What’s Missing from Showcase Presents: the Trial of the Flash?

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Astute readers have no doubt noticed that Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash, in stores today, does not cover a continuous string of issues from #323 through #350. It starts with the desperate race around the world in which the Flash kills Professor Zoom, and it ends with fallout from the Flash’s trial, but along the way it skips Flash #328 and #337-339.

What’s in those issues?

The Flash #328 is a reprint issue, with a couple of pages of framing sequence added. The reprint in question is Flash #163, the wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West, which was also interrupted by Professor Zoom. In the original run, it served as a reminder of just how long the rivalry had run between Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne, and how personal it was. It’s an obvious choice to cut.

In The Flash #337-339, the Pied Piper has a nervous breakdown, and the Rogues, blaming the Flash, trick a super-strong but mentally deficient man (who becomes Big Sir) into attacking the Flash in hopes that he’ll kill him. It’s an odd choice considering that the ongoing subplots continue throughout the three issues, including:

  • Preparations for the trial.
  • The missing persons case for Barry Allen.
  • The mystery of why the Flash’s lawyer hates him.

One of the jurors has a strange encounter, which becomes a major plot point near the end of the storyline, and #339 ends in the middle of a battle, which picks right up in #340, and leads into another key plot point: Big Sir beats Barry so badly that he needs facial reconstruction surgery.

Presumably the issues were cut for page count, but I do have to wonder why DC chose these three issues.

This Week: Citizen Cold, Trial of the Flash, Booster Gold

Flash comics and collections out this week.

Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3

He may have once been seen as Central City’s hero, but as the truth about Citizen Cold’s criminal past begins to trickle out, it’ll only be a matter of time before his true identity is revealed. With an entire gallery of Rogues set on killing him, Citizen Cold will have to work to not only protect himself but also to stop Iris West from losing her trust in him. But when she discovers a dark connection between them that he had kept hidden from her, does Citizen Cold stand any sort of chance defeating all of the odds stacking up against him?

Written by SCOTT KOLINS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale AUGUST 10 * 3 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

DC has released a 4-page preview.

Showcase Presents: Trial of the Flash

Written by CARY BATES and JOEY CAVALIERI

Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, DENNIS JENSEN and others

Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and KLAUS JANSON

Following the murder of The Flash’s wife by The Reverse-Flash, the two foes are locked in a round-the-world battle that ends in the death of the evildoer. Collected from THE FLASH #323-327, 329-336 and 340-350.

592 pg, B&W, $19.99 US

Booster Gold #47

FLASH FACT: Booster is the only man with the knowledge to fix the world, but he has to find The Flash in time to tell him…

Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
On sale AUGUST 10 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

Note: I have no idea whether the Flash is actually involved in this, but a cover appearance is worth a look.

Update: As Lee points out, Teen Titans #99 and Red Robin #26 are also Flash-related. Teen Titans features both Bart Allen/Kid Flash and Inertia, while Red Robin has Tim Drake confronting Captain Boomerang, the man who killed his father. Newsarama has previews of Titans, Robin & Booster Gold.

Speed Reading

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Weekend linkblogging.

First, the Flash stuff:

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Other Comics Stuff

SDCC 2011 Graphitti Designs/DC Direct Exclusive Flashpoint Zoom Pics *Updated*

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For those of you who have been waiting for pictures of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Professor Zoom, you need not wait any longer. Our very own friendly neighborhood webmaster and Flash historian, Kelson Vibber attended SDCC 2011 and managed to snag an exclusive DC Direct/Graphitti Designs Flashpoint Professor Zoom action figure. Let’s take a closer look:

Continue reading →

Preview up for Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3

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DC has released a 4-page preview of next week’s Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3:

He may have once been seen as Central City’s hero, but as the truth about Citizen Cold’s criminal past begins to trickle out, it’ll only be a matter of time before his true identity is revealed. With an entire gallery of Rogues set on killing him, Citizen Cold will have to work to not only protect himself but also to stop Iris West from losing her trust in him. But when she discovers a dark connection between them that he had kept hidden from her, does Citizen Cold stand any sort of chance defeating all of the odds stacking up against him?

Written and drawn by Scott Kolins, FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #3 arrives in stores on Wednesday.

The Power of the Flash Legacy

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Once there were 3 Flashes...Then there were 2...Then there was 1...Finally...there was NONE!

I understand DC’s decision to pick a single Flash. They want to make a fresh start (sort of — more about that in part 2). They don’t want incoming readers to be intimidated by 70 years of history. And they want a world in which super-heroes have only been around for a few years. But there’s value in the legacy concept, and I’d argue that it’s helped The Flash and its readership.

Crisis Management

We Flash fans have been extremely lucky. From 1940 to 2005 we’ve had three great versions of the character. We’ve had solid, long-running creative teams. Gardner Fox wrote most of the Golden Age and half the Silver Age. John Broome wrote the rest of it, with Robert Kanigher straddling the two eras. Cary Bates authored the entire Bronze Age, and I’d wager that nearly everyone reading this has experienced the incredible Flash runs by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns in the 1990s and early 2000s. We’ve had amazing artists like Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, and Mike Wieringo, and more recently Francis Manapul.

And unlike fans of Superman or Wonder Woman, we’ve never had to deal with DC outright erasing the stories we know and love. Because Barry Allen and Jay Garrick were different characters, DC was able to build a shared history in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and because they had promoted Wally West to the lead spot, they could start at the beginning of a hero’s (solo) career, again without wiping out what had gone before. Continue reading →