Hey Speed Readers,
Not a day after posting and praising Neca/Wizkid’s latest New 52 Justice League Fast Forces and Justice League Flash releases on my own site does Wizkids announce that they will be releasing Wally West and Jay Garrick in the upcoming DC 10th Anniversary set.
From the Who’s Who entry in Flash Annual #3 (1989). Scan from DC Wikia. Thanks to CraigM for spotting it.
More on Joe Kubert’s history with the Flash here at Speed Force and a gallery of Kubert Flash covers on Google+.
Legendary artist Joe Kubert passed away this morning at the age of 85. His long association with DC Comics goes back to the early 1940s, where he had an extended run as the artist on the Golden-Age Hawkman, including the Hawkman-themed Flash Comics covers. (Flash and Hawkman shared the spotlight for the series, and alternated covers.) During this time, he also drew several Flash stories and Flash-themed covers, notably featuring the Thorn.
In 1969, he returned briefly to The Flash to draw a series of covers, shocking both in their themes and in their rugged contrast from the sleeker lines usually associated with the character.
In 1990, Kubert drew the cover to the Flash 50th Anniversary Special, and in 2006, he inked his son Andy Kubert’s cover for Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1. I believe this makes him the only artist to professionally draw all four Flashes during the time they were active as the main Flash.
While most associated with Sgt. Rock and war comics, Kubert’s career spanned many characters and genres. He was active to the end, through the Kubert School and his own art. His most recent work was just published last week in Before Watchmen: Nite Owl, and DC recently announced a Joe Kubert Presents anthology miniseries.
Mark Evanier remembers Joe Kubert on his blog, News From Me. First Comics News has a retrospective on his career and is collecting remembrances from others in the industry. CSBG has a gallery of great Joe Kubert covers. Update: The Washington Post has a retrospective with remembrances from other comics professionals, and The Beat looks back on his “unparalleled life”. Update: More reactions at Progressive Ruin, Being Carter Hall, Fire and Water Podcast.
(Covers via comics.org.)
As Speed Force marks its fourth birthday, we decided to take a look back at where each of the Fastest Men Alive were in the fourth year of their titles. Happy Speed Fourth!
Flash fans know a lot can change in four years, but Speed Force is still the place for Flash news, commentary and analysis. But what of the heroes throughout the history of Flash comics? Where were Jay Garrick, Barry Allen and Wally West exactly four years after their first solo titles launched? After the jump, we’ll take a look at comics out on and around their fourth anniversaries, and the stories and creators involved.
Written by: James Robinson
Art by: Nicola Scott & Trevor Scott
Cover by: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado
Variant Cover by: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado
U.S. Price: $2.99
» Flash (1987-2009) at ComiXology
I missed the fact that Flash v.2 #19-21 went up at ComiXology last Wednesday sometime over the last week. Flash #22-24 will be up this Wednesday. These six feature the (in)famous Rogues Gallery party (the Trickster invites Wally West to Captain Boomerang’s Cold’s celebration of his Suicide Squad-earned pardon, figuring the Flash wouldn’t dare show his face…and he does), the Invasion tie-in issues where the Flash and Manhunter fight shape-shifting aliens in Cuba, a creepy appearance by Abra Kadabra, and the lead-in to the Porcupine Man storyline.
Unfortunately, it looks like the two Manhunter issues that the Flash crossed over with during Invasion aren’t available yet. (Neither is Invasion!, but at least that’s available as a trade paperback.) The two Flash issues read well on their own, but Flash #21 and Manhunter #8 are an interesting pair of stories, in which you see the same events from two different perspectives.
If you ever do manage to track down the Manhunter and Invasion issues, I’d recommend reading them in this order:
Flash #20
Invasion #1
Flash #21
Manhunter #8
Invasion #2
Flash #22
Manhunter #9
Invasion #3
As usual, thanks to comics.org for the older covers.
Hey Speed Readers,
I’d been away from the net for a few days so I hadn’t heard that the first picture of The Flash in Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes had been released by Game Informer Magazine. This is the first visual confirmation of the Scarlet Speedster we’ve had since USA Today revealed his presence in the game a couple of months ago. The only picture so far is in the magazine that I don’t own but luckily the internet is full of all kinds of cool cats posting scans and vids:
