The Future Flash is coming…but he has a few stops to make along the way. He’s already killed the Future Grodd…what more does he have planned before meeting himself in the present? That’s where we pick up in THE FLASH #31!
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY
Flash #31 is on sale today, picking up where Flash Annual #3 left off, with Future Flash arriving in Central City. There is also a fantastic 1:25 Mike Allred variant cover. Here’s the original solicit:
THE FLASH #31
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI and VAN JENSEN
Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:25 BATMAN ’66 variant cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale MAY 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED TContinued from THE FLASH ANNUAL #3! Guest starring Future Flash, Future Mirror Master and…Wally West! The future is invading Central City and the fates of Wally West and his Aunt Iris hang in the balance!
Present-day Mirror Master and Glider make appearances in Catwoman #31, as part of the “Race of Outlaws” storyline. Check out the cover after the jump!
Finally, it looks like the digital backissues of Flash vol. 2 is standing pat at #188, but expect a new backissue added next week.
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop. Since John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen in the 1990 Flash TV show, was cast in the Flash pilot in a recurring, but unnamed role, fans have gravitated toward two theories:
The secret is out, and we now know that he’ll be playing Henry Allen.
“Given his history with The Flash, Andrew [Kreisberg], Geoff [Johns] and I could only think of one person we wanted to play Barry’s father and that was John Wesley Shipp,” said executive producer Greg Berlanti. “He gives a fantastic and emotional performance in the pilot and we are looking forward to his presence in many more episodes.”
The Flash premieres in October on the CW in the US and on CTV in Canada.
USA Today has an interview with Flash writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, and a preview of Flash #31.
A few highlights:
“Barry is one of the few superheroes who is able to act not necessarily as a father figure but almost as a big brother,” Jensen says. “And not only is he able to teach Wally things, but then Wally’s continuing to teach Barry things.”
“Basically there’s something wrong with the Speed Force,” he says. “Future Flash knows this, Flash of the present doesn’t, and the story line is going to be about the limitations of Barry’s power set and the effects it can have not just on him but on the world around him.”
Future versions of Flash’s Rogues such as Mirror Master and Trickster will also play big roles, and the writers will be exploring the same ideas as with the future Flash — Barry said he would never kill yet in the annual, readers watched him kill Gorilla Grodd 20 years later.
Two quick updates on Mark Waid, who wrote Wally West’s adventures as The Flash for about 100 issues and almost the entire decade of the 1990s.
1. He’s seen the Flash TV pilot, and thinks it’s great.
Not only is the #Flash pilot EXCELLENT, but (for this) the dead-mom retcon doesn't grate. Great show, and Tom Cavanagh is astounding.
— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) May 23, 2014
Replying to Greg Berlanti:
@GBerlanti @AJKreisberg My pleasure. "My name is Barry Allen, and I'm the fastest man alive." I can't wipe this stupid smile off my face.
— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) May 23, 2014
2. Waid and Barry Kitson’s Empire vol.2 launches next week on Thrillbent. The original miniseries told the story of what happens after when the world’s greatest super-villain conquers the planet. What’s left? The description for volume 2:
But where is his strength coming from? The sole loyalist who kept him anchored to humanity is one year gone, and on the anniversary of Golgoth’s loss, several seemingly coordinated new threats are surfacing around the globe. Each presents its own unique threat to the throne, and if Golgoth wants to maintain the crown, he will have to divide his forces–and his attentions–in dangerous new ways.
The out-of-print Empire volume 1 will also be available on Thrillbent as part of the all-you-can-read $3.99 monthly subscription for the entire catalog.
Also among the Futures End covers revealed today: Teen Titans, by Karl Kerschl (Wednesday Comics: The Flash and Teen Titans Year One). And if a future Wally West wasn’t enough, the “after” team lineup includes what looks to be a new Kid Flash… though her costume looks a bit reminiscent of Speed Freak, a member of the alternate-reality Love Syndicate of Dreamworld who appeared in Grant Morrison’s “Second Crisis” way back in Animal Man #23 (1990).
Also, it looks like we’ve got Lagoon Boy, Klarion the Witch Boy, not sure about the figure in the back, and up front…um…the Tattooine representative of Batman, Inc.?