Christos Gage has noted in interviews that he is a long-time Flash fan, having grown up with Barry Allen. His one-shot issue shows how well he knows Barry, both old and new (52), and gives us a wonderful story to take into the new year.
LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY
Flash #26 comes out next week, but you can see a preview of the issue at DC Comics’ blog.
Barry Allen is hot on the tail of Spitfire after investigating the death of his mentor, Dr. Carlson. But to catch the villain responsible, The Flash must figure out how to use his powers in the one place where they do him little good: the sky! Spitfire is sure to escape unless The Flash can go airborne! A special standalone issue, THE FLASH #26, written by Christos N. Gage and illustrated by Neil Googe, will be available in stores on December 31.
This is a done-in-one story. #27-29 will be a three-parter guest starring Deadman, by Brian Buccellato and Patrick Zircher. The new post-Forever Evil creative team hasn’t been announced yet.
Flash News from Two (Media) Worlds! Friday saw the unveiling of a new image from the upcoming DC Entertainment animated feature Justice League: War, featuring Christopher Gorham as The Flash. Meanwhile, over at Newsarama, writer Christos Gage spoke about his upcoming standalone story in Flash #26!
Justice League: War is adapted from the opening arc of the New 52 Justice League series, written by Geoff Johns. It is currently set for an early 2014 release.
Over on Earth-Print, Gage has the task of helming the first issue due after the Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato team take their final bows on the title as a duo (Buccellatto will be writing issues 27 – 29 solo). For more on the roots of Gage’s Flash fandom and what to expect from his “Flash Out of Water” tale, follow the jump!
Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Elena Casagrande
Cover by Jenny Frison
5-page preview at Marvel.com
Marvel Comics’ Spitfire one-shot, released last week, looks like a speedster story from the cover…but it’s really a vampire story. Once I realized that, I found the second read much more enjoyable.
Spitfire is Lady Jaqueline “Jac” Falsworth, a World-War II–era speedster who got her powers from the combination of a vampire bite and a blood transfusion from the original Human Torch. After she lived out a normal lifetime, a second transfusion restored her youth and activated vampire traits, like fangs and, most importantly for this story, immortality. She works for British intelligence service MI:13, along with vampire slayer Blade, whom she is dating.
The plot involves Spitfire and Blade pursuing a suspected spy — who is also a vampire — to New York. Through the course of their pursuit, Spitfire has to confront the similarities between their quarry and what she herself has become. Will immortality leave her jaded and empty, like it has so many of the vampires she’s met? Will she become what they hunt?
As someone who doesn’t follow Marvel Comics very closely, and hadn’t even heard of the character until a few days ago, I appreciated the text page at the beginning. It’s a bit dense, but it covers Spitfire’s origin, her history with vampires and fighting Nazis, her recruitment by MI:13, and her relationship with Blade. It’s also easily skippable by readers who are familiar with the character.
The cover is labeled “Women of Marvel,” which seems to be some sort of event like DC’s ill-titled “Girlfrenzy” set of one-shots during the 1990s. Most of what I can find online has to do with a series of variant covers for established books like Captain America, Iron Man, and the Avengers, so I’m not sure what other books are involved.
Mild spoilers after the cut. Continue reading