Tag Archives: Blackest Night

DC Direct Flash-Related Solicitations for November

DC Direct‘s solicitations for November give us some definite dates on two great Flash collectibles. Blue Lantern Flash as part of the sixth series of Blackest Night figures and a DC Chronicles Flash statue.

BLACKEST NIGHT: SERIES 6: BLUE LANTERN FLASH Action Figure

The hugely successful BLACKEST NIGHT action figure line continues with four awesome new characters!

Included in this sixth installment of the series are Hal Jordan, the personification of the Green Lantern Corps; Wonder Woman, who finds the power of love and joins the ranks of the Star Sapphires; Hawkgirl, who was one of the first heroes to lose her life to the dark power of the Black Lanterns; and The Flash, who couples the power of the blue ring with his trademark speed to carry the message of hope to all.

All four figures feature multiple points of articulation and include a display base. Character-appropriate accessories are also included.

4-color clamshell blister card packaging.

On Sale November 3, 2010

And

DC CHRONICLES: THE FLASH Statue

SCULPTED BY TIM BRUCKNER

The Fastest Man Alive kicks up a dust cloud as he slides into the DC Chronicles statue series!

This statue features The Flash of the Silver Age, Barry Allen, in his classic costume.

The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.

This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.75″ high x 5″ wide x 3.5″ deep and is packaged in a 4-color box with a 4-color Certificate
of Authenticity.

Manufactured to order.

$ 99.99 US | On Sale November 24, 2010

I’m really looking forward to Blue Lantern Flash as it will look great poking out of the field of red and yellow in my display. I’m also loving the sculpt. Reminds me of Wally West from the first series of JLA action figures they released a few years ago. Perfect build, great sculpt and a slick paint job.

I’m not really a statue guy. I do own a few but rarely if ever will you find me anticipating the release of one. This one is no exception unfortunately. I’m not really in the market for Barry Allen statues these days anyway. And I would need a Wally in new costume as an action figure first. Hint hint.

—Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Speed Reading

Art!

The webcomic LOST in Comics does a strip that reverses a scene from the TV show, and has Superman and the Flash discussing Hurley and Charlie.

Blake Sims draws the Flash.

Comics Alliance: What if comic books had titles based on what you say about them?

Dreamers Muse has a bunch of Flash icons.

Reviews!

Pop Matters on The Real Return of Barry Allen:

But secretly, the most rewarding element of the limited series has been the delays. To misdirect attention from his super-powers, Barry Allen would make a point of always arriving late. True to form, the publication delays add a hint of Barry Allen charm, making his public wait, just that little while longer.

The Daily P.O.P. reviews Flash: Rebirth as a whole.

Hello Kello writes: What I Learned from Flash: Rebirth.

Collected Editions reviews Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., Geoff Johns’ first DC work.

Commentary!

Screen Rant considers: What Will The Flash Movie Be About?

At the Hall of Justice annotates Blackest Night: The Flash #3.

Comic Book Revolution asks: Would you read a comic if the writer left?

CSBG/Lorendiac’s Lists takes a look at 11 Methods of Target Acquisition – in short, just how do super-heroes and supervillains end up in the same place to have those slugfests?

And finally, totally off-topic…here’s a picture of an Office Depot truck with an Autobot symbol.

I’m imagining Optimus Prime working out some sort of advertising deal to help bring in some revenue.

Flash: Rebirth Finishes at #9 Spot

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ICv2 has released February 2010 sales estimates, and both Flash: Rebirth #6 and Blackest Night: Flash finish close to the previous issues of the respective series. Rebirth is ranked #9 for the month, while the Blackest Night tie-in comes in at #12 — again, the highest-rated of the three spin-off miniseries.

Issue	Rank	Month	Units Sold	Change
Flash: Rebirth #1	2	April	102,429	+286.6%
Flash: Rebirth #2	4	May	86,183	-15.9%
Flash: Rebirth #3	10	June	83,086	-3.6%
Flash: Rebirth #4	14	Aug.	78,107	-6.0%
Flash: Rebirth #5	9	Nov.	73,875	-5.4%
Blackest Night: The Flash #1	5	Dec.	80,313	+8.7%
Blackest Night: The Flash #2	9	Jan.	69,381	-13.6%
Blackest Night: The Flash #3	12	Feb.	65,348	-5.8%
Flash: Rebirth #6	9	Feb.	70,824	-4.1%*

*Compared to the previous issue of Flash: Rebirth

In the end, about two-thirds of those who started Flash: Rebirth finished it, though most readers who were still on board by #5 stuck it through to the end. I have no idea what typical drop-off is for a six-issue miniseries, so this could be good, bad, or standard.

The rankings are quite positive, though: Of the nine issues between the two miniseries, seven were in the top 10 for the month. The two that dropped below the top 10 were still in the top 15.

I’d guess we’ll see a drop for this month’s Flash Secret Files and then another jump up for The Flash #1. It’s a major relaunch of one of DC’s top 6 characters, it’s a #1, it’s tied into Brightest Day, and it’s a new series by Geoff Johns. Plus even many readers who were disappointed by Flash: Rebirth have expressed optimism about the new series. It will be interesting to see how well it succeeds.

