Tag Archives: Flash: Rebirth

Gone in a Flash

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We’ve known since the EVS spotlight at San Diego that the current Flash series will stop for Flash: Rebirth, though DC hasn’t yet announced the last issue. A good bet: #247, the final issue of Alan Burnett’s 4-part storyline, which should hit in December. Final Crisis, if it doesn’t get delayed too much, should also finish up in December, and they’ve talked about Rebirth starting in January.

The only real question has been whether Rebirth will be followed by one Flash series or two (and really, two is just wishful thinking), and whether it will start with #1, #248, or #351.

Now, Lying in the Gutters is reporting (with a “green light” for the rumor’s reliability):

…yes, “The Flash” will also disappear, replaced by the previously announced “Flash Rebirth” mini-series, before kicking off again with a new Flash series. With a new Flash.

Well, for some definition of “new,” anyway. (Unless DC pulls a fast one on us all and dusts off Mackenzie Ryan?)

I’m honestly not sure this is really news, but people seem to be talking about it.

(Thanks to Rockin’ Rich for pointing this out.)

Linkage: EVS: A Revolution for Flash Comics

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CBR has interviewed Ethan van Sciver on Flash: Rebirth.

“I mean what I say,” continued Van Sciver, as he sketched The Flash for a fan. “This is going to be a revolution for Flash comics ” an absolute revolution. We will make this comic brand new.”

He also implies that Geoff Johns may be sticking with the book after Rebirth, something that fans have speculated about, but that DC has not confirmed:

“And now, more than ever, it’s time to bring back Barry Allen because he is a CSI scientist that is incredibly relevant. Geoff is going to have a blast telling stories with him. PG-13 scary crime stories with a Flash. It’s a lot of fun.

Linkage: Didio, Ramos & More

CBR talks with Dan Didio about Flash:Rebirth and why Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver are right for the job — namely, their work relaunching Green Lantern. “They are going to embrace everything there is about The Flash, not ignore it, and I think the story lends itself to the whole Flash legacy and how important Barry is to it.”

Meanwhile, Occasional Superheroine’s Valerie D’Orazio comments on Didio’s “rebooting was a mistake” remarks from Fan Expo.

Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers has a trio of interviews. First she talks with Humberto Ramos, original artist on Impulse, about the upcoming relaunch of Runaways. Next, Geoff Johns discusses Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. Finally, Marc Guggenheim is writing another Flash: a Spider-Man spotlight on Flash Thompson, drawn by Flash/Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold artist Barry Kitson.

Girl-Wonder.org has launched the Con Anti-Harassment Project.

Brian Cronin of Comics Should Be Good presents the Cronin Theory of Comics – Comics Tend to Eventually Regress to the Mean. For the most part, characters will reset over time to the “standard” interpretation. Rarely, that standard will change, such as Dick Grayson as Nightwing, rather than Robin. It will be interesting to see how this applies to Wally West, now that DC is pushing Barry Allen as, in EVS’ words, “The King of Flashes.”

More on Flash: Rebirth from Fan Expo 2008

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From CBR’s write-up of Saturday’s DC: A Guide to Your Universe panel at Fan Expo, here’s some more commentary on the future of the Flash.

[Dan] Didio said, “I don’t think I ever said Bart Allen was dead. I am serious.”

“We all wish it,” added Giffen to a chorus laughs.

“There were changes that were going to be made,” continued Didio. “There were stories that were going to be told and there were definite crossovers taking place at the moment of the death of Bart Allen. So there is a good chance there is going to be more resolutions to that character and what happened to him in the very near future or the very far future.”

Well, we already knew that Bart’s death was one of the major kick-offs for Salvation Run and all the threads in Countdown, Justice League, Checkmate, etc. that tied into it. But I’m not convinced that Dan Didio never said Bart was dead.

Ethan Van Sciver went into more detail on the future of the Flash franchise: Continue reading →

Talking Flash: Rebirth at Fan Expo 2008

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CBR has posted a writeup of yesterday’s DC Nation panel at Fan Expo in Toronto, including this segment on Flash: Rebirth.

One series [Ethan] Van Sciver will be working on that could be talked about was the upcoming “Flash: Rebirth” series. When a fan asked why they would replace Wally West with Barry Allen when the former was the far more popular and successful version of the character, the artist said, “We have not said that Wally West will not be the Flash.”

When the conversation came to a chicken or the egg type of debate between the panelists and the audience about the scarlet speedster, [Dan] Didio explained, “Some of the more recognizable Wally West stories deal with the Barry Allen lore and what his legacy is. A lot of Wally can’t be explained without Barry, so therefore it was essential, we thought, for Barry to come back. And at that point, we’d undone so much of what Crisis On Infinite Earths was ” Supergirl was back, the multiverse was back ” there was only one last piece to decide upon, and it was Barry. And at that point, it didn’t make sense not to do it.”

“I used to be in taxi cabs with Dan and just say, ‘We have to bring Barry Allen back,’” Van Sciver explained finally. “Now is the time for this character. Flash is a CSI scientist. It’s a whole new avenue for Flash stories, and these are stories Geoff and I want to tell. And you have to give us the room now. This isn’t a reboot. We are going to make this part of one long continuous story. Just like with Hal Jordan…everything that was done even before us was part of a much larger picture. We’re going to do the same thing with Barry Allen and the entire Flash legacy.”

Also interesting, and relevant to the Flash, is the earlier section in which Dan Didio talks about realizing that repeated reboots and changes of direction are actually alienating readers, rather than bringing them in: Continue reading →

Word Balloon interviews EVS on Flash: Rebirth

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The latest Word Balloon podcast interviews artist Ethan Van Sciver on his role in Flash: Rebirth. Newsarama has posted selected quotes, including this:

I’ve been talking about bring Barry back for years. He’s been dead for 23 years I think we’ve paid sufficient homage to the greatness of the original Crisis…you know there’s still great stories to tell about this character let’s bring him back NOW. He’s a crime scene investigator, and we can tell stories in a pg-13 way that couldn’t be done in the silver age.

People are going to focus on Barry Allen being back …but really what Flash Rebirth is about is restoring the entire Flash mythos. We want to realign everything up again, have it all make sense, and make it more palatable for every Flash fan. The Flash mythos is only partly understood now…There’s going to be a big map that explains concepts that people already kind of have an inkling about, will be totally explained therein.

I’m going to have to listen to this later.