Tag Archives: Collections

Return to the Silver Age in Flash Chronicles Volume 3

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I’ve been wondering whether DC planned on continuing the Flash Chronicles line of reprints. With the return of the Archives this year, I should have guessed we’d see a new Chronicles volume soon, and in fact, volume three is listed in DC’s July+ solicitations.

THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 3 TP
Written by JOHN BROOME and GARDNER FOX
Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and MURPHY ANDERSON
Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON
On sale AUGUST 8 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US

  • In this third collection of 1960s adventures in chronological order, the Fastest Man Alive battles Rogues including The Trickster, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and more.
  • Collecting THE FLASH #113-118.

Update: It’s available for pre-order.

DC has three series of reprints designed to start at the beginning (or at least the beginning of the Silver Age) and collect everything in chronological order:

  • Archives: High-quality, hardcover, color reprints, typically about 200 pages, relatively expensive. For people who want a book that will last. Five volumes so far, with a sixth on its way.
  • Showcase Presents: Cheap, black and white paperbacks on newsprint, around 500-600 pages, for people who just want to read the stories. Currently on three volumes in the early 1960s, plus one featuring the Trial of the Flash in the 1980s.
  • Chronicles: Cheaper, color paperbacks, more like a typical collected edition of more recent comics.

I keep meaning to work out the math of just how many volumes each of these lines would need to reprint the entire 1956-1986 Barry Allen Flash series (including the four Showcase issues early on) — and how long it would take to complete them at DC’s current rate of publication.

This Week: World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash TPB

Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash

Written by SEAN RYAN, STERLING GATES, ADAM GLASS and SCOTT KOLINS
Art by IG GUARA, OLIVER NOME, RODNEY BUCHEMI, JOEL GOMEZ, SCOTT KOLINS and JOSE MARZAN JR.
Cover by ARDIAN SYAF and VICENTE CIFUENTES
On sale MARCH 21 • 256 pg, FC, $17.99 US
Don’t miss this Flash volume collecting GRODD OF WAR #1, KID FLASH LOST #1-3, LEGION OF DOOM #1-3, REVERSE FLASH #1 and CITIZEN COLD #1-3.

I’ll say one thing for DC’s Flashpoint collection strategy: they actually managed to put all the Flash-related tie-ins in one book, without adding too much unrelated material (like tossing Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown in with the Flashpoint/Green Lantern collection).

Grodd of War obviously focuses on Gorilla Grodd, who in the Flashpoint universe has taken over Gorilla City and subsequently conquered the entire continent of Africa.

Kid Flash Lost follows the main DC Universe’s Bart Allen, trying to fix the changes to history before they catch up to his home era and make him disappear as well.

Legion of Doom is a brutal prison break story focusing on Heat Wave, who has gone beyond pyromania to full-on psychosis psychopathy.

Reverse Flash stars Professor Zoom, though it’s only tangentially related to Flashpoint in that it looks at the main DCU’s Zoom trying to change history.

Citizen Cold features a Captain Cold who uses the mask of Central City’s resident hero to hide his criminal past, and the parallel efforts of reporter Iris West and the city’s resident super-criminals to take him down.

Order it from Amazon for next week or buy it at your local comic shop tomorrow!

Full Details on Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol.3

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DC’s full June 2012 solicitations are out, including full details on The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol.3

THE FLASH OMNIBUS BY GEOFF JOHNS VOL. 3 HC

GEOFF JOHNS and GREG RUCKA
Art by HOWARD PORTER, ALBERTO DOSE and OTHERS
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
On sale AUGUST 29 • 640 pg, FC, $75.00 US

  • A third massive FLASH HC from superstar writer GEOFF JOHNS!
  • THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE clashes with his Rogues Gallery, including CAPTAIN COLD, THE PIED PIPER, TRICKSTER and MIRROR MASTER!
  • Collects THE FLASH #201-225 and WONDER WOMAN #214!

As predicted, it ships the final week in August and wraps up the entire Geoff Johns run on the Wally West Flash series. One question is answered: it does include both halves of that Flash/Wonder Woman/Villains United crossover. Another remains: What about The Flash #1/2, the short story leading into Rogue War that provided a little depth to the second Trickster?

Volume 2 runs through Flash #200 and collects what I think is the best of Geoff Johns’ run on the character. Volume 3 collects Ignition and runs through the Identity Crisis-to-Infinite Crisis era, finishing with Rogue War.

I still think we’re likely to get a fourth volume next year that collects Johns’ Barry Allen run, starting with Flash: Rebirth and running at least through The Road to Flashpoint, if not all the way through Flashpoint itself, though I imagine DC would like to put that off a while to give the current collections a bit more shelf life. Flashpoint only came out in paperback last week, after all.

Pre-order at Amazon:
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.2 ships in April.
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.3 ships in August/September.

(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip!)

This Week: Flashpoint TPB

The big DC Comics event of 2011, Flashpoint, is out in trade paperback this week ($14.99). Barry Allen wakes up powerless in a world he doesn’t recognize, a world on the brink of war between human and superhuman nations alike. To save the world, he’ll team up with Batman to learn who changed history and how to put it right — but this Batman isn’t who he expects to meet beneath the cowl.

Of course, the conclusion of Flashpoint led directly into the reboot of the DC Universe into the form of the New 52.

The Geoff Johns/Andy Kubert miniseries was previously collected in hardcover last fall.

The various tie-in miniseries and specials will be collected in five trade paperback volumes starting next week. World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash ($17.99) arrives in stores March 21, and collects Grodd of War, Kid Flash Lost, Legion of Doom, Reverse Flash and Citizen Cold.

Order at Amazon for delivery next week, or buy it in your local comic shop today!

Move Forward: New 52 Flash HC Available for Pre-Order

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The Flash: Move Forward, the first hardcover collection from the “New 52” run by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, is up for pre-order on Amazon with a November 13 release date. That means it should hit comic stores the previous Wednesday, November 7.

The listing states that it collects Flash #1-6, but that seems unlikely, given that Flash #6 is the first part of a two-parter. The most recent statement from DC said it would feature The Flash #1-8, which will cover the opening 5-part “Mob Rule,” the two-parter with Captain Cold, and the story featuring Turbine and the speed force. Contents, descriptions and covers do of course change quite a bit up until the point that a book is finalized, but I’d expect to see this volume run through either #7 or #8 by the time it’s released.

Flash by Geoff Johns Ombinus 3 Coming Late Summer/Early Fall

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Collected Editions made a discovery on Amazon.com this morning: The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol. 3 is available for pre-order with a September 4 date, meaning it will most likely arrive in comic stores the last week in August. (Amazon gets their new releases on the Tuesday bookstore schedule, not the Wednesday comics schedule.)

What’s surprising about this is that volume 2 isn’t out yet (it’s due in April), and there was a full year’s gap between the first two volumes of the massive hardcover collection.

Volume 2 runs through issue #200 of the Wally West Flash series, completing the Geoff Johns/Scott Kolins run on the book. This will pick up with Alberto Dose’s “Ignition.” If the page count on this book is anywhere near the 640 quoted in the listing, it will easily cover Flash #201-225, including the entire Geoff Johns/Howard Porter run on the series. Highlights include a Superman/Flash race (pictured here in Michael Turner’s cover); the origin/profile issues of Mirror Master and Heat Wave; the Identity Crisis tie-in, “The Secret of Barry Allen”; at least half of the Villains United Flash/Wonder Woman crossover; and of course, “Rogue War.”

I still think we’ll see a volume 4 at some point covering Flash: Rebirth through Flashpoint. It’ll be about the same length as this one.

»Pre-order at Amazon.