Speed Reading: Notpocalypse Edition

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Sorry I haven’t had time to keep this round-up column going lately. I’ve picked a few highlights since the last round-up, focusing on the more recent ones:

Sterling Gates talks about that Kid Flash series that was announced in 2009 but never actually launched, saying “I don’t think it ever made it past the initial pitch and a couple written scenes.”

The FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST mini I wrote in 2011 was sort of the tone we were planning on for that series: serious stories with humor in the mix. Woulda been a belter, too, with Bart, Max Mercury, and Xs returning to Blue Valley, Nebraska to fight villainy…and other super speedsters.

Comic Book Legends Revealed brings us a Christmas story with the Three Dimwits — who were basically the Three Stooges, inserted wholesale into the Golden Age Flash comics by Gardner Fox.

Mark Waid & Impulse DrawingNewsarama tells the story of how Mike Wieringo’s first Impulse drawing made its way back to Mark Waid.

Speaking of Mark Waid, his run on the Flash was voted #36 in the Top 100 comic runs as selected by Comics Should Be Good readers back in October, the only Flash run to make the list.

Brian Buccellato is writing a revival of The Black Bat, a pulp-era superhero who’s been largely forgotten in favor of that other guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime. Here are two interviews at Newsarama and at CBR.

Jim Zub breaks down where your $2.99 goes on a typical indie comic. There isn’t much left over for the writer and artist. Follow-up: looking at digital sales.

Jill Pantozzi has resurrected “Hey, That’s My Cape!” at IGN, starting with a piece of advice that sounds simple on its face, but seems to be hard for comics fans to follow through on: Stop reading comics you don’t like. For me, the last straw was Countdown to Final Crisis. From that point on, I resolved to only read comics that looked interesting, not those that I felt obligated to read. I slip up sometimes, but overall I enjoy my comics more than I used to.

Update: CBR has the results of their poll for who fans want to debut in the New 52. A certain missing speedster handily takes the number one spot.

Armageddon Tired of This…

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Flash Annual #4 (1991): Armageddon 2001

Obligatory theme cover!

Armageddon 2001 was a story running through DC Comics’ 1991 annuals. 10 years in the future, a super-hero would turn evil, hide himself behind a mask and take over the world as Monarch. A generation into Monarch’s reign, a scientist working on a time travel project found himself sent back in time and given the ability to glimpse anyone’s most likely future. He proceeded to travel around the DCU, looking at the future of each hero in hopes of finding the one who would become Monarch, and stopping him…by whatever means necessary.

In the case of the Flash, Wally West spent most of the next decade in the witness protection program. He and his wife Bonnie helped take down a corrupt businessman with mob connections and a super-power to learn everything about a person just by touching them. Their son David inherited Wally’s speed, but not the aura that protects him from friction, making his power potentially deadly. Waverider’s view of the future begins when David risks his life to save someone else’s, and is seen doing it. The Flash’s cover blown, Diogenes’ allies kidnap David from the hospital and recruit the Rogues to lead Wally West on a chase to find his son.

Convinced that Flash couldn’t be Monarch, Waverider moved on, though his brief interruption distracted Wally West from the crucial moment in which he and Bonnie would have met.

Fun fact: This was Mark Waid’s first full-length Flash story; he had previously written the framing sequences in The Flash 50th Anniversary special, and would soon start writing the ongoing series.

Not so fun fact: Armageddon 2001 was infamous for a last-minute change in plans. During the summer, news leaked that the Captain Atom was going to be revealed as the future villain. DC swerved, latching onto Hawk (Hawk & Dove had just been canceled, leaving them expendable), despite the fact that Hawk & Dove had already appeared in the future fighting Monarch. Of course, future writers ended up making Captain Atom into Monarch anyway, and Hawk & Dove were both killed and brought back to life by the end of the post-Crisis DCU.

This Week’s Digital Flash: Argus, Arrowette & Smallville

Flash #86 Impulse #41

This week’s Flash comics are all digital, including two re-issues today, and one new chapter in the Impulse story on Smallville on Friday.

Flash v.2 #86: The Flash and Argus go against the alien weapons-dealers, the Combine. (Note: ComiXology’s summaries have been off a few issues lately. They describe this one as having to do with the lawsuit storyline.)

Impulse #41: “Arrowette’s back and she’s asked Impulse to help her solve a string of mysterious thefts in several schools. In order to do so, Bart’s got to accompany her to a dance where he believes he’s uncovered the source of these thefts–and it involves just about everyone in Flash’s Rogues Gallery!”

Smallville Season 11 #26: Continuing “Haunted,” guest-starring Impulse. Read more about this storyline in last week’s article..

Impulse’s Origin Explored in Smallville Season 11 (Preview)

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Smallville Season 11 #9 Cover by Scott Kolins

TV Guide has an article about Bart Allen’s return to Smallville, including a preview of the new storyline, “Haunted.” Smallville Season 11 takes place in the TV show continuity, where Bart Allen is a founding member of the Justice League under the code name Impulse, though his origin was left extremely vague. So vague, in fact, that Bart himself doesn’t remember how he got his powers beyond there being an accident and a “flash of light.”

The new arc, “Haunted,” will explore the origins of Bart’s ability to run at super speed. “There’s something that has been haunting Bart for some time, some baggage he’s been carrying,” says writer Bryan Q. Miller of the title. “Everyone in our story is being haunted — physically, metaphorically — by some element of their past.”

Other story elements involve Lex Luthor attempting to recover his own lost memories, and Chloe’s quest to learn about her doppelganger from Earth-2. Miller goes on:

“Haunted” will have more direct connections to the television show than Season 11’s earlier stories. “It’s the first time we are relying heavily on previous Smallville series history,” Miller says. “This arc has many more roots in specific episodes and mythology from the series.”

Check out a view of Bart’s new costume after the cut: Continue reading →

This Week’s Digital Speedsters: New Impulse in Smallville, Flash(back) to Razer & More

Smallville Season 11 #9 by Scott Kolins

I haven’t been able to confirm it, but the numbers line up. On Friday, DC will release the digital edition of Smallville Season 11 #25, which I believe is the first part of the story guest-starring Bart Allen/Impulse which will appear in the print edition Smallville Season 11 #9–11. A cover isn’t up yet, so this is the spoiler-blocked version of the print #9 cover.

These digital-first comics are set in the continuity of the Smallville TV show, not the New 52 or old DCU. DC releases three weekly issues at 99 cents each month, then collects them as a single $2.99 print issue the following month. Smallville Season 11 on Comixology.

And in digital reprints from the 1990s, we have…

Flash #85

Flash #85: Part two of Wally West’s battle with Razer, as a Keystone shopping mall is, well, razed to the ground. Something that happens in the background will turn out to have a major impact a few issues down the road. Flash on ComiXology.

Impulse #40: “It’s Manchester High’s annual parent/kid picnic, and this wouldn’t be an Impulse story if something as simple as potato salad and three-legged races didn’t lead to big trouble.” Impulse on ComiXology.

Impulse #40