Tag Archives: Geoff Johns

Geoff Johns Relaunches Vibe. No, Really!

DC has announced the next wave of the New 52, to launch with the new Justice League of America series. Also launching are Katana, spinning out of Birds of Prey, and Justice League of America’s Vibe.

And with a premiere issue being co-plotted by Geoff Johns, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA’S VIBE will come to you from the creative team of writer Andrew Kreisberg (ARROW) and artist Pete Woods (LEGION LOST).

I have two words: Called it.

Update: MTV Geek has a statement by regular writer Andrew Kreisberg…who turns out to be the writer of the Justice League Unlimited episode, “The Greatest Story Never Told.”

All I can say to that is, “Thank you, Green Lantern!”

This Week: Flash Omnibus vol.3, Digital Flash(back) #50-53 and More

This week sees the release of The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.3, wrapping up the initial Geoff Johns run on the Wally West Flash series.

A third massive FLASH HC from superstar writer GEOFF JOHNS! • THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE clashes with his Rogues Gallery, including CAPTAIN COLD, THE PIED PIPER, TRICKSTER and MIRROR MASTER! • Collects THE FLASH #201-225 and WONDER WOMAN #214!

Written by Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka
Art by Howard Porter, Alberto Dose, Various
Cover by Michael Turner

Order on Amazon (40% discount)

I still think we’ll see a fourth volume featuring Johns’ work on Barry Allen sometime. 6 issues of Flash: Rebirth, 3 of Blackest Night: The Flash, 12 of The Flash vol.3 and 5 of Flashpoint, plus the half-issue story from The Flash Secret Files 2010 add up to around 600 pages, close to the size of this volume.

In digital backissues, we get five issues of Flash and two of Impulse.

Flash v2 #50 featuring Flash's new belt. Flash #50 features the conclusion of the Vandal Savage storyline interrupted a few weeks back by the republishing of “Dead Heat”…and the debut of Wally West’s redesigned costume. Flash #51-53 are a series of done-in-one stories. The Flash battles a former Soviet hero cut adrift by the collapse of the USSR, then works off his debts to the IRS as a tax collector, sent after a man who summoned a team of demons to cheat at his taxes. (Hey, the Joker once sold his soul for a box of cigars.) Flash #53 is notable less for the Superman team-up than for Pied Piper coming out of the closet.

Jumping ahead to Flash #80 fills in the missing chapter of “Back on Track,” the remaining parts of which went online during the Nightwing 101 sale last month. Magenta threatens Keystone City, and only Wally West can stop her — but not as the Flash.

Impulse #13: What Price Fame? Impulse #13 tells the story of one of Bart Allen’s friends who becomes a daredevil in order to be popular. Impulse save him time and again, but that only feeds the cycle. Impulse #14 is the first part of a two-parter starring the Trickster and White Lightning, both of whom are trying to steal the same precious artifact, with Bart’s best friend Carol gets caught in the middle.

Flash (1987-2009) on ComiXology
Impulse on ComiXology

Vibe: Rebirth – For Real (sort of)

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Long-time Speed Force readers may remember an April Fools’ prank I did with the Irredeemable Shag of Once Upon a Geek and Firestorm Fan, “revealing” that Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver’s next project after revamping the Flash would be Vibe: Rebirth.

Three years later, Vibe did indeed turn up in the background of DC’s Free Comic Book Day offering, and he’s been making appearances on the animated DC Nation.

Today, in a CBR interview with Geoff Johns & Jim Lee, there’s this bit of news that should make Scipio of The Absorbascon happy:

As for what underused character he’d like to explore next, the answer was simple.

“Vibe!” Johns replied with a laugh. “They told me you can’t make Booster Gold work, and we made it work; you can’t make Aquaman work, and we made it work. I want to find the B character who everyone says is a complete waste of time, and Vibe is — he’s recent, he’s Detroit League and I have a soft spot because I’m from Detroit, so he’s my next challenge.”

Yes, that’s right: Geoff Johns wants to revamp Vibe.

Now if he can just get Ethan van Sciver on board…

Geoff Johns’ Flash: All About Speed?

