Friday afternoon linkblogging: a trio of interviews to go along with the Flash #1 relaunch.
Geoff Johns
First, Geoff Johns Prime has the writer answering questions about Brightest Day and The Flash. Some items that stand out:
We don’t want anyone to have to buy a lot of DC books, we want you to. Our job is to tell great stories that can stand alone and also be part of a bigger whole. That’s what the DC Universe is. The Flash is probably one of the most accessible books I have written, but it fits into the bigger tapestry of the DCU.
Johns also explains that these are new stories, written for Barry Allen, not unused Wally West stories. He has a bunch of those that he never got to use since he left the book before he ran out of ideas, but they’ve “been put away for now.” He also confirms that there will definitely be a Flash/Green Lantern crossover at some point — something that should surprise no-one.
Francis Manapul
CBR interviews Francis Manapul about his work on The Flash.
At the beginning, I was digging what Ethan [Van Sciver] was doing with tons of lightning and stuff like that. So, I used some of that at the beginning, but I found more and more that, the deeper I get into the pages, the more I enjoy the multiple images the way Carmine did it. So, I’ve been doing a lot of that. It’s actually been advantageous being able to do the watercolor [effect on] my own work, because the way I would draw the trail of images where he was running from, I’m able to draw on a lighter scale.
He adds: “the goal is that with every issue, you’re going to see the Flash do something completely different, in terms of showing his speed, that you haven’t seen before.”
Scott Kolins
Speedster Site interviews Scott Kolins about Blackest Night, DC Universe: Legacies and The Flash. He talks about designing the Black Lantern Reverse Flash, drawing Wally’s new costume and Barry’s Blue Lantern uniform, and how Blackest Night: The Flash compared to Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge.
Kolins was also asked about the Wally West backup stories he and Geoff Johns were going to do:
DC of course recognizes how important Wally is and has been for the Flash fans and the co-feature idea was one of the ways they wanted to make use of him. -But then they had another idea – a possibly better idea. The reader is the ultimate judge, but it’s all done with the best of intentions. I’ve been working long enough to realize that plans change as the company endlessly searches for new and better ideas.
I’m curious about this “possibly better idea” now, and more hopeful about it than I would have been on Tuesday.
Comics Should Be Good has posted the results of their reader poll for the Greatest Wally West stories ever told. It’s technically a top ten list, but they included eleven stories because the #10 winner was essentially a prologue for one of the other winners.
Fellow Flash blog Crimson Lightning has been putting the sinister sorcerer 
Usually I try to post these link round-ups a week or two after the issue hits, but I somehow missed finishing this one. Then I realized that the next issue is out in a few days. So, before the usefulness complete fades, here is a list of reviews I found of Flash #1.