A few days ago, the Injustice Facebook page posted this alternate look for The Flash in the Blackest Night DLC pack for Injustice: Gods Among Us. IGN has a video showing it in action along with Superman and Doomsday. Continue reading
Artist Justin Murray has posted a bunch of concept art from Injustice: Gods Among Us, including this piece showing a Flash design for the video game. He explains, “It was the best thing in the world to be given the chance to redesign some of the worlds most badass superheroes and villains. They wanted us to go in a live action summer blockbuster movie direction with these designs. Hope you like them!”
Today’s guest post is by Colin Crebs.
Flash fans rejoice! Another playable Flash in a fighting game appears, this time in Injustice: Gods Among Us. But is he done well, or is it an… injustice?
Pictured above: The Flash striking a pose with the DC Trinity, with Solomon Grundy photobombing.
For quick reference, here is a video of the Flash fighting Shazam. You can see the Flash do some super-speed combos, slow down time, and perform his Super Move where he runs entirely around the world just because why not. If you practice with him for a few minutes, you will discover he’s very different in play-style from his appearance in MKvDC. He will seem generally slower, with no ability to zip around the stage with impunity. But he may grow on you.
This week’s chapter of the Injustice: Gods Among Us digital comic focuses on the Flash as he struggles with the consequences of Superman and Wonder Woman’s campaign and his role in it.
Some disclosure: I haven’t been reading this series, so I came into this issue relatively fresh. All I really know is it’s supposed to set up the world of the video game, and early issues feature some really unpleasant stuff with Lois Lane and Superman.
What appears to be happening is this: Superman and Wonder Woman have taken an Anakin/Darth Vader turn, and are using their powers not to help people, but to enforce order with an iron fist across a growing portion of the globe. Some, but not all of the Justice League have followed along, Batman being a notable exception. Flash has joined them, but in this issue sees first hand what happens when people reject Superman’s “protection.”
It’s an intriguing character study. The Flash tries to clear his head with a long-distance desert run, but fails, dwelling on the events of the day and what he learned afterward. The most poignant moment occurs when he finds the remains of a kangaroo hit by a truck. The driver, he muses, didn’t have time to react and had no hope of stopping it. The Fastest Man Alive, however? He watched the incident in all its sickening detail, fully aware of what was happening and fully able to stop it. Only he didn’t.
The comic does a good job establishing what’s going on and who’s involved, as well as showing Barry’s realization that he’s signed on for something horrible. What’s not clear is why he sided with them in the first place, given the way he’s portrayed in this issue. Is it that he trusts Clark and Diana? That he believed in their cause, but didn’t understand what they were doing? Did it start out benign and escalate? To be fair, the target reader has probably been reading since the beginning and doesn’t need to be reminded in such a short chapter.
It does feel a bit familiar: Superman and Wonder Woman taking over and Batman trying to stop them reminds me a lot of Kingdom Come or the Squadron Supreme Utopia Project. That said, it’s been more than 15 years since Kingdom Come and almost 30 since the Squadron Supreme story, so it’s hard to begrudge a newer take on the same thematic elements.
I continue to be impressed with how much story DC’s digital first comics fit into essentially a third of a standard comic, and even though the overall story doesn’t grip me from this one installment, the Flash’s story does.
The Flash takes center stage in Injustice: Gods Among Us #13 (digital) by Tom Taylor (no, not that Tom Taylor) and Tom Derenick. The series is a prelude to the upcoming video game.
In the land down under, The Flash must face the consequences of his choices. Superman and Wonder Woman have brought their campaign for a new world order to Australia and are confronted by a new hero. But what connection does this would-be champion have to the Scarlet Speedster?
Digital backissues include:
Flash #125: Lead-in to “Hell to Pay.” Rejected by Keystone City, Wally West protects the coastal city of Santa Marta, California, where Major Disaster plans to create a massive earthquake. Meanwhile, Keystone’s mayor finds that kicking the Flash out might not have been the best idea when the Rogues return from the dead. Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Paul Ryan & John Nyberg.
Impulse #63-64: “Mercury Falling” continues. Can Impulse pull together what it takes to save the dying Max Mercury? Or is inertia keeping him from unleashing his full potential? Bart says goodbye to his oldest friend in these issues. Todd Dezago, Ethan van Sciver.
Hey Speed Readers,
We’ve had a busy last few days when it comes to Flash news. First the final fate of Wally West in Young Justice and now some Injustice: Gods Among Us video game news.
First off, the creators behind Injustice, Netherrealm Studios, have been running a tournament called Injustice Battle Arena for the last few weeks. In it DC characters face off against each other with fan votes deciding the outcome. The Flash has already trounced Captain Marvel (or Shazam! ugh), and in a big shock this past week The Flash pulled off a huge upset against insanely popular Batman foe, The Joker.