Answering Searchers’ Questions

It’s always interesting to see what searches bring people to the site. Every once in a while I look through for questions, or implied questions, that aren’t already answered here.

Current Events

Why did Reverse Flash have a Brightest Day symbol?

We don’t know for sure yet, but the implication is that Brightest Day is related to characters who come back from the dead after or at the end of Blackest Night.

Is Jesse Quick back?

Well, she seems to be…but then she’s still appearing as Liberty Belle in Justice Society of America and the second features in JSA All-Stars, so it’s hard to tell. Maybe those take place earlier, maybe she goes back to the other costume, or maybe she’s just going to switch costumes depending on who she’s teaming up with that day.

Did Jay Garrick die in Smallville?

He only appeared in flashback, when Checkmate was rounding up the Justice Society and arresting its members on false charges. He was mentioned by other characters as if he was still alive. (Spoilers for Absolute Justice.)

Is DC working on an animated Flash movie?

If they are, they haven’t said anything about it. A Newsarama article more than a year ago included the Flash in a list of upcoming projects, but there’s been no mention of it since then.

Looking Back

What comes before Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge?

Rogues’ Revenge concludes a sort of trilogy, which you can follow in these collections:

  1. Flash: The Fastest Man Alive – Full Throttle
  2. JLA: Salvation Run
  3. Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge

It also takes place after the end of Flash vol.2 and during the first three issues of Final Crisis.

What year did the Flash superhero gain lightning?

That depends on what the lightning in question is:

  • The symbol dates back to Jay Garrick’s first appearance in 1940.
  • Lightning in the Flash’s origin goes back to Barry Allen’s first appearance in 1956.
  • Lightning effects used to convey speed were used occasionally in the early 1990s, became more prominent when Mike Wieringo worked on the book (1993-1994), and really became established during Terminal Velocity (1995).

Slightly Off-Topic

What is Dan Didio’s twitter name?

As far as I’m aware, Dan Didio isn’t on Twitter.

Who was the female speedster in Heroes?

The character’s name was Daphne Millbrook, and she was played by actress Brea Grant.

Flashforward novel how did it know the pope’s name?

It’s off-topic, but I get a lot of these since I posted a review of the novel.

Author Robert J. Sawyer explains in this video interview that he looked at the list of past popes’ names for those that had good reputations and might be “ready for a comeback.”

Speed Reading: Flash in the 1990s

Strangely enough, a lot of the sites I’ve linked to on Twitter or Facebook over the last few weeks were looking back at the 1990s and Mark Waid’s run on The Flash

Max Mercury.High Five! Comics profiles Max Mercury: The Speedster Time Forgot (for a while). Of course, Max goes back farther than — he started as Quality Comics’ Golden Age hero, Quicksilver — but the version of the character known today was established in “The Return of Barry Allen,” “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and Impulse.

Terminal VelocityFor Valentine’s Day, Comics Should be Good’s Year of Cool Comics spotlights Flash: Terminal Velocity and a key event in the relationship between Wally West and Linda Park.

Westfield Comics’ Josh Crawley looks back at Mark Waid’s first run on The Flash, picking up with Flash #0 and running through “Terminal Velocity,” “Dead Heat” and “Race Against Time.”

Mania spotlights the 1990s Flash TV series in 15 more shows that were canceled before their time over the last 25 years. It’s an interesting mix of shows I remember fondly (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), shows I remember hearing about but never watched (Murder One), and shows I’ve completely forgotten (Street Hawk?). It also reminds me that I never got around to watching the last few episodes of Journeyman.

Fast Art: Noah Van Sciver, Jamal Igle & Alternate Avengers

Noah Van Sciver, younger brother of artist Ethan Van Sciver, reinterprets Flash: Rebirth #3 at Covered (via Comics Alliance). The alternative comics artist was reinterpreting each issue of the miniseries in a single comic strip for Wizard Universe, and got through issue #4 before the site shut down.

Jamal Igle draws the Flash for the upcoming ComiConn. It’s a really nice piece! (via Comic Verso)

And some fun fan art: The Weekly Crisis has some “rejected” Avengers for the new line-up in “I Am An Avenger, Too!” featuring everyone from Beta Ray Bill to…Optimus Prime?

Noah Van Sciver Covers Flash: Rebirth #3 Jamal Igle Flash Optimus Prime: I Am An Avenger Too

Happy Birthday Bill Messner-Loebs

I learned on Comic Bloc that today is William Messner-Loebs’ birthday! He wrote The Flash vol.2 for about four years from Flash #15 (1988) through Flash #61 (1992), during which he laid the groundwork for Wally West’s characterization in the 1990s and beyond. He also had a two-year run on Impulse, taking over from Mark Waid in Impulse #29 (1997) and handing the reigns to Todd Dezago after Impulse #49 (1999).

Geoff Johns, DC’s New Chief Creative Officer

The big DC news yesterday was the announcement of the new executive team for DC Comics. Jim Lee and Dan Didio are promoted to Co-Publishers, succeeding Paul Levitz, and Geoff Johns is promoted to Chief Creative Officer.

So for the most part, it looks like the “corporate overlords” at Warner Bros. like what DC has been doing and want to keep the same people in charge. That, and make sure the writer behind their most popular books isn’t even tempted to leave! (Though it’s clear that Geoff Johns is so fascinated by DC’s universe and characters, I can’t imagine what would lure him away.)

In a statement on The Source, Johns assures fans that he’ll still be “writing Green Lantern, The Flash, Batman: Earth One and Brightest Day.” In addition, he’s in charge of figuring out how to bring DC’s world, including Wildstorm and Vertigo, into other media: “film, toys, television, video games, animation and beyond.”

Flash: Rebirth #6 Preview!

DC has posted a four-page preview of next week’s Flash: Rebirth #6.

Can you believe we’re only a few days away from the conclusion?

Update: As Esteban points out in the comments, there’s a third credit on this cover: Scott Hanna. @SpeedsterSite quotes Ethan Van Sciver confirming (on Facebook), “Those are inked by the great Scott Hanna, who was kind enough to do 5 or 6 pages for me.”