DC released a lot of information over the weekend in San Diego, which I’ve pieced together from CBR, Newsarama, and reports from fans’ conversations with Dan Didio, Francis Manapul and others.
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I missed the Flashpoint panel at Comic-Con, but Flash-related news can be pieced together from CBR’s report, Newsarama’s liveblog (which, due to technical difficulties, was only visible after the panel ended), and @SpeedsterSite was there live-tweeting the panel.
Newsarama quotes Sterling Gates: “Issue #3 is sort of a love letter to the Flash family. It’s very much about Bart and his relationship with the Flash family.” CBR continues, “Bart Allen is my favorite character so it was a pleasure to write this story.”
Scott Kolins is coming in to do a few pages of Kid Flash.
Gates via CBR: “The end of issue #3 dovetails into ‘Flashpoint’ #5 in a way that I don’t think a lot of people are expecting, and we do something with the Speed Force that’s never been done before”
On the Unexpected: CBR: “Gates said he was excited for the unexpected matchups possible in Flashpoint.‘”Where else do you get to see Kid Flash fight Brainiac?'” Newsarama: “Nome says that Gates threw a lot of ‘crazy stuff’ at him in the scripting of the Kid Flash miniseries.”
https://twitter.com/#!/SpeedsterSite/status/94123544228798464
So there was a reason to include John Fox in that Flash Secret Files book last year.
https://twitter.com/#!/SpeedsterSite/status/94126337136132096
Newsarama says a question about Wally West “got a lot of applause,” and noted that he would appear in Kid Flash #3. According to CBR, Gates stated that “Wally will show up in ‘Kid Flash’ #3, and not in the way you expect.”
A fan asked: why Captain Cold? Newsarama: “Berganza noted Geoff Johns’ fondness for Captain Cold as motivation.”
DC has four sessions on The New 52 at Comic-Con, and it sounds like they’re presenting on a different chunk of their line each day. The Flash wasn’t in today’s presentation, but people asked about it during the Q&A session. More specifically, people asked about the fate of Wally West, and for once, Dan Didio actually gave a straight answer.
From CBR’s coverage:
Asked about Wally West and his family, DiDio said “there are no plans for Wally West in the ‘Flash,'” because that series is about the “uniqueness of who [Barry Allen] is and how he moves through the world.”
Newsarama has a little more detail:
A fan who liked the multiple generations of speedsters asked about Wally West and his family in the DCnU
DiDio: “Right now there are no plans for Wally West in the new Flash series”
The series focuses on the uniqueness of how someone who moves and thinks near the speed of light lives.
Q: “I’m here to still talk about Wally West…”
DiDio: “okay…”
Fan: “Last year you said you took Wally off the table so Barry could be the sole focus, and now you’re still saying that again.”
DiDio: “We did say that last year cause we did want to build Barry Allen up as much as possible, and this year with the relaunch even more so”
Fan: “How does that work when you have four Robins running around?”
DiDio: “I think we could do that with all the characters” He ended the conversation by saying “I think we’ll be sticking with Barry for awhile.”
As you might imagine, I have some thoughts on this. I’m going to save them for later so that I can collect them properly.
This morning, my Flash/SDCC Twitter search erupted in comments about the Flash speeding around San Diego on a Segway. It wasn’t long before someone posted a photo. Photographer @NandoVel writes:
Flash on a Segway. I don’t know if that means he’s Flash-ier or just lazy.
The goofy moments like this are always the ones that stand out most for me. I’m really looking forward to actually being on-site tomorrow.
Update: Here’s another shot, this one from @mattkindt.
In other SDCC news, Flash artist/writer Francis Manapul has posted his signing schedule for the con.
Christopher Schmitt is organizing a Flash photo shoot in San Diego.
Time: Friday, 11:00 AM
Place: Ballroom 20 Lobby, next to Sails Pavilion
Duration: 15 minutes.
The goal is to get as many people in Flash and Flash-related costumes (Zoom, Kid Flash, Rogues, etc.) as possible. Call it a Flash mob, if you will.
If enough people show up, the plan is to also set up some action shots as well. There will be a signup list to make sure that the people in costumes can get copies of the photos.
Update: It’s up on the unofficial event schedule.
Those of you who have been reading Speed Force for a while know that I go to San Diego Comic-Con every year. I’m still going this year, but it’s going to be a bit different. Usually I go for the full weekend and try to cover convention news while I’m there. This year I’m only going to be there one day, so I’ve decided I’m going to focus on experiencing the convention.
That said, I’ll certainly have a ton of photos to post when I’m back, and if I stumble across something Flashy, I may be posting from the floor.