Tag Archives: Zoom

DC Direct Solicits for December 2010

DC Direct’s Solicits for December are out and there are some great Flash related releases coming up.

BLACKEST NIGHT: SERIES 8: BLACK LANTERN BLACK FLASH Action Figure

The hugely successful BLACKEST NIGHT action figure line continues!

Included in this eighth installment of the series are: Black Lantern Black Flash, Professor Zoom’s reanimated corpse, holds curious sway over The Flash’s other undead rogues; Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, the new Orange Power Ring seeks out Lex Luthor for his avarice and lust for power; Indigo Tribe The Atom, with compassion and sense of duty stronger than ever, Ray Palmer serves as the binding force uniting the spectrum of power; Sinestro Corps Member Scarecrow, delights in instilling fear in others and is rewarded with the Yellow Ring of Power.

The Black Lantern Black Flash figure stands at 6.75″ high, features multiple points of articulation and includes a display base. Character-appropriate accessories are also included.

4-color clamshell blister card packaging.

BLAMMOIDS!: SERIES 4: FLASH Mini Figure

Real compact – with real impact!

BLAM! A funky, chunky collection of boldly designed toys that pack a lot of punch in a squatty body!

POW! A striking, hyper-stylized twist on the world’s greatest heroes and their biggest foes. Too tough to call small – you’ll want to collect them all!

Packaged on a blister card, each measures approximately 2.5″ to 4″ tall with three points of articulation.

On Sale December 1, 2010

and his Zoom counterpart:

BLAMMOIDS!: SERIES 4: ZOOM Mini Figure

Real compact – with real impact!

BLAM! A funky, chunky collection of boldly designed toys that pack a lot of punch in a squatty body!

POW! A striking, hyper-stylized twist on the world’s greatest heroes and their biggest foes. Too tough to call small – you’ll want to collect them all!

Packaged on a blister card, each measures approximately 2.5″ to 4″ tall with three points of articulation.

On Sale December 1, 2010

The Black Lantern Reverse Flash is a must have for me. Especially since we have yet to get a proper Professor Zoom or Zoom in the DC Direct lines. Well except for that artist-specific, out of scale one coming up in the Classified Series. It’s a shame that I only own five Reverse Flashes. And none of them were made in the traditional sculpt. Two are from JLU(Justice Lords large and small figures), One is a Toyfare Exclusive from the 90s JLA Line, and the other two are from Infinite Heroes and DC Direct’s short lived Pocket Heroes line. I’m actually surprised we’ve yet to see a Zoom in the Minimates line either. I’m crossing my fingers that this Flash Relaunch leads to a DC Direct Flash Series similar to what they’ve been doing with Green Lantern. And then when the movie hits. Wow. I think we are in for a great next few years as far as collecting goes.

I really don’t know what these Blammoids are or what the point of them is but I will definitely be picking up both the Flash and Zoom. I have a feeling it’s going to be a slow month for Flash collectibles anyway. Unless DC Direct or Mattel kicks it up with a *crosses fingers* Flash line or Flash-heavy DCUC release.

I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of the last three heroclix I need from the recent release. Expect a full write up when they get here.

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Flash Hints from C2E2

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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.

Alternate Deaths of the Reverse Flash

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I’ve been slowly scanning my pre-digital photos, and stumbled across these pictures I’d taken of my DC Direct (and a few other) action figures around 2000 or so.

Display Case Figures 1

Display Case Figures 2

I had fun coming up with a situation that could combine the New Teen Titans, Flash, and Sandman figures.

In retrospect, I really wish I’d used a camera that had a little depth of field. I think it may have been fixed-focus as well.

More Figures: Zoom, Streak, Chronicles

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Matty Collector is selling a set of Justice Guild figures, featuring the Justice Society stand-ins Green Guardsman (Green Lantern), The Streak (Flash), Black Siren (Black Canary) and Tom Turbine from the Justice League animated episode, “Legends” (via JSA Round Table).

