Tag Archives: Flashpoint

Cobalt Blue T-Shirt Available Exclusively At VA Comicon

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All right! With wild speculation concerning the identity of the individual(s) behind Flashpoint swirling about, we have a surprise exclusive being released first through VA Comicon coming up April 9, 2011 in Richmond, VA. The remaining t-shirts will be distributed through various outlets until they are gone.

Check it out:

The T-Shirt retails for $19.99 and will only be available in limited quantities.

I think the timing of the shirt is indicative of what I’ve known all along; Malcolm Thawne is behind Flashpoint and Barry Allen has no hope of stopping him.

Who plans on picking this baby up?

 

-Devin “Zoom” Johnson

Geoff Johns: Flashpoint-by-Point

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Newsarama has an extensive interview with Geoff Johns. Here are the items they thought were worth highlighting:

  • In the Flashpoint mini-series, Flash and Batman team up “Brave and the Bold style.”
  • Johns says his mini-series is the “most accessible event I’ve ever done,” saying there is no other comic necessary to read before or during his story.
  • The writer has been working on the concept for years.
  • One of the reasons there are multiple tie-ins is that comic creators were told about the event at a meeting, and they came up with what Johns calls “quality stories” they wanted to tell in the Flashpoint world.
  • Although Johns won’t clarify whether the mini-series has lasting ramifications, he keeps saying things like, “where DC is going” … and “what we have coming out of” Flashpoint.

A few additional items that will probably be of interest:

  • Andy Kubert is currently drawing issue of the 5-issue miniseries, and Geoff Johns is currently writing .
  • “The tie-ins aren’t just, like, ‘look, so-and-so is this way.’ It’s exploring ‘how did they get there, and why?'”
  • “The first rule about Flashpoint is, don’t talk about what happens after Flashpoint.”
  • “There’s another character that’s very obscure who is going to have a bigger role in the Flashpoint mini-series than she’s ever had in the DC Universe.”
  • “In a way, Hot Pursuit will appear in Kid Flash: Lost, by Sterling Gates.”

“In a way?” That’s odd phrasing. Sort of like how Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker “from a certain point of view.” Hmm….

Meanwhile, let’s start speculation on the “very obscure” female character who will have a bigger role in this series. I’m guessing it’s not Element Girl/Element Woman since she’s already been mentioned (assuming they’re even the same character).

There’s a whole lot more in the full interview.

In other Flashpoint news, The Source has been posting more character designs with commentary by artist Andy Kubert.

Additionally, ComicsAlliance has a scoop with a new set of Flashpoint variant covers.

Alternate History of DC/AA Comics: Introducing Flashette

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What kinds of changes are in store for the DC Universe during Flashpoint? Teasers we’ve seen so far show a world with no Earth-based Green Lantern, a very different Superman, and a Wonder Woman and Aquaman who are world leaders rather than superheroes. DC will be publishing no less than sixteen miniseries exploring this altered world, enough for an entire line of comics…which brings to mind another thought:

What might DC comics look like if they’d been publishing this alternate history all along?

It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s explored an alternate publishing history. The Marvel/DC mash-up Amalgam Comics were all labeled , but included editor’s notes and letters columns referring back to earlier imaginary comics.

More interestingly, Bob Rozakis published a series of articles in TwoMorrows’ Alter Ego and Back Issue magazines in which he imagined an alternate history of DC Comics, the company.

All-American Comics

Up until the mid-1940s, DC Comics was really two companies: One was DC proper, owned by Harry Donenfield. The other was All-American Comics, owned by Max Gaines, which published under the DC label. The big three characters at DC were Superman, Batman and Robin, starring in World’s Finest. The big three at All American were Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and the Flash (Jay Garrick), starring in Comic Cavalcade. (This is also why Johnny Quick exists: DC published the Flash, but didn’t actually own the character, so they wanted a speedster they owned outright.) In 1945, after a dispute led to several issues of All-American books being published under their own banner, DC bought out the entire line. A few years later, most of the All-American characters fell off the radar (with the notable exception of Wonder Woman), but DC kept publishing Superman and Batman.

