Tag Archives: Interviews

Flash Companion Podcasts

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Flash Companion author Keith Dallas has appeared on several podcasts in the last few months.

May 1: TwoMorrows Tune-In #8

May 14: Views from the Longbox Episode #39: The Keith Dallas Conversation Part 1

May 28: Views from the Longbox Episode #40: The Keith Dallas Conversation Part 2

July 9: Alter Ego Comic Cast #107 with Keith Dallas and Jim Beard

Also, it turns out that while TwoMorrows will have copies to sell next week at Comic-Con International in San Diego, it probably won’t hit stores until July 30.

Flash Companion Preview: Cary Bates Interview

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The following is a 1-page excerpt from the upcoming book, The Flash Companion. The full interview appears in the second section of the book. It is printed here with permission of the book’s main author, Keith Dallas.

The Flash Companion is scheduled for a July 23 release.

Cary Bates: A Scarlet Speedster for the Seventies (excerpt)

By Jack Scott

SCOTT: Was [the serialized storytelling] your decision or a DC editorial decision to change how the Flash stories were being written? I’m wondering if there was a DC mandate to become more like its competitor Marvel Comics.

BATES: I don’t think going the serial route was an official mandate or anything. It just seemed like a natural way to proceed at the time, dictated by the story-lines more than anything else. It first began the last couple of years Julie [Schwartz] was editing the book, in the form of 2-4 issue arcs (like the Golden Glider stories). And with Ross [Andru] and Ernie [Colon], who were more Marvel-oriented guys, the full-on serialized mode pretty much became the status quo. Although I do recall a temporary return to more self-contained stories for awhile, when Mike Barr was editing and Carmine [Infantino] first returned to the book.

SCOTT: Speaking of the co-creator of Barry Allen/Flash, Carmine Infantino returned to pencil the book with issue #296 in 1981. How did it feel to get to work with one of the original creators of the book?

BATES: As I’ve mentioned, when I was growing up, Carmine’s distinctive artwork made a huge impact on me as a fan (and an aspiring amateur artist), so it was a great thrill to finally be working with him on Flash. Carmine and I always got along well, but when I first met him, he had given up his drawing board to serve as DC’s editorial director, although he still laid out most of the covers for other artists. In 1976, after Warners hired Jennette Kahn to take over that job, Carmine went back to penciling, and for a year or two he was working almost exclusively for Jim Warren on books like Creepy and Eerie. Ironically, it was here where our first collaborations took place, as I was writing occasional Warren stories for Louise Jones, who was the editor at the time. I think Carmine and I must have done 3 or 4 one shot horror stories that have long since been forgotten.

SCOTT: How far did you plot out stories? Continue reading →

Ethan van Sciver at Wizard World

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Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers spoke with Ethan van Sciver at Wizard World Chicago last week about his upcoming projects, including Green Lantern: Blackest Night with Geoff Johns and an untitled Wonder Woman project with Gail Simone. They also discussed the rumors of an upcoming Flash project with Geoff Johns.

The artist had just come from a DC panel where Dan DiDio seemed to always turn to him to answer any question about The Flash. We asked: Why is that?

“Because he’s a sadist, deep down. He even told me that. He said, “I just like to see you squirm.’ I honestly have no idea. He likes to get the rumors going,” Van Sciver said.

We talked about the rumor mill and how most fans think his upcoming “secret project” with Geoff Johns is either Aquaman or The Flash.

“Aquaman’s leading the pack?” Van Sciver said in obviously feigned surprise….

The mysterious van Sciver/Johns project — whether it’s Flash, Aquaman, or something else — will be announced in San Diego later this month.

More at Newsarama.

Ethan van Sciver is no stranger to the Flash, having worked with Geoff Johns on the 2001 graphic novel The Flash: Iron Heights (now collected in the second edition of Flash: Blood Will Run, released earlier this year). He also worked on Impulse with Todd Dezago, where he helped create Inertia, and did several covers for The Flash in 2004 and for The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive in 2007.

Four Issues from Alan Burnett

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CBR recently interviewed Alan Burnett, the incoming Flash writer. He didn’t give much away about his arc, “This Was Your Life, Wally West,” except to note that his run on the book only lasts four issues.

That brings us to Flash #247 in December, the same month that Final Crisis concludes (assuming everything stays on schedule).

Given the timing (not to mention the title of the story), this is already adding fuel to the rumors of an impending relaunch.

Burnett wasn’t sharing much else about the Paco Diaz-illustrated story. Asked point blank if he was writing the final days of Wally West to make way for former Flash Barry Allen, Burnett responded “no comment” but with a twist: “I can’t tell you.”

What’s Next for Peyer and Williams

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The Flash’s current writer Tom Peyer and artist Freddie Williams II will both wrap up their runs with the conclusion of “Fast Money” in August’s Flash #243. So what’s next on their plates?

CBR spoke with Tom Peyer about his work on Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen at Oni and back-up stories for the upcoming Marvel Apes miniseries.

As for the artist half of the team, The Pulse interviewed Freddie Williams II about his past and current work at DC, including his return to Robin. He answered several questions about The Flash, including how drawing a super-speed family differs from drawing Batman’s protege.

Visually, they are almost completely opposite. Even though Robin can get a bit animated, he was pretty grim and hid in the shadows allot, as well being able to use his cape and his mop of hair to show motion and movement. As opposed to Flash, which was art directed to be more open and cartoony. Flash is basically just a naked figured with nothing except for lightening to help in showing motion. Also, drawing the team dynamic was a bit different as well – having to account for some many figures.

When asked which artists most influenced his work on The Flash, Williams cited Daniel Acuña (his immediate predecessor), and Mike Wieringo.

Velocity Series for November

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Velocity, the speedster from Top Cow’s CyberForce and one of the two winners of 2007’s Pilot Season*, will be getting her own series in November. CBR spoke with artist ChrisCross this weekend at Wizard World Chicago, where the company announced he would be joining writer Joe Casey on the series.

Among other things, the artist talked about adjusting the heroine’s costume:

ChrisCross has also re-imagined Velocity herself, which he said has as much to do with Casey’s influence as it does with his own. “I retooled her hair and her uniform a bit, and gave her some real shoes for running,” ChrisCross said. “I don’t know how Flash was able to run that fast in those hideous boots. Now, Velocity, her sneaks are fierce, girlfriend!” [emphasis added]

Velocity made her debut in Cyberforce v.2 #1 (1993). In addition to her Pilot Season special, she headlined a 3-issue minseries in 1995.

Update: ChrisCross has posted some of his character study work.

*The idea behind Pilot Season: Produce one-shots for several different characters, and have fans vote on which get ongoing series. It was successful enough that Top Cow has launched a second round this year.