Tag Archives: Trial of the Flash

Annotations: The Trial of the Flash, #326 – “Shame in Scarlet!”

Annotations: The Trial of the Flash, #325 – “Dead Reckoning”

Annotations: The Trial of the Flash, #324 – “The Slayer and the Slain!”

Welcome to the second installment in our annotations of the collected edition of The Trial of the Flash! We’ve been breaking down related stories leading up to this month’s release of the massive tome that is Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash. In addition, we’ve interviewed author Cary Bates about the buildup and the Trial itself, plus shown you what won’t be included in the collection. For last week, and previous issues, click here.

Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post. This time around, since the reprint is widely available, the format will be a little different. For legal analysis of the story, something I will not attempt, go here.

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Annotations: The Trial of The Flash, #323 – “Run, Flash — Run for Your Wife!”

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Welcome to the first installment in our annotations of the collected edition of The Trial of the Flash! We’ve been breaking down related stories leading up to last week’s release of the massive tome that is Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash. In addition, we’ve interviewed author Cary Bates about the buildup and the Trial itself, plus shown you what won’t be included in the collection.

Leading up to Flash #323, the issue leading off this collection, Barry Allen’s life had taken a dark turn with the death of his wife, Iris, at the hands of his archenemy, Professor Zoom. After leaving Zoom to perish in the time stream, Barry began his life anew and attempted to move on from the events surrounding his wife’s murder.

But the past never dies when you’re The Flash! Zoom returned and swore revenge, leading to the events in this collection. Links to artwork and research are included throughout this post. Previous annotations can be found here. This time around, since the reprint is widely available, the format will be a little different. For legal analysis of the story, something I will not attempt, go here.

UP TO SPEED: Barry Allen and Fiona Webb are to be married today. However, a freak accident has freed the Reverse-Flash from his temporal prison, and he is making his way to Central City!

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What’s Missing from Showcase Presents: the Trial of the Flash?

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Astute readers have no doubt noticed that Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash, in stores today, does not cover a continuous string of issues from #323 through #350. It starts with the desperate race around the world in which the Flash kills Professor Zoom, and it ends with fallout from the Flash’s trial, but along the way it skips Flash #328 and #337-339.

What’s in those issues?

The Flash #328 is a reprint issue, with a couple of pages of framing sequence added. The reprint in question is Flash #163, the wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West, which was also interrupted by Professor Zoom. In the original run, it served as a reminder of just how long the rivalry had run between Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne, and how personal it was. It’s an obvious choice to cut.

In The Flash #337-339, the Pied Piper has a nervous breakdown, and the Rogues, blaming the Flash, trick a super-strong but mentally deficient man (who becomes Big Sir) into attacking the Flash in hopes that he’ll kill him. It’s an odd choice considering that the ongoing subplots continue throughout the three issues, including:

Preparations for the trial.
The missing persons case for Barry Allen.
The mystery of why the Flash’s lawyer hates him.

One of the jurors has a strange encounter, which becomes a major plot point near the end of the storyline, and #339 ends in the middle of a battle, which picks right up in #340, and leads into another key plot point: Big Sir beats Barry so badly that he needs facial reconstruction surgery.

Presumably the issues were cut for page count, but I do have to wonder why DC chose these three issues.

This Week: Citizen Cold, Trial of the Flash, Booster Gold

Flash comics and collections out this week.

Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3

He may have once been seen as Central City’s hero, but as the truth about Citizen Cold’s criminal past begins to trickle out, it’ll only be a matter of time before his true identity is revealed. With an entire gallery of Rogues set on killing him, Citizen Cold will have to work to not only protect himself but also to stop Iris West from losing her trust in him. But when she discovers a dark connection between them that he had kept hidden from her, does Citizen Cold stand any sort of chance defeating all of the odds stacking up against him?

Written by SCOTT KOLINS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale AUGUST 10 * 3 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

DC has released a 4-page preview.

Showcase Presents: Trial of the Flash

Written by CARY BATES and JOEY CAVALIERI

Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, DENNIS JENSEN and others

Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and KLAUS JANSON

Following the murder of The Flash’s wife by The Reverse-Flash, the two foes are locked in a round-the-world battle that ends in the death of the evildoer. Collected from THE FLASH #323-327, 329-336 and 340-350.

592 pg, B&W, $19.99 US

Booster Gold #47

FLASH FACT: Booster is the only man with the knowledge to fix the world, but he has to find The Flash in time to tell him…

Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
On sale AUGUST 10 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

Note: I have no idea whether the Flash is actually involved in this, but a cover appearance is worth a look.

Update: As Lee points out, Teen Titans #99 and Red Robin #26 are also Flash-related. Teen Titans features both Bart Allen/Kid Flash and Inertia, while Red Robin has Tim Drake confronting Captain Boomerang, the man who killed his father. Newsarama has previews of Titans, Robin & Booster Gold.

Speed Force

Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive