This Week: Showcase, Blackest Night, Titans, JSA vs. Kobra and More

~~Considering that there’s no new solo Flash material coming out this week~~ There’s an awful lot of speedster material this week! The third Showcase collection from the 1960s, Wednesday Comics, and a cameo in Adventure Comics, plus team and event books like Blackest Night, JSA vs. Kobra, and Titans should cover Barry, Wally, Jay and Bart.

Showcase presents: The Flash Vol. 3 TP

Written by John Broome, Gardner Fox and Robert Kanigher
Art by Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia and Murphy Anderson
Cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson

The Rogues take over in this new third volume collecting The Flash #141-161. Don’t miss the Scarlet Speedster’s epic battles with The Trickster, The Weather Wizard, The Mirror Master, Captain Cold and more!

520 pg, B&W, $16.99 US

Notes: This volume pushes the cheap black-and-white Showcase series past the more durable, higher-quality Flash Archives series, which currently leaves off at #141.

Wednesday Comics #6

The Flash battles Gorilla Grodd and tries to date Iris West in a story written by Karl Kerschl (Teen Titans Year One, The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive) and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl.

Wednesday Comics will arrive in stores folded twice to 7″ x 10″.

7″ x 10″, 16 pg, FC, $3.99 US.

Notes: I can’t believe I forgot this when writing up the list!

Blackest Night #2

Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert
Variant cover by Mauro Cacioli
Sketch variant cover by Ivan Reis

The event of the summer continues! The dead rise across the DC Universe, bringing terror and darkness with them. What are the Black Lanterns? What do they want? Will Earth’s greatest heroes survive long enough to find out — or will they join the Black Lantern Corps?

This issue will ship with three covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Mauro Cascioli). For every 200 copies of the Standard Edition, retailers may order one copy of the Sketch Variant Edition (with a cover by Ivan Reis).

2 of 8 · 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith #3

Written by Eric Trautmann
Art by Don Kramer & Michael Babinski
Cover by Gene Ha

The JSA follow the trail of Kobra into Opal City! But the stars of this shining metropolis have been darkened by a deed so vile, it’s a new low for the global terrorist. Meanwhile, Kobra warriors have been turning up dead. Is Jason Burr a lone serpent now, or is there a greater plan at work?

3 of 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Check out the preview at Newsarama.

Adventure Comics #1

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Francis Manapul
Co-feature art by Clayton Henry Covers by Francis Manapul

It’s the return of one of DC Comics’ longest running books and one of its greatest modern-day heroes – Conner Kent! In our first heroic issue, Superboy can’t wait to jump back into his life – but which life will it be? With a clarity he’s never had before, Conner makes a beeline for the greatest place on Earth…Smallville?

Plus, in the wake of FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS, Starman heads off on an all-new mission in the present. And it’s one that will not only impact Superboy, but the future of the DC Universe itself. Fortunately, the off-kilter Legionnaire won’t be dong it alone! And in the upcoming months of ADVENTURE COMICS look for Lex Luthor! Brainiac! Lightning Lad! Superboy’s pal Simple Simon! Sun Boy and Polar Boy! Ultra, the Multi Alien! Wonder Girl! Black Lantern Alexander Luthor! And many, many more new and familiar faces!

40pg, $3.99

Notes: We know from previews that Kid Flash has at least a cameo in this issue.

Titans #16

Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Angel Unzueta & Wayne Faucher
Cover by Angel Unzueta

Why has Starfire been acting odd the past few issues? Turns out the warrior woman has major rage issues coming out of her recent breakup with Dick Grayson, the events of Final Crisis and more. Her super-powerful emotions could very well rip the team apart!

32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Notes: Angel Unzueta did the art for Geoff Johns’ first Flash arc, “Wonderland,” and Wayne Faucher inked a long run on Impulse.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #4

Written by Ivan Brandon
Art by Marco Rudy
Cover by Scott Hampton

The drugs are wearing off, and Nemesis can finally clear his head enough to make sense of life in Electric City as a “guest” of the Global Peace Agency. So what could be worse than having to experience Electric City under the influence of tranquilizers and truth serums? How about living there with a clear understanding of what’s really going to happen when they’re done with you…

4 of 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Note: I have no idea whether any Flashes appear in this, but that sure looks like the Cosmic Treadmill on the cover.