By 1956, DC decided to try re-imagining some of the older characters, starting with the Flash. The result: the Silver Age explosion, including new versions of Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), the Atom (Ray Palmer), etc.

What If…

For an Elseworlds story, Bob Rozakis imagined an alternate world in which instead of DC buying All-American, All-American bought DC. Flash and Green Lantern survived the end of the Golden Age, but Batman and Superman disappeared until they were re-imagined for the Silver Age.

DC rejected the story, but the ideas stuck in Rozakis’ head, and he eventually expanded them into a full alternate history — and not just an alternate story history, but an alternate publishing history, down to the way the alternate publisher might have treated his writers and artists.

Of course, part of the fun in this sort of alternate history is looking at not just what might be different, but what might be similar. So Green Lantern and the Flash not only took on the prominence of Superman and Batman, but many of the same story elements. Green Lantern introduced Kid Lantern stories instead of Superboy, and Girl Lantern instead of Supergirl. Instead of Batgirl, the Flash family expanded to include Flashette. Artist Larry Guidry provided cover art inspired by the introductions of their counterparts in the real publishing timeline.

On his blog, Rozakis lists the full set of articles:

The series appeared in ALTER EGO #s 76, 78-81, 83, 85 and 87, with a bonus chapter scheduled for #93 or #94, depending on space. [Edit: I don’t see it listed on the TOC for either book.] The second half is in BACK ISSUE #s 28 – 36, except #31.

What If…DC Renumbered the Flash?

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So haw many Flash comics have there been, anyway?

With the news that DC is canceling the current Flash series in the lead-up to Flashpoint, speculation has turned to the inevitable relaunch that we’ll see afterward.

Now, DC could just pick up the numbering where they left off, as if the book had simply been on hiatus (like many of us expected)…but that sort of puts a lie to the statement that “Issue 12 will be the final issue of THE FLASH.”

DC could also restart at …again. But is that really what they want to do after Flash: The Fastest Man Alive in 2006, All-Flash in 2007, Flash: Rebirth in 2009, and Flash in 2010?

So the prospect of renumbering raises its head again. It’s a natural with The Flash. After all, Barry Allen’s 1959 launch started at #105, picking up the numbering from where Jay Garrick’s series left off in 1949, and Wally West’s 2007 launch picked up right where it left off the year before. And with books like Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and Thor adding up the totals from multiple relaunches, it seems a clear possibility.

So, if we added up all the Flash comics, what number would we be at?

350 issues of Flash Comics starring Jay Garrick and The Flash starring Barry Allen
247 issues of The Flash starring Wally West (not counting , ,000,000, or /2, all of which would have been numbered out of sequence anyway).
13 issues of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive starring Bart Allen
12 issues of The Flash starring Barry Allen.

That’s 622 issues there, making the next one Flash #623. Though if you include Flash and ,000,000, which were part of the monthly series (but not /2, which was a promotional giveaway from Wizard Magazine), that would bring the total to 624, making the next one #625.

You could also make a case for including a few others:

1 issue of All-Flash, since it filled the monthly slot and bridged the gap between the end of Flash:TFMA and the 2007 relaunch.
6 issues of Flash: Rebirth, since it replaced the monthly series and served as the primary Flash book for 2009.

I wouldn’t include the annuals, or the 1970 Flash Spectacular, or the original Flashpoint miniseries, or the two Flash 80 Page Giants, or the four Flash Secret Files books. I also wouldn’t include Blackest Night: The Flash or Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge. These are all miniseries or specials that feel separate from the main Flash series, though I’d consider Blackest Night: The Flash a possible candidate.

That brings it to 629 issues.

Could we be looking at a post-Flashpoint launch of Flash #625 or Flash #630?

Digital Flashpoint

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A somewhat less controversial bit of Flashpoint news: All Flashpoint-related titles will be available digitally 4 weeks after the in-store arrival of the print version, released on Fridays to keep the “Flashpoint Friday” theme going.

Personally I think this would be a great opportunity to do day-and-date releases, but DC and Marvel seem desperately afraid that digital comics will destroy the retail market, so they keep hobbling the digital market so that it can’t reach its potential.