Flash May Get “Secret Origin” Treatment

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Buried in a Newsarama interview about Superman: Secret Origin, Geoff Johns remarked that he’d like to do more “Secret Origin” stories…with the Scarlet Speedster his first choice for number 3.

My hope is to continue these, most likely with The Flash: Secret Origin, which would include the beginning of the Rogues as well.

Personally, I’d rather see some genuinely new stories for a while instead of yet another origin retread. The series has been (in my opinion) far too focused on the past for several years now. Bring back Wally West. Bring back Barry Allen. Spackle the Rogues’ actions during Countdown. Bring back Bart Allen. Bring Back Professor Zoom. Bring back Max Mercury. Retcon Barry’s childhood, early career, and the nature of the Flashes’ powers. Explain Barry’s bow tie.

(Also: he’s already written origins for at least five of the Rogues — six if you count Trickster II.)

Geoff Johns makes the point that origin stories serve as starting points for new readers, but I think The Flash #1 would also be a good place to start. And while I can’t speak for new readers, this long-time reader would like to see something that he hasn’t already read in half a dozen variations.

(Thanks for Fastest for the link.)

An Earlier Identity Crisis

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A brief exchange from The Flash 80-Page Giant #1 (1998).

The setup: The DCU version of comic book writer Mark Millar is interviewing the Flash to get ideas for his next script. Apparently DC Comics exists in the DCU, but they publish stories about “real world” heroes. As you can see, they don’t know all the details—like their secret identities—and have to fill in the gaps themselves.

Mark Millar and the Flash discuss secret identities and how DC had to rewrite continuity when heroes started revealing their real names... with "The Identity Crisis."

Originally posted at K-Squared Ramblings.

In 1998 it was a play on the title of DC’s biggest ever crossover event. In 2004, it was the title of DC’s latest big crossover event.

Decluttering the Pull List

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The Weekly Crisis writes about taking the suitcase test (figuring out what you really need to buy or keep based on what you’d put in a suitcase for a long trip) and applying it to comic books. It’s an interesting way to look at a hobby dominated by completism and collecting for collecting’s sake. I’ve been doing something similar over the last couple of years, with two major changes to my buying habits.

Events

The biggest decision for me was to stop buying event books just because they were events.

I understand the desire to read everything “important” and keep up with the universe. My DC reading practically started with Crisis on Infinite Earths, and I read a lot during the event-heavy 1990s. But after 10 years of annual crossovers, I found myself sick of them. I got sucked back in with the buildup to Infinite Crisis in 2005, but after the weekly Countdown to Infinite Crisis I realized I needed to focus on books I actually liked.

So I bought Final Crisis because it looked interesting and Rogues’ Revenge because I couldn’t pass up Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins on the Flash’s Rogues. I skipped Final Crisis: Revelations, and I’ve skipped Blackest Night so far, because the stories just didn’t appeal to me.

The only exception I’ve made so far is Legion of Three Worlds, and that’s because I run a Flash site and it featured the return of Kid Flash.

Falling Behind

I’ve also started taking how far behind I am on reading a series as a measure of how interested I am in it.

  • Am I a few weeks behind? No biggie.
  • Waiting for a story arc to finish? Maybe I should start buying it in trades instead.
  • A couple of months behind? Time to catch up and see If I really care.
  • 6 months behind or longer? It’s probably time to drop it.

I’ve dropped several series based on this criteria…and I still haven’t gotten around to reading the issues I’d bought before dropping them. I can’t quite bring myself to drop Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though, even though I’m 8 months behind.

At this point I’m reading 12 more-or-less monthly series: 7 ongoing and 5 miniseries. It’s manageable, except when I’m really busy, and keeps my monthly budget around $40 to 50.

What to Keep?

I’ve got my comics buying habits sorted out at this point, but the hard part is figuring out what to keep. The last time I moved, I set myself a goal of having fewer long boxes of comics the next time I moved. Unfortunately I haven’t really gotten around to (a) sorting and (b) actually selling much.

