Tag Archives: Justice League

EVS Draws JLA #50: JLA vs. the Crime Syndicate

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Over at The Source, DC has posted Flash: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver’s cover for Justice League of America #50.

I assume it’s either a wraparound or a pair of 50/50 variant covers.

The Donna Troy vs. Superwoman and Supergirl vs. Ultra-Man battles dominate the image, but there’s also Power Ring vs. Jade, Batman vs. Owlman, and (way in the background) Jesse Quick vs. Johnny Quick.

Ever since James Robinson mentioned that the JLA would be going up against the Crime Syndicate, I’d wondered which version of the villainous team they’d be facing. The original version? The Crime Society on Earth-3? Between this and Syndicate Rules in the previous series, it looks like the Morrison/Quitely version from JLA: Earth-2 has been established as the primary version of the team, though they have gone back to the Kyle Rayner analog for Power Ring.

Update: Here’s a close-up (loosely speaking) of part of the Jesse Quick/Johnny Quick battle.

SDCC Catch-Up

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One of the downsides to attending a convention is that you miss all the announcements at panels you didn’t attend — like an Astro City movie deal! *ahem* Anyway, on to speedster news.

At DC Universe Event Horizon, James Robinson stated that the Justice League would be battling the Crime Syndicate at some point, with Jesse Quick battling Johnny Quick , Batman vs. Owlman, Supergirl vs. Ultraman etc.

At DC Focus: Teams, incoming Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul said that Bart Allen “is past the Impulse stage but he still has that innocent, light-heartedness about him.” (Quote from Newsarama, may be paraphrasing him.)

At the Superman panel they announced that Superboy will feature the first-ever Superboy/Kid Flash race.

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

Flash Collections for Spring 2011: Rogues HC & Rebirth TPB

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The Source has posted more detail on Spring 2011 collections.

We already knew that the hardcover edition of The Flash: The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues was coming out next February, but there’s been a slight change. Earlier reports showed it featuring The Flash -7 and The Flash Secret Files 2010, but now DC is saying that it collects The Flash -6 and The Flash Secret Files 2010. This makes more sense, because it lines up exactly with the first story arc instead of extending one issue beyond it. On the other hand…

The Flash: Rebirth paperback is scheduled for April, and someone forgot that the miniseries was six issues long and not five! I guess we shouldn’t rely too much on the numbers here.

Other books

Additionally, the Justice League International trade paperbacks start collecting Justice League Europe with volume 5. Flash Wally West was a founding member of that branch of the League, based at first in Paris and later in London. This volume features two JLI annuals and the first six issues of JLE. The next two issues are actually part of a JLA/JLE crossover, “The Teasdale Imperative,” which picks up where the previous volume left off collecting Justice League America. I’d guess that volume 6 will feature that crossover and some mix of the two series.

Justice League of America: The Rise and Fall collects the “Fall of Green Arrow” and “Rise of Arsenal” storylines spinning out of JLA: Cry for Justice. Barry Allen appears in the Green Arrow story.

There’s a new Showcase volume of Justice League of America.

I think Kid Flash Bart Allen is in Teen Titans: The Hunt for Raven.

Flash Barry Allen appears in at least the opening chapters of Brightest Day Vol.1.

Justice League of America: Dark Things covers the JLA/JSA crossover that just started, featuring Flash Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick.

Francis Manapul Covers Jesse Quick for JLA #46

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One aspect of the upcoming JLA/JSA crossover is that Liberty Belle will be moving from the Justice Society to the Justice League as Jesse Quick. Check out this this variant cover for Justice League of America #46:

Wow!

I’ve mostly lost interest in the current Justice League series. From what I’ve seen of it, the book has been too focused on shuffling the roster and supporting crossovers. And after the Cry For Justice fiasco (though I get the impression that the worst of it was editorially decreed), I’d made a conscious decision to avoid James Robinson’s run.

But you know what?

I think I’m picking up this comic, if I can find a copy with the variant cover at a reasonable price.

Jesse Quick + Liberty Belle + Francis Manapul. Seriously.

Justice League of America #46 arrives in stores June 30.

Update: Francis Manapul has posted the uncolored artwork.

Jesse Quick Variant Cover Francis Manapul Original

Surprising Flash Fact: Wally West has More Experience than Barry Allen

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I had an odd thought while reading The Flash #2* last week. Francis Manapul draws Barry and Iris in a way that makes them look fairly young, and I remembered someone’s remark that the cowl on Wally West’s new costume makes him look older than Barry, even though Wally used to be Barry’s younger sidekick.

Then it hit me: No, Wally isn’t older than Barry Allen (even with time travel) but when you factor in his earlier Kid Flash career, he actually has more experience than Barry at this point!

No, Really!

Wally West became Kid Flash very early in Barry Allen’s Flash career — only six issues into his solo series! Flash vol.1 started with #105, picking up from where the Golden Age Flash Comics left off, and Wally was struck by lightning in Flash #110, back in 1959. He didn’t retire as Kid Flash until very late in Barry’s career, in New Teen Titans #39 — just one year before Barry vanished in 1985.**

So Wally West has been running around for most of Barry’s career plus his own!

Team Player

During his JLA run, Grant Morrison is one of the few writers I can remember really building on the fact that the original Titans grew up as super-heroes. I don’t recall it being a plot point, but Morrison mentioned it in an interview, or possibly one of the Secret Files books, and it clearly factored into his characterization of Wally West. He might not have been as old as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but he’d been working with a team longer than they had, and he was a consummate professional.

Wally wasn’t the rookie on the team by any stretch. That honor went to Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.

Of course, neither Wally nor Barry can hold a candle to Jay Garrick, who has been speeding since 1940!

*Yes, I do still plan on reviewing it. It was just a busy week, and for some reason, it’s been hard to sit down and write it.

**These are of course the real-world publishing dates. The fictional DC Universe would use a vague “X years ago” timeline that always seems to change, but usually compresses everything from the dawn of the Silver Age onward into a 10-15–year period.