Category Archives: Flash News

Blackest Night: Flash Miniseries Coming

SpeedsterSite points to this video montage from Emerald City Comicon, which includes clips from the DC Nation Panel in which Ian Sattler announces several tie-in miniseries to this year’s big event, Blackest Night. Pop Culture Zoo describes the panel in detail.

Blackest Night is an 8-issue miniseries, plus stories running through Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, plus at least six three-issue miniseries.

August sees the launch of the launch (leaked a few days ago) of the following 3-issue minis:

  • Blackest Night: Batman
  • Blackest Night: Superman
  • Blackest Night: Titans

Apparently at the panel, Sattler confirmed three more 3-issue miniseries starting in November:

  • Blackest Night: Justice Society of America
  • Blackest Night: Wonder Woman
  • Blackest Night: Flash

Well, there’s no shortage of dead speedsters to become Black Lanterns, or dead Rogues for that matter — plus the events of Flash: Rebirth seem to be adding to the supply.

This might relate to this bit from Ethan Van Sciver’s interview at Speedster Site:

SS: Also, if Rebirth ships on time, we’ll be done by September. Will we have a Flash ongoing title directly following by the end of the year, or will we have to suffer like we did at the end of Flash #247?

EVS: And you’re incorrect about September, but I can’t announce why yet! Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.

Update: CBR has posted their own write-up of the panel.

EVS Talks Flash at Word Balloon

The Word Balloon podcast interviews Ethan Van Sciver about Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night. The post has a few excerpts in which he talks about Barry Allen’s origin pre-figuring the Marvel-style accident-based origin (of course Jay’s fits the same pattern), about returning to draw Bart Allen years after his run on Impulse, about the Flash Museum and Central & Keystone Cities’ obsession with the Rogues, and about the challenge of drawing a monthly comic.

I’m really going to have to listen to this when I get home (or maybe at lunch if I can find a USB cable).

Geoff Johns Talks Flash: Rebirth at IGN

There’s an extensive 4-page interview with Geoff Johns up at IGN in which he talks about everything from story structure and theme to specific character motivations.

One segment on the first page really bothered me, though, when he said of the retcon that inserts a serious tragedy into his childhood:

We’ve never really visited Barry Allen’s past before he got hit by the bolt of lightning. And so some of what Rebirth is going to do is delve back into the past and reveal some things about it that previously weren’t there.

Never visited it? Really?

Apparently he’s never read any of the Silver Age or Bronze Age stories that flashed back to Barry’s childhood, or in which he caught up with his childhood sweetheart Daphne Dean, or visited both still very much alive parents…or Mark Waid’s The Life Story of the Flash.

He goes on to explain:

IGN: Why did you think it was important to bring some tragedy into his back-story?

Johns: What we’ll find out is we’ll see what drove him to adopt such a strong sense of justice. I really want to explore what drove Barry Allen to adopt his uncanny sense of wrong and right. You’re not just born with that. Barry Allen strove for that and was somewhat obsessed with it. Also, it’s about why he got into forensics. What led him to that area of work? Why not become a cop or a prosecutor? Why forensics? That’s something I really wanted to explore – what drove Barry Allen to this life that he chose? What made him Barry Allen before he was hit by the bolt of lightning?

Funny… here I thought Hunter Zolomon was supposed to be a villain. Apparently he was actually an author avatar.

Flash: Rebirth #1 Sells Out, 2nd Printing April 29

Flash: Rebirth #1 (second printing)DC’s new blog, the Source, is reporting that Flash: Rebirth #1 has sold out at the distributor. Local comic stores may or may not still have copies.

A second printing will follow on April 29, featuring the “missing” variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver — the front view of Barry putting on his boots, rather than the side view from the initial promo image and the first printing — that appeared on DC’s solicitations for the issue.

Geoff Johns Talks Flash: Rebirth at CBR

Flash: Rebirth #1 - Variant - thumbnailCBR interviews Geoff Johns once more about Flash: Rebirth, now that the first issue is on the shelves. It’s cryptic, but two remarks that stood out for me are:

“Barry Allen was a man before his time in a lot of ways. Now is his time.”

and

“Barry Allen is a wrench being thrown into the Flash Universe and that’s what the series is about.”

He also talks about Barry’s emotional state, Wally’s and Bart’s roles, and the nature of the Superman/Flash race coming up. Read the rest at CBR.

Geoff Johns talks Flash:Rebirth at ComicsPRO

NewsOK’s Nerdage has posted two articles relating to Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night. First, a short video interview with Geoff Johns (which I haven’t watched yet because I have no sound). Second, a write-up of Flash and Green Lantern in which Geoff Johns remarks that the two heroes will be the “cornerstones” of the DC Universe this year.

The most intriguing remark:

Barry Allen returning from the dead is “the worst thing that ever happened to him,” Johns said.

That puts an interesting perspective on it, and actually reminds me of sixth-season Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which the title character comes back from the dead…and isn’t as happy about it as you might expect.