Tag Archives: Barry Allen

The Fwoosh has First Look at SDCC Exclusive Starro the Conqueror

The Fwoosh has the first look at the San Diego Comic Con 2010 Exclusive Starro the Conqueror set featuring the original Justice League of America. This of course includes Barry Allen, the second Flash:

Big surprise from what I was expecting. Compared to past Infinite Heroes offerings this one takes the cake, especially in terms of articulation. The Fwoosh has more photos of the complete set at their site. You can get to the main article HERE.

Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Flash #4 Variant Cover by Scott Kolins

DC has posted seven upcoming variant covers at The Source, including Scott Kolins’ take on The Flash #4.

Unless you count the unfinished cover used to solicit Flash: Rebirth , This is Barry Allen’s first unmasked cover appearance in a year and definitely the first since the relaunch. I like the sign’s homage to the classic Robert Kanigher/Carmine Infantino team from the dawn of the Silver Age.

I’m really starting to wonder how long DC plans to keep releasing these 1:10 variants. They’ve got one listed all the way out through the current solicitations for issue . Since none of the alternate covers we’ve seen so far have anything to do with the story, I suspect DC just asked a bunch of artists to draw a Flash cover and they’ve been working through the set.

The Flash ships either July 28 or August 4. Diamond reported a delay last month, but that change has dropped off their shipping updates list, and DC’s website still shows the July 28 date.

Retro Review: Flash #2

Sorry this review is so late. Things just kept coming up, and I pushed it further and further back. Then my local comic store didn’t receive their order of The Flash on time (Diamond sent them extra copies of Deadpool Team-Up instead), so I haven’t had a chance to read the new issue…and it occurs to me that this is my last chance to review The Flash before reading issue !

So, on to the review!

I’m still enjoying this series a lot more than I did Flash: Rebirth. Francis Manapul’s artwork has a lot to do with that, but also the fact that they’re just telling stories about a guy with super-speed instead of trying so hard to justify why they’re telling stories about this guy with super-speed.

Admittedly not a whole lot happens in this issue, but it continues to move as quickly as the previous chapter did. I expect that when “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” is finished, pairing it with a collection of Silver-Age stories like Flash vs. The Rogues will provide a great example of the change in comic-book storytelling styles from 1960 to 2010.

The expected confrontation with the Renegades is cut short, leaving the rest of the issue divided between the mystery aspects (presented through Barry Allen’s civilian life) and a visit with Captain Boomerang, providing the Brightest Day connection advertised on the cover. Also: the Flash evacuates, then rebuilds an apartment building at super-speed. Once again, the issue ends on a cliffhanger, only this time it has to do with Barry Allen, rather than the Flash.

Francis Manapul’s artwork continues to stand out, especially in sequences like the apartment evacuation, though there are some places where it seems a bit more static than last issue. Last issue I thought his faces seemed a bit off, but this time I started noticing the way he handles expressions. There are a couple of sequences where he really makes use of changing expressions with similar panel layouts. The last two pages stand out, as does a sequence earlier in which a girl complains that she lost her doll in the building collapse. (His attention to detail holds as well. If you flip back a few pages, there she is…and there’s her doll.)

Okay, spoiler time!

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Thoughts on JMS’ New Wonder Woman Direction

Today, DC released some major Wonder Woman news: a new costume designed by Jim Lee and a new direction for the series as J. Michael Straczynski takes over.

To sum up: Persons unknown have altered Wonder Woman’s history so that Paradise Island was wiped out 20 years ago. Diana has no memory of the original timeline, doesn’t have her full powers yet, and needs to survive, help other refugee Amazons, find out who destroyed Paradise Island and find out whether the timeline can be restored.

All-New, All-Different!

I’m always apprehensive when a new writer picks up an established character and the first thing he does is to remove some key element of the character. Like the Flash’s speed (Geoff Johns’ first Flash story, “Wonderland”). Or Superman’s flight (JMS’ first Superman arc, “Grounded”). I understand it might help the writer get inside the character’s head: what is he or she like without the powers? But it always feels like shoehorning some other idea onto the character. Why did you want to write the Flash if you didn’t want to write about a guy who runs fast?

That said, for all that DC is pushing this as a “new direction,” to me this description reads more like a major story arc. I mean, there’s an end point right there in the description: find out who did it and see if it’s possible to change things back. Given the timing of the comics themselves and the time-travel elements to the story, I suspect this is going to be linked to Flashpoint. [Update: Comics Alliance asked JMS about this and he said it’s not related.]

Retcon Fever

It’s worth comparing to Flash: Rebirth, actually. In both cases, someone within the fictional universe has gone back in time and altered the main character’s history. With Diana, we know before the first issue is out. With Barry Allen, only long-term readers knew anything had been changed to begin with. It wasn’t clear that there was an in-story explanation for it until the miniseries was almost over. Even then, the prospect of undoing the changes was only floated long enough to be dismissed as impossible.

Most importantly: changing Diana’s history drastically alters who she is today. That’s a story. Once you get past the doom-and-gloom Barry of Flash: Rebirth #1-3, the changes to his history don’t seem to have made much difference in the present.

Flash Jam Sketch

Jesse sent in this photo of an amazing piece of Flash artwork he recently bought:

Here’s how he describes it:

It’s a single board of paper with drawings of the Flash from some of his most notable artists. You’ve got the two main Flash artists from the ’90s: Greg LaRocque (my favorite Flash artist) drew the large picture of Wally on the left, and Mike Wieringo drew one, too! There are also drawings by Pop Mhan and Craig Rousseau. To top it off, Carmine Infantino did the sketch at the top. (I like to think that the 4 drawings are of Wally, with the spirit of Barry looking over, since it’s in a lighter ink.) Oh, and Mark Waid signed the bottom as well. I don’t own a lot of comic art, but even though this was expensive, I jumped at the chance to get it.

Wow!

It really makes me wonder what the story is behind the fan who originally went around collecting these sketches.

Update: Check out the comments below, where artist Greg LaRocque reveals the secret origin of the sketch!

GL2 Trio to Write Flash Movie

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Warner Brothers has hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim to write treatments for Green Lantern 2…and The Flash! The trio will then write the screenplay for one of the movies.

Surprising no-one who has read any DC comics during the last two years, the movie “will take inspiration from [Geoff] Johns’ recent work and will feature the Barry Allen incarnation of the character.”*

The three writers have all been involved with the Green Lantern film. Greg Berlanti had been rumored as a possible director for The Flash, and of course Marc Guggenheim wrote the “Full Throttle” story for the comic book Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. Interestingly enough, Berlanti and Guggenheim will be bringing another speedster to the screen — the TV screen — in this fall’s No Ordinary Family.

Presumably this means they’ve abandoned the Dan Mazeau script announced last year. It’s hardly the first time the movie has been sent back to the drawing board in the nearly six years since it was first announced.

News found via The Nerdy Bird!

*Yes, I know that’s a picture of Wally West. THR used the cover for The Flash Secret Files in their article, and I figured I would too just because it looks cool.