Search-Term Q&A

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Some more questions and answers pulled from the search statistics:

What happened to Tarpit in Flash: Blackest Night? – Probably nothing, since (as Captain Boomerang Jr. pointed out) his physical body is actually somewhere else. On the other hand, Captain Cold did freeze Iron Heights.

When does the new Flash Forward come out? – New episodes start Thursday, March 18. ABC will also be running a recap of the first half of the season on Tuesday, March 16, after Lost.

What is the song when Flash goes speed force? – I’m not really sure what you mean by this (unless it’s “What music plays during the climax of the Justice League Unlimited episode, “Divided We Fall”), but allow me to recommend the Jim’s Big Ego song, “The Ballad of Barry Allen.” It’s certainly more appropriate than Queen’s Flash Gordon theme.

Is DC: The New Frontier a sequel to The Golden Age? – No, but it’s a similar concept — enough so that when James Robinson was asked whether he might do a sequel, he said that New Frontier basically covered it.

Which Flash controls the speed force? – Depends on what you mean by “control.” Barry Allen generates it by running, all Flashes use it as fuel, and Wally West is able to manipulate it to perform feats like lending or stealing speed.

How can you speed if you are following someone else? – If they’re driving faster than the speed limit, then it’s entirely possible for you to do the same thing.

Why don’t people like Barry Allen? – Because not everyone has the same tastes that you do. Just as some people prefer the serious tone of the 1990s Batman animated series, while others prefer the zany adventure of Batman: the Brave and the Bold, different people like different takes on the Flash.

What will happen to Wally West? – He’ll probably be a recurring guest star in The Flash, and will almost certainly show up in an issue or two of DC Universe: Legacies. DC has scaled back on the big plans they had for the Flash this year, dropping a set of backup stories that would have featured Wally in The Flash and a Kid Flash series that would have featured Bart. Other than that, we probably won’t see much of him until the next big Flash epic, unless James Robinson pulls a surprise and puts him back on Justice League. In which case we can probably expect to see Irey or Jai killed and Wally’s legs amputated. @#*&^! Cry for Justice.

Edit: One More! – Panels at WonderCon 2010 – They haven’t released a programming schedule yet, but last year it was posted about two weeks before the convention. So we should see something online by mid-March. Update: They’ll post the schedule one day at a time, starting on March 10.

Review: Blackest Night: The Flash #3

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The conclusion of this miniseries — to the extent that it concludes, anyway — is more satisfying than the middle chapter. The story is more solid, and it’s visually more varied as characters with colors beyond black and blue join Blue Lantern Barry Allen onstage.

Speaking of color schemes, I noticed something interesting about the covers: they get progressively brighter. The first issue is mostly black and silver, with a dark blue logo outline. The second issue adds some color by putting Captain Cold in the center, and has a brighter logo outline. By the third issue, Blue Lantern Barry takes up the entire cover, and the logo is again a tiny bit brighter. I don’t know whether it’s intentional, but it’s certainly thematic.

The story follows three main threads: The Rogues in Iron Heights; Captain Boomerang; and the Flashes.

The Rogues’ story gets the least attention this time around. Once again it picks up right where they left off, but instead of focusing on emotional manipulation, it’s basically a dungeon crawl as they try to work out something that will shut down the Black Lantern Rogues. It does, however, give away a little more about the resolution of Flash: Rebirth

Captain Boomerang’s story is a sad one, and while moving, I’m afraid it significantly damages the character for future use. More on this in the spoiler section.

This time around the Flashes’ story works best. Barry Allen is still dealing with an unfamiliar power set, but by this time he’s gotten accustomed to it, rather than spending the entire issue learning how to use the blue ring…plus there are other speedsters around to keep the “Fastest Man Alive” theme on track. There’s also a solid resolution to one of the major story elements from last month.

Of course, since this is a side story to a larger event, it ends — or rather stops — with a big “To be continued” sign as several characters head back into the main Blackest Night story, and the big question from issue #1 is left unanswered.

Spoilers below!

Continue reading →

Custom Blue Lantern Barry Allen Figure on eBay!

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As a Flash collector I spend a lot of my time on eBay. Whether it’s looking for good deals on action figures or hunting for some rare gem of a collectible, I spend a lot of time on the site. This afternoon I came across a pretty sweet custom of Blue Lantern Barry Allen up for auction. Interesting to note that the custom is astonishingly pretty accurate to the official action figure of Blue Lantern Flash by DC Direct design wise.

I actually think I dig the custom on eBay a little more though. Especially the way the belt is worked right into the Blue Lantern chest design as opposed to being awkwardly painted over it. The previous design may work in the comic but on an action figure it stands out a lot more than it should. This custom is being brought to us by nissan_nx2004 and Black Lanterns Green Arrow and Hawkman are also included in the auction.

Pretty nice huh? The auction is currently at $75.00 with 2 days and 21 hours left in the auction and you can view it here. The listing also has some additional pics of Blue Lantern Flash and Black Lanterns Green Arrow and Hawkman.

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Speed Force

Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive