THE PIED PIPER, TRICKSTER and MIRROR MASTER!
  • Collects THE FLASH #201-225 and WONDER WOMAN #214!

As predicted, it ships the final week in August and wraps up the entire Geoff Johns run on the Wally West Flash series. One question is answered: it does include both halves of that Flash/Wonder Woman/Villains United crossover. Another remains: What about The Flash #1/2, the short story leading into Rogue War that provided a little depth to the second Trickster?

Volume 2 runs through Flash #200 and collects what I think is the best of Geoff Johns’ run on the character. Volume 3 collects Ignition and runs through the Identity Crisis-to-Infinite Crisis era, finishing with Rogue War.

I still think we’re likely to get a fourth volume next year that collects Johns’ Barry Allen run, starting with Flash: Rebirth and running at least through The Road to Flashpoint, if not all the way through Flashpoint itself, though I imagine DC would like to put that off a while to give the current collections a bit more shelf life. Flashpoint only came out in paperback last week, after all.

Pre-order at Amazon:
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.2 ships in April.
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.3 ships in August/September.

(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip!)