Tag Archives: Flash: Rebirth

Answering Questions from Searchers

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Every once in a while I see something in the search terms that people have used to reach this site that makes me wish I could contact them and answer their questions. So I figured I’d try something new: The following are questions (or implied questions) pulled from this week’s site statistics.

Interestingly enough, they settled into three broad categories.

Costumes

What does Wally West’s new costume look like? (There are lots of variations on this one!)

Short answer: We haven’t seen it yet. But according to Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver’s design is “Very clean, very familiar, yet unique!”

What is the difference in the Flash costumes?

  • Barry Allen: belt is straight across, boots always have wings, eyes are always visible (well, except in this week’s Brave and the Bold issue).
  • Wally West: 1986-1991: same. 1991-2009: belt is V-shaped, boots sometimes have wings, eyes sometimes covered, costume is sometimes shiny.

Jay Garrick, of course, has a completely different costume with blue pants, red boots, no mask and a silver helmet.

How to make a Golden Age Flash costume. (Several variations on this, also.)

Here’s a two-part series describing exactly how to do it:

Future of the Flash

Will Flash Rebirth ever finish? (Yes, that’s exactly how it was phrased.)

Yes. The next issue is scheduled for November 11, and the whole thing should wrap up on December 23, 2009. The schedule could still slip, of course.

Why is Flash Rebirth being delayed?

Artist Ethan Van Sciver has accepted at least some of the blame for being a slow artist. He intended Flash: Rebirth as a project that would help him learn to draw faster.

Will Wally West be back in 2010?

Yes. Wally West will star in a second feature in the new Flash comic book, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Scott Kolins.

More immediately, he will appear in both Blackest Night: Flash and Blackest Night itself, alongside Barry Allen.

Powers

Who is the fastest Flash?

Whoever’s currently starring in the main book.

How Flash got super speed.

Lab accidents, mainly. Jay Garrick inhaled chemical fumes (originally identified as “hard water,” but later sometimes identified as “heavy water,” which still doesn’t make sense, but radioactivity makes a little more sense than high mineral content). Barry Allen was struck by lightning and simultaneously splashed with chemicals. Wally West was struck by a repetition of Barry’s accident.

What force is involved in lightning flashes?

Electromagnetism.

Is it possible to run as fast as a speed force?

I’m not entirely sure what this question is asking.

Frustrations with DC: One Year Later

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Actually it’s closer to a year and a half since I wrote about my frustrations with DC Comics, but it’s a good time to look back at them.

In June 2008, I listed three main problems I had with the current state of DC:

  1. I’m tired of mega-crossovers.
  2. Mishandling of the Flash after Geoff Johns left.
  3. The wholesale slaughter of “redundant” and C-list characters to make a point.

So, what’s the current status?

Crossovers

DC is even more focused on mega-crossovers than before, with Blackest Night ballooning from a Green Lantern story into an eight-issue main miniseries, seven three-issue side miniseries, eight-issue arcs in both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, a month of eight in-series crossovers, a month of eight one-shots…

But frankly it doesn’t bother me, because of those 61 comic books, I only plan on reading three: the three issues of Blackest Night: The Flash. Realizing that I don’t have to buy the big event has saved me a lot of grief.

Mishandling the Flash

On the plus side: Geoff Johns is back on the title. Bart Allen is back as Kid Flash. Scott Kolins is back drawing Wally West. Most importantly, DC seems to be willing to stick with a direction at this point, and has committed to the point that they’ll actually launch two series, and every month will have new solo stories starring Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen.

On the minus side: Flash: Rebirth should have wrapped up in September, is currently scheduled to end in December, and individual issues are getting rescheduled often enough that I’m checking daily to see if the release dates have changed. The repeated delays have killed a lot of the story’s momentum, and have actually soured some fans on the relaunch. Plus they’re sidelining my favorite version of the character, though at least they aren’t taking him off the playing field entirely.

Killing Characters

The big crossover is all about dead characters rising from the grave as evil undead. Need I say more?

Has it improved?