Newsarama has pictures of DC Direct’s JLA Classified Series 3, featuring such classics as Professor Zoom (more or less; the design is sort of a hybrid between Eobard Thawne and Hunter Zolomon), Superman Red (not to be confused with Superman Blue), the Atom, and Hal Jordan (special extra-grumpy edition).

Techland has a first look at the DC Chronicles: The Flash statue. This series is “created to capture the original depictions of DC Comics’ most renowned heroes” according to the DC Direct website. So far they’ve announced Golden Age Superman, Golden Age Batman, Golden Age Wonder Woman, and Golden Age Aquaman. Naturally, the next statue is Silver Age Flash.

It’s a great statue of Barry Allen, but shouldn’t a line designed around the original versions of DC’s characters feature, well, the original version of the character?

Cosplay Photos: Flashes & Rogues at Dragon*Con

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Just from what I’ve seen on Flickr, there were a ton of Flash-related costumes at Dragon*Con this year.

Looking through these photos, be sure to notice:

The Flash’s secret revealed: Red Bull!
The Grail Knight (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) asks the Flash to choose wisely.
Smallville-style Impulse
The entire frakking Rogues’ Gallery!

The Rogues’ Gallery group not only did an incredible job on their costumes, but got together for an extended photo shoot…and hung out at a bar afterward, in full costume. You can read all about it, with dozens of photos, in xanykaos’ (Trickster II) post on flash_rogues, A Meeting of Rogues. (Thanks to Lia for the link!)

Full Review: Flash: Rebirth #4 — “Flash Facts”

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Flash: Rebirth #4 Standard Cover

Well, I said I wanted this issue to knock my socks off, and Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver certainly delivered! After three issues of setup, Flash: Rebirth #4 kicks the story into high gear. Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, stands revealed as the villain behind Barry Allen’s troubles, the mythology of the speed force expands, and everyone gets involved in a high-stakes battle for the legacy of the Flash.

The Professor is In

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Reverse Flash. Sure, there’s a reason the evil counterpart is a standard villain type. For one thing, it’s always interesting to see what a villain can do with the same powers but no scruples (as demonstrated admirably when Lex Luthor and the Flash have their minds switched in “The Great Brain Robbery” episode of Justice League Unlimited). For another, when the villain has the same powers as the hero, it cancels out the hero’s usual advantages — but the side effects of their struggle are often doubled.

The thing is, Professor Zoom always struck me as an overdone, melodramatic villain, evil or the sake of being evil — the kind who would twirl his mustache while tying Iris to the railroad tracks. Maybe that was because he never really got updated with modern storytelling the way the Rogues did, except for a single story — appropriately enough, Mark Waid’s “The Return of Barry Allen.” By contrast, I found Hunter Zolomon a much more interesting character with unusual motivations, though one who should be used sparingly. So having Zoom II taken off the playing field in Rogues’ Revenge and Zoom I brought back at the same time as his own arch-nemesis seemed, well, lazy.

This issue, however, presents a Zoom who is thoroughly menacing. Barry’s internal monologue zeroes in on the key constant in Zoom’s appearances: he’s a predatory stalker. And now he’s been reimagined as — like his opposite number — a scientist. A scientist with an obsession and no ethics committee, who has spent his life experimenting on the subject of his fixation.

Rush

There’s so much going on in this issue that the first time through I didn’t realize what a huge chunk of exposition is dropped at the beginning of the issue. For one thing, it’s interspersed with a battle. For another, despite Thawne’s academic affectations, it’s much more straight-forward than the technobabble at the beginning of the last issue.

Also: a couple of items bring home the fact that this entire miniseries (or at least what we’ve seen so far) takes place in the space of one day. The first issue established a number of celebrations and parades that were going to happen later that day — and this issue, one of the battles crashes through that parade.

I don’t think I can say much more without giving away plot points, so be warned: Spoilers after the cut.

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Speed Force

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