Tag Archives: Geoff Johns

Geoff Johns Talks Flashpoint #1 And Beyond

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Newsarama interviewed Geoff Johns now that Flashpoint #1 has hit the shelves.

The writer talks about the new characters, and the presence of several existing, but obscure heroes, explaining:

I didn’t want to see the same old faces we always see. This is a different world, and it needs to be more than just “whatever happened to the A- and B-list?” It’s got to be some characters that never existed before, and characters that were at the bottom of the barrel who are now at the top.

Part of the reason for all the tie-ins is to make it possible to explore those new characters outside the scope of the Flashpoint story itself.

Like just about everyone at DC, he made sure to stress that the event will have “major repercussions,” though I like the remark he made about whether the story “matters,” since a lot of readers have expressed the feeling that an alternate reality story isn’t worth reading on principle:

The story does matter. It matters to the Flash and it matters to all the other characters who are in it.

And of course he talks about that last-page reveal and its implications.

The real surprise is down near the end of the interview. Responding to concerns about production delays (which have plagued not only the last few big event comics, but the Flash since Barry Allen’s return), he assured readers that he and artist Andy Kubert were wrapping up the final issue now, so that there’s no question that the whole series will ship on time. Then he added:

And you know, we’re shipping two issues in August. Issue #4 and Issue #5 both come out in August, which is cool.

I think it’s great to have four months of “BAM!” here’s Flashpoint! Here’s the story! It’s a great ride, and then we’re on to the next thing. I think it’s great that it’s quick, fast.

Yes, indeed!

UPDATE: Geoff Johns also spoke with CBR about the issue.

Geoff Johns Talks Flashpoint, Dodges the Wally Question

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So, even when asked point blank, “Are we going to be seeing Wally in Flashpoint at all?” Geoff Johns can’t bring himself to say anything more than “It’s more focused on Barry and the DC Universe.”

Look, we know Barry’s the star. We get that. But it seems that in a gigantic, sprawling event centered on The Flash, with a central miniseries, 16 miniseries and at least four one-shots telling side stories, there ought to be room for Jay Garrick (yeah, him too) and Wally West somewhere. Bart gets a miniseries, and even Professor Zoom gets a one-shot.

The question wasn’t, “Will Wally West be a major player?” It was “Will Wally West appear.”

How hard is it to say, “Yes, he’ll be there, but he isn’t the focus of the book.”

I can only assume at this point that Wally West isn’t anywhere in the event, or that if he is, it’ll be in line with his appearance in this week’s issue of The Flash: a cameo as part of Barry’s cheerleading section. Or dead. Because let’s be honest: DC hasn’t given me any reason to believe anything else.

Back when DC canceled their plans for Wally West backup stories, Geoff Johns assured fans that Wally would not only be fine — he was going to kick ass. I’m still waiting.

At this point, I’m beginning to wish DC would just stop talking about Flashpoint until it launches. (Or maybe I should stop covering it.) I was pumped at the beginning — finally, the Flash is at the center of a big DC event, and there will be room for everyone! And I figured on buying 5 or 6 of the tie-ins, a big jump from the one tie-in I bought for Blackest Night. But far from piquing my interest, it seems like every “Flashpoint Friday” kills a little more of my enthusiasm.

Anyway, head over to the full interview at IGN. He talks about Flashpoint and Green Lantern, and of course doesn’t reveal a whole lot, since this is spoiler-free “wait and see” Geoff Johns.

Review: Flash #11 — “The Road to Flashpoint”

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On one hand, I found Flash #11 — chapter 3 of “The Road to Flashpoint” — to be a lot more engaging than the previous issue. On the other, it highlights some problems with the series.

I was disappointed to see that Francis Manapul didn’t draw this issue, though seeing Scott Kolins’ name was a relief. That said, while I normally like Kolins’ art on The Flash, it actually looks rushed, especially on the early pages. I have to wonder how much time DC gave him to draw the issue.

The pacing, however, is much better than the previous two issues. After an issue-long teaser and another issue that was 50% exposition, we actually get into the meat of the story here — a story very much about Barry Allen, the man who works as a police scientist, not the Flash who happens to be Barry Allen (which may be part of why I liked it better than #10).

It was nice to see the story actually address some of the problems with Barry’s post-Rebirth isolation, though I get the impression that this was intended to develop over more story arcs. As with the artist change, I can’t help but wonder what we might have seen if they’d been able to keep this book on time. Monthly from April 2010 through May 2011 would only have included two more issues, but the two Rogue Profiles wouldn’t have been added. Under those circumstances, Johns could have fit another 4-issue story between “Dastardly Death…” and “Road to Flashpoint.”

Geoff Johns does a good job of keeping Hot Pursuit’s motivation and methods ambiguous throughout the issue, keeping it unclear whether he’s causing or tracking the murders. The super-heroics kick into gear at the very end, with not one but two cliffhangers to be resolved in next month’s series finale…though with a title like “The Road to Flashpoint,” it seems pretty clear that it’ll wrap with some sort of transition. I expect the “last issue” to end in one of two ways: Either it will feature a teaser with Barry in the altered reality of Flashpoint, or it will end with a fade to white like all of DC’s “Zero Hour” tie-ins back in 1994.

So, let’s move on to some talk including SPOILERS… Continue reading →

Review: Flash #9 and 10

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Yeah, I’m way behind on reviewing The Flash. I thought about jumping straight in with #11 this week, but I decided I’d try to catch up if possible. Even if it is close to midnight.

