Tag Archives: Wally West

Flash Hints from Chicago: Bart and Wally

There’s not a whole lot of Flash-related news coming out of Chicago Comic-Con, partly because we’re still in the middle of Flash: Rebirth and partly because they dropped the big news two weeks ago in San Diego. But there were a few items mentioned at DC Nation.

First, Newsarama’s report mentions:

Red Robin will “absolutely” be dealing with the return of Superboy and Kid Flash in the near future.

I believe DC has previously mentioned that Tim and Bart will both be showing up (beyond the cameos in the first issue) of Conner Kent/Superboy’s stories in Adventure Comics. I wonder if Tim and Conner will be showing up in Red Robin at some point?

It’s interesting to note that, with Red Robin, Adventure Comics, and Kid Flash, the three original founders of Young Justice will all have their own series for the first time in eight years. Impulse and Superboy, both launched in the mid-1990s, were canceled in 2002. There’s a great scene from Young Justice around that time in which Bart and Kon are lamenting that “my comic got canceled” (supposedly referring to their favorite series to read), and commiserate until Robin walks into the room — and they proceed to glare at him. Does anyone remember what issue this was?

Anyway, back to DC Nation. CBR’s write-up adds another note.

Asked about the further ramifications about Barry Allen’s return as the Flash, “We are not retiring Wally West,” Sattler said to applause.

As reassuring as it is to know that DC does recognize that Wally still has fans, it’s more reassuring to know that the comment got applause. Of course, the best reassurance is still Geoff Johns’ remark that “Wally’s not only going to be fine, he’s going to kick ass.”

On the other hand, @weeklycrisis pointed out that “at DC, heroes either die off or live long enough to become the bad guy.” Ray of sunshine, there…

A couple of final notes from CBR’s article:

“Wednesday Comics” will be collected into trade according to strips rather than altogether, Sattler said.

I wonder if this means 15 separate books (which would actually be more volumes than the original 12-part series!) or whether it means they’ll be combining them by tone, style, character connections, etc.

“Aquaman Reborn” by Geoff Johns? “Ah, Aquaman,” Sattler sighed. No answer, but not in a “maybe” way–more exasperated.

Aquaman? Really? Not Vibe? 😉

EVS on the Future of the Flash

Speedster Site has a round-up of hints from Ethan Van Sciver about the near future of the Flash franchise. In particular:

  • EVS will not do the art for the Blackest Night: Flash miniseries.
  • The Flash outfit seen on an upcoming cover for The Last Days of Animal Man is not related to EVS’ redesign of Wally’s costume.
  • A Flash monthly announcement is coming soon!

No earth-shattering surprises, but it’s always good to have confirmation. I figured DC wouldn’t have an Animal Man mini upstage the unveiling of Wally’s new Flash costume. He also drops hints about his own plans post-Flash: Rebirth

I’m looking forward to the announcement on the Flash monthly series. It’s a safe bet that Geoff Johns will be writing it, but we still don’t know whether it’s starting immediately after Flash: Rebirth or waiting until after Blackest Night finishes. And we don’t know who’ll take on the art. Though Ethan Van Sciver did mention in his interview with Word Balloon a while back that he was making an effort to learn to be a monthly artist, and one of the key conditions for getting that sixth issue of Flash: Rebirth was that he make his deadlines — which he apparently did — so it’s certainly possible the monthly could launch with the classic Johns/Van Sciver team.

Wally’s New Costume Unveiling Announced

Yesterday, Ethan Van Sciver answered a question at Comic Bloc about when we’d finally see Wally West’s new costume — the one that should make it easier to tell the difference between Wally West and Barry Allen at a glance. The new costume will debut in Flash: Rebirth .

Yeah, in the grand scheme of things it’s a trivial matter, but Wally’s fans do care about the issue. It’ll be nice not to feel like our favorite Flash is getting thrown under the metaphorical bus to make way for the “real” Flash.

Update November 18: Wally’s costume has in fact been revealed in Flash: Rebirth . If you want to see it, head over to get spoiled!.

