I’ll be following the news sites all weekend, but if any of you Flash fans are at New York Comic-Con and pick up any neat Flash-related news, announcements, costumes, creator stories, etc., please let me know.
You can email me at speedforce [at] pobox [dot] com, or direct message me on Twitter at @SpeedForceOrg.
Thanks in advance!
Flash fan momoney433 has been re-reading all of Flash vol.2 (1987-2008) starring Wally West, and started reviewing them on the Comic Bloc forums (currently up to issue #6). I’d like to announce that Mo’s Flash Volume 2 Reviews will soon be joining Speed Force as a semi-regular feature!
Welcome on board, Mo!
The Legion of Super-Heroes call in the reinforcements against Superboy Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains as the Crisis of the 31st Century continues. While Superboy Prime comes face-to-face with the last of the Green Lanterns, Brainiac 5 and XS attempt to ignite an electrical storm using the lightning rod, which is destined to turn the tide of the war. And what are Polar Boy, Dawnstar and Wildfire up to in the 20th Century?
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by George Pérez & Scott Koblish. Covers by George Pérez.
Notes: Yes, it’s finally coming out! Newsarama even has a 5-page preview of the book. In theory, we’ll finally find out who was actually resurrected in the lightning-rod ceremony from The Lightning Saga!
Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; Art by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens, Tom Derenick and Wayne Faucher and Mike Norton and Ande Parks; Cover by Shane Davis and Richard Friend
The war to save all of reality rages on and is waged in the memory of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. But the legendary Trinity battle to end the conflict themselves by becoming more than just a memory!
Written by Dan Jurgens, Ron Marz and Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Jamal Igle, Fernando Pasarin, Matthew Clark, Joe Benitez, Robin Riggs, Jesse Delperdang and Victor Llamas
Cover by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
The Tangent Earth and our DC Universe collide in this collection of Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1-6 and Justice League of America #16.
160 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Written by Art Baltazar and Franco; Art and cover by Art Baltazar
Discover what life is like for the young heroes of Sidekick Elementary in this new collection featuring Tiny Titans #1-6! Kid-friendly versions of the Teen Titans and their rogues gallery star in this fun, light-hearted, all-ages romp beautifully written and illustrated by Art Baltazar and Franco (Patrick the Wolf Boy)!
144pg. | Color | Softcover | $12.99 US
Newsarama’s latest 20 Questions with Dan Didio is in video form, broken into 4 video clips with 5 questions each. The first clip includes the following:
OddballUK wrote: Flash: Rebirth begins in April. While I’m looking forward to the mini and reading about Barry, my question is how happy you think fans of Wally will be over his involvement in the mini and status in the DCU when it concludes?
I think we’re going to treat Wally with the same level of respect Kyle was treated in with the Hal Jordan Rebirth. So I’m hoping Wally fans are going to be excited. We’re going to be bringing Wally back to some of his roots, and more importantly, there’s going to be plenty of Wally in the DCU in 2009 with Rebirth and following Rebirth as well.
On one hand this is good news for Wally fans: Wally won’t be simply racing off into the sunset. On the other hand: What exactly does he mean by returning Wally to his roots?
His roots as a hero in the public eye, loved by the people he protects for being one of them and not hiding his identity? (I could go with that.)
His roots as the speedster who has to eat 50,000 calories a day to maintain his speed? (I could deal with it, but it would be annoying.)
His roots as a single guy who “moves fast?” (Throw Linda and the kids under a bus so that he won’t seem “too old.” No, thanks.)
His roots as the Titans’ resident conservative caricature? (Do we really need this?)
His roots as a teenage sidekick?
It really depends how far they want to go back, doesn’t it?
And of course Kyle Rayner fans are divided as to how well he’s been treated since Hal Jordan’s return.
People can get very worked up about their hobbies, and comic books are no exception. Final Crisis, for instance, has inspired some very passionate responses. Between that and Barry Allen replacing Wally West*, I’ve seen a number of people say things like “I’ll never read another DC comic again!”**
I don’t understand this reaction.
To clarify: I understand dropping comics because you’ve lost interest in them. (I’m down to one ongoing DC book, Flash, and it’s technically been canceled.) I also understand dropping a series because of something you disliked in that series. If you don’t want to read it anymore, then by all means, you shouldn’t be obligated to read it anymore (but be prepared for people to tell you that you aren’t a “true fan,” whatever that means).
What I don’t understand is protesting something that happens in one book by refusing to buy other books. It just doesn’t make sense to me. If you like, say, Booster Gold but dislike the direction that Batman is going in, dropping both series isn’t going to encourage DC to make more books like Booster Gold.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never been one to refuse to buy a company’s comics. I might have held Marvel and Image in disdain back in my teenage years, but if something looked interesting, that didn’t stop me from buying it. (Not that I found much of it interesting, but it wasn’t a hard-and-fast rule.)
So I’m curious: Who out here has done this? Or are you planning to? What tipped you over the edge? Why did you decide to drop all of the company’s books and not just the ones that bothered you? Did you extend it to other brands owned by the same company (Vertigo, Icon, etc.) or only the particular division? How long did you keep it up, and if you went back, what did it take?
*Yes, Barry is replacing Wally. Wally has highlighted the main Flash book for most of the last 23 years, and after Flash: Rebirth is over, Barry will, and it looks like Barry will be taking the Flash spot in Justice League of America as well, leaving Wally in Titans. Just because they haven’t actually killed Wally doesn’t mean he’s not being replaced.
** Update: Lying in the Gutters reports that a lot of retailers have been hearing this, too — from their customers.
Two quick items:
A new podcast, Flash-back, plans to review The Flash on a monthly basis. So far they’ve posted an introduction to their podcast and an overview of Flash history. (thanks to Heatwave the Rogue on Comic Bloc)
The forum Speedster Site also launched a few days ago, and is focused exclusively on the Flash (thanks to younglionsimba)
Update: In the Comic Bloc thread on “Flash-back,” Chris Hansbrough pointed to another podcast, Tom vs. the Flash, a series of 5–10-minute reviews of classic Silver Age Flash episodes.