Well, one item shows some progress, but it’s mixed. The other two haven’t changed at all…but I’ve gotten less attached to the DC Universe, so it doesn’t bother me as much. I’m not sure if that’s progress or not.

Flash: Rebirth to Conclude December 23

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Flash: Rebirth #6 (thumb)Once Flash: Rebirth #5 was pushed back to November 11, I don’t think anyone really expected the final issue to come out just two weeks later. Now DC has made it official, rescheduling Flash: Rebirth #6 for December 23. Merry Christmas, Flash fans! 😐

Dates for Blackest Night: The Flash have not changed.

Some interesting facts:

  • That’s 6 weeks after issue #5’s current release date.
  • It’s 12 weeks after the issue’s original release date (September 30).
  • Oddly enough, it’s 3 weeks after Blackest Night: The Flash #1 is scheduled to ship. (Thank you, DC, for not postponing it!)
  • It makes the miniseries 38 weeks, or almost 9 months, from start to end.
  • That makes it an average of 7.6 weeks between issues. The first three issues, which shipped on time, were 5 weeks apart.
  • Last year, the final issue of Wally West’s solo series, The Flash #247 was released on December 24. If this sticks, that means that two years in a row, a Flash series will have ended the Wednesday before Christmas.

Thanks to @kukheart for spotting this change. I’ve been checking daily, but he got there first today!

Flash: Rebirth #5 Now Due November 11

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Flash: Rebirth #5Wow…this would be hilarious if it weren’t…actually, scratch that. It is hilarious.

DC’s website now shows Flash: Rebirth #5 as shipping on November 11, 2009. A week ago it was scheduled for November 4. A week before that it was October 28. Two weeks before that, it was October 14. And it was originally supposed to be out on August 26!

No change yet on the schedule for Flash: Rebirth #6 or Blackest Night: Flash #1. DC’s January solicitations should be up next Monday, though. There may be some leeway since January is a “skip month” for Blackest Night, though it’s not clear whether it’s only the primary miniseries or the side series like Blackest Night: Flash, Blackest Night: Wonder Woman and Blackest Night: JSA that are skipping. If we see BN: WW #2 and BN: JSA #2 on the schedule, but not BN: Flash #2, we’ll know something’s up.

I’m beginning to feel like I should start a betting pool for when Flash: Rebirth will actually wrap.

Update: Now it’s November 18.

Flash: Rebirth #5 Delayed Yet Again

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Well, DC’s website shows that Flash: Rebirth #5 has been pushed back another week to November 4 — 10 weeks after #4. Once again, we’re faced with a month without a Flash issue.

Good thing we’ve got that spotlight in The Brave and the Bold #28 coming up, isn’t it?

So far DC hasn’t rescheduled issue #6 again, still listing it with a release date of November 25. I doubt anyone reading this page actually expects it to ship by then.

To be honest, I don’t particularly mind the delays at this point, at least as far as Rebirth itself is concerned. The story will be ready when it’s ready. What does bother me is that it will probably impact other Flash-related comics, particularly:

  • Blackest Night: The Flash (currently scheduled to start December 2)
  • Anything in which Wally West might appear in costume (in order to keep the debut of his new costume in Flash: Rebirth #6

DC hasn’t worried about showing a post-Rebirth Barry Allen while the story’s still unfinished, but then the only thing spoilery is that he survives. Not exactly a surprise for a story called Flash: Rebirth. But a high profile costume redesign? I can see DC holding back on that like they held back on Superboy’s return for Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds.

(Thanks to @kukheart for alerting me.)

Update: Now it’s November 18.

Flash: Rebirth #5 Pushed Back Again

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Flash: Rebirth #5I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am disappointed. According to DC’s website, Flash: Rebirth #5 is now scheduled for October 28, 2009, rather than October 14. The conclusion is still scheduled for November 25, which is just one week before the scheduled launch of Blackest Night: The Flash on December 2.

I hope they can complete this miniseries before the next one starts. And if they do push it back, I really hope they still launch Blackest Night: Flash in December.

Update October 8: It’s been delayed another week.

Update: Several delays later, it’s now set for November 18.