The Last Days of Animal Man #4

Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Chris Batista & Dave Meikis
Cover by Brian Bolland

Regrets…he’s had a few! Buddy Baker can’t bear to live with the regret that comes of his infidelity with Starfire…but Prismatik and Bloodrage will be happy to take the burden of life off his hands! They’ve launched a full-on assault against the League of Titans’ headquarters, and Buddy and Starfire are the only heroes who stand in their way!

~~4 of 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US~~

Note: This series takes place 15 years in the future. Prismatik is the daughter of the second Mirror Master.

2009 DC Archives Survey is Up

6 Replies

The Comics Archives has posted their annual DC Archives Survey in which readers are asked to state what future collections they’d like to see. It’s not an official DC survey, but the surveyor does send the compiled information to DC.

If you’re at all interested in DC’s Archives line, or the new DC Classics Library line of hardcovers, you should seriously consider filling it out.

I put in my annual suggestion for more Golden Age Flash archives. Most of the run from 1942-1949 has never, ever been reprinted — not even the first appearances of the Thinker, Shade, Thorn or Turtle. The material that has appeared in the two archive volumes so far mainly has the Flash fighting gangsters. Super-villains haven’t even shown up yet!

Flash Hints from Chicago: Bart and Wally

5 Replies

There’s not a whole lot of Flash-related news coming out of Chicago Comic-Con, partly because we’re still in the middle of Flash: Rebirth and partly because they dropped the big news two weeks ago in San Diego. But there were a few items mentioned at DC Nation.

First, Newsarama’s report mentions:

Red Robin will “absolutely” be dealing with the return of Superboy and Kid Flash in the near future.

I believe DC has previously mentioned that Tim and Bart will both be showing up (beyond the cameos in the first issue) of Conner Kent/Superboy’s stories in Adventure Comics. I wonder if Tim and Conner will be showing up in Red Robin at some point?

It’s interesting to note that, with Red Robin, Adventure Comics, and Kid Flash, the three original founders of Young Justice will all have their own series for the first time in eight years. Impulse and Superboy, both launched in the mid-1990s, were canceled in 2002. There’s a great scene from Young Justice around that time in which Bart and Kon are lamenting that “my comic got canceled” (supposedly referring to their favorite series to read), and commiserate until Robin walks into the room — and they proceed to glare at him. Does anyone remember what issue this was?

Anyway, back to DC Nation. CBR’s write-up adds another note.

Asked about the further ramifications about Barry Allen’s return as the Flash, “We are not retiring Wally West,” Sattler said to applause.

As reassuring as it is to know that DC does recognize that Wally still has fans, it’s more reassuring to know that the comment got applause. Of course, the best reassurance is still Geoff Johns’ remark that “Wally’s not only going to be fine, he’s going to kick ass.”

On the other hand, @weeklycrisis pointed out that “at DC, heroes either die off or live long enough to become the bad guy.” Ray of sunshine, there…

A couple of final notes from CBR’s article:

“Wednesday Comics” will be collected into trade according to strips rather than altogether, Sattler said.

I wonder if this means 15 separate books (which would actually be more volumes than the original 12-part series!) or whether it means they’ll be combining them by tone, style, character connections, etc.

“Aquaman Reborn” by Geoff Johns? “Ah, Aquaman,” Sattler sighed. No answer, but not in a “maybe” way–more exasperated.

Aquaman? Really? Not Vibe? 😉

Wizard World on the Way Out?

11 Replies

Chicago Comic-Con is running this weekend. Yes, Chicago Comic-Con, not Wizard World Chicago as it’s been called for most of this decade.

And that name change brings up all kinds of questions.

Back in 1997, Wizard bought the Chicago Comicon, at its time the #2 comic book convention in the country after Comic-Con International in San Diego. They renamed it Wizard World Chicago and started building a series of conventions across the country. At its height there were five shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, Texas, Philadelphia, and (briefly) Boston.

Collapse

Then in January 2009, Wizard dropped a bomb: citing the economy, Wizard World Texas and Wizard World Los Angeles were being canceled. People planning for WWTX at least got fair notice, but WWLA had been scheduled for March, just two months away. They insisted that WWLA was merely “postponed,” but made no indication of when the show might return.

That left two: Wizard World Philadelphia in June and Wizard World Chicago in August.

Rebuilding and Rebranding

Over the next few months, though, something odd happened: the convention series started growing again, as Wizard owner Gareb Shamus bought Big Apple Con, then bought Paradise Toronto Comicon. Neither show was rebranded as a Wizard World event, and Wizard quietly started referring to WWC as “Chicago Comic-Con.” And then they launched Anaheim Comic-Con.

