Some recent interviews at Newsarama:
Francis Manapul talks to Newsarama about Beast Legends.
UPDATE: Francis Manapul also talks to CBR about drawing the Flash.
Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani talk about the upcoming Young Justice comic that will tie into the animated series.
Artist Nicola Scott talks about Teen Titans.
One of the downsides to attending a convention is that you miss all the announcements at panels you didn’t attend — like an Astro City movie deal! *ahem* Anyway, on to speedster news.
At DC Universe Event Horizon, James Robinson stated that the Justice League would be battling the Crime Syndicate at some point, with Jesse Quick battling Johnny Quick , Batman vs. Owlman, Supergirl vs. Ultraman etc.
At DC Focus: Teams, incoming Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul said that Bart Allen “is past the Impulse stage but he still has that innocent, light-heartedness about him.” (Quote from Newsarama, may be paraphrasing him.)
At the Superman panel they announced that Superboy #3 will feature the first-ever Superboy/Kid Flash race.
Some weekend linkblogging…
Once Upon a Geek can’t wait for the upcoming DC Adventures RPG.
Multiversity Comics casts the Teen Titans
The Beat finds that Comic-Con brings money into San Diego after all. Who knew? Oh, right, we did: the ones spending it!
4thletter! looks at Flash and Batman in Final Crisis: “Everything about the Flash, any of them, in Final Crisis is dead on…”
I had an odd thought while reading The Flash #2* last week. Francis Manapul draws Barry and Iris in a way that makes them look fairly young, and I remembered someone’s remark that the cowl on Wally West’s new costume makes him look older than Barry, even though Wally used to be Barry’s younger sidekick.
Then it hit me: No, Wally isn’t older than Barry Allen (even with time travel) but when you factor in his earlier Kid Flash career, he actually has more experience than Barry at this point!
Wally West became Kid Flash very early in Barry Allen’s Flash career — only six issues into his solo series! Flash vol.1 started with #105, picking up from where the Golden Age Flash Comics left off, and Wally was struck by lightning in Flash #110, back in 1959. He didn’t retire as Kid Flash until very late in Barry’s career, in New Teen Titans #39 — just one year before Barry vanished in 1985.**
So Wally West has been running around for most of Barry’s career plus his own!
During his JLA run, Grant Morrison is one of the few writers I can remember really building on the fact that the original Titans grew up as super-heroes. I don’t recall it being a plot point, but Morrison mentioned it in an interview, or possibly one of the Secret Files books, and it clearly factored into his characterization of Wally West. He might not have been as old as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but he’d been working with a team longer than they had, and he was a consummate professional.
Wally wasn’t the rookie on the team by any stretch. That honor went to Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.
Of course, neither Wally nor Barry can hold a candle to Jay Garrick, who has been speeding since 1940!
*Yes, I do still plan on reviewing it. It was just a busy week, and for some reason, it’s been hard to sit down and write it.
**These are of course the real-world publishing dates. The fictional DC Universe would use a vague “X years ago” timeline that always seems to change, but usually compresses everything from the dawn of the Silver Age onward into a 10-15–year period.
Exciting news coming down the pipeline. Announced at Cartoon Network’s Annual Advertising Upfront Presentation and confirmed by DC Comics’ Official Blog, The Source, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation will be bringing “Young Justice” to the small screen for their 2010 Cartoon Line-Up.
The show is described as:
In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over—to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice—Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis—will found out, whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero. This all-new series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based upon characters from DC Comics. Sam Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is the executive producer. Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman Doomsday, The Batman) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H.) are the producers.
Not a bad little combination although very little reminds me of the Young Justice that I remember and loved. Not only with the presence of Aqualad but also with him randomly being Afro-Atlantean. I guess from a young african-american kids perspective it’s nice to be able to relate to characters, but you should have just thrown Static in there or something. But on the plus side this hopefully means that we will be seeing tons of different versions of Kid Flash action figures. Which will hopefully make up for never getting a Teen Titans one. Not surprised to see Sam Register on this instead of Bruce Timm, as Register is red hot on the TV animation scene, while Timm’s focus has been on the DC Animated Movie front for some time. I’m definitely hoping they tone down the animation this time around though. Teen Titans was almost obnoxious at times. But I guess it’s apples and oranges.
This is the first promotional picture released.
The design for Kid Flash looks a little busy with the random padding and armor look, but I guess it makes a little sense. The goggles I actually kind of like. They are practical for a speedster and a nice little nod to Impulse, although the red hair makes me think this might be Wally like in the Teen Titans cartoon. They may end up avoiding the secret identity thing completely though. It’s anyone’s guess. I wish they would have kept Bart’s original boots though. They would look great visually, especially with the new pseudo-armor look they have going for him. Robin, Miss Martian and Superboy barely sport any differences from their comic book counterparts. Except for Superboy’s random cargo pants tucked into his boots. Arrowette now known as Artemis (are they trying to go for a dual association with Green Arrow and Wonder Woman maybe?) looks kind of fugly as far as the suit goes. I have no more words for Spike…er Aqualad. Except for “Ugh”.
By the way, did I miss an announcement or something? I was pretty sure that DC wasn’t allowed to use the Superboy name in anything while the legal stuff was being sorted out. For those that have been living under a rock for the past few years, DC Comics was sued by the estate of Jerry Siegel over the rightful ownership of the Superboy character. Honestly I haven’t been following the case that closely myself since I really don’t have that much invested in the character. Especially now. Something obviously must have changed though, with the recent return of Conner to comics and now his inclusion in “Young Justice”
Needless to say I’m anxiously awaiting this series and any announcements as far as action figures go especially. We will keep you posted.
Teen Titans, originally uploaded by Dharma Initiate.
While looking for photos of Flash costumes at more recent conventions, I stumbled on this incredible meet-up from last year’s Dragon*Con, with Teen Titans cosplayers covering every era of the team from Kid Flash to Raven to Jericho, Superboy, and Static.
Be sure to check out the rest of Dharma Initiate’s Dragon*Con 2009 set, including pictures of two Kid Flashes goofing off, Titans battling Deathstroke, and group shots with at least two Superboys and three different Wonder Girls.