Beyond the Speed of Sound

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For those who have been wondering whether the original Flash, Jay Garrick, could exceed the speed of sound back in the Golden Age of comics…

The Golden Age Flash circles the Earth

Yes he could.

The speed of sound is roughly 340 meters per second (varying with humidity, altitude, etc.)

Earth revolves around the sun at roughly 30 kilometers per second.

So in that panel he was running at least 88 times as fast as the Flash: Rebirth promo claims was his top speed before he met Barry Allen.

Source: Flash Comics Miniature Edition (promo book taped to boxes of Wheaties in 1946), in which the Flash goes up against the one-off “Criminal From Tomorrow!” Dmane. And yes, that looks like the same stunt Superman pulled in the 1978 movie with Christopher Reeve.

I seem to remember that Jay reached the same levels of insanely impractical speeds that Barry did on a regular basis — this was just the first place I thought to look, since I remembered the time travel element.

Please Check This Site in Your Phone!

A quick request, if I may: If you have a web-capable cell phone, would you please try to view this blog in it and let me know how it appears? I’m testing some plugins that should optimize the page for desktop, low-end mobile, and high-end mobile devices.

Please look at the main page and at least one post, then leave a comment below (still on the phone if you can) with the following:

  • What phone are you using? (RAZR, iPhone, etc. Specific model if you know it)
  • Can you load the site at all? (If not, what error do you get?)
  • Does it look like..
    1. The desktop version of the site (red background, lightning banner, full sidebar, complete posts on main page)
    2. A bare-bones page (plain background, mostly text, headlines only on main page, “Powered by WordPress. WordPress Mobile Edition” listed at the bottom of the page)
    3. A sleeker-looking list (grayish background, each post headline in a white rectangle, calendar image next to each headline, main page has headlines that expand to excerpts, dark red banner across top, “Powered by WordPress with WPtouch” listed in footer)
  • Are you using the built-in web browser, or something you installed (Opera Mini, for example)?
  • Did anything not work?

If you can’t post a comment, please try one of the following:

  • Bring up the site on your computer to leave the comment.
  • Send me a Twitter direct message to @SpeedForceOrg.
  • Email me at speedforce – [at] – pobox – [dot] – com.

I’m mainly trying to make sure that the detection code is working right, since I’ve got 3 different plugins (WPTouch, WordPress Mobile Edition and WP Super Cache) working together to manage it.

Thanks in advance!

This Week (Feb 11): Titans, Booster Gold, Etc

Booster Gold #17

Written by Dan Jurgens
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund

Featuring an “Origins and Omens” backup story! Part 3 of the 4-part “Reality Lost” arc finds Booster Gold transported back to a seminal day in the history of The Flash! Here’s a hint: it has to do with a bolt of lightning and a chemical bath!

32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Titans #10

Written by Judd Winick
Art and cover by Howard Porter

Featuring an “Origins and Omens” backup story! It’s Titans vs. the JLA! In the aftermath of DCU: DECISIONS #4, the JLA wants Jericho, but the Titans don’t give up on one of their own. In the end, though, it looks like they’ll lose another member!

32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Super Friends #12

Written by Sholly Fisch
Art by Stewart McKenny & Phil Moy
Cover by J. Bone

Yo-ho, me hearties! The Super Friends have never faced a challenge like this before! What will they do when confronted with the menace of Starro and the Pirates?

32 pg, FC, $2.50 US

Also likely: Trinity #37.

Geoff Johns on Flash:Rebirth (Video Interview at Newsarama)

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Newsarama interviewed Geoff Johns about Flash: Rebirth at New York Comic-Con. I won’t be able to watch this with sound until I get home tonight, so I don’t know if there’s really anything new in here.

Update: They also have an interview with George Pérez about Legion of Three Worlds.

The Premio Dardo

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Speed Force has been selected for the Premio Dardo (“Dart Award” in Spanish). The Premio Dardo is awarded by other bloggers and “is designed to recognize unique voices and visions on the Web as well as to promote fraternization amongst bloggers of all sorts.”

Premio Dardo: I Entrega de Premios, Best Blog Darts Thinker

Speed Force was honored by Matt of Groovy Superhero. Thanks, Matt!

So now I have to choose five blogs to give the award to — it’s basically like a chain letter or tagging meme. The blogs I’d like to pass it along to are:

I was intrigued by the concept of a self-propelled award, and did some digging into its history over at K-Squared Ramblings in case anyone’s interested

More NYCC Flash Hints

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Not a whole lot from the DC Universe panel on Saturday, but CBR and Newsarama had slightly different bits of information.

Newsarama’s take:

Johns gave some hints about Flash: Rebirth. “It starts April 1, April Fool’s Day. It will come out.” The writer talked about the return of Bart Allen, and said the goal is to have fun in the Flash universe in the same way they’re currently having fun with the Green Lantern universe.

CBR’s take:

Geoff Johns then discussed “The Flash: Rebirth,” which comes out on April 1, confirming that Bart Allen is back and will play a big part in the book.

Also: CBR has a picture of the Kid Flash fan with George Perez from Friday’s DC Nation panel.