This Week (Nov 19): Flash #246 and more

This week the Flash appears in The Flash #246 as well as the last volume of Countdown to Final Crisis, Tangent: Superman’s Reign and more.

The Flash #246

Written by Alan Burnett; Art by Carlo Barberi and Drew Geraci; Cover by Brian Stelfreeze

As Queen Bee circles in closer for the kill, everything The Flash holds dear starts slipping away from him. His powers, his wife – what’s next to go?

Team books and more behind the cut. Continue reading

Speed Reading: L3W Hardcover, New Frontier, Pocket Flash

Collected Editions has spotted the listing for the Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds hardcover, due next August.

Silver Age Comics looks at the second issue of DC: The New Frontier, which spotlights Barry Allen as the Flash.

Now Read This! reviews Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told.

The Daily P.O.P. talks about the state of the Flash over the last few years.

Finally, Comic Bloc’s Pureclint links to three video clips of fan-made fighting games featuring Captain Cold vs. Superman (with cameos by Inertia and the Rogues), multi-colored Flashes battling each other, and Bizarro vs. Superman (with a cameo by Zoom).

Flash Comics for February 2009

Once again, there aren’t any Flash comics in February, with the current series ending in December and Flash: Rebirth launching in April. But the Flashes aren’t missing from the DC line that month, appearing in their usual team books and in Trinity.

Guest Spots

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!

On sale February 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Team books, events, collections, action figures and more after the cut. Continue reading

Speed Force Wins Project Fanboy Award

The Project Fanboy Award for Website ExcellenceI just found out that Speed Force won the October 2008 Project Fanboy Award! (That explains the traffic I was getting from them last week!)

I remember the first ever website award I got was for the “Site of the Week” award from what was then called Jonah Weiland’s Comic Book Resources. A lot of fan sites would give out awards back in the late 1990s, and then it sort of fell out of fashion. It’s cool that there are sites still doing it — and it’s cool to have actually been honored by one!

Thanks to whoever nominated Speed Force for the award, and thanks to the Project Fanboy staff!

New Cover for Flash #246

Comic Bloc poster elias6 noticed that DC has posted a new cover for next week’s Flash #246.

DC initially released the cover on the left by Brian Stelfreeze, showing Wally’s wife Linda West vanishing into thin air. (Stelfreeze did the covers for issues #244 and #245, as well as the cover that’s been solicited for #247, the final issue.) The newly released cover, showing a profile of the Flash’s head with reflections running along his costume, is by Freddie Williams II, who recently wrapped up a 10-issue run on the series.

Flash Transition Timeline

To keep the lengths of time in perspective, I’ve put together this timeline from the end of Geoff Johns’ well-regarded run on The Flash through several relaunches and two Crises to next year’s Flash: Rebirth. I’ve taken the cover dates from the GCD and shifted them back two months, since that seems to track with the release dates that I remember.

Dates Span Issues Description
August 2005 Flash #225 Geoff Johns’ last issue.
September 2005–January 2006 5 months Flash #226–230 Wrap up Wally (Cavalieri w/Lightle)
February–May 2006 4 months No Flash Comics
June 2006–January 2007 8 months Flash: TFMA #1–8 Bart as the main Flash (Bilson & De Meo)
February–June 2007 5 months Flash: TFMA Wrap up Bart (Guggenheim)
July 2007 1 month All-Flash Wrap up loose ends from “Full Throttle”
August 2007–August 2008 13 months Flash #231–243 Wally & the Flash Family (Waid, Peyer w/Champagne)
September–December 2008 4 months Flash #244–247 Wrap up Wally Again (Burnett)
January–March 2009 3 months No Flash Comics
April–September(?) 2009 6 months Flash: Rebirth

So from the point DC essentially gave up on Wally’s series (September 2005) to the point that DC will stake everything on a relaunch with Barry (April 2009, assuming it doesn’t get delayed) we’re looking at 3½ years. The longest run of a series during that time would be All-Flash with Flash #231–347 — just 1½ years, of which barely one year focused heavily on Iris and Jai West. (Alan Burnett or his editor shoved the kids off to the side pretty quickly when he came on board to do the wrap-up.)