So, the first two chapters of “The Road to Flashpoint,” by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul…

Flash #9

This was a fun issue, with some nice shout outs for long-term readers, but didn’t feel like it had much substance. It was the first issue to feature DC’s new, shorter page count (20 pages instead of 22), which may have something to do with it. On the other hand, I remember reading the latest issue of The Unwritten the same night, which had so much going on that I didn’t even notice it was shorter than usual. I actually counted pages to verify.

I still love Francis Manapul’s art, and the large panels and splash pages help it shine, but I’m really starting to feel like pacing is becoming a problem. (More about that with #10.)

It was great to see Wally, Jay and the rest, even if only for a couple of pages. I’d like to see them actually do something by the end of this storyline, though.

The rift between Barry and the “real cops,” as Detective Jerkwad calls them, was infuriating…but sadly all too realistic. No one likes to get caught abusing their position, and it takes effort to move past “I’ve been caught” to “I need to change what I’m doing”…and the type of person who would frame innocents just to look like he’s doing his job probably wouldn’t be interested in making that leap.

Hot Pursuit’s real identity was unexpected, and kind of cool at first, but started to grate a little during the following issue.

Flash #10

To be honest, I was really underwhelmed by this one. Fully half the issue was exposition. Not just exposition, but a bunch of guys standing around talking. In a book that’s supposed to be “all about speed.” And the exposition isn’t even really for this storyline, it’s for another story that’s coming up.

Sure, I know the story is called “The Road to Flashpoint,” but it’s starting to feel like these four issues of The Flash are only a prologue, and not a story in its own right. Okay, long prologues worked for Robert Jordan (as he got further into The Wheel of Time, the prologues to each novel approached a hundred pages and were released ahead of time as stand-alone eBooks), but I feel like the book is in a holding pattern.

Fortunately, the second half of the issue was a lot more engaging…which is odd, because it dropped all elements of super-heroics and super-speed to become a purely character-driven police procedural….and again featured a lot of standing around talking. Other reviews I’ve seen have made similar comments, and I think they’re right that it’s a matter of matching the storytelling style with the genre.

I like that Geoff Johns has updated Patty Spivot* into a full-fledged police scientist in her own right, rather than leaving her as a lowly lab assistant, and the interaction between the two former colleagues was a great mix of awkwardness, joy, slipping into old roles, and establishing new boundaries. I especially liked the understated moment where Patty says to Barry, “I didn’t know…you were back,” rather than coming out and saying, “I didn’t know you were alive” — it’s got to be strange to get a phone call from an old friend you thought had died** years ago.

The last scene between Barry and Bart, though, where Bart asks Barry if he’s avoiding him (and Barry dodges the question), comes close.

Hot Pursuit talking about another story? Not so much. OK, he’s got a cool super-speed bike that transforms into a night stick that projects holograms. But the concept of a super-speed time cop is, so far, more interesting than the execution.

I do see some interesting parallels with “Chain Lightning” and the Dark Flash saga. “Chain Lightning” featured someone who looked exactly like Barry Allen. The Dark Flash saga featured an alternate reality version of the starring Flash. Both featured Angela Margolin, a Central City police scientist who bore a striking resemblance to one Patty Spivot…

The Flash #10 also made me realize something about this relaunch: I find the modern Barry Allen, Police Scientist a lot more interesting as a character than the modern Barry Allen, the Flash. I’m still not sure why that is, but it’s something I’ll have to think about.

*Coincidentally, Patty’s earliest appearances after the “Ms. Flash” imaginary story were the very issues that Greg Elias has been writing about in his Flash Annotations series, starting with Flash v.1 #270-275.

**Barry Allen went missing during the Flash’s trial, and would have eventually been presumed dead. His identity as the Flash became public knowledge after he died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but was erased from everyone’s memory and all records by Hal Jordan when he was bound to the Spectre at the end of “Blitz.”

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 #4 of the 5-issue miniseries, and Geoff Johns is currently writing #5.
  • “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.

My issues with Geoff Johns’ treatment of the Golden Glider

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Today’s guest post is by Lia and was originally posted at The Rogues Kick Ass.

There are a number of reasons why I dislike Geoff Johns’ treatment of the Golden Glider (Lisa Snart), and it’s primarily because he makes her weak. Originally, she was an angry, vengeful character — a woman so angry about her boyfriend’s untimely death that she sought revenge on the Flash for purportedly killing him. It was her sole reason for becoming a villain, as she’d had no criminal record prior to the Top’s death and originally wasn’t interested in theft. For example, in Flash v1 #250 she vowed “No more skating for me…not until Roscoe’s death is avenged! And that means — get the Flash where it hurts the most!”

All her early appearances depicted her as viciously obsessed with making the Flash suffer just as she had, to the point of being defiantly willing to kill herself to fulfill this revenge. When the Flash bluffed about killing her to save his family from her scheme in Flash v1 #257, she declared “Then I’ll die — gladly! Without my beloved Roscoe, I have only one thing to live for anyway — vengeance! And with that accomplished, I’ll perish in peace — knowing you will be mourning as I have mourned — three times over!” There were in fact quite a few instances of her declaring hate for the Flash and her intent to get revenge. She was a strong and forceful person, if not a particularly pleasant one.

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