Tag Archives: Bronze Age

On the Hunt: Finding Back Issues, Then and Now

7 Replies

How I searched for back issues of comics in…

1989:

  1. Look at the local comic store.
  2. Wait for a convention that my parents were going to.

1999:

  1. Look at the local comic store.
  2. Drive around to other stores.
  3. Save up for San Diego Comic-Con.
  4. Look on this new site called eBay.

2009:

  1. Look at a couple of local comic stores.
  2. Look on eBay and Mile High Comics (singles)
  3. Look on eBay and Amazon (for trades & hardcovers)
  4. Look at a convention.
  5. Look for other sources on the net.

Two main things have changed: mobility (I couldn’t drive when I was 13) and the Internet. Continue reading →

Speed Reading: Lightning Blades, Bronze Age, Variant Covers and More

2 Replies

RikDad identifies a precedent for those lightning-bolt blades seen in Flash: Rebirth…way back in the Golden Age.

Comic Bronze Age tries to identify…What IS the Bronze Age of Comics? Considering that many fans today are of the opinion that the Silver Age lasted through 1985, it’s a good question.

The podcast Views From the Longbox has their second installment of Views from the Speed Force, focusing on Flash: Rebirth #2.

Flash Rebirth #3 CoversNewsarama asks retailers, do variant covers sell more books? Personally, when a comic has alternate covers that are distributed equally (like they’ve done with the Final Crisis books) I’ll just pick the one I like better. When the variant is rare, like the 1-in-25 alternate covers they’re doing for Flash: Rebirth, I usually won’t bother. Though I am going to try to pick up the alternate cover for #3, which is 100% more interesting than the standard cover.

Speaking of variant covers, it looks like I forgot to link to the site updates I did last weekend: I updated the collections of variant covers and cover homages to include current and upcoming Flash: Rebirth covers. Still need to work through an email backlog of homages, though.

Crimson Lightning is back from a three-week hiatus with new posts.

Mania’s Top 20 writers of all time includes long-term Flash writers Mark Waid, Geoff Johns and Gardner Fox.

Fastest FirefoxSpeaking of foxes, and still somewhat relevant to this blog’s topic, Firefox is holding a video contest called “Show Us Your Speed“ to promote the upcoming Firefox 3.5 release. Submit a 30-second video of your fastest talent to www.fastestfirefox.com.

Speed Reading: Covers, Talking Costumes and Ewoks on Steroids

4 Replies

Some weekend linkblogging:

Art

Covered features artist James Duncan’s reinterpretation of Flash v.1 #108.

Flash v.1 #159iFanboy’s Great Moments in Comics features a scan of the Flash’s costume begging Barry Allen not to leave it. “The Case of the Curious Costume,” which appeared in Flash v.1 #161 (1966) was a “bonus” story based on the cover from Flash v.1 #159. (Thanks to GCD for the scan!)

Crave Online’s Top 5 Covers for April starts the countdown with Flash: Rebirth #1 at position 5.

History

Over at Comics Should Be Good, Scott’s Classic Comics Corner has been trying to pin down the start of the Bronze Age of comics (a much fuzzier boundary than the start of the Silver Age), and finishes his series with several less serious suggestions. Among them: Flash #220 (1973), the return of Turtle Man, 17 years after he first appeared in…Showcase #4.

Critique

Profzoom has launched a series of Flash: Rebirth Annotations.

Pete’s Rambling Observations suggests that Wally’s kids are “Ewoks on steroids”

Read/RANT considers How Many Green Arrows (or Flashes) is Too Many?

The Weekly Crisis’ Moments of the Week include several “anti-moments” from Flash: Rebirth #2.

Interview

Newsarama interviews Geoff Johns about his 10-year run on JSA and Justice Society of America.

Speed Reading: Rebirth and Revamps

Leave a reply

The webcomic Comic Critics takes on Flash: Rebirth.

I’m Just Sayin’… is extremely unhappy with Flash: Rebirth #1, particularly in terms of characterization. I particularly like his point about Savitar, whose entire motivation was that he wanted to become one with the speed force. Watch out, though: the post starts with spoilers for the latest Spider-Man.

Rikdad looks at DC’s history of revamps starting with the transition from the Golden Age to the Silver Age.

The Absorbascon contemplates labeling of comics ages, concluding that the Iron Age ran from 1985-2005, and that we’re now in the Platinum Age — all about bringing back the brightness of the Silver Age that was thrown out for Iron.

Gentlemen of Leisure profiles the Flash with an emphasis on Barry Allen and his legacy.

Amalgam: Speed DemonLetterer and logo designer Todd Klein discusses the design of the Amalgam Comics logos, including the Flash/Demon/Ghost Rider mash-up Speed Demon.

Slightly off-topic: ICV2 talks about old pop culture icons — the ones who, rather than having a nearly-continuous history like Superman or Batman (or, really, the Flash, who despite a couple of breaks in publication has had a regular presence from 1960 onward), keep getting reinvented from time to time like Zorro, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers or the Phantom.

Speed Reading: Then and Now

A few recent posts and articles looking at the history of the Flash in the context of Barry Allen’s return and Flash: Rebirth.

Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin contemplates the state of the Flash and the role of Rebirth.

Flash v.1 #223

The Absorbascon flashes back to the Silver Age and shows us some samples of Barry Allen’s characterization.

Robot 6’s Grumpy Old Fan contrasts Flash: Rebirth #1 with “Make Way for the Speed Demons,” a 1970s story from Flash v.1 #223, finding the new release too caught up in the little details to just tell a good story.

The Hurting is not impressed by the Flash at all.

Captain Comics looks at Barry Allen’s Silver-Age origins.

Crimson Lightning shares the results of the favorite Flash storyline quiz. Next up in the sidebar: How do you feel about Flash: Rebirth?

Speaking of polls, Mo pointed me to comic shop A Timeless Journey, currently running a Who’s Your Favorite Flash? poll on their site.

Finally, Collected Editions has a list of Top Flash Trade Paperbacks.

Speed Reading: Silver-Age Guest Stars, Action Figures, Van Sciver and More

Victoria Wayne comments on Captain Boomerang’s first appearance

Crimson Lightning has finished reviewing the entire 1990-1991 Flash TV series, and now presents a round-up of Live Action: The Worst.

Silver Age Comics looks at Barry Allen’s childhood sweetheart, future actress Daphne Dean, as The Other Woman. (She returned a few times in the Bronze Age, including the 4-part story that introduced the Golden Glider.)

Newsarama has a video interview with Todd Dezago, former Impulse writer, in which he talks about Perhapanauts.

DCU Classics Flash Action FigurePOE Ghostal reviews the new DCU Classics Barry Allen action figure.

Geek Stuff Daily looks at the history of the Flash.

Ethan Van Sciver’s weekly column is up to #11, and at least this week he’s renamed it from “Your Time Is Now Mine” to “Hope, Understanding and Compassion.” He links to a discussion thread his wife Sharis started about her experience with a dog rescue gone wrong earlier this week:

This was the worst day of my life. I don’t blame the dog, and I’m especially grateful for Officer Guardian Angel this morning, and the fact that it was ME that was bitten, not a small child, which is easily could have been. But I dedicate my entire life to rescue, and to see the dog shot, to hear it scream in pain and watch it die…this was entirely too much to cope with today.

Please keep supporting rescue efforts and animal cruelty legislation, folks, not the hysteria that causes people to deem all “vicious” dogs “bad dogs.”

There are no bad dogs, just bad owners.

Sharis also posted a link in the thread to her own blog entry about the incident.