Julie Benz Speeds Into No Ordinary Family

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ABC has announced casting for the Greg Berlanti television pilot, No Ordinary Family, a drama about a family with super powers. Julie Benz (Dexter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel) and Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Fantastic Four) play the lead couple. While the announcements don’t say what powers Chiklis’ police artist character has, Benz will be playing a scientist who develops super-speed.

If the name Greg Berlanti sounds familiar, IESB pegged him last week as the leading contender to direct The Flash.

Update: I missed the article when I posted this at lunch, but Rich Johnston reviewed a draft of the script last month. He described the script as “patchy,” but “a much more interesting exploration of possibilities of superfiction than The Cape. And leagues ahead of…Heroes.”

DC Trivia Contest: Win a Signed Flash #1 through Twitter

“Hot” Iris

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With the release of the Flash #1 preview, there’s been renewed talk about Iris Allen’s youth. After all, she lived long enough in the future to have children, watch them grow up, and have grandchildren, and when she came back with Bart, she looked visibly older: graying hair, crow’s feet, etc.

The question came up a lot when Flash: Rebirth launched last year, and I recall Ethan Van Sciver mentioning in one of his podcast interviews that he tried to draw her somewhat older, but that she and Barry didn’t look right together, so he and Geoff Johns decided to make her look closer to his age.

Now, there are a lot of reasons one can give for her looking 30 instead of 50 or 60: better medical care in the 31st century, the fact that she’s been transplanted into a new body at least once (don’t ask!), and the suggestion made in Flash: Rebirth #5 that exposure to the speed force keeps people young. This had actually been established before with Jay and to a lesser extent Joan Garrick.

Of course, it doesn’t explain why Iris would appear older in Flash vol.2 and Impulse, then younger in Flash: Rebirth and Flash vol.3, but since then, DC has established Superboy Punches, the “New Earth” rearrangement of history in Infinite Crisis, and Flash: Rebirth‘s alterations of Barry Allen’s past — including how and when he and Iris met.

But let’s not forget: When she returned after an extended absence during Geoff Johns’ run on Wally West’s series, Iris made her entrance looking like this: Continue reading →

Francis Manapul Flash Art

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The Source has posted several pages of art from Francis Manapul’s work on the Flash, ranging from sketches to finished pencils. Some are familiar from yesterday’s preview. Most are new.

I particularly like this drawing of Abra Kadabra from the upcoming Flash Secret Files book (March 24).

There’s also a view of the crime lab — a nice, big, open crime lab that I’m sure will make Scipio of the Absobascon happy if he’s still reading.

This Week (March 3): Cry for Justice, All-Stars, TPBs

Comics shipping this week that feature, or are likely to feature, the Flash.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #7

Written by James Ro
Art and cover by Mauro Cascioli
7 of 7 · 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

This is the big one! After the catastrophes seen in issues #5 and #6, a hero loses control, leading to an unexpected ending that will fundamentally change the lives of the World’s Greatest Heroes forever. This issue launches a major storyline in the DC Universe and is not to be missed!

JSA All-Stars #4

Written by MATTHEW STURGES
Co-feature written by JEN VAN METER
Art and cover by FREDDIE WILLIAMS II
Co-feature art by TRAVIS MOORE & DAN GREEN
40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

The All-Stars are forced to team with the Injustice Society against Johnny Sorrows unearthly accomplice! And only Star Girl knows what she must sacrifice to save friend and foe alike!

The hero and villain team-ups continue in the co-feature, as Liberty Belle [a.k.a. Jesse Quick] and Hourman join their proven enemies Tigress and Icicle, who hold essential clues as to the whereabouts of the ancient mysticism embodied in the Staff of Life!

Justice League International Vol. 4 TP

Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Kevin Maguire, Mike McKone, Bill Willingham & others
Cover by Kevin Maguire & Joe Rubinstein
192 pg, FC, $17.99 US

This new volume collects JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #23-25 and JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #26-30 as the team deals with a captured Thanagarian spacecraft and more.

Note: I believe this volume includes the membership drive that led to the launch of Justice League Europe, with Flash Wally West as a founding member.

The Last Days of Animal Man TP

Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Chris Batista and Dave Meikis
Cover by Brian Bolland
144 pg, FC, $17.99 US

By the year 2024 Buddy’s own hometown of San Diego has struggled for years to recover from a cataclysmic typhoon. And now he must face the most vicious foe he’s seen in years — while his own powers start to fade. Collecting the 6-issue miniseries.

Note: A future Flash appears in this story as a member of the League of Titans.

Speed Reading: Crimson Art, Morrison, Crisis Interviews & More

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Some Flash-related links I’ve collected over the last few weeks.

ART! — Swan Shadow features Flash and the Crimson Avenger, drawn by Chris Ivy.

NEWS! — MovieWeb interviews cast & crew of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, including Josh Keaton, voice of the Flash. CBR interviews Keaton more extensively.

FANDOM! — Once Upon a Geek has located a DC Comics Snuggie. Speed Force’s Devin “The Flash” Johnson found a satirical piece on the Snuggie that also has a DC link!

The Collected Editions Blog recently celebrated its fifth anniversary.

SIGHTINGS! — Former football player Darrell Green just may be the fastest baby boomer alive, claiming to have run a 40-yard-dash in 4.43 seconds on his 50th birthday.

Need winged boots? These reflective clips for cyclists, inspired by Mercury or Hermes, are in @zieglarf’s words, “almost the Flash.”

COMMENTARY! — Multiversity Comics starts a new feature, Crisis of Chronology, by looking at the DC works of Grant Morrison from Animal Man to Final Crisis, including his brief run on The Flash.

IO9’s 75 Books You Should Own For DC Comics’ 75th Anniversary includes Showcase Presents: The Flash Vol.1, reprinting the first few years f the Silver Age Flash: “Why you should read it: To see the style and substance that made a genre live again… and also how old ideas were made contemporary back in those days.”

Essentailly fanfic, but an interesting take on a Flash movie series at Comic Book Movie.