We caught up with Francis Manapul at HeroesCon 2015 for an interview on behalf of both TMStash and Speedforce.org. Manapul gave us the story behind the “5 O’Clock Shadow” look of Batman, the rise of Harvey Bullock as an A-List character in Detective, his favorite moments from THE FLASH and DETECTIVE, and more! Thanks to Francis Manapul for taking time from a very busy HeroesCon schedule to speak with us!
We recently had the honor of interviewing Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, the acclaimed creative team behind “The Flash”, as they prepare to move from “Flash” to “Detective Comics”. We get their thoughts on the move, along with the themes they will be taking with their run on the World’s Greatest Detective.
As for why this is on TWO sites? I regularly contribute reviews of “Flash” related titles to SpeedForce, the premiere Flash fan site on the internet. And, I regularly review other DC and Indie titles at TMStash, the place for Comics, Movies, TV, Gaming, Tech News and more. This transition from “Flash” to “Detective Comics” cuts across both sites…and that means it only makes sense to publish the full review on both sites! Now, let’s get to the Q&A!
As their three-year artistic, two years everything, Flash run comes to a close, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have begun the transition into their new Gotham digs over in Detective Comics. Yesterday, as part of an interview with Newsarama and a post over at DC HQ, details continued to emerge on the team’s final act.
First, here is a plot summary and preview page (above) from Flash #25 via DC Comics:
In THE FLASH #25, you’ll meet a young Barry Allen before he’s realized his full potential as the Scarlet Speedster. A recent graduate from the Police Academy, Barry finds himself partnered with Harvey Bullock in Gotham City when he volunteers to go help the city deal with the chaos brought on by the events of “Zero Year.” But Harvey is not thrilled with working with someone so young and inexperienced, leaving Barry to team up with Gotham Gazette intern Iris West to help solve the case of a mysterious drug appearing on the streets of the city that is causing people to spontaneously burst into flames. And it’s in this first meeting between Barry and Iris that the “will they or won’t they” tension is introduced to their relationship.
DC Comics announced through USA Today that Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, who are leaving The Flash after November’s Flash #25, will be taking over Detective Comics next spring.
They spoke to USA Today about focusing on the “detective” side of Batman, introducing additional supporting cast to “focus on the importance of family to Bruce Wayne,” and Batman’s obsession with protecting Gotham City. “Unlike other heroes who protect their home because they want to, Batman has to. He’s going to be such a fun character to sink our teeth into.”
Brian Buccellato stresses that they have a “gritty and dark side” more suited to Batman than their lighter take on the Flash and Central City. Readers concerned that the book will be too bright for Batman may want to look outside DC Comics to Buccellato’s solo writing on Foster at Dog Year Comics and and The Black Bat at Dynamite.
The article doesn’t say exactly when Manapul and Buccellato will be taking over the book, and but it’s after Detective Comics #27, which will be a special anniversary issue.
No word yet on the new Flash creative team.
Update: Rob S. points out in the comments an interview at CBR in which the team talks about their approach to Batman, and mentions that Brian Buccellato will stay on as solo Flash writer for three more issues.