Tag Archives: Greg LaRocque

Flash Jam Sketch

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Jesse sent in this photo of an amazing piece of Flash artwork he recently bought:

Here’s how he describes it:

It’s a single board of paper with drawings of the Flash from some of his most notable artists. You’ve got the two main Flash artists from the ’90s: Greg LaRocque (my favorite Flash artist) drew the large picture of Wally on the left, and Mike Wieringo drew one, too! There are also drawings by Pop Mhan and Craig Rousseau. To top it off, Carmine Infantino did the sketch at the top. (I like to think that the 4 drawings are of Wally, with the spirit of Barry looking over, since it’s in a lighter ink.) Oh, and Mark Waid signed the bottom as well. I don’t own a lot of comic art, but even though this was expensive, I jumped at the chance to get it.

Wow!

It really makes me wonder what the story is behind the fan who originally went around collecting these sketches.

Update: Check out the comments below, where artist Greg LaRocque reveals the secret origin of the sketch!

Happy Birthday Greg LaRocque

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It turns out that today is Greg LaRocque’s birthday! LaRocque drew The Flash vol.2 through all of William Messner-Loebs’ run and the beginning of Mark Waid’s, finishing up with the well-regarded story, The Return of Barry Allen. He pencilled the book for five years, from Flash vol.2 #15 in 1988 through Flash vol.2 #79 in 1993, with only a handful of fill-in issues by other artists, making him the longest-running artist on Wally West’s series.

Along the way he designed Wally West’s shiny costume, which debuted in the above Flash vol.2 #50. In my opinion, he’s still the artist who made it look the best. As Scott Mateo points out on Comic Bloc, when LaRocque drew Wally and Barry together, you could easily tell them apart even at a glance. The artist talks about the redesign in his interview in The Flash Companion.

It’s interesting that LaRocque and Messner-Loebs worked together on the book for roughly four years, and their birthdays are only a few days apart!

Flash Signings for Free Comic Book Day

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Free Comic Book Day

Saturday, May 2 is Free Comic Book Day, and comic stores around the world (okay, mostly in the US) are holding events with guests from the comics industry.  I’ve put together a list of all the Flash and Impulse-related appearances I could find:

United States

Arizona

  • Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver sign at Atomic Comics in Mesa

California

  • Mark Waid and Marc Guggenheim sign at Collector’s Paradise in Winnetka from noon-3pm
  • Mark Guggenheim will also appear at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles from 4-7pm.
  • Todd Nauck (Young Justice) signs at 4 Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga

Florida

  • Paul Pelletier signs at Heroes Haven in Tampa

Maryland

  • Greg LaRocque signs at Super Villains Comic Shop in Baltimore

New York

Canada

  • Ken Lashley (Flash: The Fastest Man Alive) signs at Comic Connection in Hamilton, Ontario

Notes

The FCBD website has a list of more creator signings on Saturday. I may have missed some Flash-related names.

Free Comic Book Day

Speed Reading: Reviews, Theories, Sketches and Films

Titans Tower Monitor Room has a whole series of sketches from New York Comic Con including a classic Kid Flash by Alex Saviuk, a Flash by Greg LaRocque, and a set of classic Teen Titans by Karl Kerschl.

Comic Bloc’s Iron Sun 254 has a theory on the nature of the Speed Force.

Crimson Lightning has the results of the Favorite Flash Vol.2 Writer poll: Mark Waid wins handily, with Geoff Johns a close second. The next poll (on the sidebar of any page at Crimson Lightning): who’s your favorite Flash leading lady?

The Jim Aparo Fan Club profiles Flash #311, his only Flash cover.

Comicbook.com lists Barry and Iris Allen among their 10 great comic-book couples.

Reilly2040 reviews Legion of Three Worlds #3, focusing on the Flash elements.

Fan Cinema Today reviews The Flash: Crossover the fan film released a few weeks ago from Influence Films.

One more: The Cool Kids Table’s Ben Morse writes about why he likes Wally West.

Speed Reading for the Holidays

A couple of fan redesigns of Bart Allen’s costumes: Kid Flash by PO! and The Flash (Bart Allen) by Ming Doyle. (I found the first through a Google alert, and the second on the DC Boards.)

Ring from Will Triumph Fights AloneComiccon.com interviews the creators of Will Triumph Fights Alone. The power ring on the cover, with its yellow band, circular setting, and lightning insignia looks oddly familiar.

Comics Should Be Good’s Top 100 battles adds more Flash material, including Flash vs. Zoom (Blitz) (thanks, Craig MD) and #47, Flash vs. Professor Zoom (Return of Barry Allen)

Hero Complex has 10 favorite Wonder Woman battles including Wonder Woman vs. Zoom.

Update: I missed this one in my rush to post this before heading out to a family gathering that, as it turned out, was starting several hours before we expected. Newsarama has an interview with Greg LaRocque about his new project, The Dreaming. LaRocque worked on The Flash during the late 1980s and early 1990s with both William Messner-Loebs and Mark Waid.

Update 2: It’s All Just Comics has original art for one of the Superman/Flash races. Sadly, it’s a little out of my price range. OK, it’s a LOT out of my price range.

Classic Covers: Flash v.2 #51

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I hope Dixon of Crimson Lightning won’t mind me picking up this theme. (Come to think of it, he’s probably used this cover on that blog.)

Anyway, today’s classic cover is Flash v.2 #51 (June 1991), for reasons which should be obvious to US residents.

The other characters running with the Flash haven’t been seen for a while: the three dressed in white and red are the Kapitalist Kouriers, a trio of Soviet expatriates (originally called Red Trinity) who defected to the United States and went into business as super-speed couriers. To the best of my knowledge, they haven’t been seen since Dead Heat (1995).

The woman in the Flash outfit is Christina, originally a member of Red Trinity’s predecessor team, Blue Trinity. She’s had a long history of working for various villains including Vandal Savage, Savitar, and Kobra (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not — her history with Savage is particularly twisted), but at this time she’d latched onto Wally West and was calling herself Lady Flash. She has been seen recently, albeit in a different costume, among Vandal Savage’s faction/harem in Salvation Run.