The Flash wasn’t the only speedster super-hero at Comic-Con this year. Meagan VanBurkleo dressed up as Velocity from Top Cow’s Cyberforce.
Check out her site for more photos and a write-up of the costume. If you have time, read her article at Game Informer on SDCC: A Cosplayer’s Perspective.
At Comic-Con International, Geoff Johns wouldn’t say anything more about the in-production Flash movie than “We’re making one.” It turns out that’s because there just isn’t much news to reveal. In an interview with Collider.com, Greg Berlanti mentioned that they’re “just starting the script.”
I guess that answers the question of whether any of Dan Mazeau’s script was still in play.
The bulk of the interview is about Berlanti’s super-hero family drama, No Ordinary Family, which launches on ABC next month, but he touches on the Green Lantern film as well.
Link spotted on the Comic Bloc forums.
Some links related to the Flash and Comic-Con International.
Francis Manapul writes about SDCC, Beast Legends, and Flash #4.
Titans Tower Monitor Room has been posting convention sketches from Comic-Con International, including Kid Flash by Sean Philips [Update] and another Kid Flash by Francis Manapul.
DC Comics has teamed up with Converse for super-hero shoes, starting with Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. Somehow they managed to skip the hero who’s famous for running.
I’m still working on my overall convention report. Here are Thursday and Friday. Half-done, half to go!
Some recent sightings of Flash history around the web.
4thletter!’s 4×4 Elements series looks at what made “Blitz” work.
Two more Flash moments appear in Comics Should Be Good’s list of 75 Memorable Moments in DC History: Barry Allen’s sacrifice in Crisis on Infinite Earths and the first Superman/Flash race.
Bleeding Cool noticed a similarity between the universe-changing conclusion of Spider-Man’s “One More Day” and a story point in Flash’s “Hell to Pay,” and asked, “Where was the outrage when Wally West did the same thing?” Hmm, on one hand you have someone who makes a deal with the devil to retcon away 15 20 years of stories and create a new status quo that has lasted three years so far. On the other hand, you have someone who makes a deal with the devil for the sake of a story, and he finds a way to beat the Devil at his own game the next issue. Yeah, they’re totally the same.
Random Happenstance’s series on 1999’s JLApe event continues with a summary of the Flash installment, featuring Max Monkey and Chimpulse.
The Hooded Utilitarian, after reading Flash: Rebirth, decides to go back and read some Silver-Age Flash starting with Showcase #4.
I’ve been really enjoying the ongoing Flash series despite the frustration and disappointment of Flash: Rebirth. It’s as if “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” is being written by Geoff Johns, and Flash: Rebirth was written by the mirror Geoff. Or in a multiverse context, the Geoff Johns of Earth-3.
Also surprising: Johns seems to have remembered an old saying about writing comic books: Every issue is somebody’s first. A few deftly placed lines of dialogue spell out the key details of the story so far: Boomerang’s status and new abilities, who the Renegades are, what file is missing and why, etc. Considering this is part 4 of a 6-part story, I suspect most writers today wouldn’t have bothered.
Francis Manapul’s artwork continues to be the highlight of this book. The Flash stands or falls (runs or stumbles?) on pacing and the reader’s perception of speed, and Manapul delivers. This time around, the stand-out panels are splash pages in an effort to rescue pilots from a damaged helicopter. (One nice easter egg: in the background of that double-page spread, we see the bridge that Wally West rebuilt back in “Crossfire.”)
I’m neutral on the “Flash Facts” pages, though if they’re going to keep using them to spotlight the villains, I like the way they link the real tech with the comic-book tech. Last month it was “How Boomerangs Work” and “How Captain Boomerang’s Boomerangs Work.” This month it’s mirrors and Mirror Master’s mirrors.
Some of the luster is beginning to fade, though. The structure is starting to feel formulaic: Barry Allen keeps fighting the Renegades, and every battle gets cut short one way or another. Every issue has a major super-speed feat, which individually manages to be extremely cool, but gets repetitive four issues on.
I think the main thing that disappointed me about this issue was the revelation behind the murder mystery. Sure, it’s one of the few explanations that fits Barry Allen’s character, but it also violates the expectations set up in the first half of the story. To say any more, I’ll have to break into….
SPOILERS!
I’m still working on my review of The Flash #4, and hope to have it ready by tonight. In the meantime, you may want to check out this Flickr gallery of Flash costumes at Comic-Con (photos taken by other people), or my Thursday Con Report.