Flash Companion at Comic-Con

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I had a chance to check out The Flash Companion at the TwoMorrows booth today, and it looks really great. I also attended the TwoMorrows panel, where they talked about current and upcoming projects, and author Keith Dallas talked about the book.

John Morrow told a funny story about how, last night, Mark Waid showed up at the booth and wanted to buy a copy. They pointed out that he didn’t need to, they were sending him a comp copy, and he said, no, you don’t understand, I need to read this in my hotel room, tonight! They gave him his free copy then and there.

After the panel I finally got to meet Keith Dallas, Bill Walko, and someone else whose name already escapes me (sorry!) [Edit:] Jim Kingman. Keith is doing a signing at the TwoMorrows booth until 5:00.

Wednesday in San Diego

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My first post on San Diego Comic-Con is up. Flash report: A dozen or so people in Flash T-shirts around the hall…plus every single member of the DC Booth staff. (This probably doesn’t mean anything — they’ll probably all be in GL shirts tomorrow, Wonder Woman on Friday, Superman on Saturday, and Batman on Sunday. But I found it interesting.) I also spotted Ethan van Sciver as he drew a sketch for the last person in the line.

Ethan van Sciver sketches at the DC Booth

Read more at K-Squared Ramblings.

Off to San Diego!

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Everything’s packed, and I’ll soon be on the road to San Diego for Comic-Con International. I’ll be posting both here and at K-Squared Ramblings (to go with my last 4 years of con coverage) over the next few days as I have time and internet access.

Update (post-con): my complete coverage of the con is here:

Flash Companion Preview: Mike Baron Interview

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The following is a 1-page excerpt from the new book, The Flash Companion. The full interview appears in the second section of the book. It is printed here with permission of the book’s main author, Keith Dallas.

The Flash Companion will be available at the TwoMorrows booth at Comic-Con International this week, and should arrive in stores either next week or the week after. Orders through Amazon are shipping now.

Mike Baron: Wally West’s Fast Living (excerpt)

By Keith Dallas

DALLAS: It seemed pretty obvious that during your run on Flash you were avoiding the classic Flash Rogues. No Captain Cold, no Captain Boomerang, no Mirror Master. Instead you introduced some completely new villains… with the exception of Vandal Savage. What particular reason did you have for starting this Flash re-launch with Savage as the villain?

BARON: I can’t exactly recall, but for starters, he’s a great villain. It may also have been that I wanted to have some continuity in that first issue between Barry Allen and Wally West.

I would like to do a lot more with Kilg%re. That’s my main character that I created for Flash. He and the Chunk.

DALLAS: What was it about Kilg%re that you liked?

BARON: He encapsulates a number of science fiction ideas that lend themselves to exciting story-telling. Dark Horse took a stab at it with a movie called Virus, which is very similar in idea to Kilg%re. It wasn’t the greatest movie in the world. It starred Jamie Lee Curtis.

DALLAS: I remember that movie.

Now what was it about Chunk that you liked?

BARON: He was kind of a projection of me. The ultimate nerd.

DALLAS: [laughs] It didn’t take you long to show that Chunk wasn’t a true villain.

BARON: No, he was just an outsider who wanted to belong.

DALLAS: Is that a sentiment that you felt perhaps the readers could connect to?

BARON: Oh, yeah!

DALLAS: The other two villains you introduced during your run on Flash were Speed Demon — the steroid monster gone crazy — and Blue Trinity — the Russian Soviet speedsters. Continue reading →

On Naming Devices

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When I first read Freshmen, I thought the name of the Ax-Cell-Erator — the device which gave the main characters their powers — was kind of cheesy. Recently, while washing dishes, I happened to look in the sink at the rim of the garbage disposer, clearly labeled In-Sink-Erator.

Okay, maybe it’s not that far-fetched a name…

This Week (July 23): Flash Companion & Alternate Realities

The Flash Companion debuts at Comic-Con International in San Diego this week. Also, the trade for Countdown to Adventure is out with a couple of alternate-reality Flashes.

The Flash Companion

The Flash Companion details the publication histories of the four heroes who have individually earned the right to be declared DC Comics’ “Fastest Man Alive”: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen.

With articles about legendary creators Shelly Mayer, Gardner Fox, E.E. Hibbard, Julius Schwartz, Robert Kanigher, John Broome, Ross Andru, Irv Novick and all new interviews of Harry Lampert, Carmine Infantino, Cary Bates, Alex Saviuk, Mike W. Barr, Marv Wolfman, Mike Baron, Jackson Guice, Mark Waid,  Kolins, among others, The Flash Companion recounts the scarlet speedster’s evolution from the Golden Age to the 21st century.

Also featured are “lost covers,” never before published commission pieces by Flash artists throughout the decades, a Rogues Gallery detailing The Flash’s most famous foes, a tribute to late artist Mike Wieringo by Mark Waid, a look at the speedster’s 1990s TV show, and “Flash facts” detailing pivotal moments in Flash history.

[Note: check out this blog’s Flash Companion coverage for previews, podcasts and more.]

Written by Keith Dallas, with a cover by Don Kramer (Detective Comics, JSA) with colors by Moose Baumann (Green Lantern).

Countdown to Adventure TPB

Collecting the 8-issue miniseries spinning out of 52, featuring the adventures of Animal Man, Starfire, Adam Strange, the mysterious new character Forerunner and more! Can they prevent San Diego from being wiped out by the enigmatic Healers?

[Note: This book features several alternate-reality Flashes, including Lady Flash of the Conjurers of Earth-33, and the Nazi speedster of Earth-10.]

Written by Adam Beechen; Art by Eddy Barrows and Julio Ferreiro and others; Cover by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Justice League of America #23

It’s all-out Amazon fury against Amazo! Wonder Woman is the last Leaguer standing against the souped-up android — and the prize is Red Tornado’s body!

Written by Dwayne McDuffie; Art and cover by Ed Benes