Tag Archives: Wally West

Flash Hints from C2E2

DC has been really cagey with Flash news lately, since the new direction is just getting started, but they’ve let a few hints slip at C2E2. Here’s a round-up from Newsarama and CBR’s coverage of the event.

DC Nation was light on Flash information…though Dan Didio joked that “as far as dead meaning dead in the DCU, once we get to Nightwing and Wally West, yes.”

At the Brightest Day panel on Saturday, Geoff Johns answered a fan who was upset that Flash #1 had a “Brightest Day” banner, but didn’t tie into the book:

Johns said, “It was a good issue, wasn’t is?” before explaining that the book would tie in to what happens in “Brightest Day” in some small ways, though “I didn’t want to start Flash #1 with a white power battery. I wanted him to fight the Trickster.” Sattler added “The bannering on the books is about a theme in the DCU…the stories are important to Brightest Day’s central story.”

He told another fan, who was confused about the number of Zooms running around, “If you look at Reverse Flash, I try to do everything in reverse…”

At the DC Universe panel, Ian Sattler answered a question about a Flash Secret Origin story by saying, “Sooner than you think.” Wally West will make an appearance in Justice League.

Robinson also said that he’s “very excited about bringing Jesse Quick to the team.”

Finally, at Sunday’s Flash/Green Lantern panel, Geoff Johns declined to answer questions about the current arc or about Flashpoint. He has plans for Wally West and the West Twins. We will “eventually” see the Tornado Twins and John Fox, but there are no plans for Inertia (he’s “really dead”) or Walter West (“but never say never”).

Someone else asked why the resurrected Captain Boomerang is already in jail, “Or is this based on his previous crimes?” Johns said yes. “Is there a legal precedent in the DCU for culpability for crimes you’ve committed before you’re resurrected?” “I’ll have Boomerang complain to the guards.”

The most interesting remark I found in the write-up was this:

“The Rogues always told Wally there was a mutual respect between them and Barry, and that was a lie.”

The funniest, though: Someone asked about Mopee. No one on the panel knew who he was, except Geoff Johns, who sighed and joked that he’ll be in issue #715.

Johns, Manapul & Kolins Talk Flash, Blackest Night & Brightest Day

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Friday afternoon linkblogging: a trio of interviews to go along with the Flash #1 relaunch.

Geoff Johns

First, Geoff Johns Prime has the writer answering questions about Brightest Day and The Flash. Some items that stand out:

We don’t want anyone to have to buy a lot of DC books, we want you to. Our job is to tell great stories that can stand alone and also be part of a bigger whole. That’s what the DC Universe is. The Flash is probably one of the most accessible books I have written, but it fits into the bigger tapestry of the DCU.

Johns also explains that these are new stories, written for Barry Allen, not unused Wally West stories. He has a bunch of those that he never got to use since he left the book before he ran out of ideas, but they’ve “been put away for now.” He also confirms that there will definitely be a Flash/Green Lantern crossover at some point — something that should surprise no-one.

Francis Manapul

CBR interviews Francis Manapul about his work on The Flash.

At the beginning, I was digging what Ethan [Van Sciver] was doing with tons of lightning and stuff like that. So, I used some of that at the beginning, but I found more and more that, the deeper I get into the pages, the more I enjoy the multiple images the way Carmine did it. So, I’ve been doing a lot of that. It’s actually been advantageous being able to do the watercolor [effect on] my own work, because the way I would draw the trail of images where he was running from, I’m able to draw on a lighter scale.

He adds: “the goal is that with every issue, you’re going to see the Flash do something completely different, in terms of showing his speed, that you haven’t seen before.”

Scott Kolins

Speedster Site interviews Scott Kolins about Blackest Night, DC Universe: Legacies and The Flash. He talks about designing the Black Lantern Reverse Flash, drawing Wally’s new costume and Barry’s Blue Lantern uniform, and how Blackest Night: The Flash compared to Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge.

Kolins was also asked about the Wally West backup stories he and Geoff Johns were going to do:

DC of course recognizes how important Wally is and has been for the Flash fans and the co-feature idea was one of the ways they wanted to make use of him. -But then they had another idea – a possibly better idea. The reader is the ultimate judge, but it’s all done with the best of intentions. I’ve been working long enough to realize that plans change as the company endlessly searches for new and better ideas.

I’m curious about this “possibly better idea” now, and more hopeful about it than I would have been on Tuesday.

