Category Archives: Flash News

Linkage: EVS: A Revolution for Flash Comics

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CBR has interviewed Ethan van Sciver on Flash: Rebirth.

“I mean what I say,” continued Van Sciver, as he sketched The Flash for a fan. “This is going to be a revolution for Flash comics ” an absolute revolution. We will make this comic brand new.”

He also implies that Geoff Johns may be sticking with the book after Rebirth, something that fans have speculated about, but that DC has not confirmed:

“And now, more than ever, it’s time to bring back Barry Allen because he is a CSI scientist that is incredibly relevant. Geoff is going to have a blast telling stories with him. PG-13 scary crime stories with a Flash. It’s a lot of fun.

Linkage: Didio, Ramos & More

CBR talks with Dan Didio about Flash:Rebirth and why Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver are right for the job — namely, their work relaunching Green Lantern. “They are going to embrace everything there is about The Flash, not ignore it, and I think the story lends itself to the whole Flash legacy and how important Barry is to it.”

Meanwhile, Occasional Superheroine’s Valerie D’Orazio comments on Didio’s “rebooting was a mistake” remarks from Fan Expo.

Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers has a trio of interviews. First she talks with Humberto Ramos, original artist on Impulse, about the upcoming relaunch of Runaways. Next, Geoff Johns discusses Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. Finally, Marc Guggenheim is writing another Flash: a Spider-Man spotlight on Flash Thompson, drawn by Flash/Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold artist Barry Kitson.

Girl-Wonder.org has launched the Con Anti-Harassment Project.

Brian Cronin of Comics Should Be Good presents the Cronin Theory of Comics – Comics Tend to Eventually Regress to the Mean. For the most part, characters will reset over time to the “standard” interpretation. Rarely, that standard will change, such as Dick Grayson as Nightwing, rather than Robin. It will be interesting to see how this applies to Wally West, now that DC is pushing Barry Allen as, in EVS’ words, “The King of Flashes.”

More on Flash: Rebirth from Fan Expo 2008

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From CBR’s write-up of Saturday’s DC: A Guide to Your Universe panel at Fan Expo, here’s some more commentary on the future of the Flash.

[Dan] Didio said, “I don’t think I ever said Bart Allen was dead. I am serious.”

“We all wish it,” added Giffen to a chorus laughs.

“There were changes that were going to be made,” continued Didio. “There were stories that were going to be told and there were definite crossovers taking place at the moment of the death of Bart Allen. So there is a good chance there is going to be more resolutions to that character and what happened to him in the very near future or the very far future.”

Well, we already knew that Bart’s death was one of the major kick-offs for Salvation Run and all the threads in Countdown, Justice League, Checkmate, etc. that tied into it. But I’m not convinced that Dan Didio never said Bart was dead.

Ethan Van Sciver went into more detail on the future of the Flash franchise: Continue reading →

Talking Flash: Rebirth at Fan Expo 2008

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CBR has posted a writeup of yesterday’s DC Nation panel at Fan Expo in Toronto, including this segment on Flash: Rebirth.

One series [Ethan] Van Sciver will be working on that could be talked about was the upcoming “Flash: Rebirth” series. When a fan asked why they would replace Wally West with Barry Allen when the former was the far more popular and successful version of the character, the artist said, “We have not said that Wally West will not be the Flash.”

When the conversation came to a chicken or the egg type of debate between the panelists and the audience about the scarlet speedster, [Dan] Didio explained, “Some of the more recognizable Wally West stories deal with the Barry Allen lore and what his legacy is. A lot of Wally can’t be explained without Barry, so therefore it was essential, we thought, for Barry to come back. And at that point, we’d undone so much of what Crisis On Infinite Earths was ” Supergirl was back, the multiverse was back ” there was only one last piece to decide upon, and it was Barry. And at that point, it didn’t make sense not to do it.”

“I used to be in taxi cabs with Dan and just say, ‘We have to bring Barry Allen back,’” Van Sciver explained finally. “Now is the time for this character. Flash is a CSI scientist. It’s a whole new avenue for Flash stories, and these are stories Geoff and I want to tell. And you have to give us the room now. This isn’t a reboot. We are going to make this part of one long continuous story. Just like with Hal Jordan…everything that was done even before us was part of a much larger picture. We’re going to do the same thing with Barry Allen and the entire Flash legacy.”

Also interesting, and relevant to the Flash, is the earlier section in which Dan Didio talks about realizing that repeated reboots and changes of direction are actually alienating readers, rather than bringing them in: Continue reading →

WB: Big, Dark Super-Hero Films On the Way

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Inspired by the wild success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. is going to be trimming its low-end movie production and focusing on the big tentpole films, the Wall Street Journal reports. So where to DC’s super-heroes stand?

With “Batman vs. Superman” and “Justice League” stalled, Warner Bros. has quietly adopted Marvel’s model of releasing a single film for each character, and then using those movies and their sequels to build up to a multicharacter film. “Along those lines, we have been developing every DC character that we own,” [Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff] Robinov says.

Like the recent Batman sequel — which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far — Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as “The Dark Knight.” Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.’ DC properties. “We’re going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it,” he says. That goes for the company’s Superman franchise as well.

The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development.

While I hope they don’t go too dark with The Flash, I’m glad to hear that they’re pulling away from the light near-comedy suggested by the choices of Shawn Levy and later David Dobkin as director.

Flash Movie news archive

Delays and Reprints

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This week’s DC Direct Channel newsletter has an incredibly long list of books that have been delayed for various reasons. Most of the list is made up of trades and hardcovers, which are all being pushed back one week “due to adjustments being made in DC’s manufacturing and production schedules.” It also includes most of the Final Crisis line-up.

Flash-related titles that have been postponed include:

Title Original Rescheduled Difference
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #1 (reprint) August 13 August 20 1 week
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #2 August 20 August 27 1 week
Final Crisis #4 September 17 October 1 2 weeks
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #2 September 17 October 1 2 weeks
Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #3 September 17 October 15 4 weeks

Most of the delays in monthly titles are are offered with no explanation, though the reprints of Final Crisis: Requiem and Rogues’ Revenge #1 are blamed on “an error.” The books were supposed to ship last week, but instead they’re arriving in stores today.

In better news, the trade paperback Flash: Rogue War is going back to press for a second printing.