The Mayor of Central City (formerly Warden of Iron Heights) is a crook. Our favorite group of crooks, the Rogues, have been turned into deputized law enforcement agents. And enemy number one is…The Flash? Yes! It’s a wild issue with a lot of fun mixed in – wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In his first issues as writer of THE FLASH, Jeremy Adams has taken on re-introducing the Wally West we all loved prior to FLASHPOINT. Wally’s family has come back to the spotlight as well, and that’s also a very good thing. This issue puts the spotlight on Wally’s daughter Irey, and on a very heart-warming father-daughter relationship. It’s a great story before we start diving into whatever that thing is that’s floating through space toward Earth. Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Joshua Williamson has delivered an amazing end to FLASH WAR, with all the elements one needs for an epic conclusion. The battle ends with major consequences for all. Not all the outcomes are good…but some are outstanding! We set the stage for HUGE adventures going forward without diminishing the impact of this arc. And, we finally answer the question, “Who IS the Fastest Man Alive?” Want to know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven’t read THE FLASH #50, STOP HERE and read it first! You will be glad you did!
As part of our SpeedForce.org celebration, we’re taking a look back to the issue of The Flash that came out the same month that this site started. Back in 2008, we were right in the middle of the “Fast Money” story arc. Wally West has seen the people of Keystone City turn against him, pushed by the villain Spin, who has brought Grodd in to help him in the battle. As for the kids…Iris and Jai have been taken captive by people working for “Boss Dark Side”. That brings us to issue #241 of The Flash, with an August cover date but released June 18th, 2008. (NOTE: Thanks to John at Capitol Comics in Raleigh NC for helping me find a spare copy of this issue for the review when I could not find my own copy in my back issues).
FULL SPOILERS AHEAD!
I never thought I’d open up an email from ComiXology with a giant banner featuring Wally West with Iris and Jai, but here you go:
ComiXology’s DC Father’s Day Sale features “The Wild Wests” and Flash #237, since they deal heavily with Wally West as a father, as well as the main Flashpoint and Batman Knight of Vengeance miniseries (less for the Flash, and more for the Batman). The Flashpoint books have been up for a while, and are discounted to 99 cents each for the sale. The Flash issues are up for the first time.
I’m thinking this might be a good opportunity to read Batwoman: Elegy or some more Starman. (Unfortunately I can’t remember how far into the series I got when I started – I may have already read all the ones in the sale.)
I finally finished listening to last week’s Word Balloon Podcast with Ethan Van Sciver this morning. During the 90-minute interview, he talks about Flash: Rebirth, the personal issues that caused the delays, redesigning Wally West’s costume, bringing back Impulse, the balance of power between writers and artists, and Cyberfrog.
Some points that Flash readers will find interesting:
Last spring, Ethan Van Sciver started experiencing chest pains and was told that if he didn’t do something about his health, he was going to have a heart attack. So he embarked on a complete lifestyle change, which threw off his work schedule, slowing down Flash: Rebirth. The final issue, originally scheduled for September 30 of last year, will be out in two weeks on February 24.
It was his idea to make Iris “Irey” West II the new Impulse. He wanted the character back, and deliberately made Iris and Jai younger than they had been previously because of that (and because he didn’t like them as tweens). He also made an effort to draw Bart Allen as Kid Flash looking a bit more like he appeared as Impulse: round face, big feet, slightly exaggerated features. On a related note: Geoff Johns has plans for Jai.
He had a really hard time redesigning Wally West’s costume. The way he put it was that it’s easy to design a speedster costume, but it’s hard to design a Flash costume. Whereas with Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night he basically had free reign with new designs, this time he kept getting notes and had several designs rejected. The final version was quite literally a composite of other Flash costumes: EVS wanted the straight cowl from the TV series & Dark Flash, to make it look like a knight’s helmet (in line with his Barry = King Arthur and Wally = Lancelot metaphor), Geoff Johns came up with using the animated-style emblem, etc. To this day, Van Sciver isn’t happy with the way it turned out.
There’s a lot more in there — it is an hour and a half long — and it’s worth listening to if you have the time. There’s also a discussion at Comic Bloc that’s gotten into the writer/artist balance.
Related note: Daniel Way interviews EVS in connection with Cherry Capital Con.