Tag Archives: Silver Age

Speed Reading: Retro Reviews, Doug Hazlewood, TV Shows and More

The Victoria Advocate profiles Doug Hazlewood.

Comics In Crisis presents Flash v.2 #182 (2002), the Captain Cold Rogue Profile story, among the 10 Essential Bronze Age Comic Stories You Should Read. I’d disagree with the Bronze-Age classification (traditionally, the Bronze Age of Comics ran from the 1970s through mid 1980s, with Crisis on Infinite Earths being a good reference point for DC books), but it’s absolutely a must-read.

X-Man reviews Flash vol.2 #1 (1987), noting how different Wally West was at the age of 20 than he is today. That’s actually one of the things Wallys’ long-term fans like most about the character: that we’ve seen him grow and change naturally, rather than simply be given a personality transplant whenever a new writer shows up.

The Quantum Blog talks about TV shows canceled before their time, including the 1990-1991 Flash TV Series. (Hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years. Seriously, Quantum Leap is having a 20th Anniversary convention this month. I feel old…)

The Worlogog celebrates Weird Silver Age Tales of the Flash.

I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but Raging Bullets Podcast #152 features Flash’s Rogues with listener guest Mike Simms.

Heritage Auctions will be selling a CGC 9.6 copy of Showcase #4, the comic that rebooted the Flash as Barry Allen, launching the Silver Age (via It’s all Just Comics)

A Journal of Zarjaz Things looks at Flash: Emergency Stop, griping that Grant Morrison’s 9-issue run is split across two trades with the second “padded” out with a 3-parter by Mark Millar. IMO, though, Morrison didn’t write a 9-issue Morrison run — he co-wrote 9 issues of a 12-issue Morrison/Millar run. It would have been less responsible for DC to print only the Morrison issues and leave out “The Black Flash,” which has arguably had more lasting impact on the Flash mythos than the other stories in these trades, good as they are. (It is silly that they left out the first two parts of “Three of a Kind,” though.)

More Silver-Age Flash Reprints Coming: Chronicles and Rogues

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Flash Chronicles Vol 1Collected Editions has spotted two more Flash books coming this year: Flash Chronicles Vol. 1 and Flash vs. The Rogues, coming in September and November respectively.

The Flash Chronicles looks to be picking up on the format pioneered by the Batman Chronicles and Superman Chronicles: starting from the beginning, reprinting the stories in chronological order in trade paperback form.

Well, mostly: judging by the Carmine Infantino credit, and the fact that the Green Lantern Chronicles are starting with Hal Jordan, they’re probably starting with the Silver Age — 15 years after the Flash first appeared. And re-reprinting the same stories that have already been reprinted in the Flash Archives series and Showcase Presents: The Flash.

Every time DC changes to a new format for their reprints, they start over in the same place. It’s maddening. It’s as if, instead of releasing full seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent series, Paramount had released season one on VHS, then went back and released the same season on DVD, then gone back and released the same season on Blu-Ray, never getting to later seasons of TNG…or to the original series.

How about reprinting some more Golden Age Flash stories, DC? I’ll happily pre-order The Golden Age Flash Archives Volume 3 the moment you solicit it!

As for Flash vs. the Rogues, my best guess as to content would be collecting the stories from Barry’s run in which the Rogues teamed up against their speedy nemesis. Stories like “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” “Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains,” and “If I Can’t Rob Central City, Nobody Can!”

Flash: Crisis on Earth-Blog (Alex Ross and George Perez)

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Crisis on Earth-Blog

The landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, came out in 1985-1986, but it took until 1998 for DC to collect the whole series in one volume. The slipcased hardcover featured a wraparound painted cover by Perez and superstar Alex Ross. (That edition is no longer available, but the paperback edition is based around the same cover.)

Crisis on Infinite Earths Poster

The Flashes figured prominently in the story. Jay Garrick and Barry Allen shared the story that introduced the concept of the DC Multiverse, “Flash of Two Worlds” (Flash v.1 #123, 1963). And of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths featured Barry Allen’s death, and Wally West taking up the mantle. So naturally, the Flashes had a prominent spot on the cover, arguably the second most-visible after the pair of Supermen holding the bodies of Wonder Woman and Supergirl. A streak of crimson, yellow and white runs along the lower half of the cover, colliding dead center in a burst of lightning, and finally images of the Flash disintegrate and collapse at the end.

The Run-Down

Read on for an in-depth examination of the scarlet speedsters on this cover. Continue reading →

Speed Reading: Rogues, Waid, Crossovers

Mark Waid talks to Newsarma about Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight #1

Comicbook.com includes the Flash’s Rogues in their Top 10 Costume-Dependent Comic Book Characters.

Seduction of the Indifferent is starting a feature on Pied Piper covers, and the first installment highlights Flash Comics #59. A decade before the Rogue of the same name first appeared, this other villain based on the Piper of legend fought Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Robot 6’s Grumpy Old Fan looks into “Flash of Two Worlds” and its influences on later comics as part of his “Towards A Modern Superhero Canon” series.

Speed Reading: Barry, Daphne, Mopee and Hippies

Progressive Ruin looks into a forgotten Flash supporting cast member — Mopee — and a surprise find in the old Flash comics letters column: a letter from a fan named Cary Bates!

4thletter! bemoans the fact that Barry Allen’s return appears to be linked to another speedster’s death.

Comic Coverage looks at an editor’s excuse for a then-shocking swear word appearing on the cover of a 1960s Flash comic.

Death in Comics is clearly on the collective mind of the blogosphere, with (again) 4thLetter weighing in.

And finally, Heroes’ Brea Grant posts this fan picture of Daphne, Flash and Quicksilver by Drawing Power:

Speedsters by Drawing Power: Quicksilver, Daphne, and the Flash

Upcoming Flash Collections: Rogues’ Revenge & Flash of Two Worlds

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Collected Editions has spotted more DC collections for 2009, including two Flash hardcovers.

DC Comics Classic Library: The Flash of Two Worlds (HC)

Writers: Gardner Fox and John Broome Artists: Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella and Sid Greene
Collects: The Flash v.1 #123, 129, 137, 151 and #173 $39.99 US, 144 pages

Flash #123 is, of course, the classic “Flash of Two Worlds.” The other issues feature further cross-dimensional team-ups between Barry Allen and Jay Garrick from the 1960s, as they go up against Golden-Age classics like Vandal Savage and the Shade, and Silver-Age villains like Captain Cold and the Trickster. Wally West co-stars as Kid Flash in the last story in this collection.

Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge HC

Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Scott Kolins, Doug Hazelwood and Dan Panosian Collects: Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge -3 and The Flash v.2 #182 and #197 $19.99 US, 144 pages

DC has decided to round out the Rogues’ Revenge miniseries itself with two of the Johns/Kolins Rogue Profiles, featuring the origins of Captain Cold and Zoom.

According to Amazon, both are scheduled for July 7, 2009.