Tag Archives: New 52

Flash Annual Spotlight at The Source

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As part of a weeklong look at the upcoming New 52 Annuals, DC Comics’ Source blog has a new post up with some new information on the upcoming Flash Annual #1, by Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato and a cast of artists working from Manapul’s layouts. From Brian Buccellato:

“We couldn’t be happier with the collection of talent we assembled to work from Francis’ layouts. Broken up into chapters, on art duties we have Marcus To, Diogenes Neves, Marcio Takara, Wes Craig, and FLASH legend Scott Kolins! We just had to offer Scott the Rogues ‘flashback chapter,’ and were delighted that he accepted. His take on ‘The Old Rogues’ is new and fresh, yet pays homage to the gang’s history. It might sound clichéd, but it’s truly everything we hoped for and more.”

In the post, Buccellato also promises that the Annual will deliver the first Rogues team-up of the New 52 Flash series, as well as the much-anticipated tale of their journey from “…the old ‘gun-toting’ Rogues that everyone remembers from previous continuity, and the new meta-powered incarnations. In the Annual, we finally reveal HOW the Rogues got their super powers and at what cost.”

Check it out at The Source!  Flash Annual is in stores August 29.

Kotobukiya’s New 52 ARTFX+ Statues The Flash

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Hey Speed Readers,

Japanese company Kotobukiya, has teamed up with DC Comics to give us some slick statues based on the New 52. With Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern already announced Flash will be joining the ranks of Kotobukiya’s Justice League in March of 2013:

A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import! Kotobukiya’s line of DC Comics “New 52” ARTFX+ Statues continues, capturing the new looks and costumes of heroes in the Justice League. Racing to join the previously released Superman and Green Lantern comes the Scarlet Speedster and guardian of the Gem Cities, THE FLASH! Barry Allen was a mild-mannered forensic scientist (who was perpetually late) working late at night in his lab when a bolt of lightning changed his life forever. The electricity and chemicals combined mysteriously to imbue Allen with unbelievable speed and thus the Flash was born!

Not content merely to stand at attention like his fellow Justice Leaguers Superman and Green Lantern, the Flash can’t stay still for a moment. Ready to speed off to fight crime or supervillains with a wide-legged stance, Allen cracks his knuckles in anticipation. The Scarlet Speedster’s New 52 costume maintains the character’s traditional bright red and yellow color scheme but updates it with a bold new lightning bolt logo and intricate energy lines crackling all over his suit. The Flash’s excellent sculpt even includes the new technological details of his costume like the reinforced boots.

Standing 7 ½ inches tall (in the ARTFX+ 1/10th scale), the Flash was sculpted by master artist Atelier Bamboo. Magnets in his feet make him perfectly stable on his included display base, and he’ll look great on your shelf next to the rest of the Justice League including the upcoming Wonder Woman!

Release: March 2013

The statue is available for preorder at a number of outlets, my personal favorite, being Bigbadtoystore.com. It will retail for $39.99 usd, but you can find it at BBTS for $35.99.

Personally, I love this statue! Absolutely love it. Not only is it priced well but with all the sculpted details, being an import and standing at 7 ½ inches tall, I can’t think of a better deal. Plus, it’s so shiny!

Anyone plan on preordering this statue or waiting until the release and then trying your luck then? I’m probably going to wait a couple of months myself and make up my mind on whether I seriously want to throw support towards the New 52 or not. Such an excellent, affordable statue though. Decisions, decisions. Tell us what you think in the comments below.

–Devin ‘Flash’ Johnson

Quick Thoughts: DC’s New 52 Wave Three

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So, along with the origin issues in September, DC is also launching four new ongoing series. Here are my first thoughts:

Talon – Spinning out of “Court of Owls.” Sorry, but I tuned out right there. I’ve never been a big fan of the Bat-verse (heresy, I know), so a Batman spin-off doesn’t really do much for me.

