Tag Archives: Rogues

Adapting Origins

Today’s guest post is by Dave Huang.

One of Flash franchise’s greatest strengths is the diversity of the Rogues. That strength, however, may prove a challenge when being modernized or adapted to film. Whether or not combining origins is a good thing, it certainly is a trend. Every Superman film has presented a Kryptonian threat (kryptonite, phantom zone criminals, synthetic kryptonite, synthetic kryptonian, kryptonian crystals). In Batman Begins, Scarecrow’s formula, Falcone’s involvement, the main threat, and Bruce’s training all trace back to Ra’s. In The Dark Knight, Batman’s escalation begets Joker who begets Two-Face. In updating Spider-Man, radioactivity is discarded in favor of genetics with organic webshooters (one origin for all powers). The list goes on….

How then does one adapt a speedster with enemies from the far future, prehistoric past, and all manner of scientific disciplines?

If past is prologue, one starts with the hero’s origin. The origin of The Flash is a little thematically weak. It’s an accident without purpose or meaning which grants neither chemical nor electrical powers and is unrelated to speed. Random electrified chemicals aren’t enough to rationalize all of Flash’s physics defying feats even in the comics, hence the Speed Force. However, the Speed Force is a little esoteric and geared at the comic book literate, for an adaptation you need something better grasped by general audience. My suggestion?

FTL. Continue reading

Rogue Profiles: Keeping the Flash on Schedule

This is probably a crazy idea, but it’s something I thought about while writing up my thoughts on Flash #6:

DC should plan for the book to get delayed.

I really like Francis Manapul’s art, and Geoff Johns, when he’s at the top of his game, can be a great writer. I’d rather not lose this team on the book right now. But it’s been a while since The Flash managed to release twelve issues a year. To catch up, they’ve planned a couple of Rogue Profiles before the next story arc: done-in-one issues that tie into the ongoing mythology but focus on a different point of view, namely one of the Flash’s villains. These were great during Geoff Johns’ run on the Wally West Flash series, and I’m glad we’re seeing more.

Meanwhile, the pacing of the series seems a little bit more decompressed than it needs to be. As much as I enjoyed it, “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” felt like it could have been told as effectively in four or five parts instead of six. Flash: Rebirth definitely could have – it seemed like half of the final issue was epilogue. But six issues is the standard length for a collection, so that seems to be the story length that they’re shooting for.

My suggestion: Make the story arcs five issues long instead of six, and schedule a Rogue Profile in between. Put another artist on the profile, one suited to the villain getting the spotlight. If Geoff Johns is busy, let another writer work from his outline, or hand it outright to someone who understands the current take on the Rogues.

That way, the star creative team is only committed to ten issues a year instead of twelve, and we get some great stand-alone stories that DC can either include with the main story collections or save up for a couple of years and put in a collection as “The Flash: Rogues Gallery.”

What do you think?

Flash & Rogues Costumes at Dragon*Con 2010 – Part 1 (Image-Intensive!)

Photos from New York Comic-Con have been showing up online over the past few days, which reminds me: I never got around to making my mega-post rounding up photos from Dragon*Con! Fortunately, the Irredeemable Shag of Once Upon a Geek was kind enough to offer me permission to repost his photos ahead of time, and he took a lot of Flash photos: Flash, Golden Age Flash, Kid Flash, the Rogues, and even Blue Lantern Flash! Thanks, Shag!

First, we have the Flash vs. the Rogues meet-up:

Flash vs Rogues 01

Continue reading

Mark Sable Talks Teen Titans: Cold Case

Over at his blog, writer Mark Sable talks about Teen Titans: Cold Case, the one-shot “untold tale” that pits the Teen Titans against the Rogues. It’s a story he wrote for DC a few years ago, but that was shelved at the time. DC has opened up the vaults, possibly due to artist Sean Gordon Murphy’s current popularity, and is releasing it in December.

It’s actually the first meeting between the Titans and The Flash’s Rogues gallery, so Cold is just one of the MANY villains the Titans face. I don’t want to give too much away, but the story also ties into Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis, providing an answer to an unresolved mystery there.

If you’re worried that you won’t understand the book because it takes place in the Titans’ past (or because you didn’t read Identity Crisis, or follow the Titans or Flash etc.) – don’t. DC didn’t just dust this story off and publish it. I went back and did a major rewrite, with the primary aim being to make this book as accessible as any other I’ve written.

Head over to the blog entry for more about Cold Case and What if Spider-Man had Killed Kraven the Hunter?

(Thanks to @liabrown1 for the link!)

Teen Titans vs. Captain Cold in December

Another interesting item showed up on DC’s December solicitations (preview up now, full list available on Monday):

Teen Titans: Cold Case

Written by MARK SABLE
Art by SEAN MURPHY
Cover by JAY FABOK

Don’t miss this untold tale from writer Mark Sable (Grounded, TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE) and red-hot artist Sean Murphy (JOE THE BARBARIAN) bringing the Teen Titans and The Flash’s Rogues Gallery into direct conflict! Two people already died over a mysterious object, and now both teams want it. How much more blood will be spilled to obtain it as this gets deadly personal for all involved?

ONE-SHOT * On sale DECEMBER 22 * 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US

Notes: I’m guessing that by “untold tale,” DC only means that it’s set in the past. Though I suppose they could be dusting off an old two-part story that’s been sitting on a shelf for a while.

With Cyborg, Ravager, Wonder Girl (Cassie) and Robin on the cover, I’d guess it’s probably early in the “One Year Later” period right after Infinite Crisis and 52, before the Rogues were dragged into Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and shipped off to Salvation Run.