Tag Archives: New 52

Art School: Step-by-Step with Francis Manapul & New Flash Artwork (via The Source)

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The Source has an interesting piece up today featuring Flash writer/artist Francis Manapul, in which he takes readers through the process of creating a teaser/ad for DC’s New 52 Art Tour.

Manapul discusses his approach, from early layouts to the element of luck.  The first few steps include previously unseen artwork from the upcoming issue #3.  Here’s one version, featuring the preview:

The artwork previews, cover solicits and teasers for Flash have all been stunning.  A post like today’s Source feature shows off some of the ways that Manapul and partner Brian Buccellato are experimenting and innovating in their approach to the design of the Scarlet Speedster.  Looking for more?  We interviewed Manapul about his work earlier this year.

Head on over to The Source to check out the finished product(s).

New 52 Quick Hits: Flash, Resurrection Man, Justice League Dark

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September is over, and DC’s New 52 comics have all debuted. Halfway through the month I reviewed four of the New 52 launches. Now that the month is over, it’s time to look at the rest of the books I picked up.

Flash #1

Judging by this issue, The Flash may finally be getting back on track. The book was focused, moved quickly, and managed to lay out the ground rules for new and returning readers alike without getting overly bogged down in exposition. Most importantly, Manapul & Buccellato understand that a book about a guy who runs fast should be fun, not serious and full of angst.

See my full review for more.

Resurrection Man #1

I thought this book was technically very good, but for some reason it didn’t really grab me. It did a great job of setting up the main character, establishing his powers, and setting up a hero-on-the-run dynamic, without ever getting too expository. Critically, rather than letting people wonder how badly Mitch Shelley can be injured before he can’t resurrect, in this first issue he’s…well, let’s just say killed very thoroughly, and he still comes back to life. I think it’s also the only New 52 debut issue I read that’s actually a complete, done-in-one story.

Still, I got to the end feeling vaguely unsatisfied for some reason. I’ll certainly check out issue #2, but I’m on the fence.

Justice League Dark #1

I wanted to like this more than I did. Partly I’m more interested in the characters as a dark fantasy team than as a group of broken people. (I’m not a fan of Madame Xanadu as drug addict, for instance.) Partly I was hoping that, despite the title, it would stay as far away as possible from the main Justice League. Partly I didn’t think Milligan balanced exposition and story very well. A lot of characters wound up saying things for the sake of the reader rather than for the sake of what they might have been saying. I think I’m on board for the first arc, but I’m not sure if I’ll stick around past it.

Overall: How Did the New 52 Do?

  • On board: Flash, Demon Knights, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
  • On the fence: Resurrection Man and Justice League Dark.
  • Didn’t make the cut: Stormwatch, Justice League.

So… which New 52 comics did you pick up? Which ones did you love? Which ones did you hate?

Review: Flash #1 (The New 52)

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I had no idea what to expect from The Flash #1. Actually, that’s not entirely true: I knew I could expect fantastic art by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, and it delivered. But I wasn’t sure what to expect from the story, the pacing, the characterization. And after five years of Flash relaunches, Wally’s disappearance, Bart’s death and rebirth, Barry’s return as Captain Angst, Wally being pushed so far off the sidelines that DC acted like they didn’t even recognize his name, and a general trend among the mainstream parts of DC moving away from the characters and stories that I wanted to read, I was beginning to wonder: Is it time to hang up the boots for a while?

Well, after reading the first issue, I can say: Today is not that day.

Some of the things I liked:

The art. This was my favorite part of last year’s Geoff Johns run, and it’s even better here. Not only does it look good, but Francis Manapul continues to experiment with layouts as well, going far beyond the standard grid-and-splash-page patterns. I particularly liked the fall from the helicopter and the page showing Barry in his apartment. And when was the last time you saw a splash page of the Flash standing still (and not posing dramatically) look so good?

With DC’s newfound emphasis on deadlines, I really hope these guys can keep on schedule!

The speed. While it’s not a headlong rush from beginning to end, it never drags. As much as I liked “Dastardly Death of the Rogues,” I still felt like it would have been better at 2/3 the length. This doesn’t feel padded.

Continue reading →

Flash #1 On Sale Today

THE FLASH #1

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by IVAN REIS and TIM TOWNSEND
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series from the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato! The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who really can! As if that’s not bad enough, this villain is a close friend!

CNN’s Geek Out has a preview in their Science of the Flash article. The writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have been running the interview circuit, speaking with CBR, IGN and Cosmic Treadmill about the new direction for Barry Allen, the roles of Iris West and the Rogues, and the new villain introduced in this 5-issue arc, Mob Rule.

Flash #1 Sets Sales Record

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Cosmic Book News reports that The Flash #1, due in stores tomorrow, is the best-selling* Flash title in 40 years, according to a statement Dan Didio made on Facebook:

Happy to say that the New 52 FLASH comic is the best selling issue of Flash in over 40 years.

In fact, the first month of DC’s “New 52” is settings records all around. In a market that rarely sees more than a couple of books a month exceed 100,000 copies, 11 DC books have passed 100K, 3 have passed 200K, and all 52 have sold out. Even unexpected series like Hawk & Dove, Batwing, Men of War and OMAC are getting second printings.

I’ve only seen sales figures going back to 1996, but the highest-selling issue of the last 15 years was Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 in 2006, selling an estimated 126,741 copies. The first issue of Bart Allen’s solo series was notable as the first major relaunch of the Flash in 20 years, while subsequent relaunches with Wally West’s surprise return (2007, ~79K), Barry Allen in Flash: Rebirth (2009, ~102K) and Barry Allen’s solo series (2010, ~100K) failed to match it.

Of course, the real question is: How much of the audience can they keep? First issues tend to sell a lot more than second, third and fourth issues, between speculators and people who just want to try out a new series. The real test is going to be how many people are still on board by the end of the first story arc.

*Sales figures in the comics industry are based on wholesale — how many copies are ordered by retailers — which is why they have numbers available now, before the books go on sale to readers.

Wally West the #6 DC Character – Flashes in the Top 50, Final Rankings

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We’ve been following Comics Should Be Good as they count down the results of their Top 50 DC & Marvel Characters survey. Wally West ranks #6 on the DC list. He hasn’t been seen much since DC decided to re-focus The Flash on Barry Allen a few years back, but Wally remains a popular character — more popular among the survey respondents than the current headliner, though as we saw a few days ago, Barry made the top 10 as well.

I hope DC considers this when the time comes around for mid-season replacements or expanding the New 52. If there’s room for 12(?) Bat-books including spots for current and past Robins Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian… If there’s room for four Lantern books including spots for all four human Green Lanterns… If there’s room for four Super-books… Then surely there’s room for a second Flash series featuring Wally West, or at the very least a spot on a team book. Barry’s got the main Flash series, Bart’s in Teen Titans, and presumably Jay will be showing up in the Earth-2-set Justice Society of America series when it launches.

Here are the final rankings of the Flashes for this survey and the previous one in 2007.

Character 2011 Rank  2007 Rank  Points  1st Place Votes 
Jay Garrick (Flash) #45 #41 374 0
Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash) #36 #42 545 6
Barry Allen (Flash) #9 #29 1604 27
Wally West (Flash/Kid Flash) #6 #3 2471 67

About the points: The way voting worked was that you listed your top 10 favorite characters, in order. Your first-place choice got 10 points, your second-place choice got 9 points, etc. According to CSBG, more than 1400 people voted in the survey.

Keep an eye on Comics Should Be Good as they count down the top five!