Tag Archives: George Perez

The Hero Initiative and Flash Appreciation Day

Hero Initiative

For Flash Appreciation Day, Nothing But Comics asked the Hero Initiative three questions about what they do, how you can help, and of course, the Flash:

1. For readers that may be unfamiliar with the Hero Initiative, can you tell us how the organization helps comics creators?

Long story short, we’re a medical and financial relief organization for comic book creators. We’ve literally kept people alive. There was a moment at the San Diego con a few years ago that was surreal for me. An artist that we benefited came up to me to thank me for the help we had given him. He was shaking my hand, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He had been living on about $90 a week, and was eating one meal a day. He didn’t know what to do, or where to turn, and he was ready to take his own life. He had literally written the suicide note when he stumbled upon us. We were able to get him back on his feet, and he’s alive today, doing much better.

We’ve literally paid back rent when people were 48 hours from being evicted, paid electric bills when people were 24 hours from having utilities shut off, and paid for desperately needed operations that weren’t covered by medical insurance as well.

 

2. How can people help the Hero Initiative?  Besides financial contributions, are there any resources or activities that might be helpful to the organization?

I always tell people, “Five bucks.” Is the easiest and best thing people can do. People can donate via the “What Can I Do?” page on our Website.

We also need volunteers for events and conventions to help us staff these events. Folks can find information on the same page.

 

3. Since it’s Flash Appreciation Day, I’d like to ask the Hero Initiative team if you have a favorite iteration of the Flash character (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, or Bart Allen)?

Here’s what some members of our Board of Directors had to say:

George Pérez, former Teen Titans writer, artist:

Barry was always MY  Flash. He’s the one I grew up with and there is something a bit poignant about being the artist who “killed” him back in the ’80s. Since I was drawing Wally as a member of the New Teen Titans, he will always be Kid Flash to me.

Mark Waid, former writer Flash:

How could it not be Wally West? Here’s my resume: Jay was stately, Barry was solid. But Wally was fun.

Walt Simonson, Ragnarok writer/artist:

Tossup between Jay Garrick and Barry Allen, giving Barry a slight edge.  He’s the character I read when I was young, so he’ll always be the Flash to me.  However, I was around when Jay Garrick was reintroduced into the DCU, and I have to say that as a kid reading the books,  I thought it very cool that a second mature Flash with gray temples had appeared.

Jim Valentino, Image Comics co-founder:

Jay Garrick. I read Flash #123 when I was about 10 and just loved the character. Simple, homespun. Everything from his personality on down to his costume–a red jersey, dungarees and doughboy hat with wings. It looked homemade, like something anyone could wear without getting embarrassed. The most likable character in the JSA, the heart of the team.

Dennis O’Neil, longtime comics writer and editor:

I guess I’d go with Barry, but I confess to a warm spot in my heart for Jay because he was one of the first superheroes I encountered.  (Hey, I was really, really young. Really!)

 

There you have it: A run-down of what the Hero Initiative does, plus a few Flash-y thoughts. Please take a look at how you can help by donating, volunteering, or participating in other programs that can help the charity.

Speed Force Fifth!: Year One(ish) In Collectibles!

SpeedForceFifth10

Hey Speed Readers,

As part of our Fifth Anniversary celebration, today we will be flashing back to 2009 to take a look at the state of the Flash action figure universe five (ish) years ago. Honestly 2008 only had one semi-decent Flash release so we will be skipping ahead slightly to a year or so before I came on board. DC Direct/DC Collectibles released five different versions (how apt) of The Flash back in 2009 beginning with Wally West from the Justice League of America series. Wally was released alongside Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman, and Geo-Force in January as part of the third series of releases and was the last original sculpt that we would see of Wally West released by DC Direct:

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Heroes Con Mini-Report: New Teen Titans Panel, George Pérez & Nick Cardy

I visited North Carolina on Friday to attend Day One of the 30th Charlotte Heroes Convention.  Billed as “comics-first…atmosphere, where fans can mingle directly with professionals and exhibitors,”  a massive collection of creators and vendors were on hand for the anniversary edition.  What drew me was the presence of George Pérez (Crisis on Infinite Earths, The New Teen Titans, decades of greatness).

I picked up the above commission at the convention, where Pérez was joined by Crisis and Titans partner Marv Wolfman.  The two, along with Pérez’s main Titans inker Romeo Tanghal, took part in a New Teen Titans panel at the outset of the convention.  For a report from the panel, as well as an encounter with Nick Cardy, follow the jump!

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Quick Thoughts Daily: 2009-07-20 – Reprints, Comic-Con, Artists and More

I decided to switch the Twitter digests from weekly to daily for the week of Comic-Con International. This is a bit cleaned up and reorganized.

Observations

  • This is going to be one of those many-blog-posts-a-day weeks, isn’t it? I may push some of my scheduled posts to after #sdcc
  • Diamond says Flash: Rebirth #1 FOURTH PRINTING ships next week.
  • Need to decide whether to keep going with Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance by Wednesday. Dropped Escape last week, not reading Ink or Run.
  • Misread “Council of Spiders” (upcoming Red Robin arc) as “Council of Spoilers.”

Comic-Con

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Review: Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4

Legion of Three Worlds #4

Yes, it’s actually here! This issue is a lot more story-focused than the last few, which I remember being more about showing the war between the Superman and the three Legions of Super-Heroes on one side and Superboy Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains on the other.

First: the art. It’s George Frelling Pérez. Do I really need to say anything more? Didn’t think so. The book looks fantastic.

The big events:

1. Following through on last issue’s resurrection of Bart Allen. We get a touching reunion between Bart and his cousin Jenni Ognats (XS of the reboot Legion), and Geoff Johns once again shows that he’s found Bart’s voice at last. (Quoting Disney’s Aladdin in the 31st century: absolutely perfect.) We also get some mumbo-jumbo about why Bart returned as a teenager instead of an adult, which doesn’t really make any sense (or fit with what we saw during 52 and Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, but then it’s not as if that’s been particularly consistent to begin with.)

2. Another hero returns from the dead, revealing that the Legionnaires in The Lightning Saga had at least two objectives to their time travel mission.

3. A major character’s true identity is revealed again, and it’s not the same identity as last time. (Shades of Monarch, there.)

Overall, I found it a better read than the earlier issues of the series, because it was much less scattered. I do get a sense that Geoff Johns is treating the “other” legions as expendable, making it possible to kill off “major characters” and still keep the “originals” around.

A couple of spoilery notes behind the cut: Continue reading