Grant Gustin, cast as Barry Allen on “Arrow” and positioned for a possible Flash spin-off, spoke with E Online last Friday about running, the iconic costume (yes, we will see it, but not in the first two episodes which take place before he becomes the Flash), and researching the character by reading Geoff Johns’ comics.
Thanks to The Dude for the link.
DC Comics has released four pages of preview art from the first issue of Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion. The miniseries will run alongside the main Forever Evil event. Brian Buccellato writes. Patrick Zircher and Scott Hepburn draw the first two issues, with Scott Hepburn taking over solo art duties in issue three.
CBR interviews Christos Gage, who will be writing The Flash #26 after Francis Manapul’s and Brian Buccellato’s run ends with #25. He talks about how long he’s been a fan of the Flash (big fan of Barry Allen from the old days, enjoyed Wally’s series but it just wasn’t the same), and about the difference between retelling classic stories (a Batman story he wrote based on Flash #300 is what got the editor’s attention to do a Flash issue) and breaking new ground.
Gage drops a few hints about the story. As the solicitation says, the Flash loses someone important to him, and has to go somewhere where his normal super-speed tricks won’t help him: the air. As for the story’s villain:
It’s a new character, Spitfire, but she’s kind of a reimagining of a very obscure Golden Age villain called the Sky Pirate. She’s a crazy, murderous aviatrix. I love that word, “aviatrix.”
I was hoping in all the talk of retelling classic stories that he’d say something about “Nobody Dies,” the William Messner-Loebs/Greg LaRocque story from Flash #54 in which Wally West jumps out of an airplane to save someone and must figure out how to use his super-speed to keep them alive in the air, which is still cited by fans as one of the best single-issue stories of the series, but maybe he missed that month. (If you missed it too, you can read it at ComiXology for $1.99.) I’m sure the story’s different enough, but when you’re specifically talking about new ideas and re-imagining old ones, it’s a bit odd to not acknowledge that the high-concept hook has been done before.
DC Comics has released a preview of The Rogues #1 (a.k.a. Flash #23.3), the last of three Flash-related issues of Villains Month.
THE FLASH #23.3: THE ROGUES opens with Mirror Master behind glass, Glider in a coma and the Trickster behind bars in Iron Heights. Captain Cold tries to rally the team, but the Rogues haven’t forgiven him yet for the positions they’re in. And when the Crime Syndicate invites them to join their side and unite with the villains of the DC Universe, one of the team won’t be able to answer the call. Will the rest choose a criminal life or stick to the Rogues Code? Written by Brian Buccellato and featuring art by Patrick Zircher, THE FLASH #23.3: THE ROGUES directly paves the path for the upcoming miniseries FOREVER EVIL: ROGUES REBELLION, and will be available in stores on Wednesday.
Several sources, including The Hollywood Reporter, have announced that Grant Gustin of Glee will play Barry Allen in upcoming episodes of Arrow, on the CW network. Barry will be non-powered at first and will later have his origin story portrayed in what amounts to a pilot for a spinoff series. More to come on this one – what are your thoughts? Here’s the link to that story:
Shooting starts on September 30 for the first Flash guest spot on “Arrow,” and the studio is casting Barry Allen now. Latino Review reports that the field has been narrowed down to three possible actors:
I’m not familiar with any of them myself, and while Barr’s publicity shot looks more like the Barry Allen we know from the comics than either of the others, it’s worth noting that actual TV and movie series often aim more for the acting style or personality wanted than physical resemblance to a character design. (Case in point: John Wesley Shipp as Barry in the 1990s show. Or the entire cast of The Middleman, which turned out perfectly IMO.)