The Source has posted several pages of art from Francis Manapul’s work on the Flash, ranging from sketches to finished pencils. Some are familiar from yesterday’s preview. Most are new.
I particularly like this drawing of Abra Kadabra from the upcoming Flash Secret Files book (March 24).
There’s also a view of the crime lab — a nice, big, open crime lab that I’m sure will make Scipio of the Absobascon happy if he’s still reading.
DC has released a 5-page preview of The Flash #1. The Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul series launches on April 14 (after a Flash Secret Files and Origins special this month).
It’s…better than I expected, actually. Geoff Johns is finally writing that book about speed that he always wanted to do but somehow didn’t get around to. I like Francis Manapul’s art, though I think it needs a bit more in the movement department (the Flash looks like a statue compared to the car he’s pacing). And I’m beginning to think I’d happily read a story about Iris Allen, Caffeinated Reporter (though as a journalist, I’d like to think she’d be using actual words while texting).
The preview describes the first storyline, “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” (and now we have a definitive statement on whether “Death” is singular or plural in that title), as follows:
…coming back may have been the easy part. When one of the Flash’s deadliest foes turns up dead, can the newly-returned Scarlet Speedster scour Central City to solve the crime before the elusive killer strikes again?
DC goes on to add that they’ll be “talking more Flash” soon.
(The Source’s images sometimes don’t work on Internet Explorer. If that’s the case, you might have some success with CBR’s copy or Newsarama’s copy of the preview.)
DC has posted three variant covers at The Source, for upcoming issues of Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Blackest Night: The Flash. Francis Manapul’s cover for Blackest Night: The Flash #3 features the Rogues.
Oddly enough, we still haven’t seen the standard cover for the issue (scheduled for February 17). It was originally solicited using the variant cover for #1, and that cover still appears on DC’s website. I briefly wondered whether they might be hiding a giant picture of Blue Lantern Barry Allen for spoiler reasons (the solicitations went up in November), but the costume is similar enough that they could easily redraw the symbol and color his costume red for the preview, like they disguised Professor Zoom as the Black Flash on the preview image for Flash: Rebirth #5.
Update: Francis Manapul has posted the inks and watercolor version of this cover.
Sometime today, DC updated their website and added a five-page preview to the Blackest Night: Flash #2 listing. Here’s a direct link to the PDF. It also features the variant cover by Francis Manapul.
Whoa. Cheery image, there.
Thanks to @liabrown1 for spotting it!.
DC’s full April 2010 solicitations won’t go up for a few more hours, but they’ve posted the Brightest Day books at the Source…including the first issue of the new ongoing Flash series.
A BRIGHTEST DAY tie-in! Get in on the ground floor of DC’s next epic in the making! The Flash races out of BLACKEST NIGHT and into his own monthly title as the all-new adventures of The Fastest Man Alive start with “Case One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues!” Barry Allen runs back to his life in Central City, but when one of the Rogues turns up murdered under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to The Flash to not only solve this bizarre crime, but protect those that are still targeted by the elusive killer. Plus, don’t miss a peek into the future of the Flash universe in this special, extra-sized starting point issue!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
DC has announced over at The Source that DC will be following Blackest Night with Brightest Day, a yearlong, 26-issue biweekly series by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi that’s being described as “DCU: Rebirth.” Like Blackest Night, it will tie into just about everything, with some series (including the two Green Lantern books) getting a “Brightest Day” Banner…including The Flash.
I think it’s safe to say this is the cover for The Flash #1.
Dan Didio explains:
We’ll be launching the new FLASH ongoing series, by Geoff and Francis Manapul in April with a BRIGHTEST DAY banner, and there will be several more titles utilizing it come May and June.
With this book, Geoff and Francis are really bringing Barry Allen back into the spotlight and cementing him as the premiere Flash in the DCU in his own monthly. It’s no secret that I’ve been waiting a long time to see this. I’ve always been a huge Barry fan, and I can say that Geoff and Francis are reinvigorating him as a character in much the same way Geoff did with Hal Jordan. Should be fun.
Well, you can’t say they aren’t giving the new series a major push. (Now I’d really like to see numbers on Blackest Night: The Flash.)
I’d like to believe that Brightest Day represents the long-promised, well, brightening of the DC Universe we were told would happen after Infinite Crisis, but if Flash is a major component, and it’s going to be all about murder mysteries, I’m a little concerned. On the other hand, Pushing Daisies had a new murder mystery each week, and still managed to be a light-hearted comedy, so who knows?
Here’s hoping Brightest Day will live up to its name!
Update: The news on Brightest Day: Titans seems to suggest that Brightest Day will be continuing the grim-n-gritty approach that DC has taken from Identity Crisis onward.
Update 2: IGN interviews Geoff Johns about the project.