Category Archives: Flash News

Flashpoint Previews: Reverse-Flash and Kid Flash Lost

DC has released previews of several Flashpoint issues coming out next week, including Flashpoint: Reverse-Flash and Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1.

They also offer a little more information on The Source. Flashpoint: Reverse-Flash has a new, more intriguing catchphrase: “The man I’d give anything to kill has to live…or I die.” Writer Scott Kolins adds, “Flash’s arch nemesis sets up Flash’s greatest trial in this issue.”

As for Kid Flash Lost, Bart Allen also remembers the original timeline, and brings in Hot Pursuit to help…but is this the same Hot Pursuit? Sterling Gates explains:

KID FLASH LOST is a FLASHPOINT mystery, as Bart and the mysterious character known as Hot Pursuit try to unravel what has happened when the world they wake up in is not their own. Bart will deal with many of the character threads set up in Geoff Johns’ “Road to Flashpoint” storyarc even as he confronts the greatest danger the 31st century has ever seen.

One thing that makes these two tie-ins unusual is that they both focus on the main-timeline versions of the lead characters. It sounds like the Reverse-Flash book is a mix of origin story and creating the Flashpoint world, while Kid Flash will be facing the same kinds of questions that the Flash is facing in the main series, and Booster Gold is facing in his own book.

On a side note: it’s interesting to see that they brought back the One Year Later–era Flash logo for the Reverse-Flash one-shot.

The Flash’s New Boots

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DC has started running a series of ads for Converse shoes featuring different versions of their characters from the Golden Age through the upcoming September relaunch, under the slogan, “Classic Heroes. Classic Shoes.” The Flash ad, seen in pictures at Bleeding Cool, gives us another look at the new Flash costume, and our first view of his boots. [UPDATE: Here’s a better scan that I made from Flashpoint: Legion of Doom]

Personally, I think the new boot design (like all the seams on the costume) is a bit busy, but I’ve seen far worse.

The poses are so similar that I’m pretty sure they’re all new art, but whoever did these drawings did a great job mimicking the styles of particular artists over the decades.

Update: We have an explanation for the boots! (Sort of.)

Flash & Flashpoint Sales for May

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ICv2’s May sales estimates are up, including the final issue of Flash vol.3 and the first issue of Flashpoint. Flashpoint #1 sold an estimated 86,981 copies, ranked #2 for the month (right behind Marvel’s big event comic, Fear Itself #2), while The Flash #12 sold an estimated 54,914 copies to rank #15.

Sales have been steady the last three issues, and have held above the low point at issue #8, suggesting that the series found its level at around 54-55K…just in time to be canceled for DC’s September relaunch. (Or maybe it was just being propped up by people curious about Flashpoint?)

Issue	Rank	Month	Units Sold	% Change
Flash v.3 #1	2	April 2010	100,903
Flash v.3 #2	12	May 2010	76,560	(-24.1%)
Flash v.3 #3	11	June 2010	68,799	(-10.1%)
Flash v.3 #4	15	July 2010	64,832	(-5.8%)
Flash v.3 #5	14	September 2010	62,063	(-4.3%)
Flash v.3 #6	15	November 2010	57,673	(-7.1%)
Flash v.3 #7	12	December 2010	56,304	(-2.4%)
Flash v.3 #8	18	December 2010	53,975	(-4.1%)
Flash v.3 #9	9	February 2011	55,980	(+3.7%)
Flash v.3 #10	18	April 2011	54,953	(-1.8%)
Flash v.3 #11	19	April 2011	54,633	(-0.6%)
Flash v.3 #12	15	May 2011	54,914	(+0.5%)
Flashpoint #1	2	May 2011	86,981

It’s surprising that Flashpoint #1 sold fewer copies than Flash #1, though I suppose it shouldn’t be. Between event fatigue, a feeling that the Flash mythos hadn’t been built up sufficiently to support a major event, and a general sense that the event was simply an alternate universe story and not as “important” as, for instance, Blackest Night, I remember the buzz being relatively poor beforehand. Over the last month, lots of people have remarked that the book has been under-ordered. (Even the tie-ins have been. I got the last copy of Flashpoint: Grodd of War from my local shop yesterday, the day it was released.) Clearly readers are responding better to the actual comic book than retailers expected, based on the multiple sell-out issues.

It’ll be interesting to see the figures with re-orders and the second printing included…and it’ll be interesting to see the sales figures on the later issues of the miniseries.

Quick Hits: Flashpoint Sales

Release Date & More Detail on Flash #1

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Bleeding Cool has what appears to be the full solicitation text for the 52 DC Comics titles launching in September, including The Flash.

THE FLASH #1

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by IVAN REIS and TIM TOWNSEND
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series from the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato! The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who really can! As if that’s not bad enough, this villain is a close friend!

What’s New compared to the first announcement? The release date, the variant cover credit, and the news that the new villain is a close friend. Since coming back from the dead in Flash: Rebirth, Barry doesn’t seem to have any close friends outside the super-hero community, but who knows what’s been changed in the wake of Flashpoint. Could this be a returning character or a new one?

Let the speculation begin!

Update (Monday): DC’s official solictations confirm the additional details.

Jay Garrick and Wally West MIA in the New DCU…For Now

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DC has officially announced 48 of the 52 comics being relaunched in September. The remaining books are sure to include Action Comics and Superman, and covers have leaked featuring Superman, Supergirl and Superboy. It seems a safe bet that unless one of the younger heroes is headlining Action, that wraps up the 52 series.

Conspicuously absent from the DC Reboot (from a Flash fan’s perspective): Justice Society (of the JSA roster, only Mr. Terrific has appeared so far) and the second Flash book, Speed Force, announced by Geoff Johns last summer.

While Barry Allen headlines The Flash and Bart Allen appears as Kid Flash in Teen Titans, there appears to be nowhere in the initial wave for fans to read about Wally West or Jay Garrick.

Factor in the emphasis on younger heroes, the implication that Barry Allen is still learning the ropes in the new series, and the focus on keeping things simple for new readers to figure out, and you have to wonder whether Jay and Wally even exist in the new DCU.

I asked as much on Twitter, and The Flash co-writer/artist Francis Manapul replied:

https://twitter.com/#!/FrancisManapul/statuses/78942736841060352

It’s neither a confirmation nor a denial, but at least the writer working on the new book wants to keep them around, if the higher-ups allow it.

Reportedly there are more series planned for the following months. We know, for instance, that Batman, Inc. will relaunch in 2012 after a hiatus to allow Grant Morrison to work on another project, and we know that Batman Beyond will be back, though it’s not among the 52 books announced for September.

Are there plans for Wally West and Jay Garrick in a second wave of launches? Have they been wiped from existence? Are they still around, sitting on the back burner, waiting for someone to use them? Are their fans (OK, Wally’s fans) still willing to wait after years of false starts, broken promises, and generally being jerked around?

Update: Dan Didio has this to say about the Justice Society (thanks, @SpeedsterSite):

AS for JSA, we have decided to rest this concept while we devote our attention on the launch of the three new Justice League series. As for other characters and series not part of the initial 52, there are plenty of stories to be told, and we’re just getting started.

So it sounds like the “back burner” approach, at least with Jay and the JSA.