Christos Gage has noted in interviews that he is a long-time Flash fan, having grown up with Barry Allen. His one-shot issue shows how well he knows Barry, both old and new (52), and gives us a wonderful story to take into the new year.
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY
During NC Comicon, we had the honor of sitting down with Christos Gage, who is writing an upcoming issue of The Flash and regularly writes Danica Williams’ character as the newest Flash in Justice League Beyond. This is a shared interview…I also write about Valiant and other comics for another site called TMStash, and the interviews are linked to each other. The only place you’ll find the Flash-related questions is here, though…including a hint to future stories! If you want info about Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps (and excellent Valiant book), just follow this link. There will be a few questions at the end that show on both sites. For now, let’s go the Q&A!
Flash News from Two (Media) Worlds! Friday saw the unveiling of a new image from the upcoming DC Entertainment animated feature Justice League: War, featuring Christopher Gorham as The Flash. Meanwhile, over at Newsarama, writer Christos Gage spoke about his upcoming standalone story in Flash #26!
Justice League: War is adapted from the opening arc of the New 52 Justice League series, written by Geoff Johns. It is currently set for an early 2014 release.
Over on Earth-Print, Gage has the task of helming the first issue due after the Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato team take their final bows on the title as a duo (Buccellatto will be writing issues 27 – 29 solo). For more on the roots of Gage’s Flash fandom and what to expect from his “Flash Out of Water” tale, follow the jump!
CBR interviews Christos Gage, who will be writing The Flash #26 after Francis Manapul’s and Brian Buccellato’s run ends with #25. He talks about how long he’s been a fan of the Flash (big fan of Barry Allen from the old days, enjoyed Wally’s series but it just wasn’t the same), and about the difference between retelling classic stories (a Batman story he wrote based on Flash #300 is what got the editor’s attention to do a Flash issue) and breaking new ground.
Gage drops a few hints about the story. As the solicitation says, the Flash loses someone important to him, and has to go somewhere where his normal super-speed tricks won’t help him: the air. As for the story’s villain:
It’s a new character, Spitfire, but she’s kind of a reimagining of a very obscure Golden Age villain called the Sky Pirate. She’s a crazy, murderous aviatrix. I love that word, “aviatrix.”
I was hoping in all the talk of retelling classic stories that he’d say something about “Nobody Dies,” the William Messner-Loebs/Greg LaRocque story from Flash #54 in which Wally West jumps out of an airplane to save someone and must figure out how to use his super-speed to keep them alive in the air, which is still cited by fans as one of the best single-issue stories of the series, but maybe he missed that month. (If you missed it too, you can read it at ComiXology for $1.99.) I’m sure the story’s different enough, but when you’re specifically talking about new ideas and re-imagining old ones, it’s a bit odd to not acknowledge that the high-concept hook has been done before.
DC’s November 2013 solicitations are up (
part 1, part 2, and Part 3). Flash-related books:
THE FLASH #26
Written by CHRISTOS N. GAGE
Art by NEIL GOOGE
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:25 B&W Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
On sale DECEMBER 31 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
In this special standalone story, The Flash loses someone important to him. To catch the villain responsible, The Flash must figure out how to use his powers in the one place where they do him little good: the sky!
Yeah, that’s right: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are off The Flash.