Category Archives: Flash News

Talking Flash: Rebirth at Fan Expo 2008

5 Replies

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

12 Replies

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

1 Reply

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.

Flash Sales Leveling Out?

Leave a reply

ICv2 has posted July sales estimates. The entire comics market is down, but the Flash numbers are better than expected. Flash #242 sold an estimated 30,325 copies. It’s still down from June, but only by 1.5% — and total comics sales have been declining over the last few months. This is the same data that The Beat uses for their sales commentary, so I can use the numbers from earlier posts.

02/2008: Flash #237     —  37,719 (-  9.0%)
03/2008: Flash #238     —  35,606 (-  5.6%)
04/2008: Flash #239     —  33,741 (-  5.2%)
05/2008: Flash #240     —  31,944 (-  5.3%)
06/2008: Flash #241     —  30,810 (-  3.6%)
07/2008: Flash #242     —  30,325 (-  1.5%)

Meanwhile, Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #1 sold an estimated 62,482 copies — more than twice the numbers on the main Flash title, despite costing more ($3.99 vs. $2.99). Factors at work: Final Crisis, Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins, multiple covers.

I mentioned that the overall market was in decline. ICv2 cites a 3% drop in sales, but I can’t tell whether they mean 3% between June and July 2008, or 3% between July 2007 and July 2008. If the former, then Flash actually dropped less than the overall market. (The 1.5% drop for Flash is in units sold, and the 3% drop overall is for dollar amount — but the price on Flash didn’t change between June and July, so it works out the same.)

Flash Comics For November 2008

4 Replies

DC’s solicitations for comics shipping in November are up, and things don’t look terribly good for Wally West’s future. It’s beginning to look like DC wants to clear the deck before starting over with Flash: Rebirth.

The Flash #246

As Queen Bee circles in closer for the kill, everything The Flash holds dear starts slipping away from him. His powers, his wife — what’s next to go?

On sale November 19. Written by Alan Burnett. Art by Carlo Barberi & Drew Geraci. Cover by Brian Stelfreeze.

Notes: Interesting that Paco Diaz has been replaced by Carlo Barberi — who used to draw Impulse. Also, this doesn’t look good for some of the things I want to see after Flash: Rebirth.

Team books and tie-ins after the cut. Continue reading →

XS in Legion of Three Worlds

3 Replies

CBR has an interview with Geoff Johns on Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, and hints at certain… flashy elements to the story.

“If people liked Bart Allen, they should probably read the book. XS is in it.”

And while he wouldn’t come right out and say whether or not the five-issue miniseries absolutely, positively marked the return of the speedster formerly known as The Flash, Johns teased, “Obviously, one of the big things in ‘Lightning Saga’ that we still haven’t addressed is the lightning rod and what that’s all about. That will be a central focus of the series.”

An image caption also indicates that XS (Jenni Ognats, Bart’s cousin and Barry’s granddaughter) will appear in Flash: Rebirth. While that’s entirely possible, given the apparent scope of the story — and I think it would be great to have the entire Allen/West clan involved — I have to wonder whether the caption writer was misreading an ambiguous paragraph early in the article, which explained XS’ ties to Barry Allen, then added that “The popular character will be showcased… [in] The Flash: Rebirth.“