Category Archives: Out This Week

This Week: Flash #5 & Digital Wally West

The Flash #5

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO; Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL; Variant cover by GARY FRANK; 1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

Central City in chaos! Iris West captive in Iron Heights prison! And as Flash tries to deal with all of it, he must also try to save the life of his old friend Manuel Lago from Mob Rule, DC Comics’ hottest new Super Villain!

DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US

Preview at IGN.

DC is beginning to roll out digital copies of the Mike Baron run on Wally West’s Flash series through ComiXology. Issue #1 was released during the Flash 101 sale, and issues #2-6 will be available today. Issues #1-6 feature three stories, each a two parter, with Wally West facing off against Vandal Savage, the Kilg%re, and Speed Demon, and introducing Dr. Tina McGee to the supporting cast.

»Flash comics at ComiXology.

More thoughts on this in the next post…

Also this week: Teen Titans #5, featuring Kid Flash vs. Superboy on the cover.

Edit: And Justice League #5, with the Flash featured heavily in the preview.

This Week: Dastardly Death of the Rogues TPB

Previously available in hardcover, the first (and IMO better) half of Geoff Johns’ post-Rebirth run on The Flash is now available as a trade paperback.

Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues

Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS; Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

The Fastest Man Alive must solve the murder of one of his greatest foes and protect his other foes from an elusive killer in this title collection THE FLASH #1–6 7 and THE FLASH SECRET FILES 2010!

Racing out of BLACKEST NIGHT, The Flash returns to his life in Central City – but when one of his Rogues Gallery of foes turns up murdered under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to The Fastest Man Alive to solve this bizarre crime and protect those who are targeted by the killer.

DC Universe 228pg. Color Softcover $14.99 US

An odd note: The hardcover also included The Flash #7, the Captain Boomerang one-shot. Usually DC tends to collect the same material in the hardcover and softcover releases, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see that the inevitable softcover of The Road to Flashpoint starts with #7 instead of #8.

It also wouldn’t surprise me if this is a copy-paste misprint, and this book does include #7, since the solicitation text for the hardcover also listed only Flash #1-6. Update: It’s a misprint, as Jason points out in the comments.

This Week: Flash #4

As Central City remains dark from the recent EMP blast, The Fastest Man Alive remains in hot pursuit of the one who set it off: Mob Rule! What does Mob Rule really want? Learn the rest of his origin right here!

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO; Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL; Variant cover by ERIC BASALDUA; 1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

Four-page preview at Hero Complex.

Also: Teen Titans #4 featuring Kid Flash.

Media Blitz!: “The World of the Flash” at IGN (UPDATED w/ Newsarama Exclusive)

Flash co-writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are featured in a new interview at IGN, where they discuss the recent developments in Flash’s powers, new antagonist Mob Rule and the role the twin cities of Keystone and Central will play in their series.

Posted on Wednesday, the same day as the release of new issue #3, the interview is spoiler-free and delves deeply into the collaboration between Manapul and Buccellato.

UPDATE: The two also spoke with Newsarama about the ending to issue #3.  After it was originally posted, an exclusive image from Flash#5 was added to the article.  Check it out after the jump…

Continue reading →

This Week: Flash #3 & Life Story of the Flash (Updated)

If the Fastest Man Alive is going to capture Mob Rule, he must first tap into his new amped-up super brain to save the citizens of Central City from the EMP that has blacked out the city. Witness a spectacular sequence of out-of-control cars, trains and even airplanes that must be stopped from destroying the city!

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO; Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL; 1:25 Variant cover by JIM LEE; 1:200 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US

Notes: A four-page preview is up on DC Comics’ Google+ page. This is also the issue that Brian Buccellato gave me a sneak peek at when we talked at Long Beach Comic Con, and let me just say: it’s awesome. You don’t want to miss this one.

Update: I completely forgot to include the reprint of the Mark Waid/Brian Augustyn Life Story of the Flash in the new DC Comics Presents format.

DC Comics Presents: The Life Story of the Flash

This striking tale combines comic-book illustration and prose to follow Barry Allen from his humble childhood to his noble death, detailing his transformation from police scientist to one of the DC Universe’s most dynamic heroes.

Written by MARK WAID and BRIAN AUGUSTYN; Art by GIL KANE, JOE STATON and TOM PALMER; Cover by GLEN ORBIK

DC Universe 96pg. Color $7.99 US

Notes: It’s nice to see this back in print, though a lot of it’s been erased from history — first by Flash: Rebirth and then by Flashpoint/the New 52. The 1997 hardcover was written as Iris Allen’s in-universe biography of Barry Allen after his death has made his dual identity public.

This Week: The Road to Flashpoint HC

Out today in comic stores, or next Tuesday in book stores, it’s the second collection of the post-Rebirth Flash series, bridging Brightest Day and Flashpoint.

Flash: The Road to Flashpoint (HC)

Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL and SCOTT KOLINS; Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

Make way for Hot Pursuit – the latest speedster to come out of the Speed Force! He’s here to make sure no one breaks the speed limit – hero or villain! And just wait until you see whose face is under Hot Pursuit’s helmet!

This hardcover collection of THE FLASH #8-12 leads up to FLASHPOINT, the biggest comic-book event for summer 2011!

DC Universe 128pg. Color Hardcover $22.99 US

Full Run

This completes the collection of Geoff Johns’ return to the Flash and re-introduction of Barry Allen. Here’s the full list of Rebirth-era Flash collections by Geoff Johns:

  1. Flash: Rebirth
  2. Blackest Night (not really a Flash collection, but a lot of people describe the main story as being a Hal/Barry story)
  3. Blackest Night: The Black Lantern Corps. Vol.2 (Including Blackest Night: The Flash)
  4. Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
  5. Flash: The Road to Flashpoint
  6. Flashpoint

That still leaves one more collection of Flash material from this era: World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash, announced just this Monday and arriving in March, containing stories by Scott Kolins, Sterling Gates and others.

Edit: I forgot to include Captain Atom #3, which features the Flash as a guest star, and is also out today.

Captain Atom #3

Written by J.T. KRUL; Art by FREDDIE WILLIAMS II; Cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU

Captain Atom is taking his powers to new heights – saving people all across the world in the blink of an eye. But he’s not the only one who can move at super speed. Enter: The Flash! And when their paths cross, don’t expect them to share the secret hero’s handshake – because Captain Atom may be a bigger threat than any villain.

DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US