Speed Reading

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Some weekend linkblogging…

Neil Patrick Harris has definitely picked up a following as a choice for Barry Allen, judging by how often he shows up in fan casting lists. This one from Comic Book Movie pairs him with Felicia Day as Iris, and adds Anton Yelchin (who recently played a young Kyle Reese in Teminator Salvation and a young Pavel Chekhov in Star Trek) as Wally West.

That F’ing Monkey reviews a Giant Sized Flash figure from SDCC.

The Best Comic Covers highlights 9 Superman vs. Flash covers.

Wizard World returns to Anaheim next year on the weekend of April 29 through May 1. Tickets are already on sale. (Whatever happened to tickets for the canceled WWLA 2009, anyway? Did people finally get refunds, or free tickets to Anaheim 2010?)

The Word Balloon podcast interviews Francis Manapul. In part 1 they focus on The Flash and Adventure Comics, while the upcoming part 2 will go into Beast Legends.

Robot 6 offers some website usability tips for comic book publishers.

The Aquaman Shrine and Firestorm Fan have teamed up for “Unresolved Issues” – the behind-the-scenes spat between Firestorm and Aquaman. But what role does the Flash have? The answer may shock you! (Okay, not really, but the promo phrasing seems like it fits the era.)

Flash Costumes at Comic-Con Int’l 2010

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It’s been three weeks since Comic-Con International, but costume photos are always in season. Here are some of the people who came to the con dressed as the Flash. I’ve posted a few of these before, but not all of them. Some of the photos are mine, but most of them are from other photographers on Flickr. In each case, clicking on the photo will open the original page with larger images.

Authentic Custom Costumes

These are the costumes that were clearly home– or professionally-made, but that stuck to the standard designs.

Comic Con 2010 - The Flash Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash

First up is Mike Rollerson’s photo of a really impressive female Flash. I’ve seen her in a number of other costumes at various conventions, including Catwoman and Psylocke. Keep reading – there’s another picture of her later on.

The Superman/Wonder Woman/Flash trio on the right made a huge impression, judging by the number of photographers who snapped pictures of them at the con. The Flash is a very exact copy of the costume from the game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, down to the boots and the armbands, though he’s thrown back the hood and put on sunglasses instead. I’ve seen at least one picture of the group where he’s tossed on a red sweatshirt over the costume that looks like Bart’s from Smallville.

Justice League

This group includes a more traditional Flash. As with many large groups, I’m not sure how many knew each other and how many were just invited to join in for having a costume with the same theme.

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Recent Acquisitions 2 *Graphic Intensive*

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Alright finally another installment of “Recent Acquisitions”.  I haven’t posted an update since March, and I’ve actually acquired a lot more than what I’m about to show. But as I explained last time the feature is called “Recent Acquisitions” and I personally think “within the last month or so” when I think “recent”. Still not a bad haul to show off. First the group picture:

Clockwise from the Top: Pull-In Brand Flash Boxer Briefs, Blue Lantern Flash T-Shirt, Funko Flash Plush Doll, Infinite Heroes 3-Pack feat. Wally West, The Trickster and Heatwave, Flash Silhouette T-Shirt, and Sterling Silver Flash Bracelet

More after the jump.

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This Week: Flash & Blackhawks Team Up in Brave and the Bold

This week is light on Flash appearances, the main highlight being the hardcover release of Team-Ups of the Brave and the Bold Vol.1, featuring the first seven issues (#27-33) of the J. Michael Straczynski/Jesus Saiz run on the team-up book. This includes the time-traveling Flash/Blackhawks WW2 team-up from last October.

Other team-ups in this collection include Green Lantern and Dr. Fate, the Atom and the Joker, Batman and Dial H for Hero, Batman and Brother Power the Geek, Aquaman and the Demon, and Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Batgirl.

I’m not sure which of these is the actual cover. The one on the left is from DC’s website and the one on the right is from the Amazon listing.

Review: Spitfire #1 – “Living in the Ruins”

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Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Elena Casagrande
Cover by Jenny Frison
5-page preview at Marvel.com

Marvel Comics’ Spitfire one-shot, released last week, looks like a speedster story from the cover…but it’s really a vampire story. Once I realized that, I found the second read much more enjoyable.

The Basics

Spitfire is Lady Jaqueline “Jac” Falsworth, a World-War II–era speedster who got her powers from the combination of a vampire bite and a blood transfusion from the original Human Torch. After she lived out a normal lifetime, a second transfusion restored her youth and activated vampire traits, like fangs and, most importantly for this story, immortality. She works for British intelligence service MI:13, along with vampire slayer Blade, whom she is dating.

The plot involves Spitfire and Blade pursuing a suspected spy — who is also a vampire — to New York. Through the course of their pursuit, Spitfire has to confront the similarities between their quarry and what she herself has become. Will immortality leave her jaded and empty, like it has so many of the vampires she’s met? Will she become what they hunt?

New Readers? Really?

As someone who doesn’t follow Marvel Comics very closely, and hadn’t even heard of the character until a few days ago, I appreciated the text page at the beginning. It’s a bit dense, but it covers Spitfire’s origin, her history with vampires and fighting Nazis, her recruitment by MI:13, and her relationship with Blade. It’s also easily skippable by readers who are familiar with the character.

The cover is labeled “Women of Marvel,” which seems to be some sort of event like DC’s ill-titled “Girlfrenzy” set of one-shots during the 1990s. Most of what I can find online has to do with a series of variant covers for established books like Captain America, Iron Man, and the Avengers, so I’m not sure what other books are involved.

So How Is It?

Mild spoilers after the cut. Continue reading →