Speed Reading: Cool Moments, Jumping On, Coloring and Mor(rison)

Comics Should Be Good highlights more Cool Comic Book Moments from Mark Waid’s Flash story, Terminal Velocity. They’ve got two items from Flash #99: Wally’s sacrifice and Bart stepping up (which doesn’t go quite as well as he expects) — and one of two moments from Flash #100: Wally’s…return? One more coming up tomorrow. Update: the conclusion is up!

Comics in Crisis thinks that now is a perfect time for new readers to jump into the Flash.

Wally’s World: If I Ran DC Comics (Part 1)

iFanboy compares comic book coloring techniques from the 1980s and today, using pages from Secret Wars and The Flash: Rebirth as examples.

Lying in the Gutters, in its final column, cites conflicting rumors on the future of Justice League of America, with either a Grant Morrison/Jim Lee team-up or Geoff Johns. Earlier rumors had Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.

When Worlds Collide has put together a list of the Best and Worst of Grant Morrison, with a Top 10 and Bottom 5. I’ve only read about 1/3 of the combined list. Update: Comics Should Be Good fires back with another Top 10 Grant Morrison list.

Also interesting: my Google Alert for “flash comics” came up with this list of things about the (American) comic book industry that should be common knowledge, but aren’t.

Speed Reading: Mirrors and Rainbows Addicted to Crime

Some links of note before this holiday weekend:

Flashy Links

Comics Should Be Good’s Year of Comic Book Moments features Flash v.2 #73, Wally and Linda’s first Christmas together and a surprise visit from the man in red.

Somehow I missed this when it was posted, but Mightygodking has an off-kilter profile of the Rainbow Raider.

Comic Coverage looks at the time Mirror Master managed to transform the Flash into a mirror.

Silver Age Comics looks at the way crime was treated as an addiction in many comics of the era, particularly The Flash — again focusing on the Mirror Master.

Update: Karl Kerschl has posted a progress shot of the Flash being inked for Wednesday Comics.

Whirlwind Tour

The Source previews what’s in store for Justice Society of America as Bill Willingham, Matt Sturges and Jesus Merino take over the book.

Darcey McLaughlin of the Miramichi Leader notes that death has lost all meaning in comic books.

Scott’s Classic Comics Corner (Comics Should Be Good) has an interesting post on measuring scarcity in comics collecting.

Karl Kerschl’s (Flash in Wednesday Comics) webcomic, The Abominable Charles Christopher, has reached its 100th episode.

Finally, if you’ll excuse the plug, please take a look at my eBay auctions if you haven’t recently. I’ve got several DVDs and CDs up right now, as well as a promotional Star Trek T-shirt from San Diego 2007.

DCU Online Flash — Concept Art and Screenshots Reveal Wally West

Sony has just released character designs and a bio of the Flash in DC Universe Online, and Newsarama has the scoop. The Flash has previously appeared in demos and screenshots of the upcoming MMORPG, but I don’t recall seeing the design artwork before…or the character biography.

Flash design for DC Universe Online

The surprise here is that Jim Lee’s design is still recognizably Wally West’s costume with the V-shaped belt, rather than Barry Allen’s. Considering that DC has been re-focusing the Flash franchise around Barry Allen, I would have expected them to use him for their next flagship game. And besides, Geoff Johns is writing both Flash: Rebirth and the storylines for DCUO. On the other hand Mortal Kombat vs. DCU used a costume that was closer to Wally’s than Barry’s, and called him Barry Allen. The biography is quite specific, though:

The Fastest Man Alive, Wally West easily runs at light speed, vibrates through objects, create explosions through friction – and, when at agonizing top capacity, can manipulate time and bridge dimensions.

The Flash is a time-honored member of the Justice League. The latest in a long line of Flashes, each with their own unique way of tapping into the primal “Speed Force,” Wally is determined to live up to the noble legacies of speedsters such as Barry Allen, Max Mercury, and Jay Garrick.

It’s hard to get more specific than that!

(Speaking of Jay Garrick, the design for his appearance in the game was released last summer.)

Newsarama has more images and details.

Update: jcbagee points to a gallery of more images at Kotaku. In addition to some slightly larger versions of the same images, there are a bunch of screenshots from the game itself, including this one with some (presumably) player-character speedsters:

Flash Group

Oddly enough, the Flash’s eyes seem blue in the renderings…

Update 2: CBR has the same set of images as Kotaku, and the bio.