So now there are again five conventions under the umbrella, but only one, Philadelphia, still has the Wizard World name. Chances are pretty good that they’ll rename it by next June…or possibly cancel it the way they dropped WWLA.

Whither the Wizards?

The obvious question is: why?

Well, Wizard World has acquired a bit of a bad reputation. Maybe they’re rebranding in hopes of escaping that.

Or maybe they want to give the shows a more local feel, rather than corporate.

Or maybe it’s something else. Judging by the announcements, it’s not Wizard Entertainment that’s been buying and launching these new shows — it’s Gareb Shamus. I wonder whether he might be planning to sell off Wizard and keep the conventions, or otherwise split the cons and the magazine into separate companies.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Update (August 11): After reading this article on “Comic-Con” vs. “Comic Con” vs. “Comicon,” I’ve gone back and tried to make sure I have the official spellings for each convention.

Speed Reading for a Friday Morning

2 Replies

Some linkblogging for the end of the week:

Flash Features

Comics Alliance has a huge interview with Geoff Johns in which he talks about the emotional bases of the characters he’s writing, particularly the various Lantern Corps in Blackest Night. At the end he talks a bit about the Flash, and speed, and how easy it is to get caught up in wanting to do more, faster.

Crimson Lightning is running a casting poll for the Flash movie. At the moment, Neil Patrick Harris is the clear leader. Stop by Crimson Lightning and check in with your vote!

Flash writer Geoff Johns and soon-to-be Kid Flash writer Sterling Gates top this list of top five favorite comic writers right now.

A bit old, but I’ll blame the fact that I was at Comic-Con when he posted it: A Spanish Flash cover set Kaiser the Great to thinking about Flash v.1 #346 and how it sparked a drive to collect the Silver-and-Bronze Age series.

Related to the Flash helmet, @ValVictory made an interesting find at the Seattle Museum of Flight.

Wider World of Comics

Grumpy Old Fan looks at DC’s line-up and categorized its titles into three groups: “foundational” books that have been around more-or-less continuously since the Silver Age like Superman, Flash, Batman etc., “historical” books that run for a while, get canceled, then keep coming back like Teen Titans or Outsiders, and “new” books that come out of nowhere and disappear a few years later.

IO9 asks, what’s with all the undeath in superhero comics?

CSBG’s one-paragraph reviews include Flash: The Human Race.

Topless Robot has a photo of Two Dozen Awesomely Nerdy Cupcakes topped with symbols for the Flash, Ghostbusters, Autobots and Decepticons, Captain America, the Galactic Empire, etc. (via Robot6)

Indie Pulp: Mark Waid’s Irredeemable Ways.

The Weekly Crisis has launched a side project (with oddly-familiar initials 😉 ): SpiderFail.org, inspired by a mention in Amazing Spider-Man #601.

Added: Artist Cliff Chiang posted a tribute to recently-passed director John Hughes in the form of a Teen Titans homage to The Breakfast Club. (via @Robot6)

Added: The John Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con is tomorrow. If you’re at the con, consider checking it out. If you’re not at the con, take a look at the website: it’s got a huge gallery of artwork that’s been donated for the auction.

Golden-Age Flash Costume: Helmet Construction

10 Replies

Hi! This is Katie, the wife Kelson’s mentioned a few times. I’m not nearly as involved with comics as he is, but I appreciate a good convention costume and have made a point of wearing at least one a year for a while now. My interests in effects makeup, jewelrymaking, and general arts and crafts really come in handy for this, though it had been a long time since I’d been able to persuade Kelson to dress up for a con. When he mentioned that he’d wear a Jay Garrick Flash costume if he could get all the pieces, my ears pricked up. When he said something about how a really determined person would make a paper-mache hat, I said, “I could do that.” In the end, I did quite a bit more.

The helmet is made from paper mache, Crayola Model Magic, glue, felt, cardboard, a few gap-filling pastes of varying efficacy, and both brush-on and spray-on paint and clear-coat spray acrylic. The boots are vinyl covers glued (again, with a sort of tiered success) to a pair of $20 Payless slip-on shoes, with stuffed plush wings made from felt and sewn on. And the shirt, which we originally thought would be taken care of by Graphitti Designs, involved some last-minute Amazon ordering, masking tape, and several applications of fabric paint. I was heat-setting the thing at midnight the Tuesday before the con; we have yet to see what washing will do to it.

The Helmet

I started with the helmet, figuring it would take a while to dry at the thicknesses I’d be creating, even in dry heat. (One thing California summer weather is good for!) Continue reading →

Speed Force

Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive