Tag Archives: DC Retroactive

This Week: DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’70s (Preview)

DC has released a preview for this week’s flashback comic starring the Scarlet Speedster of the Seventies.

DC Retroactive: The Flash (1970s)

The Flash may be able to save cities from tsunamis and stop criminals in their tracks at the blink of an eye, but he’s just found out that his super-powers come at an incredible cost. And when arch nemesis Gorilla Grodd strikes at the heart of Barry Allen, he’ll use every weapon he can think of against him…including Barry’s wife.

RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH – THE ’70s features a classic tale from the 1970s as well as a new one written as an homage to the decade. From the cumulative creative teams of Cary Bates, Benito Gallego, Sal Buscema, Martin Pasko, J.L. Garcia Lopez and Dan Adkins, don’t miss this one-shot when it hits stores tomorrow.

Cary Bates Flash-es Back at Newsarama

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Newsarama interviews Cary Bates about his work on The Flash and Justice League of America back in the 1970s, and his upcoming DC Retroactive specials revisiting those books.

With the books closer to release (DC Retroactive: The Flash: The 70s comes out next week), he’s able to say a little more than he did in our interview back in May, plus of course we weren’t asking him about the JLA! There’s some strange spoilery information about “Son of Grodd,” but what really caught my eye was what Bates said about the timeframe of the DC Retrocative books:

The deadlines for the retro books were very tight, so once I signed on I had to come up with the plots for both books within 24 hours.

24 hours! Wow! I’d gotten the impression that the Retroactive specials were a last-minute addition to the schedule, and this seems to confirm it. My suspicion: After DC decided to push full-steam-ahead on the reboot/relaunch/whatever it actually is, they decided to give the previous versions of the major characters a “last hurrah” before moving on.

When you’re done reading the Newsarama interview, jump back and check out our two-part interview in which Cary Bates talks more about his 1970s Flash run, the Death of Iris Allen, and where The Flash would have gone if it hadn’t been canceled during Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Interview: Greg LaRocque on DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’80s

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Starting in July, DC Comics Retroactive series will bring back classic creators to the characters they helped define.  Covering the last three decades of the 20th Century, the three Flash issues will feature writer Cary Bates (1970s), writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Greg LaRocque (1980s), and writer Brian Augustyn (1990s).


LaRocque was the penciller on Flash for the entirety of Messner-Loebs’ tenure from 1988 – 1991, and illustrated a portion of Mark Waid’s run including the classic “Born to Run” and “The Return of Barry Allen”.  In all, LaRocque pencilled nearly 60 issues of Flash over a five-year stretch.

We’ve previously interviewed LaRocque about his work on “The Return of Barry Allen,” and contacted him via email when the Retroactive issue was announced.  Once the artwork was complete, he provided us with some details.  He also posted preview images on Facebook last week, and those are included below along with the solicited cover.  See what the man has to say after the jump…

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Cover for DC Retroactive: The Flash ’70s

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DC has released the covers for DC Retroactive: The 70s, the series of July one-shots featuring the return of classic writers to the interpretations of the characters that they wrote back in the day.

The cover for DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’70s is by Benito Gallego, Sal Buscema, and Carrie Strachan. The book is being written by Cary Bates, who talked about it a bit in an interview with Speed Force last month.

It’s titled “Son of Grodd” and it explores the concept of fatherhood on two parallel tracks, one dealing with Grodd and the other with Barry….With this story, heretofore unspoken aspects of the Allen marriage will finally be explored in depth. At the same time, you’ll be seeing a new side of Grodd as we find out what kind of father he might have made back in the ’70’s.

There’s more in there, of course, so be sure to read the whole interview if you missed it the first time around.

UPDATE! Artist Benito Gallego dropped by to point out his original pencils for the cover!

First Peek At Greg LaRocque’s Retroactive Flash

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Greg LaRocque, popular artist on the Flash in the ’90s, has given us our first look at some art from his upcoming Retroactive ’80s Flash project via The Flash & Other Members of the Speed Force group on Facebook:

 

 

Greg looks to be as sharp as ever. I really can’t wait for this to come out especially in light of recent events and announcements. This definitely lifted my spirits! Thank you Greg! And thank you Aaron Louis Kessler!

You can also read an exclusive Speed Force interview with Greg HERE!

Be sure to check out The Flash Retroactive ’80s one shot due out in August. Especially if you are in need of some classic Wally goodness. I know I am.

 

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

Interview: Cary Bates on Flash, 1979-1985 – Part Two

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Welcome to the second part of our interview with legendary Flash writer Cary Bates!  A DC Comics luminary, Bates’ first Flash story appeared in 1968, and he was the regular writer on the book from 1971 – 1985.

Last week we discussed the genesis and impact of the Death of Iris Allen story arc, which we have also been annotating here at the site.  This week we’ll look at the implications of that story and the final days of the Flash title, as well as Bates’ upcoming work for DC Comics, both Flash and otherwise.

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