Newsarama interviewed Geoff Johns about Flash: Rebirth at New York Comic-Con. I won’t be able to watch this with sound until I get home tonight, so I don’t know if there’s really anything new in here.
Update: They also have an interview with George Pérez about Legion of Three Worlds.
This will be less of a full review and more of a first reaction to the issue.
I’m sure some people won’t believe this, but I actually felt more lost reading the first half of this book than I did reading Final Crisis itself. It’s been months since the last issue came out, and I’ve never been very familiar with the three incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The only time I read them on a monthly basis was the “Five Years Later” period that started around 1989 or so — and it’s not represented in this story! I have read the occasional issue of other series, particularly the “Reboot” Legion with its connections to Impulse. After a while I just went with it.
That settled out later in the issue, especially as it began to focus on XS and the various lightning-powered Legionnaires as they learned about the legacy of Barry Allen’s brief sojourn in the 30th Century. Geoff Johns attempted to clear up some of the questions of whether Bart Allen was from an alternate universe, and while I think the answer ended up being more complicated than was necessary (since they had already established that sometimes time travelers will end up in an alternate universe), I suspect it’s in the service of setting up threads that will tie into either Flash: Rebirth or the inevitable Flash ongoing that spins out of it.
And speaking as a Flash fan, the conclusion of this issue was fantastic.
Spoilers after the cut: Continue reading
In this week’s 20 Questions w/ Dan Didio, DC’s Executive Editor is asked about the status of Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash/Flash) and Conner Kent (Superboy). His answer:
I think there’s always value in a Kid Flash and a Superboy.
A classic sidestep. But then they may both be back very soon.
As far as Conner goes, there’s speculation that he is the Kryptonian Nightwing who just appeared in “New Krypton” (bolstered by DiDio’s remark earlier in the column that he “is a character that we’ve known in the DCU for a little while, but he’s new to the Nightwing costume as well.”)
And Bart? There’s still the question of the Lightning Rod from the Justice League/Justice Society of America crossover, “The Lightning Saga.” It was supposed to resurrect someone, and All-Flash #1 showed that it activated at virtually the exact moment of his death. We’re supposed to find out who was resurrected in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3…two months from now. (It was originally supposed to be out in October, but it’s been pushed back to January 14, 2009. I wouldn’t count on it making that date.)
DC’s website lists several more Final Crisis–related delays.
Unless the final issue Final Crisis itself gets pushed back even further (as rumored by this week’s Lying in the Gutters), it looks like Legion of Three Worlds will keep going several months beyond the main series.
Collected Editions has spotted the listing for the Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds hardcover, due next August.
Silver Age Comics looks at the second issue of DC: The New Frontier, which spotlights Barry Allen as the Flash.
Now Read This! reviews Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told.
The Daily P.O.P. talks about the state of the Flash over the last few years.
Finally, Comic Bloc’s Pureclint links to three video clips of fan-made fighting games featuring Captain Cold vs. Superman (with cameos by Inertia and the Rogues), multi-colored Flashes battling each other, and Bizarro vs. Superman (with a cameo by Zoom).
Coverage of Baltimore Comic-Con‘s DC Nation panel is up at Newsarama and at CBR, and they’re dropping more hints about the future of the Flash franchise.
Q: How will Barry Allen react to the modern heroes when he returns?
A: Johns: “Part of the fun of exploring Barry Allen is seeing Barry get along with all of the other DC heroes – in a modern setting, he did get along with Bruce Wayne, and Hal, and didn’t with Green Arrow.” Johns said that both Rebirth and Flash will be very science based, but will also blend in the quasi-science of the Speed Force; and will allow readers to learn a lot about Barry Allen before the lightning hit – what did he do, and why did he wear a bow tie?”
Comic Bloc poster BESTBUY points out that the phrasing was “both Rebirth and Flash” — another hint that perhaps, Geoff Johns may be continuing on the series that launches after Flash: Rebirth concludes.
According to Johns, we’ll find out who’s in the Lightning Rod in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3. (Since that’s the only reason I’m reading the series, my main interest in the Legion of Super-Heroes being in the one version of the Legion that isn’t represented in the series — the Five-Year-Gap Legion — maybe I can skip issue #2.)
Also, while it seems that every other dead character asked about is fair game to be reanimated as a Black Lantern, Bart Allen will be spared that fate.
Intriguingly, “events playing out of Geoff Johns’ recent Legion stories in Superman and Justice Society of America will have repercussions in the contemporary DCU, especially for The Flash.”