Sword of Sorcery – A genre book similar to All-Star Western and G.I. Combat. At least to start with, it’ll be headlined by a revival of Amethyst, with backup stories about a post-apocalyptic Beowulf. This is the one I’m most interested in, not for Amethyst or Beowulf in particular, but to see what DC does with the fantasy genre. Demon Knights has been a fun read, and is currently the DCU book I’m most eager to read when a new issue comes out.

Team Seven – Set shortly after the Justice League’s debut, about a special-ops team put together to counteract superhuman threats. The team features characters from all over DC and Wildstorm, including younger Deathstroke, Grifter, Amanda Waller, and others. This seems like something I would have been fascinated by 10-15 years ago when I was more heavily into the DC Universe itself, rather than seeing the DCU as just the setting for some comics I read.

Phantom Stranger – His origin and connection to Pandora. Um…no. In my opinion, the Phantom Stranger should be left mysterious. He’s the Phantom Stranger, not the Phantom Guy that the Audience Gets to Know Well. The fact that they decided to re-introduce him by giving him a definitive origin suggests they’ll be taking the character in…I don’t want to say the wrong direction, but certainly a direction I’m less interested in reading.

IGN contacted DC and confirmed that they won’t be canceling four books right away, though in a Newsarama interview, Dan Didio reiterates the plan to stick with 52 ongoing series in general, so we’ll probably see a brief bump in September followed by a few books getting canceled in the next couple of months.

I’ve noticed lately that the less connection a book has to the mainstream DC Universe, the more appealing I find it. That’s kind of sad, but I think it’s partly the fact that DC is actively courting an audience I’m not part of, and partly a consequence of my slow drift away from the super-hero genre and toward sci-fi/fantasy.

So how about you? Which of these books do you find most interesting?

Media Blitz! Flash Team Talks Rogue Makeovers, Wally West and the Law of Congestion (via CBR)

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In an interview posted on Friday, Flash co-writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato talked to comic book resources about the arc of their speedster saga.  Going into this week’s first New 52 Grodd story, and upcoming reintroductions of Weather Wizard, Heat Wave and (Golden) Glider, the Flash team delved into the existing relationship between the Rogues and the road to September’s Flash Annual.


Manapul kicks things off by explaining the crescendo of the series thus far:

Francis Manapul: I think there’s a theme that the book is really about overwhelming the Flash. In the first arc, we created this villain who could really be in multiple places at once, so in that sense, the Flash is overwhelmed physically and also overwhelmed emotionally because of the fact that he’s [fighting] an old friend, a guy that he grew up with. It’s kind of an overwhelming time for Barry Allen, having discovered that the weight of the world is on his shoulders. On top of that, the Rogues are slowly starting to get back together; we’re slowly showing what kind of a threat they would be to Barry Allen.

For highlights, including choices made during the redesign of the Rogues and the team’s answer to the Wally West question, follow the jump!

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Flash #12 and Flash Annual Solicitations

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THE FLASH #12
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale AUGUST 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• Setting up THE ROGUES as a team as the next major storyline for the series begins!

• GLIDER takes center stage!

What a gorgeous cover.  DC’s August Justice League solicitations are up at The Source.  The cover for the Flash Annual was revealed last week.

For the full Annual solicit, plus Kid Flash solo and Jay Garrick’s Earth 2 adventures, follow the jump…

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Flash Annual Cover: More Revamped Rogues Revealed! (via Newsarama)

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Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are featured in a new interview over at Newsarama where they discuss the title’s next steps on the road to the one-year mark of the New 52.  Within, the cover for the upcoming Flash Annual, due in September, is revealed.  It features the first looks at new versions of Mirror Master, Heat Wave and a re-imagined Golden Glider, alongside Captain Cold, Turbine and the new Weather Wizard, forming a Gauntlet of Super Villains for the New 52 Flash.


Check out what the duo had to say about thematic ties to Flashpoint, the new, “crispy” Heat Wave, Weather Wizard: Drug Lord and the reintroduction of the Pied Piper (and much more!) after the jump…

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