Category Archives: Timely

“Welcome To Earth-2” Promos

tumblr_o28wjsrEER1u6rxqto1_1280 This week we’ll be getting our first really good look at Earth-2 in The Flash series, and the CW’s going all out to tease it. First, here’s an official promotional poster of Earth-2’s Caitlin Snow, who happens to be the villainous Killer Frost.

Flashfans.org has a gallery of official stills from the episode, giving us a glimpse at Earth-2’s Barry, Joe, Iris, Caitlin, and Ronnie.

And the CW’s Tumblr blog has the one-page preview comic from the episode, showing the meeting with Earth-2’s Barry. Looks like he’s pretty similar in both universes, and they should get along well.

Looking forward to the episode? Fortunately it’s on tonight, so you don’t have to wait long!

Poll Results: Your Favorite Flash Stories of 2015

2015 has seen a full year of Flash comics, two Convergence tie-in miniseries, a Darkseid War one-shot, the second half of season one and the first half of season two of the Flash TV show.

What have your favorites been? We ran a poll asking that question, and here are the results from 70 responses:

1. What was your favorite Flash comic book story this year?

Convergence: Speed Force (Pre-Flashpoint Wally West) 22 34%
Flash vs. Professor Zoom (Flash #41-47) 18 28%
Convergence: The Flash (Pre-Crisis Barry Allen) 9 14%
Darkseid War: The Flash 8 13%
Savage Speed Force (Flash #36-40) 5 8%
Creation Myths (Flash Annual , Prof. Zoom recruits his team) 2 3%

Judging by comments, I was expecting readers to really shy away from the current storyline. But as it turns out, the Convergence miniseries starring pre-Flashpoint Wally West and the just-wrapped Professor Zoom story in the DCYou were tied for most of the week, with Convergence pulling ahead only in the last day.

2. What was your favorite episode from the second half of Flash Season One?

1.23 Fast Enough 20 30%
1.15 Out of Time 15 23%
1.17 Tricksters 11 17%
1.19 Who Is Harrison Wells? 4 6%
1.13 The Nuclear Man 4 6%
1.22 Rogue Air 3 5%
1.16 Rogue Time 3 5%
1.21 Grodd Lives 2 3%
1.10 Revenge of the Rogues 2 3%
1.20 The Trap 1 2%
1.18 All Star Team Up 1 2%
1.11 The Sound and the Fury 0 0%
1.12 Crazy for You 0 0%
1.14 Fallout 0 0%

Clear winners here were the time-travel episodes — including the season finale, which wrapped up a whole year of ongoing story arcs — and the nostalgia-fueled return of the Trickster.

3. What was your favorite episode from the first half of Flash Season Two?

2.6 Enter Zoom 21 31%
2.2 Flash of Two Worlds 14 21%
2.8 Legends of Today / Arrow 4.8 Legends of Yesterday 10 15%
2.3 Family of Rogues 7 10%
2.7 Gorilla Warfare 6 9%
2.9 Running to Stand Still 6 9%
2.5 The Darkness and the Light 3 4%
2.4 The Fury of Firestorm 0 0%
2.1 The Man Who Saved Central City 0 0%

Viewers were clearly impressed by the first direct encounter between Zoom and Barry Allen.

4. Who is your favorite new character in Flash Season Two so far?

This was a free-form question rather than multiple choice, so I’ll summarize the top responses:

Harry / Earth-2 Harrison Wells 15
Jay Garrick 12
Patty Spivot 12
Zoom 10
Wally West 5

“Harry” Wells is the clear front-runner here. I was surprised to see Jay Garrick and Patty Spivot tied, which shows how well Patty works with this cast. Some of the other write-ins included Hawkgirl (2), Vandal Savage…and strangely, Barry Allen and “Flash.” Yeah, I’m a little confused about those last two.

5. Who are you most looking forward to seeing in the second half of Flash Season Two?

Again, this was a free-answer question, so I’ll summarize the top responses.

Wally West 17
Zoom 10
Mirror Master 8
Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash 7

Lots of anticipation for Wally West (no surprise there!) as well as finding out more about Zoom. Mirror Master’s also way up there, as the last high-profile Rogue yet to be seen. (The Top was part of the core group in the Silver Age, but has only appeared sporadically since then, and while Dr. Alchemy and Abra Kadabra are major Flash villains, they’ve never been part of the Rogues proper.)

Other responses included Jesse Quick (2), Killer Frost (2), Alan Scott, Tar Pit, Jay Garrick back in action as the Flash, Max Mercury, Barry breaking the time barrier by himself, and new Rogues.

So how about you? If you missed the poll, sound off here! If you answered, go into more detail. What do you think about your fellow fans’ choices?

Flashes in the Top 7

Flash selfieEvery few years, Comics Should Be Good polls its readers for their favorite DC and Marvel characters and ranks the top 50 from each of the two publishers. This year, two Flashes came in the top 10:

Barry Allen at #7
Wally West at #6

This is the third time CSBG has run this poll, and it’s interesting to see how the various Flashes have fared. Jay Garrick and Bart Allen have both been pushed out of the running since 2011, but Barry Allen and Wally West are still both in the top 10. And while Wally is still ahead of Barry in the poll, they’re a lot closer than they were last time.

Character 2007 2011 2015
Jay Garrick (Flash) #41 #45
Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash) #42 #36
Barry Allen (Flash) #29 #9 #7
Wally West (Flash/Kid Flash) #3 #6 #6

2007 was kind of an odd year: Barry Allen had been dead for 20 years, and Wally West had been the main Flash for most of that time until he was shuffled offstage in Infinite Crisis. That was 2006, and DC replaced Wally with a prematurely-aged Bart Allen. Then in 2007, they killed Bart and brought Wally back. The poll hit in the middle of all this. Feelings among Wally’s fans at the time were…intense, pushing him up to the spot, right behind Superman and Batman. Barry, meanwhile, lacked visibility, explaining his much lower ranking that year.

Green Arrow/Flash Digital Sale at ComiXology

We’re less than 24 hours from the US premiere of The Flash Season 2 and Arrow Season 4, and ComiXology has a tie-in sale. Digital collections are discounted up to 70% off.

They have the first five New 52 Flash collections (the whole Manapul/Buccellato run), plus the two volumes of the 2010 Brightest Day relaunch and, interestingly, the two volumes from 2006-2007 featuring Bart Allen as the Flash: Lightning in a Bottle and Full Throttle.

Now’s your chance to pick up “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” or catch up on the New 52 Flash.

Impulse Buy: ComiXology’s “Back to School Sale”

Impulse #19

The entire run of Impulse starring speedster Bart Allen is on discount at ComiXology this week for their back to school sale. Most issues are typically $1.99, and are on sale for 99ยข.

Technically it’s not the entire run, as they don’t have either of the two Annuals up yet.

There are a few early issues that tie into Flash’s “Dead Heat” storyline and guest-star XS, Bart’s cousin Jenni Ognats from the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Waid/Ramos issues are gold, with possibly being the best of the batch. And while it’s mostly a comedy superhero book, it does delve into deeper emotional stories as well, such as the two-parter where Bart’s friend Carol gets caught in the middle of one of the Trickster’s cons (#14-15), or the issue delving into Max Mercury’s past (#16).

Later on, the series toned down the comedy in favor of more serious superhero stories (Mercury Falling, Dark Tomorrow, etc.), and the last year or so of the book was a constant battle between the creative team and editorial over new powers, crossover tie-ins, and cast changes.