Interview: Paul Ryan Talks Flash

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Today’s guest post is the second in a series of interviews by Greg Elias on The Art of Speed.

With a Flash resume spanning a presidential election, trips to Hell, living clothes and a cosmic death-race, Paul Ryan’s work on the title is some of the most diverse of any artist to ever pencil those pages.

Starting with issue 119, a crossover with the Final Night mini-series, Ryan was paired with Flash scribe Mark Waid. From the Presidential Race storyline through Hell to Pay, Ryan was present for the return of The Top, Wally’s temporary relocation to Santa Marta and the raging comeback of the undead Rogues.

When Waid took a break from Flash in 1997, well-known writers Grant Morrison and Mark Millar took over for a year’s worth of stories. The tone of the book changed with the reintroduction of temporal challenges, mystical concepts and sci-fi elements reminiscent of the Silver Age Flash, as well as the expansion of more recent tropes like the Speed Force and Wally’s childhood.

Ryan also illustrated Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Crisis architect Marv Wolfman, which tells the story of Barry Allen’s time on Earth D.

Previously an artist over at Marvel Comics, Ryan co-created the New Universe series DP7 and spent a notable, lengthy run on Fantastic Four. Most recently, he has illustrated The Phantom comic strip.

Recently collected for the first time, Emergency Stop and The Human Race showcase much of the second half of Ryan’s run on Flash.

Ryan answered our questions via email, revealing some of the process and his favorite Flash.

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This Week: Flash #8

This week sees the release of The Flash #8, a one-shot Rogue Profile story focusing on the Reverse Flash.

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
1:10 Variant cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU

“Reverse Flash Rebirth!” In this FLASHPOINT prelude, don’t miss the epic telling of the origin of Barry Allen’s greatest foe, Professor Zoom! Eobard Thawne’s story is just beginning — and he intends to finish it with The Flash!

If you haven’t seen it, DC released a preview last week at the Source and at CBR.

2010 in Review: Ranking California Comic-Cons

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I ended up going to four comic book conventions in 2010, mostly in Southern California (plus one in San Francisco). Based on this year’s experience and past experiences, here are my thoughts on each show.

1. Comic-Con International

DC Nation - Grant Morrison and DarkseidComic-Con International in San Diego is the ultimate pop culture fan experience. They have everything you could possibly want to see, including comics, movies, video games and more. The downside: they have everything everyone else could possibly want to see, too. So it’s crowded, hectic, and requires planning months ahead in order to make sure you have a ticket and (if you need one) a hotel room. Comics publishers have a major presence, as do movie and video game studios, collectibles manufacturers, etc. and there are so many events on the schedule that you’d need a group of 20 people to see everything. If you can, try to go more than one day. This is the con I’m most familiar with, having attended every year since 1990.
CCI 2010 report.

2. WonderCon

Captain America and Iron ManComic-Con International’s little sibling, WonderCon in San Francisco, is a nice balance of everything San Diego has to offer, but less crowded and less, well, insane. Comics take up a bigger part of the show, with the major publishers always well-represented, but movies and TV have a presence here as well. I’ve been to the last 3 cons.
Wondercon 2010 report.

3. Long Beach Comic Con

Hulk Smash Puny Convention!Only in its second year, Long Beach Comic Con makes a great impression as a convention that’s actually focused on comics and the people who make them. The artists and writers area is the central feature of the main floor. Programming is light, but the mid-level comics publishers have a strong presence. The emphasis on authors and the light crowds (this was only its second year) make it a good place to meet artists and writers without standing in incredibly long lines.
LBCC 2010 report.

4. Anaheim Comic Con

Flash TrioWizard World’s return to the LA/OC area, despite the name change, is more focused on pop culture than comics. There’s little publisher presence, minimal programming, and a major emphasis on celebrities and dealers. Good for costume spotting. It’s fun, but if I had to pick one or the other, I’d definitely go with Long Beach. Technically this was its first year, but I understand Wizard World is trying to make all of their shows the same type of experience.
Anaheim 2010 report.

And Beyond

There are a lot of smaller cons that I either haven’t been to at all or haven’t been to recently. The roughly-bimonthly Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine comes to mind, for instance, and the California Comic Con in Yorba Linda. And aside from WonderCon and APE, I’m not really familiar with the Northern California scene — or, for that matter, the Inland Empire here in Socal.

Are there any other California-based fans here? What cons do you like to attend?

Speed Reading

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Gingerbread Flash (Merry Christmas)

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So for Christmas this year I decided to make a Gingerbread Flash. Pretty appropriate considering the old Gingerbread Man story and the taunt that he would yell while running at cookie crumbling speeds: Run, run as fast as you can; You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.

I made two attempts with varying success. This is the first time I had done anything by myself involving Gingerbread men and even then I was using a Trader Joe’s Giant Gingerbread Man as a template. I used a combination of  cake and cookie frosting (should have just used cake frosting) and it was a fun learning experience overall.

Flash 1.0 (Barry):

My first attempt at Gingerbread Flash. You can tell it is Barry because of the belt and the blue eyes.

Flash 2.0 (Wally):

My second attempt came out a little better. This is kind of a mix of looks for Wally: JLU/New Comic Costume emblem, with exposed green eyes and centered belt that meets in the middle.

The Fastest Gingerbread Men Alive!

Merry Christmas, from everyone here at Speed Force! And a very special thanks to all the guest contributors helping out over the last couple months; Shag, Dave Huang, Liquidcross, Brandon, Frank Lee Delano, KC Flash, Dave Sun, Ken O, Greg Elias, Kojo Manu, Adam Komar and anyone I might have left out, You guys are awesome! Can’t wait to see more fantastic stuff from a very talented Flash community.

Keep it Flashy

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson