Injustice: Gods Among Us Gets A Release Date and Two Collector’s Editions

308813_461710173881603_111769067_n

Hey Speed Readers,

Some exciting news coming down the pipeline from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment this yesterday afternoon concerning DC Comics latest video game venture, Injustice: Gods Among Us. Injustice is a fighting game developed in the same vein as Mortal Kombat and in fact is being produced by the studio who brought us Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, NetherRealm Studios (formerly known as Midway). The game is now set to be released on April 16th, 2013 here in the states for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii U game consoles. European gamers will have to wait 3 more days.

Continue reading

This Week: Digital Impulse, Flash & Smallville

Digital flashbacks this Wednesday include Flash #93 and Impulse #47. This fills in a gap, making the first 100 issues of Wally West’s Flash solo series available digitally. Additionally, Friday features the release of the next digital chapter of “Haunted” as Impulse guest-stars in Smallville Season 11.

Smallville Season 11: Haunted

Smallville Season 11 on ComiXology.

Something terrifying is pursuing Impulse — what could keep up with the Fastest Man Alive?

Continue reading

Flashing Around the DC Universe in April (Solicitations & Covers)

Justice League Dark #19

DC’s April solicitations are trickling out today, and in addition to The Flash #19 and the usual team books, the scarlet speedster is guest starring in at least two three other comics: Justice League Dark, Dial H (hinted at in the March solicitations) and DC Universe Presents. Plus, Impulse’s guest spots in Smallville Season 11 continue for a fourth issue as Bart and Clark face off against the Black Flash.

Flash #19

From the Justice League group:

THE FLASH #19
Written by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by MARCIO TAKARA
Fold-out cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 MAD Variant cover by The Usual Gang of Idiots
On sale APRIL 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

  • What is the latest and greatest threat to The Flash and all those closest to him?

That’s not a proper riddle, now is it, my precious?

Update: I forgot to mention that this is the second of two issues that Francis Manapul is taking off. Assuming plans don’t change, he’ll be back for Flash #20 and the start of the Reverse Flash storyline.

Update: I missed the fact that this is the book attached to the sword cover we posted on Friday:

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #19
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by JESUS SAIZ
Fold-out cover by JESUS MERINO
On sale APRIL 17 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE

  • In this final issue, what time displaced-hero has arrived on our world—and is the destruction he brings the herald to a great disaster?

DC Universe Presents #19

From the Dark group:

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19
Written by JEFF LEMIRE and RAY FAWKES
Art and fold-out cover by MIKEL JANIN
On sale APRIL 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

  • The House of Mystery is under siege—can special guest star The Flash help Justice League Dark battle this unexpected threat?

DIAL H #11
Written by CHINA MIEVILLE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI and DAN GREEN
Fold-out cover by BRIAN BOLLAND
On sale APRIL 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+

  • What? The? Flash?

So that’s what WTF means. And all this time I thought it stood for something else.

Smallville Season 11 #12

From the Beyond the New 52 group:

SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 #12
Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by JORGE JIMENEZ
Cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale APRIL 3 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T

  • All-new digital adventures in print for the first time!
  • The shocking conclusion to “Haunted.”
  • Superman and Impulse face off against the Black Flash in Las Vegas!
  • Meanwhile, events move into crisis mode on Earth 2…

+1 for the Black Flash, -1 for Electric Superman.

Impulse Collection Canceled

Impulse #1

ComicList reports that the trade paperback Impulse: Runs in the Family has been canceled. I guess that explains why it hasn’t shown up on any of the solicitations. [Correction: It was solicited in October.]

This isn’t the first collection DC has canceled before release. Usually it means they looked at the pre-orders and just didn’t see the demand.

On the plus side, the issues that would have been collected are all available digitally now. Of course, that brings up an interesting question: What role did digital sales play in this decision? Did DC see poor digital sales and low print pre-orders and decide to cancel it? Or did they see better digital sales than print pre-orders and decide to focus on the more effective market?

Comics used to be disposable entertainment, but since the early 1990s, readers tend to keep their collections for years. With that sort of audience, what’s the market for reprints of 20-year-old comics that have been kept bagged and boarded so that the people who have the most nostalgia for them also still have a copy in good condition?

(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip.)

Cover for Flash #19 Revealed

While DC Comic’s solicitations for April’s new issues isn’t due until Monday, Comic Book Resources (via Gotham Spoilers) has an early selection of covers.  This includes Francis Manapul’s cover art for Flash #19 (below) and Flash prominently featured on what appears to be that month’s Justice League the cover to DC Universe Presents #19.

flash19cv

Flash #19 will be the second of two issues written solo by Brian Buccellato, with art by Marcio Takara.  The solicit for issue #18 features both the Trickster and Dial H.

Check out the Justice League DC Universe Presents #19 cover after the jump!

Continue reading

This Week: Impulse in Smallville (in print!) plus Digital Flashbacks for Wally West & Bart Allen

Smallville Season 11 #9 Cover by Scott Kolins

The print edition of Smallville Season 11 #9, the first part of a story guest-starring Impulse (Bart Allen), arrives in stores today. If you’ve been reading online, this contains the same story as the digital edition Smallville Season 11 #25-27. (Confused yet?) Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by Jorge Jimenez with a cover by Scott Kolins.

Also in digital back-issues at ComiXology, we have four new issues from the 1990s:

Flash #90: Wally West has realized that his whole trial has been manipulated by Abra Kadabra…too late to stop an injunction against using his powers within city limits. Now he has to stop Kadabra and clear his own name while on the run from the law. (Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo)

Flash #91: Determined to never leave anyone behind again, Wally West adds Johnny Quick’s speed formula to his own super-speed…and finds himself trapped in a single moment of time. (Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo.) This issue was included in the Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told trade paperback collection.

Impulse #45: “Bart’s mom comes back from the future to see her time-lost son, but not everybody is imbued with the spirit of the Christmas season. The odds of there being peace in Manchester are slim!” (William Messner-Loebs, Craig Rousseau)

Impulse #46: As the Flash family of the late 20th century prepares to embark on the time-spanning mission in “Chain Lightning,” Impulse imagines meeting his grandfather Barry Allen…and how different his life might be with this living legend as his mentor instead of Max Mercury. (William Messner-Loebs, Craig Rousseau)

Impulse #46