This issue of The Flash begins a three-parter in which Brian Buccellato gets to wrap up some story threads before moving over to Detective with Francis Manapul. Looks like these are very important threads, as we start to delve into the biggest mystery of all for Barry Allen…
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY
Empire Magazine is unveiling 25 covers from from X-Men: Days of Future Past today, each featuring a different character. This includes the look for Evan Peters as Quicksilver, or, as The Beat calls it, the 90s club kid version of the character. The movie opens in May.
Another version of Quicksilver will also appear in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, played by Aaron Johnson, the first character to appear in both Fox’s X-Men films and the Marvel cinematic universe, due to an overlap in the film rights between the Avengers and X-Men.
Nerdist has a preview of The Flash #27, the first of a three-part story by writer Brian Buccellato and artist Patrick Zircher. Pasqual Ferry provides the cover for the issue, due in stores next week.
The summary has the Flash facing “a mystical serial killer who might be responsible for his mother’s murder,” but the preview focuses on a jewelry heist by Chroma (an updated Rainbow Raider) and Tar Pit.
(For those wondering about the presence of one of the villains, remember that everything up through #29 takes place before Forever Evil.)
Also included in the preview is the Scribblenauts variant cover, a riff on the classic Showcase #4 — the first appearance of Barry Allen.
Deadline reports that Rick Cosnett and Danielle Panabaker have been cast in the roles of Detective Eddie Thawne and scientist Caitlin Snow in the Flash TV series pilot.
Det. Eddie Thawne is described as “a recent transfer to the Central City Police Department, whose past is a mystery and who harbors a dark secret.” It’s a safe bet that “Eddie” is an alias for Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. the Reverse Flash — especially since Barry Allen’s appearance on Arrow has already hinted at the villainous speedster’s role in Nora Allen’s murder.
Caitlin Snow is “a highly intelligent bioengineering expert who lost her fiancé during an explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs.” As Flash TV News points out, Caitlin Snow is the name of the current (New 52) incarnation of Killer Frost. That’s an odd choice, given that the Flash has his own highly prominent cold-based villain in Captain Cold — a favorite of DC’s Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns, who had a hand in the story.
It seems likely that one or both will be set up as part of the supporting cast now, to be transformed/revealed as supervillains later in the season. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Snow gets worked into Captain Cold’s origin. After all, he was originally a petty criminal who broke into a science lab to power up his weapon. There’s no reason it can’t be her lab. (Unless the people writing the show look up “cyclotron” and realize it’s a kind of particle accelerator.)
Incidentally, I wish Deadline and THR would get a new description for the pilot instead of repeatedly copying and pasting the summary of Barry’s part in “The Scientist.”
I had the opportunity to watch the JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time animated film the other night. It’s a straight-to-video release directed by Giancarlo Volpe (best known in DC fandom for Green Lantern: the Animated Series), and is aimed at a younger audience than such films as The Flashpoint Paradox. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering the extreme violence in some of DC’s major animated releases.
Overall, I rather enjoyed Trapped in Time, which was surprisingly fun. There were some plot points glossed over and a bit of kid-oriented humour which didn’t appeal to me, but I’m not the primary audience. And frankly it’s a good thing to produce series (whether animated programs or comic books) that are more suited to children — in the era of a shrinking industry, comics could use some new fans.
Slight spoilers after the cut.
It’s a week without any new Flash comics, but DC is adding another classic to their back catalog. This one’s Flash #161 (2000). With Wally and Linda off on their honeymoon, Jay Garrick tells the story of the hijinks on his and Joan’s honeymoon in what was then a little-known out of the way town called Las Vegas…and what happened when his JSA pals tagged along to throw a reception, and the Fiddler, Thinker and Shade show up to rob the casino. There’s also a side plot revealing the fate of the Three Dimwits — a Stooges-style trio of buffoons from the Golden Age supporting cast who had largely been ignored by later flashback tales.
It’s a fun story by Pat McGreal, Paul Pelletier and Doug Hazlewood, with a cover by Steve Lightle.
