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.

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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!

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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

Domo Flash Coming From Funko Toys!

Salutations Speed Readers,

Funko has announced that they will be teaming up with DC Comics again to bring us some Vinyl Domo collectibles including two versions of The Flash.

Now for those that are unfamiliar with Domo, Domo started out as the mascot for the Japanese TV station, NHK and made his first appearances in stop-motion animated shorts. He quickly grew to worldwide fame and now you can find him in comics, games, toys and all kinds of other merchandise. You can learn more about him by visiting Domonation.com.

The first stands 3.75 inches tall and is similar to past Funko Pop Vinyl releases:

DCDomo1FlashPV

The second will be 2.5 inches tall, also made of vinyl and will be blind packed along with 13 other DC characters. Blind packing refers to the practice of packaging a product as to give no discernible evidence as to what may be in the box. The first picture of Domo x DC Blind Box Vinyl Flash is courtesy of Action Figure Insider:

FunkopopDomoFlash

As mentioned in the AFI article some Domo figurines will be rarer than others with Flash being packed at a normal ratio of 2/24. This handy diagram provided by Funko might help explain things better:

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I, for one am pretty excited for these guys. I always found the Domo character to be pretty cool visually and I like the combination of DC heroes and Domo. Some look a little funky but I think the Flash Domos came out looking great, especially the 3.75 inch one. I’m hoping these guys will be easy enough to track down online.

Domo x DC Comics 3.75 inch Vinyl collection will go on sale February 14th, 2013 while the Domo x DC Blind Box set goes on sale February 28th, 2013.

Who else is a fan of Domo? Who just plans on picking them up for the DC Comics connection? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin ‘Flash’ Johnson

Peter David Stroke Update: How You Can Help

Writer Peter David (Young Justice and a whole lot more) is in the hospital recovering from last weekend’s stroke. His wife has posted an update on his condition. Things are looking up, but rehab is going to take a lot of time and money, even with insurance. You can help most directly by buying his books from Crazy 8 Press. (Buying his stuff from other publishers will help in the long term, but these will help out sooner.) Kathleen David has a run-down of these books, some epic science fiction, others fantasy and humor. I picked up the two Hidden Earth books to start with.

Update (Jan 17): They’ve put together a donation button through the Hero Initiative if you’d like to contribute directly. Also, he’s able to keep writing (apparently the damage was mainly to parts of the brain that control movement), and he’s still on X-Factor.

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

Flash reading letters

Happy new year! To celebrate 2013, we’re going to do something we haven’t done in a while at Speed Force: Turn the reigns over to you! That’s right, we’re looking for guest writers to shake things up a bit.

Here’s the kind of post that we’re looking for:

  • Something about the Flash, another speedster, or a related character. (Max Mercury, Impulse and Jesse Quick are fair game. The Flash supporting casts are fair game. The Rogues are fair game. Quicksilver, Cheetara, Sonic the Hedgehog, speedsters from Heroes, even Stan Lee’s Lightspeed if you can stand watching it.)
  • A mix of topics would be great. Review a trade paperback or a single issue, submit photos of your fan costume, write up how to make your costume, talk about your favorite writer or artist, show off a convention sketch or commission, tell the story behind your favorite item of Flash memorabilia, explain what you like about your favorite speedster or Rogue, write up your favorite Flash story, etc. You can write about the New 52, or about any period in the Flash’s 72-year history. Heck, you could write about Hermes and speedsters of mythology.
  • Don’t be nasty. You can be negative if you want, but please don’t start griping about “Boring Allen” or crowing about how Wally is a pale imitation of the “real Flash.” Similarly, no personal insults toward writers, artists or fans.

If you’re interested in writing a guest post for Speed Force, please email me at speedforce – at – pobox – dot – com or let me know through the contact form. Include the topic(s) you’d like to write about (but feel free to change your mind later if you think of something better).

Depending on how many responses we get, we’ll probably run two or three each week starting the second half of January or beginning of February.

So, who’s interested?