Tag Archives: Francis Manapul

Interview: Flash Artist Francis Manapul on Hot Pursuit, Central City and speed tricks

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Today’s guest post is the fifth in a series of interviews by Greg Elias on The Art of Speed. 

Since the launch of the latest ongoing Flash series last summer, artist Francis Manapul has illustrated some of the most elaborate speed sequences in the character’s history. Teamed with Writer/DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and colorist Brian Buccellato, Manapul came to the Flash title following runs on Legion of Super-Heroes and Adventure Comics, as well as two issues of Superman/Batman.  His work is instantly recognizable: deceptively simple and atmospheric, at once well-suited to the tone of Johns’ Flash stories and unlike any artist to previously work on the title.  Together with Johns, he has set the pace for a renewed Central City and the feel of this Flash book.

With his first six issues, The Dastardly Death of the Rogues, collected for release on February 15, Manapul is set to begin his next chapter on February 9 with Flash #9.  This story is billed as a lead-in to the upcoming Flashpoint event, and features the debut of Hot Pursuit, a new speedster first revealed in the final pages of Flash .

We spoke with the Manapul via email, where he revealed some of the building blocks for his Flash, including super-speed innovations and previously unseen designs for Hot Pursuit!

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Francis Manapul Nominated for Joe Shuster Award

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The 2011 nominations for the Joe Shuster Awards are out, and The Flash artist Francis Manapul has been nominated for the category of Outstanding Comic Book Artist. The awards recognize the achievements of Canadian comic book creators, publishers and retailers.

This is his second nomination; he was also nominated last year, but the award went to Stuart Immonen.

(Via The Source)

Flash #9 Preview & New Covers

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DC has posted a preview of Flash #9 (out next week), along with the final covers.

FLASH issue nine, on sale next Wednesday, kicks off the much anticipated Prelude to FLASHPOINT storyline. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Francis Manapul are crafting a murder mystery with a heck of a twist. Who dies? We won’t say here (yet), but we’ll let this question linger: “You recognize the costume?”

Interestingly, it seems they’ve swapped the primary covers for Flash #9 and Flash to keep the “character-focused” theme running through January’s books as close to January as possible. And while the book was originally solicited with a Scott Kolins variant cover, it’s being shipped with one by Tyler Kirkham.

They’ve also replaced the “Brightest Day” banner with “The Road to Flashpoint.”

Read the preview at The Source or at CBR.

Update: Francis Manapul has been posting scans of the uncolored interior artwork on his DeviantArt page: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 5, and Page 6.

Who is the Luckiest Flash Fan Alive? Joey Forlini Just Might Be…

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Okay, maybe calling him the “Luckiest Flash Fan Alive” is pushing it, but there is no denying that Joey Forlini has won some flashtastic stuff. As a matter of fact Joey was the winner of Speed Force’s very first contest and now has received a personalized Francis Manapul sketch book, courtesy of the ‘Man himself.

About three months ago current Flash artist, Francis Manapul held a contest on his twitter account asking fans a trivia question; What was the first comic his work was published in?

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Rogue Profiles: Keeping the Flash on Schedule

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This is probably a crazy idea, but it’s something I thought about while writing up my thoughts on Flash #6:

DC should plan for the book to get delayed.

I really like Francis Manapul’s art, and Geoff Johns, when he’s at the top of his game, can be a great writer. I’d rather not lose this team on the book right now. But it’s been a while since The Flash managed to release twelve issues a year. To catch up, they’ve planned a couple of Rogue Profiles before the next story arc: done-in-one issues that tie into the ongoing mythology but focus on a different point of view, namely one of the Flash’s villains. These were great during Geoff Johns’ run on the Wally West Flash series, and I’m glad we’re seeing more.

Meanwhile, the pacing of the series seems a little bit more decompressed than it needs to be. As much as I enjoyed it, “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” felt like it could have been told as effectively in four or five parts instead of six. Flash: Rebirth definitely could have – it seemed like half of the final issue was epilogue. But six issues is the standard length for a collection, so that seems to be the story length that they’re shooting for.

My suggestion: Make the story arcs five issues long instead of six, and schedule a Rogue Profile in between. Put another artist on the profile, one suited to the villain getting the spotlight. If Geoff Johns is busy, let another writer work from his outline, or hand it outright to someone who understands the current take on the Rogues.

That way, the star creative team is only committed to ten issues a year instead of twelve, and we get some great stand-alone stories that DC can either include with the main story collections or save up for a couple of years and put in a collection as “The Flash: Rogues Gallery.”

What do you think?