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Monday’s post about how Wally West’s dynamic character makes him harder to reboot than Barry Allen got me thinking about something Geoff Johns said to Hero Complex when he took over the book back in 2009:

But you look at what the theme of Flash’s book has been for the last 200-something issues with Wally West and it’s been about a man trying to fill someone else’s boots. It doesn’t really have anything to do with speed. I mean, it has something to do with speed, but it was not totally what the book was about. The new Flash that I’m doing is all about speed.

At the time, I found it disingenuous because Geoff Johns wrote six years of that run himself, and he could have focused more heavily on speed with Wally West if he’d wanted to. And I found it worrying because he felt Wally’s defining characteristic was wanting to be like Barry Allen. Not the journey of becoming a hero, not learning to be an adult, but specifically trying to be someone he’s not.

But now I find the quote even more annoying, and here’s why:

Geoff Johns’ Flash, from Rebirth through Flashpoint, is not all about speed. It’s not even about hope, as suggested in Blackest Night.

It’s about a man so driven by grief that he nearly destroyed the world. Not even through speed, but through time travel.

The great over-arching Flash story from 2009-2011 might have been more appropriate for Booster Gold or Rip Hunter. (Or maybe Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, considering that it sounds a little like Emerald Twilight and Zero Hour when you break it down that far.)

Oh, well. Time to chalk it up as one more missed opportunity from that run, and Move Forward.

This Week: Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus 2

THE FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by SCOTT KOLINS, DOUG HAZLEWOOD, RICK BURCHETT, PHIL WINSLADE, DAN PANOSIAN and others
Cover by SCOTT KOLINS
648 pg, FC, $75.00 US (Or $46 on Amazon)

It’s the second hardcover volume collecting all the issues of THE FLASH written by comics superstar Geoff Johns! In this massive collection featuring issues #177-200 and DC FIRST: FLASH/SUPERMAN #1, an old friend of Wally West becomes the portal to another universe and Gorilla Grodd goes wild in Keystone City! Plus, don’t miss the Fastest Man Alive’s clashes with members of his infamous rogues gallery, including Captain Cold, The Trickster, the Pied Piper and more!

Notes: I’ve said before that these are my favorite stories from Geoff Johns’ run. He’d hit his stride by this point, bringing everything together first for Crossfire, then for Blitz, with some great done-in-one stories in the middle and a real effort to balance characterization, world building, and both the classic Rogues and new villains.

Full Details on Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns Vol.3

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DC’s full June 2012 solicitations are out, including full details on The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol.3

THE FLASH OMNIBUS BY GEOFF JOHNS VOL. 3 HC

GEOFF JOHNS and GREG RUCKA
Art by HOWARD PORTER, ALBERTO DOSE and OTHERS
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
On sale AUGUST 29 • 640 pg, FC, $75.00 US

A third massive FLASH HC from superstar writer GEOFF JOHNS!
THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE clashes with his Rogues Gallery, including CAPTAIN COLD, THE PIED PIPER, TRICKSTER and MIRROR MASTER!
Collects THE FLASH #201-225 and WONDER WOMAN #214!

As predicted, it ships the final week in August and wraps up the entire Geoff Johns run on the Wally West Flash series. One question is answered: it does include both halves of that Flash/Wonder Woman/Villains United crossover. Another remains: What about The Flash #1/2, the short story leading into Rogue War that provided a little depth to the second Trickster?

Volume 2 runs through Flash #200 and collects what I think is the best of Geoff Johns’ run on the character. Volume 3 collects Ignition and runs through the Identity Crisis-to-Infinite Crisis era, finishing with Rogue War.

I still think we’re likely to get a fourth volume next year that collects Johns’ Barry Allen run, starting with Flash: Rebirth and running at least through The Road to Flashpoint, if not all the way through Flashpoint itself, though I imagine DC would like to put that off a while to give the current collections a bit more shelf life. Flashpoint only came out in paperback last week, after all.

Pre-order at Amazon:
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.2 ships in April.
»Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol.3 ships in August/September.

(Thanks to Collected Editions for the tip!)