San Diego Con Coverage (2008)

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I’ll be attending Comic-Con International in San Diego next week. For the last few years I’ve been posting reports during the con at my other blog, K-Squared Ramblings, and I’ll continue that this year in the Comic-Con 2008 category. I will be posting stuff here as well, especially anything Flash-related — like these Flash hall costumes from last year, or the 50 Years of the Flash panel two years ago.

This will be my 19th year at the con, which I’ve attended every summer since 1990. Scary numbers, there.

If you’re interested, here’s a list of my past convention reports and photos, including San Diego from 2003-2007, Wizard World Los Angeles from 2007-2008, and WonderCon 2008.

“Blood Will Run” Back In Print

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Blood Will RunReaders trying to track down Geoff Johns’ run on The Flash frequently run into a problem: most of the trades are out of print, and the high demand drives up the prices on the secondhand market. Fortunately, it looks like DC is doing something about it. Earlier this year, DC re-issued Flash: Blood Will Run, collecting Johns’ first storyline as regular writer (his previous story, Wonderland — finally collected in paperback last fall — was essentially a try-out). The new edition added something else that had been hard to find: the one-shot graphic novel, Flash: Iron Heights. Now, according to this week’s DC Comics Direct Channel (a newsletter sent out to retailers), that new edition is getting a second printing.

Also in the newsletter: the upcoming hardcover of The Wild Wests, featuring the first arc of the Wally West relaunch and Mark Waid’s brief return to the book, is being delayed a week until August 6.

Flash Movie Standing Still

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/Film got a little more info out of The Dark Knight producer Charles Rovan:

“We had hoped to be able to get a new draft going before the writers’ strike and we weren’t able to,” Rovan admitted. “And since the writers’ strike, we just haven’t been able to find the right creative compatibility between what we’re looking for and a writer and you know, we’re a little bit dragging our feet, we’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen with this actor’s strike, you know.”

(via FusedFilm)

On the plus side, there’s that Warner Bros/DC film summit that’s been making the rounds of comics blogs lately. Perhaps once the labor issues are resolved, we’ll see some more movement?

And yes, “looking at how best to exploit the DC Comics characters and properties” is an appropriate description, if a bit blunt. Warner Bros. is a movie studio. Neil Gaiman sums up the typical Hollywood take on source material in his short story, “The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories” (in Smoke and Mirrors):

She managed a pitying look, of the kind that only people who know that books are, at best, properties on which films can be loosely based, can bestow on the rest of us.

Flash Companion Preview: Cary Bates Interview

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The following is a 1-page excerpt from the upcoming 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 is scheduled for a July 23 release.

Cary Bates: A Scarlet Speedster for the Seventies (excerpt)

By Jack Scott

SCOTT: Was [the serialized storytelling] your decision or a DC editorial decision to change how the Flash stories were being written? I’m wondering if there was a DC mandate to become more like its competitor Marvel Comics.

BATES: I don’t think going the serial route was an official mandate or anything. It just seemed like a natural way to proceed at the time, dictated by the story-lines more than anything else. It first began the last couple of years Julie [Schwartz] was editing the book, in the form of 2-4 issue arcs (like the Golden Glider stories). And with Ross [Andru] and Ernie [Colon], who were more Marvel-oriented guys, the full-on serialized mode pretty much became the status quo. Although I do recall a temporary return to more self-contained stories for awhile, when Mike Barr was editing and Carmine [Infantino] first returned to the book.

SCOTT: Speaking of the co-creator of Barry Allen/Flash, Carmine Infantino returned to pencil the book with issue #296 in 1981. How did it feel to get to work with one of the original creators of the book?

BATES: As I’ve mentioned, when I was growing up, Carmine’s distinctive artwork made a huge impact on me as a fan (and an aspiring amateur artist), so it was a great thrill to finally be working with him on Flash. Carmine and I always got along well, but when I first met him, he had given up his drawing board to serve as DC’s editorial director, although he still laid out most of the covers for other artists. In 1976, after Warners hired Jennette Kahn to take over that job, Carmine went back to penciling, and for a year or two he was working almost exclusively for Jim Warren on books like Creepy and Eerie. Ironically, it was here where our first collaborations took place, as I was writing occasional Warren stories for Louise Jones, who was the editor at the time. I think Carmine and I must have done 3 or 4 one shot horror stories that have long since been forgotten.

SCOTT: How far did you plot out stories? Continue reading →

Questions for Readers

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Wow… it’s hard to believe it’s been a month since I launched this blog. I’m starting to get a feel for how I want to structure it — what to include, when, etc. But this is supposed to be a resource for Flash fans, so I thought I’d ask you: what do you want from this site?

Specifically:

  1. When should I post the list of each week’s Flash-related comics?  Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday?
  2. What about more general comics content?  The site is going to stay focused on the Flash and other speedsters, and I’ve got another blog to post completely unrelated stuff.  But what about posts like this one on spending at San Diego Comic-Con?
  3. Should it lean more towards news or commentary? I’m thinking in terms of Warren Ellis’ post on content vs. linkblogs last week, and realizing that this first month has been very link-heavy.
  4. What other features would you like to see?

Also, I’ve got a request for you, if you like the site: Please spread the word! For instance:

  • Promote the occasional article on your favorite social bookmarking site, like Digg, or StumbleUpon, or Del.icio.us. (I’ll try to help by writing posts that are worth linking to!)
  • Review the blog. Speed Force is listed in several directories, but hasn’t picked up any ratings or reviews yet. That includes Comic Blog Elite, Blog Catalog, Blog Explosion (members only), and StumbleUpon (ditto).
  • If you really like it, and have your own blog, please add it to your blogroll. (Thanks to site that have already done this, including Comic Book Revolution, ACDC Comics Report, Smoking Boots, Blogging Away in LA, and We gotta to go to the crappy town where I’m the hero!)
  • Mention it from time to time on comic boards that you visit, or to friends who like the Flash. (When appropriate, of course.)

Also, please let me know about any cool Flash news or interesting articles you see. I still haven’t set up that contact form, but you can email me at speedforce [at] pobox [dot] com or send me a PM at any of the forums listed on the About Page.

Thanks!