I did, however, put some boxes in storage, and it’s been enlightening to compare the items I’ve gone back for (Girl Genius trades, for instance), the items I keep meaning to go back for when I have time to read them (Sandman), and the items that I just haven’t thought about.

So I guess my suitcase criteria would be reread and research. Anything I’m likely to reread stays. Anything that I may need as reference material for my website stays. (Unfortunately that means I have to keep Countdown for now.) I’m not willing to toss the rest of it just yet, though, which is why I have 15 or 16 long boxes.

Eventually, though, I’ll go through them all and make some decisions.

Quick Look: Francis Manapul Flash Sketches

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Francis Manapul Sketches the Flash

The Source has posted some Flash sketches by Francis Manapul. They look great, and IMO should reassure fans who have been apprehensive about his selection as artist on the new series. Manapul plans to ink and watercolor the art himself, similar to the style he’s using for Adventure Comics.

The artist adds some new wrinkles to the Flash transition timeline:

These were done a while back near the end of my Legion run. I tried to make a go at the Flash and these were the sketches I did as a pitch to try and get the book. It was nixed as Geoff and I decided to do Adventure Comics (which I love and will miss very much). However the opportunity to get on the scarlett speedster arose and so here we are.

That would have been about a year ago, right? Flash: Rebirth would have been announced, but not solicited, with people speculating that it would start anywhere from January to March (it ended up launching in April). I suppose if Flash: Rebirth had been 6 issues starting in January and stayed on time, DC could have launched a Flash ongoing series in July — right around the time that they launched Adventure Comics. Hmm…

This Week (Sep 30): JSA, Blackest Night: Titans

It’s a light week for the Flash. I’m not even 100% certain that Wally West or Bart Allen will appear in this issue of Blackest Night: Titans, so it may just be Jay Garrick in JSA.

Justice Society of America #31

Justice Society of America #31Written by Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges
Art and cover by Jesus Merino

Magog and Wildcat square off as the team traitor involved in the attack on a fellow JSAer is revealed! It all leads to greater tension and permanent rifts within the most storied Super Hero team of all time! Clearly, this was an inside job, and though they may not realize it now, the damage to the group is deeper than any of them suspects.

On sale September 30 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Blackest Night: Titans #2

Blackest Night: Titans #2Written by J.T. Krul
Art and cover by Ed Benes & Rob Hunter
Variant cover by Brian Haberlin

Titan-on-Titan violence! Black Lantern Hawk has his talons set for the female Hawk and Dove! Meanwhile, Red Star faces a frightful family reunion with Black Lanterns Pantha and Wildebeest, and Donna Troy faces her worst possible nightmare! Plus, Black Lantern Terra terrorizes Beast Boy! Continuing the 3-issue miniseries from writer J.T. Krul (JSA CLASSIFIED, Fathom) and superstar artist Ed Benes (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA)!

This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ed Benes & Rob Hunter), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Brian Haberlin).

On sale September 30 · 2 of 3 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Dan Didio Talks Kid Flash Launch: April or May

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In the latest 10 Answers with Dan Didio (it’s now 10 questions every week instead of 20 questions every 2 weeks), Dan Didio answers some questions about the upcoming Kid Flash series being written by Sterling Gates.

Launch date: “somewhere around April or May of next year. It will launch about a month after the launch of the new Flash book.” Note: Last we heard, Flash was going to launch in March 2010, which would place it a month after the planned end of Blackest Night: Flash

Artist: “I’ve got a couple of artists who are under consideration,” but right now they’re focused on coordinating stories.

He also reiterates what Geoff Johns has previously said about the Flash and Kid Flash books being aligned much in the same way that Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are aligned.

There are, of course, 9 more questions and answers in the original article, including some interesting remarks on solicitations and spoilers.

(Thanks to @SpeedsterSite for the link)