Category Archives: Flash News

Flash Hints from NYCC

I’m on the other side of the country from New York, but the comics press are doing a thorough job of covering New York Comic Con. The Flash isn’t getting a huge spotlight, but there are bits of news here and there. SpeedsterSite has been posting Flash-related bits on Twitter.

From CBR’s Geoff Johns Spotlight write-up:

After re-introducing Barry Allen in the first story, “all of the flashes” will appear in future arcs.
Flashpoint (the upcoming Flash-centered event) and Speed Force (the second ongoing Flash series) will debut in the first half of 2011.
Hot Pursuit (appearing on the cover of Flash #9) doesn’t run, but his motorcycle uses the speed force. “He’s a police officer. His identity I think will surprise a lot of people.”
No plans for Walter West, the Dark Flash.
Regarding James Jesse, “The original Trickster’s still dead…But you never know, there’s a lot of Black and White rings out there.”
The upcoming Flashpoint event is completely unrelated to the Flashpont Elseworlds story from ten years ago.
A Green Lantern/Flash crossover is in the works.

From CBR’s DC Nation writeup:

Kid Flash and Superboy race in Superboy #3.

From Comics Alliance’s DC Nation post:

Who’s Who will be out after Flashpoint.

Newsarama’s Animated Young Justice coverage has a lot on this version of the characters, including:

Kid Flash is Wally West, 15, and good friends with Robin. Voiced by Jason Spisak. Not as fast as the Flash, and he can’t stop on a dime — he has to skid to a stop. He’s very much into using his momentum as a weapon, so his costume has shoulderpads and kneepads. Vietti: “His body is like a human cannonball… he has a little bit of a parkour approach.”

Of DC Universe Online, Newsarama says, “All 4 Earth Green Lanterns, all the Flashes are in the game”

The DC Universe panel didn’t seem to have much Flash info at either CBR or Newsarama. Same with the DC Town Hall: Comics Alliance summary, Newsarama liveblog.

And finally, a bit from SpeedsterSite:

Andy Kubert on FLASHPOINT: “I’ve got a HUGE chunk of it done. Geoff will choke me if I say any more.”

Flash #6 on November 3

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According to DC’s website, The Flash #6 has slipped from October 27 to November 3. That’s one more week to wait for the conclusion of “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues.”

The two Scott Kolins-drawn issues focusing on Captain Boomerang and Professor Zoom remain unchanged from their previous schedule, as does the first issue of the next story arc, “Hot Pursuit,” on which Francis Manapul returns to the book. If everything holds, Flash may miss October, but will ship double issues in both November and December.

On a related note, I do still plan to review The Flash #5. It’s just been a really busy two weeks.

Requiem For a Scarlet Speedster Airs Tonight

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Flash vs. Zoom in Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster

After a long wait, Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster, the Flash-focused episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, airs tonight on Cartoon Network at 7:00pm. (Or, depending on your time zone, already aired.)

It’s been online through sketchy channels ever since it played in Australia in May, and legitimately on Amazon Video on Demand since early August. (It was also available on iTunes briefly, but was pulled, possibly to hold it until the US broadcast.)

So, what’s in it? Three Flashes vs. Professor Zoom. Super-speed hijinks. Time travel. References to everything from Crisis on Infinite Earths to the “Dark Tomorrow” arc in Impulse. Cameos by the Rogues. A race around the world. A story about teamwork and no-ally-left-behind….

And great voice casting!

Thanks to Darren for the screenshot, and JC Norris for letting me know that the episode is being shown tonight.

Mark Sable Talks Teen Titans: Cold Case

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Over at his blog, writer Mark Sable talks about Teen Titans: Cold Case, the one-shot “untold tale” that pits the Teen Titans against the Rogues. It’s a story he wrote for DC a few years ago, but that was shelved at the time. DC has opened up the vaults, possibly due to artist Sean Gordon Murphy’s current popularity, and is releasing it in December.

It’s actually the first meeting between the Titans and The Flash’s Rogues gallery, so Cold is just one of the MANY villains the Titans face. I don’t want to give too much away, but the story also ties into Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis, providing an answer to an unresolved mystery there.

