Tag Archives: William Messner-Loebs

Interview: Greg LaRocque, Part III – Retroactive Postgame, a Lost Flash Spinoff and Bettie Page!

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Longtime Flash artist Greg LaRocque needs little introduction for readers of this site.  Hot on the heels of his return to the character in DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’80s, we caught up with the man once again to talk about the story, his past and future work, as well as the apparent fate of Wally West.


This is the third Speed Force interview with Mr. LaRocque.  We’ve previously discussed “The Return of Barry Allen” and previewed the Retroactive issue with him.  Part three is after the jump!

UPDATE:  Added some comments from LaRocque, which were originally made in response to the Speed Force review of the issue.

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Preview of DC Retroactive: The Flash 1980s

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DC has posted a preview of the DC Retroactive Flash: 1980s, arriving in stores on Wednesday.

Central City is filled with villains cleverly trying to stay under the radar of The Flash. So then why is one of them doing everything in her power to attract his attention? And when an obsessed fan gets out of hand, Wally West must follow an unlikely trail of victims to his latest challenge: a gallery of his most notorious Rogues.

What becomes of this super-fan will shock you in an all-new story from writer William Messner-Loebs and art by Greg Larocque. DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH-THE 80s also includes a 22-page classic story originally published in the ’80s by Messner-Loebs, Larocque and Tim Dizon. Pick up this one-shot in stores on Wednesday.

Greg LaRocque & William Messner-Loebs on DC RetroActive: The Flash 1980s

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DC has announced that Greg LaRocque will be joining writer William Messner-Loebs for DC Retroactive: The Flash 1980s in August. This is the second of three *ahem* flashback one-shots bringing back classic creative teams to tell “lost tales” set during their original 1970s, 1980s and 1990s runs. Each issue features a new 26-page lead story and a reprint from the writer’s original run.

DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH – THE ’80s

The ’80s were a decade that forever changed the Scarlet Speedster. Now telling a new story from that era will be the creative team of artist Greg LaRouque and writer William Messner-Loebs.

ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 3 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T

Yes! I was hoping they’d get Greg LaRocque back for this! Starting in 1988, LaRocque drew the Flash for Messner-Loebs’ entire 4-year run on the Wally West series, and several years of Mark Waid’s, finishing with the classic, The Return of Barry Allen.

The July 1970s Flash special by Cary Bates was announced earlier this month, and we can expect more details on Brian Augustyn’s 1990s special in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, check out The Source to read about the other 1980s specials focusing on Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.

A “Retro-Active” Flash-Back

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At the WonderCon DC Nation panel, DC announced a series of one-shots coming this summer called “Retro-Active.” Each set features three one-shots set in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s continuity re-uniting the characters with the creators most associated with of classic runs from that era.

The Flash issues will be written by:

  • Cary Bates for the 1970s
  • William Messner-Loebs for the 1980s
  • Brian Augustyn for the 1990s.

Each issue will feature 26 pages of new story and 20 pages of reprinted material and will run $4.99. No word yet on artists or release dates. Other characters announced include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America.

It’s odd that they’ve broken up the Waid/Augustyn team. Given that Waid has expressed willingness to work for DC again, I figure this means one of two things:

  • DC doesn’t want to hire Mark Waid for now.
  • Mark Waid doesn’t want to return to The Flash after the disaster of “The Wild Wests.”

Source: CBR coverage and Newsarama coverage.

Update (Monday): DC has released the logos and writers for the event.

Speed Reading: Recommendations

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The linkblogging catchup continues!

Comics Should Be Good features Flash #54: “Nobody Dies” (William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque) in their Year of Cool Comics. It’s one of my favorite one-issue stories from Wally West’s run, and not surprisingly it made the reader-selected list of top 10 Wally West stories a few weeks later.

A bit off topic, CSBG also reviews Mysterius the Unfathomable. It was a fun fantasy/horror/comedy miniseries last year, and is now available as a trade paperback.

Multiversity Comics recommends the new Flash series. Among other reasons: “he has a secret identity which actually gets used, instead of being forgotten for more exciting superhero stories.” And of course, “Flash has some of the best and most fleshed out rogues in the business.”

Update: One more! Several Flash storylines appear in CSBG’s Greatest Mark Waid Stories Ever Told list: Dead Heat, Terminal Velocity and The Return of Barry Allen.