Speed Reading: Blackest Night in 60 Seconds, Comics According to Geoff, Movie Thoughts & More

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Some weekend linkblogging.

Art

Comics Alliance presents (in comic book form): Blackest Night in 60 Seconds….and on a more serious note, spotlights Comic Book Cartography — maps of various fictional worlds, buildings, and more. Edit: Here’s a direct link to the Comic Book Cartography blog.

Frank Ziegler draws a Cartoony Jay Garrick.

Commentary

Multiversity Comics looks at The DCU According to Geoff Johns, covering the entirety of the writer’s DC work to date.

Grumpy Old Fan considers The Gospel According to Geoff, looking at what made Blackest Night work as more than merely a “process story.”

It’s Just Movies’ Ben Fowler discusses, If I Was Making … ‘The Flash’.

Cool-Mo-De starts a Goofy villains series with the Rainbow Raider and Flash vol.2 Annual #10 (Pulp Heroes), with art by the late Dick Giordano.

Comics Daily asks, How do you solve a problem like Wally West?

Interview

A Comic Book Blog interviews Ethan Van Sciver.

More Flash Hints from MegaCon and ECCC

Search-Term Q&A

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Some more questions and answers pulled from the search statistics:

What happened to Tarpit in Flash: Blackest Night? – Probably nothing, since (as Captain Boomerang Jr. pointed out) his physical body is actually somewhere else. On the other hand, Captain Cold did freeze Iron Heights.

When does the new Flash Forward come out? – New episodes start Thursday, March 18. ABC will also be running a recap of the first half of the season on Tuesday, March 16, after Lost.

What is the song when Flash goes speed force? – I’m not really sure what you mean by this (unless it’s “What music plays during the climax of the Justice League Unlimited episode, “Divided We Fall”), but allow me to recommend the Jim’s Big Ego song, “The Ballad of Barry Allen.” It’s certainly more appropriate than Queen’s Flash Gordon theme.

Is DC: The New Frontier a sequel to The Golden Age? – No, but it’s a similar concept — enough so that when James Robinson was asked whether he might do a sequel, he said that New Frontier basically covered it.

Which Flash controls the speed force? – Depends on what you mean by “control.” Barry Allen generates it by running, all Flashes use it as fuel, and Wally West is able to manipulate it to perform feats like lending or stealing speed.

How can you speed if you are following someone else? – If they’re driving faster than the speed limit, then it’s entirely possible for you to do the same thing.

Why don’t people like Barry Allen? – Because not everyone has the same tastes that you do. Just as some people prefer the serious tone of the 1990s Batman animated series, while others prefer the zany adventure of Batman: the Brave and the Bold, different people like different takes on the Flash.

What will happen to Wally West? – He’ll probably be a recurring guest star in The Flash, and will almost certainly show up in an issue or two of DC Universe: Legacies. DC has scaled back on the big plans they had for the Flash this year, dropping a set of backup stories that would have featured Wally in The Flash and a Kid Flash series that would have featured Bart. Other than that, we probably won’t see much of him until the next big Flash epic, unless James Robinson pulls a surprise and puts him back on Justice League. In which case we can probably expect to see Irey or Jai killed and Wally’s legs amputated. @#*&^! Cry for Justice.

Edit: One More! – Panels at WonderCon 2010 – They haven’t released a programming schedule yet, but last year it was posted about two weeks before the convention. So we should see something online by mid-March. Update: They’ll post the schedule one day at a time, starting on March 10.

Happy Birthday Greg LaRocque

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It turns out that today is Greg LaRocque’s birthday! LaRocque drew The Flash vol.2 through all of William Messner-Loebs’ run and the beginning of Mark Waid’s, finishing up with the well-regarded story, The Return of Barry Allen. He pencilled the book for five years, from Flash vol.2 #15 in 1988 through Flash vol.2 #79 in 1993, with only a handful of fill-in issues by other artists, making him the longest-running artist on Wally West’s series.

Along the way he designed Wally West’s shiny costume, which debuted in the above Flash vol.2 #50. In my opinion, he’s still the artist who made it look the best. As Scott Mateo points out on Comic Bloc, when LaRocque drew Wally and Barry together, you could easily tell them apart even at a glance. The artist talks about the redesign in his interview in The Flash Companion.

It’s interesting that LaRocque and Messner-Loebs worked together on the book for roughly four years, and their birthdays are only a few days apart!

Speed Force

Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive