This week’s digital releases at ComiXology include Flash #64-65 and Impulse #25-26.
Flash #64-65 conclude the Mark Waid/Greg Larocque “Flash Year One” story telling Wally West’s origin, focusing on his first summer as Kid Flash. Impulse #25-26 finish up the story revealing the future world Bart Allen left behind when he came to the present, and the family who stayed to protect him. But when he returns to our time, Max Mercury has mysteriously vanished!
It’s an all-Mark Waid week in ComiXology’s digital Flash/Impulse back-issues. Last week they finished re-releasing the last of the William Messner-Loebs run on The Flash, and this week, they begin Mark Waid’s classic run on the series with the first two parts of “Born to Run,” re-telling Wally West’s origin in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths universe (Flash #62-63).
In Impulse #23-24, it’s an origin of sorts for Bart Allen as well: his mother catches up with him from the 30th century and wants him to return to his own time, and we get to see for the first time the centuries-spanning Thawne-Allen feud. Interestingly enough, this is near the end of Mark Waid’s run on this series. In a few weeks, they’ll begin on the run by…William Messner-Loebs.
This week’s digital back issues at ComiXology include Flash #60-61 and Impulse #21-22. This means we’ve reached a milestone: for the first time in nearly two decades, the entire William Messner-Loebs/Greg LaRocque run on the Wally West series (Flash #15-61) is available to read without digging through the back-issue bins. Mark Waid gets a lot of credit for Wally West’s character arc, but all the groundwork is laid here, as Messner-Loebs shows Wally growing from the selfish jerk he is in the early issues to a someone more mature (if not entirely grown up).
Flash #60 follows up on the Icicle storyline as the Flash and his allies go up against a mercenary known as the Last Resort…who just happens to be Wally’s roommate Mason Trollbridge’s estranged son. Flash #61, Messner-Loebs’ farewell issue, features a surprise wedding as Wally West’s mother gets remarried. Naturally, her late husband shows up, with a date. And the minister gets delayed by a supervillain. You know, the usual.
In Impulse #21, the time-lost Legion of Super-Heroes visits the time-displaced Bart Allen, hoping he and the cosmic treadmill can send them home. In Impulse #22, Bart talks Jesse Quick into helping him find a missing Max Mercury.
» Flash v.2 on ComiXology
» Impulse on ComiXology
In related news, ComiXology has upgraded the digital versions of Flashpoint and all its tie-in issues to CMX-HD, enabling sharper images on the new iPad and other high-definition devices.
This week sees the release of Flash #0, the Zero Month issue featuring the New 52 origin of Barry Allen.
Writing and art by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.
Check out the preview on Facebook.
There’s also the trade paperback of The Road to Flashpoint, the second half of the Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul run from 2010-2011.
Make way for Hot Pursuit – the latest speedster to come out of the Speed Force!
Collects THE FLASH #8-12!
Written by: Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins
Art by: Francis Manapul, Scott Kolins
After a few hiccups, DC’s digital back-issues program seems to have shifted from three issues of Flash (1987 series) each week to two issues of Flash and two of Impulse. This week features the digital re-release of Flash #58-59 and Impulse #19-20. At this rate, the entire William Messner-Loebs/Greg LaRocque run will be available next week!
Flash #58 and Flash #59 continue the story of the Icicle’s fortune, as his grandchildren take Wally West to court over the contested will. But what does Pied Piper have to say about this wealth…and the forgotten legacy of Invasion? Power Girl guest-stars as Wally and Mason Trollbridge try to uncover the secret of a rogue agent stalking another of the Makhent family.
Impulse #19: it’s the speedster’s nightmare! Then in Impulse #20, Bart tries to learn how to live normally by learning to play baseball. Hilarity ensues.
Flash (1987-2009) on ComiXology
Impulse on ComiXology
This week’s digital backissues at ComiXology include Flash #56-57 and Impulse #17-18.
Flash #56-57 feature a classic murder mystery, as it’s revealed that the Golden Age villain, the Icicle, had a rather large (legitimate) fortune when he died, and his will left a large amount to…the Flash? Wally West and his friends visit the Makhent mansion for the reading of the well, and one of the other heirs is found murdered in the middle of a snowstorm.
Impulse #17-18 take a break from the seriousness of the Max Mercury flashback with a pair of done-in ones. First: Bart Allen teams up with Zatanna. Do you really need to know anything else? And second, what do hyperactive speedsters dream about? Bart is trapped in a series of virtual reality scenarios.
The final issue of The Shade arrives in stores this week.
The Source has a preview and commentary from writer James Robinson, artist Gene Ha, and editor Wil Moss.
Once a normal family man with a wife and two children living in London, Richard Swift was forced against his will into a life of the supernatural. What mistake did he make that would be his undoing and send him down a path of no return? Don’t miss this special issue of the critically acclaimed series that explored The Shade’s mysterious origins!
I expect it’ll be a bit more sophisticated than the Golden-Age explanation of his powers…
Seriously, I’ve been enjoying this series. It’s the kind of thing that could have (more) easily been done without the New 52, and I’m glad that they went through with it anyway, even if it required a few changes.
In the digital realm, ComiXology is adding The Flash #54-55 and Impulse #15-16 to their back-issue catalog.
Flash #54, “Nobody Dies” frequently shows up in lists of favorite single-issue stories from the Wally West series. It’s the one where Wally West watches a flight attendant get sucked out of an airplane and decides he’s going to jump out after her even though he can’t fly. CSBG featured the story in its “Almost Hidden” series, and Comics Bulletin has Messner-Loebs’ remarks on the story.
Flash #55 is a War of the Gods tie-in issue, and features the Flash racing against both Mercury and Hermes. (In the DCU at the time, the Greek and Roman pantheons were separate.) Also, IIRC, Wally and friends play Dungeons and Dragons.
Impulse #15 concludes the “Faith and Trust” two-parter in which Bart’s friend Carol finds her family caught in the middle of a double heist by the Trickster and White Lightning. Impulse #16 is one of the more powerful issues of the series. Max Mercury’s relationship to Helen Claiborne is revealed, along with a secret shame from Max’s past. These three issues together were among the most serious of the Mark Waid/Humberto Ramos run (though there’s always room for humor when the Trickster is around). Not surprisingly, the next few issues were all broad comedy.