If you’re worried that you won’t understand the book because it takes place in the Titans’ past (or because you didn’t read Identity Crisis, or follow the Titans or Flash etc.) – don’t. DC didn’t just dust this story off and publish it. I went back and did a major rewrite, with the primary aim being to make this book as accessible as any other I’ve written.

Head over to the blog entry for more about Cold Case and What if Spider-Man had Killed Kraven the Hunter?

(Thanks to @liabrown1 for the link!)

Flash Omnibus to Reprint Geoff Johns’ Wally West Run

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Now this is unexpected news! Just a few days ago, I was grumbling about how DC seemed to be ignoring a potential market by keeping Geoff Johns’ first run on The Flash out of print. It seemed like a sure thing: DC’s current superstar writer (not to mention Chief Creative Officer) on one of the books that made him famous (the other being JSA) — and one that he’s returned to with a high-profile relaunch.

Well, DC has posted a list of summer 2011 collections, including this surprise:

The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol.1 HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Angel Unzueta, Scott Kolins, Ethan Van Sciver, Doug Hazlewood, Jose Marzan Jr. and others
Collects: THE FLASH #164-176, THE FLASH: OUR WORLDS AT WAR #1, THE FLASH: IRON HEIGHTS #1 and THE FLASH SECRET FILES #3
$75.00 US, 448 pages
Scheduled for release in May

Compared to the trade paperbacks, that reprints Wonderland and Blood Will Run (the second edition includes Iron Heights) and the never-before-collected Our Worlds At War tie-in.

Admittedly, $75 is a pretty steep price, but it’s comparable to the Starman Omnibuses and still cheaper than the typical Absolute hardcover. Also it’s usually easy to find these books at a discount. (The $50 Archive books can usually be found online for around $35, for instance.)

And considering that you have to spend about that much for a copy of the out-of-print Crossfire or Blitz trade paperbacks anyway, it’s starting to look like a good deal!

So it looks like DC has plans to bring Wally West’s Flash stories back into print after all, even the incredibly-hard-to-find Crossfire and Blitz. Judging by the length of this book, it will probably take them four volumes to cover all of Geoff Johns’ run.

(The image I’ve used here is from the cover of Flash Secret Files #3. It’s not from DC’s post, which doesn’t include any covers.)

Berlanti Talks Flash Movie Influences

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Greg Berlanti recently spoke to SuperHeroHype about the upcoming Flash movie. Berlanti co-wrote the treatment with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, and it appears that Guggenheim and Green are working on the script.

He describes the tone as “somewhere in between GL and Dark Knight,” and goes on to explain how the CSI aspect of Barry Allen’s character is shaping their approach to the film.

It’s actually a little bit darker than when we were working on (‘GL’), because you’re dealing with somebody who is already a crimefighter in a world of those kinds of criminals and that kind of murder and homicide. I find you talk a lot about different films when you’re working on a film, and we spend a lot more time talking about Se7en or The Silence of the Lambs as we construct that part of Barry’s world, then I thought when we got into it. It helps balance a guy in a red suit who runs really fast.

He also talks about the possibility of dealing with alternate dimensions, fitting the sci-fi and crime parts of the concept together, and taking a “visceral and real and cool” approach to the sci-fi aspects, “more in the tone of The Matrix.”

I don’t know…I appreciate that they’re taking the character seriously and not turning it into a comedy, the way it sounded like Warner Bros. wanted to do when they had Shawn Levy and David Dobkin attached…but at the same time, I’m not sure that Se7en and Silence of the Lambs are the best source of inspiration for a character who is, fundamentally, about speed. I guess it’ll depend on how well they manage to balance things. (Assuming, of course, that this version of the film doesn’t go the way of the Goyer, Levy, Dobkin and Mazaeu versions.)

Read the full interview (well, the Flash parts, anyway, since they’re holding the complete interview until October) at SuperHeroHype.

(Hat tip to Andrew Filipe for sending me the link!)

Update: Berlanti also talks to HeroPlex about the films, adding a few notes about the speed element.

The character, like Hal, I think it’s his time. I feel like in this environment we’re in now, our society is moving quicker and quicker. There are all these ways to connect; there’s an element of our society that feels like it’s on speed, for lack of a better word. There’s something very timely about the story of the Flash at this moment, Barry Allen’s story.

(Hat tip to SpeedsterSite for pointing to the second interview!)