Flash First Impressions: Why I don’t like Joan Garrick

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Today’s guest post is by Ken O of That F’ing Monkey.

I’m going to make a confession and I realize it sounds irrational, but I don’t like Joan Garrick. I know that sounds bad. You hear something like that and think, “How can you hate that nice grandmotherly lady?” Before we even get into the whys I want to clarify, I dislike her, I don’t hate her. I wasn’t cheering when she came down with fake-cancer. Besides the fact that cancer isn’t really cheer worthy, I didn’t want to see her die.

So what started all this craziness? Her first appearance. I’m not even talking about her issue as a whole; I’m talking about the first page of Flash Comics #1. Our hero, young scientist in training Jay Garrick meets Joan at school and asks her out to the Victory dance. Her response is, “I…I don’t thinks so, Jay…You’re…a scrub on the football team…and captain Bull Tryon’s already asked me!!”

Wow. How nasty is that? She could have easily said, “Sorry, but someone already asked me,” or anything like that. Instead she decides to bust on his football skills. And bless his heart; Jay somehow still wants to impress her. He gains super speed and immediately uses it for football. Maybe it’s because I’m not a football fan? I’ve also though of Joan as cold hearted after that.

I realize Iris didn’t come off any better. In her first panel she’s chastising Barry for being late. I’ve read a number of other people’s complaints about how nasty Iris was during all those early adventures, but for some reason I never disliked her. Maybe it is because I’ve been stood up before and I know what a soul crushing blow to the ego that can be.

How did the other women in the Flashes’ lives fare with their first appearances? Continue reading →

Flash #11 Schedule Set

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When DC Comics released its solicitations for February, it announced The Flash #11 would be arriving on February 23, 2011…even though they had already scheduled The Flash #10 for that date. Now, DC’s website shows the more realistic date of March 30, 2011.

No changes have been made to any other upcoming Flash issues. Flash #8 is still scheduled for December 29, #9 for January 26, and #10 for February 23.

Mayfairstivus – Captains Cold & Boomerang in the 1989 DC Heroes RPG

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Today’s guest post is by Frank Lee Delano.

Hello, Flash fans! I go by the alias Frank Lee Delano, was voted second most likely to run entirely too many blogs (after Rob Kelly,) and I will be your substitute teacher for the day. For the second year in a row, I’m running a complex and lengthy inter-blog crossover between Thanksgiving and Christmas, in part because I’m a sadistic misanthrope who takes his hatred of the holidays out on my unsuspecting fellow bloggers. The theme this year is Mayfairstivus, a make believe holiday where we celebrate the Mayfair Games Incorporated DC Heroes role-playing system and its many releases. A large part of the blame for this type of event falls on the shoulders of The Irredeemable Shag, who brought me into his own crossover, Crisis on Earth-Blog, almost two years ago, and continues to conspire with me on these dirty dealings. Shag was your guest blogger forMayfairstivus – Celebrating Flash in the DC Heroes RPG, and when I volunteered to write a second post while your regularly scheduled Kelson was tending to his newborn son, Shag offered the advice, “I believe his blog is typically on the positive/up-beat side, so I wouldn’t trash Captain Boomerang too much (but that’s just me).” As I believe I already established that I am diabolical and make all my promises through crossed fingers, I now present to you Captains Cold and Boomerang, whom I will surely criticize venomously.

I assume I first became aware of Captain Cold through the Super Friends cartoon show, because that’s just what people of my generation did (see also: mustachioed men wearing mirrored aviators and Lacoste polos with skimpy tennis shorts defending original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.) As you may or may not be aware, Ape Law* dictates that every super-hero must have an ice-themed villain, so to me Captain Cold was just Mr. Freeze on a budget. It wasn’t until John Ostrander wrote Cold into his first Manhunter script as a loser who loved betting baseball that Leonard Snart felt like he had something unique to contribute to the field, as more of a blue collar snow blower. Of course, now Snart is a fan favorite, after taking on a Golden Age attitude toward casual homicide. If you’re going to flash freeze some dope in the equivalent of liquid nitrogen, you might as well indulge the bloodlust of Rome by punching the schmuck’s head into a pink-tinged flurry, right? So cool, Captain Cold is now the baddest gangsta to wear a fur-lined hoodie.

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Quick Hits: Geoff Johns Talks Flash, Movie Coming 2013?

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Newsarama is running a series of interviews on the theme, “Geoff Johns Still Writes Comics.” today’s installment focuses on his work on The Flash. As usual, he drops a few hints, but remains mostly cagey about the details. He does make the interesting point that while he’s trying to build up the Flash universe (similar to his success with Green Lantern), he’s not trying to build it up in the same way. “Flashpoint is nothing like any of the Green Lantern events. It’s not a Flash army vs. a Reverse-Flash army.”

Also of note: IESB reports that the movies Green Lantern 2 and The Flash are planned for Summer 2013.

New Flash Heroclix Releases Available Later This Month

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Some big releases on the DC side of Heroclix for their 75th Anniversary Set coming later this month including several Flash-related releases that are sure to rock the socks off of Flash and Heroclix collectors alike. First up Heroclix.com released a preview yesterday of the Monarch of Motion, Barry Allen in his first solo release in his traditional uniform. We had previously seen him in his dying form from the climax of Crisis on Infinite Earths, his Blue Lantern uniform and even in a few team ups with Wally, Green Lantern, and Superman. But this is the first time we are getting classic Barry and I’m pretty elated.

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This Week: Flash #7 (UPDATED with Preview)

This week sees the release of The Flash #7, a one-shot Rogue Profile story focusing on Captain Boomerang.

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by SCOTT KOLINS
Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:10 “DC 75th Anniversary” Variant cover by DARWYN COOKE

The Rogue Profile issues return as BRIGHTEST DAY zips on with a spotlight turned toward the resurrected Captain Boomerang! He knows why he’s back and what he needs to do. But does he still have what it takes to be a Rogue?

UPDATE: DC has posted a 5-page preview, which you can read at The Source. Update 2: Here’s Newsarama’s copy for those of you who can’t see the images DC posts on The Source.