Classic comic book artist Sheldon Moldoff passed away last Wednesday at 91. He was the last surviving artist to have worked on Action Comics #1, and drew the covers of Flash Comics #1 and All-American Comics #16, the first cover appearances of the Flash and Green Lantern. Moldoff drew the Golden-Age Hawkman for several years, and was Bob Kane’s main ghost artist on many of the Batman features credited to Kane.
Mark Evanier writes about Moldoff’s life and career.
A local coffee place has set up this pair of tip jars labeled with the Flash and Green Lantern. They said that Green Lantern had been winning all week, so I put some extra in the Flash jar.
While I was there, the baristas were discussing who to put up next: Wonder Woman vs. Catwoman, or Batwoman vs. Supergirl.
Earlier this week, a reader asked me what I thought of DC’s decision to move Jay Garrick out of the mainstream DC Universe and put him in a separate universe (specifically Earth 2) with no links to Barry, Wally and Bart.
At first I was disappointed to lose the legacy aspect of the characters. I think it adds a lot to the Flash mythos to have Jay, then Barry, then Wally and Bart as a series of heroes inspiring and mentoring one another. On the other hand, the old scheme of tying the Justice Society of America to World War II and the Justice League to the present has been getting harder and harder to maintain over the last couple of decades. From that standpoint, I’m OK with them returning to the multiverse approach…as long as they treat the alternate reality as a first-class setting (like the Ultimate Marvel universe), not as something expendable. (How many characters did DC kill during Countdown to Infinite Crisis just because they weren’t from “New Earth” and therefore didn’t matter?)
Moving Jay Garrick to Earth-2? Sure, I can handle that.
But I’m not so sure about this Earth-2.
Over the past week, as we’ve started learning about Earth-2 — in particular the new takes on Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman — just about every new piece of information makes me less and less interested in the series. It’s all about death, all about heroes who kill — and that seems to be the selling point. I’m sure “What would you have to do to teach Superman to kill?” could be a fascinating story. But it’s not one I’m interested in reading as an ongoing. (That, in fact, is why I haven’t read Mark Waid’s Irredeemable — by all reports it’s a great story, but not one I want to read.)
I hope the teasers we’ve gotten over the past week are about a jumping-off point, rather than representative of the tone of the series. That the other heroes of Earth 2 aren’t going to be surrounded by and dealing out death, but rather carrying on the legacy as their world’s trinity fails. A dark, Flashpoint-like take on the Justice Society could be interesting, but if this is the only place we’re going to see Jay Garrick for the foreseeable future, I’d much rather it be in a setting where the Flash can be the kind of hero who tips his hat in respect to each person he saves.
Update: Just a day later, DC revealed Jay Garrick’s new costume and more information about his role in Earth 2.
Some weekend linkblogging…
Flash & other speedsters
As always, be sure to check Fastest Fan Alive and The Rogues Kick Ass for collectibles and Rogues posts.
More comics
The Source has unveiled Dale Keown’s variant cover for The Flash #7. They also hint that there’s more behind Captain Cold’s rampage than was revealed last issue.
On the art process:
“I was sent a few sentences about the story and an existing cover to get started,” Keown told THE SOURCE when asked about his creative process. “I worked up a sketch for editorial, which was approved with some notes. I usually do the digital inks with some gray scale rendering so it’s just a matter of throwing on some color and hi-lites.”
The Flash #7 concludes the two-part Captain Cold story, and races into stores on March 28.
Are you a fan of the 1990s era of The Flash? How about the Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo run on Wally West’s series?
Now’s your chance to pick up TwoMorrows’ Modern Masters: Mike Wieringo for $10 as part of their March Modern Masters Madness sale. The 120-page book Todd Dezago and Eric Nolen-Weathington, published in 2006, features interviews and artwork spanning most of the artist’s career.
Other books in the series, also on discount for the next two weeks, include: