John Wesley Shipp’s Secret Role Revealed!

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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:

  • Henry Allen, Barry’s father
  • Jay Garrick

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.

Flash #31 Preview & Interview

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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.

Flash #31

Mark Waid, Empire vol.2, and the Flash TV Show

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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.

Replying to Greg Berlanti:

Empire2. 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.

A New Kid Flash in Teen Titans / Future’s End

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Teen Titans Five Years Later

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.?

Future Wally West on the Cover for Flash/Future’s End

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DC has revealed the remaining Future’s End covers for September’s New 52 anniversary event. These will be motion covers, like last year’s 3D covers except showing a before-and-after pair of images. The pair for the Flash issue is…well, take a look!

Flash - Five Years Later - before: Barry Allen

Flash Five Years Later - after: Wally West

They’ve also confirmed that the issue will be written and drawn by the usual creative team. This should come as no surprise to those who’ve been following interviews with Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, as it fits right into the current time travel storyline.

So what do you think of the new look for Wally West?

Brian Buccellato & Noel Tuazon’s FOSTER – TPB in July

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Foster TPB

While co-writing The Flash, Brian Buccellato self-published Foster, a six-issue horror miniseries.

Only five issues saw print, though he published the conclusion digitally as a PDF. This July, OSSM is releasing the whole story as a trade paperback. Fanboy Comics has the cover and a preview of the book.

FOSTER, a haunted war veteran trying to forget the world at the bottom of a bottle, becomes the guardian of a 6 YEAR-OLD BOY who is the offspring of a woman and a PRIMAL RACE OF SUPERNATURAL CREATURES that lurk on the fringes of society and need him to repopulate. In a world where technology is stuck in the analog ’70s and danger lurks around every corner, three rival factions want the half-breed child. Now Foster must navigate the shadow world, twisted scientists and his own past in order to keep the boy safe while winning his trust, nurturing his humanity, and trying to prevent him from giving in to the monster within.