Category Archives: Other Speedsters

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. and Lightning

The Source has a new article on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, focusing on the team’s speedster Lightning. Joining regular artist Cafu, ChrisCross steps in to illustrate Lightning’s backstory…and the “crazy-scary toll his new power takes on him.”

ChrisCross is no stranger to speedsters. Two years ago, he was all set to draw the scrapped Velocity series that would have spun out of Top Cow’s first Pilot Season. He completed at least one issue and several covers. The interior art hasn’t seen the light of day, but Top Cow has been using the covers as variants on the current Ron Marz/Kenneth Rocafort Velocity miniseries.

THUNDER Agents #2 goes on sale December 8.

Shortpacked! Robin Statue Finalized

Shortpacked! cartoonist David Willis posted these photos of the completed Robin DeSanto statue from Patch Together. I’ve got to say, it looks great. I’m not usually one for buying statues and such (though I do make an effort to buy print collections of webcomics that I really like), but I am tempted by this one.

If you missed the earlier post about the prototype, you can read up on the webcomic’s sugar-powered speedster.

The statue is available for preorder.

Shortpacked! Speedster Robin Gets Her Own Statue

Last week, web cartoonist David Willis posted the final design for a statue of Robin DeSanto, the sugar-powered hyperactive speedster from It’s Walky! and Shortpacked!

Robin initially used her super-powers in a top-secret alien-fighting squad (the main story of It’s Walky!). In the years since the alien invasion was thwarted, she has become a simple retail clerk at a toy store (Shortpacked!)…when she’s not moonlighting as a United States Congresswoman.

The statue is available for pre-order now.

No Ordinary Family Launches Tomorrow

Tomorrow night is the series premiere of No Ordinary Family, a TV drama about a family on the brink of collapse that suddenly finds itself with super powers.

Helpless-feeling Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis) suddenly finds himself super-strong, near-invulnerable, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Always on-the-go Stephanie Powell (Julie Benz) gains super-speed. Their self-involved daughter Daphne becomes telepathic, and their learning-disabled son JJ becomes a super-genius.

I got to see the pilot episode at Comic-Con, and it was really promising. There’s an Incredibles-meets-season-one-Heroes vibe to it. The special effects are great, particularly Stephanie’s first super-speed run. (Later scenes rely a lot on the standard vanishing/reappearing act plus wind.) Here are my thoughts on the episode as screened at the convention. They’ve reportedly added a scene or two to set up one of the ongoing storylines.

The Flash movie writing team is heavily involved in this series as well. Greg Berlanti co-created the show with Jon Harmon Feldman, and Marc Guggenheim is involved as a consulting producer.

No Ordinary Family premieres Tuesday on ABC at 8:00pm / 7:00 central. Update: Hulu has an extended trailer.

Review: Velocity #2 — “Decoys” Part 2

Velocity #2 of 4
Written by Ron Marz
Art and cover by Kenneth Rocafort
5-page preview at CBR.

It’s been a while since the first issue of this miniseries, but the second issue jumps straight into the action as if no time had passed. The members of Cyberforce have all been infected with a virus that will kill them within an hour, and Velocity is the only one fast enough to save them. Of course, she’s been infected too — it’s only her super-speed metabolism keeping her conscious. The clock is ticking. Literally. Every page shows a countdown timer, starting at 58:07 and finishing at…well, why spoil the surprise?

Like the first issue, this continues to be extremely accessible. I’m a Top Cow neophyte, and had no problems following the book even as it twisted through other parts of the Top Cow universe. I was mildly confused when the Hunter/Killer organization showed up, but the heroine’s inner monologue covered the basics in a couple of short narration boxes a page or two later, and a text page in the back describes it in more detail.

Kenneth Rocafort’s art continues to be a major draw, both in the stylized art itself, and in the creative panel layouts. Two double-page splashes manage to show off completely different ways of showing super-speed. The first (shown below), features a staccato 4×4 grid across each page overlaid with a giant close-up of one moment in a fight. The other is a great example of the classic wide shot of a room with multiple images of a speedster doing different activities all across the panel.

Don’t miss an artistic in-joke: one scene takes place out in the deserts of the American Southwest. There’s a bird visible in the foreground: a roadrunner.

SPOILERS BELOW!

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