Newsarama interviews new FLASH team of Manapul & Buccellato

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Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers interviews Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, the art team from Flash vol.3 who will be taking over both writing and art on September’s new series.

I’ve only had time to skim it, but the things that stand out to are:

  • Even Geoff Johns encouraged them to figure out what the Flash, Barry, and his supporting case mean to them — not to try to give us a second-rate Geoff Johns book, but a first-rate Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato book. “I think what made Geoff’s run great was that it was personal to him. Brian and I needed to find a voice and find what was personal to us. And we did.”
  • They had strong ideas about where they wanted to take the Flash, then had to figure out how that would fit within the new DCU.
  • They plan to really push the envelope in terms of visually portraying super-speed.
  • When asked about scheduling, they stressed that they weren’t the ones responsible for the delays on the previous volume. They wouldn’t talk about who or what was the cause, but added, “editorial would not put us in the position we’re in if they thought we weren’t capable of doing what we’re doing.”

Head over to Newsarama to read the full interview.

DC Reboot: An Opportunity for Wally West

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DC’s don’t-call-it-a-reboot is the perfect opportunity to give Wally West a costume that’s recognizably The Flash, but different enough from Barry Allen’s costume that even a casual reader can tell them apart at a glance, even if the artists miss a few details. Especially since several elements of Wally’s new costume from Flash: Rebirth (the raised yellow outline around the chest circle, and the V-shaped belt) have been incorporated into Barry’s new outfit.

Walter West, the Dark Flash

Yes, I’m talking about the Dark Flash costume, worn by Walter West, a version of Wally from an alternate reality. It wouldn’t have worked in the post-Crisis continuity because of what the experience meant to “our” Wally (he didn’t want to be reminded of what he could have become), but in a revised history, it doesn’t need to have the same associations.

Brighten it up again, make it crimson and gold (like Wally’s current costume), and I think it’ll do the trick.

Assuming, of course, that DC has a place in the New DCU for an adult Wally West, and has neither erased him from history or reverted him back to Kid Flash. (I’m trying very hard to stay positive here.)

Flash Reboot Creative Team: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato (UPDATED)

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DC has announced ten of the new titles and their creative teams launching as part of their massive universe-wide revamp this September, including The Flash #1.

Rising superstar Francis Manapul, fresh off his acclaimed run on THE FLASH with Geoff Johns, makes his comics writing debut in THE FLASH #1, sharing both scripting and art duties with Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who can? The cover to issue #1 is by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato on art? An all-new villain in the first issue?

DC just found a way to keep me reading!

Obviously Manapul as a writer is an unknown quantity, but I love his art on the book, and the way Buccellato colors it. And assigning him the book now seems like a clear vote of confidence from DC upper management, further supporting the idea that he wasn’t solely responsible for the delays in Flash vol.3. I’d hazard a guess that a big part of it was Geoff Johns being tied up with preparations for the universe-wide reboot. That’s got to have been time consuming.

Update: Francis Manapul, addressing concerns about the team’s writing experience, posted the following on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/FrancisManapul/statuses/76339587789766656

As far as what’s in store for the Scarlet Speedster:

https://twitter.com/#!/FrancisManapul/status/76343324516159488

Buccellato adds:

https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/76344568219570176

Update: Here’s why I’m calling this Flash vol.4.

Update: Bob Wayne’s second letter to retailers insists: “this is the launch of the New DCU. It is not a ‘reboot.’ I think you will soon discover why that is.” My take, based on what I’ve seen in today’s announcements, is that they’re basically doing what they did after Crisis on Infinite Earths, just in a more coordinated manner. The key difference being, it seems that this isn’t going all the way back to the beginning for every character. We’ll have to see what that means for the Flash. I just hope it means we won’t be reading updated versions of old stories every few months.

(More reports & commentary: CNN, Comics Alliance, The Beat, Comics Should Be Good, Robot 6, Comics Nexus, Newsarama, Firestorm Fan.)

Annotations: Flash #278, “Road to Oblivion”

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Hot on the heels of our two-part interview with comic book legend Cary Bates, we dive right back into our analysis of his Flash work!  Links to research and artwork are included throughout this post.

UP TO SPEED: Barry Allen, the Flash, has buried his beloved wife, Iris.  After fighting his way through a vicious drugging at the hands of an unknown assailant, Barry considered retirement.  Convinced (or manipulated) to stay in the cowl by an ESP-powered fan, Barry embarked a manhunt for Clive Yorkin, Iris’s accused killer…

Continue reading →

Contest: Where Was Wally West? Week Seven!

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With Flashpoint upon us, and major changes for DC Comics heroes apparently on the horizon, Flash fans across the country have been asking the same question: “Where is Wally West?”

While we do not know where Wally is now, where he will be, or how long it will be until he is anywhere, we certainly know where he was!  With that knowledge, we present the latest installment in our ongoing contest feature, “Where Was Wally West?”

On Wednesdays, we will post a panel or sequence from a classic comic featuring Wally West visiting an alternate reality, the past or a “possible future”.  Every fan who can tell us the issue, writer, artist(s) and a reasonable description of the locale/era, by Friday, will be entered into a raffle for a cool Flash prize!

Just send your responses to this email address (whereswally at speedforce dot org), and we’ll announce the winner on Monday!

So check out the image below and ask yourself, “WWWW?”.

This week’s prize will be revealed with the winner on Monday . Winners must live in the continental US or Canada.

This Week: Flashpoint #2

This week* sees the release of the second issue of Flashpoint, as well as four of the tie-in miniseries.

Flashpoint #2

Written by GEOFF JOHNS; Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT and SANDRA HOPE; Black and White Variant cover A by ANDY KUBERT; Variant cover B by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PÉREZ

The world-changing miniseries continues! Where are the World’s Greatest Super Heroes? Barry Allen is on a mission to find out or die trying – and that may be what’s happening as he tries to make lightning strike twice! Meanwhile, around the submerged Paris, the pirate Deathstroke confronts Emperor Aquaman!

*(There’s a bit of confusion on this point. DC’s website has said from the start that Flashpoint #2 comes out next week, and there’s no preview out, but Diamond says it’s shipping this week, and my local comic shop expects to get it in as well.)

Also

  • Flashpoint: Abin Sur, the Green Lantern
  • Flashpoint: Batman, Knight of Vengeance
  • Flashpoint: Secret Seven
  • Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint

Coverage at Speed Force

Since the event is so huge, we’ll be focusing on the directly-Flash-related series here. Flashpoint itself, of course, plus Citizen Cold, Kid Flash Lost, Legion of Doom (starring Heat Wave), and the Grodd of War and Reverse Flash one-shots. That’s still a big job (and yeah, I know I’m late with Flashpoint #1), so we’ve broken the books down among our regular contributors.