Tag Archives: Zoom

Flash: Rebirth #6 Solicited!

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Newsarama has a preview of DC’s September solicitations, including the conclusion to The Flash: Rebirth!

The Flash: Rebirth #6

Flash: Rebirth #6Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver

In a battle along the outskirts of time, the secrets of the Speed Force have been revealed! The new archnemesis of those who ride the lightning is coming for Iris Allen. And the Barry Allen you knew is gone forever…or is he? What change does Wally West face? What destiny will Kid Flash choose? Prepare to meet a Flash Family that’s both familiar and different…and get to the starting line for the next epic adventures of the Speed Force!

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

On sale September 30 • 6 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Wow… my website (Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning) has an arch-nemesis now! 😉

Also: It seems pretty clear who’s going to be wearing the costume at the end of this miniseries. Not that it was ever really in doubt.

I do have to wonder what they mean by the “new” arch-nemesis. The cover for #5 gives me the sense that they’re combining the Black Flash and Professor Zoom (though that may have been misdirection on the pre-release cover to prevent spoilers). Someone on Comic Bloc (I’m too sleepy to look it up now) suggested that we may be seeing Malcolm Thawne take over the role of Professor Zoom.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if they’re combining all the opposite numbers into one? Eobard Thawne, Malcolm Thawne, Hunter Zolomon and the Black Flash, all in one entity?

Update: Geoff Johns confirms on Comic Bloc that this is not the final cover.

Archive: 5 Possible Candidates for The Flash: Rebirth Mystery Villain

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Originally published as a guest post on The Weekly Crisis, on June 9, 2009. Imported here after that site shut down.

The biggest question in Flash: Rebirth so far — after “What’s up with Barry’ Allens parents?” and “How the heck did Barry come back, anyway?” — is “Who is the mystery villain?”

The very first scene in issue one is a break-in at a Central City crime lab: an unseen assailant kills the CSIs and re-creates the lightning-and-chemical accident that transformed Barry Allen into the Flash. In his internal monologue, he “speaks” as if he knows Barry Allen and even claims to have brought Barry back from the dead — and that it was the worst thing he could have done to him. It’s not likely that Geoff Johns is introducing an entirely new character. So, who might he be?

What we know for sure: He’s a man, has white hair, and carries a staff tipped with a lightning-bolt-shaped blade at each end. In short, not much. Also worth noting, Barry has picked up a new, traumatic backstory, which Geoff Johns has hinted is part of a crime committed against the Flash — in short, deliberate manipulation of history. One page of the preview for issue #3 also suggests a time traveler may be involved.

There’s been a lot of discussion on various message boards and around the web about the possible candidates and I’m sure everyone’s been wondering just who the mystery villain is. As such, I’ve put together my own list of candidates and reasons why each makes sense. Hit the jump to find out who made my short list of suspects!

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Speed Reading: Podcasts, Movie, Rebirth, and More

A few Flash-related posts I’ve found on the web over the past week:

Director Shawn Levy tells MTV’s Splash Page why he left the Flash movie. It turns out to be rather mundane: they wanted someone to focus entirely on The Flash, but he didn’t want to abandon Night at the Museum 2.

Podcasts

The Flash-back Podcast has moved to a new site. (Older podcasts are still at the original location.)

Meanwhile, Tom vs. the Flash tackles Flash v.1 #175, the second Flash/Superman race.

The latest Collected Comics Library Podcast focuses on the 1997 graphic novel, The Life Story of the Flash.

Rebirth Reactions

Comics Nexus wants to see the Flash mantle explored, not just one of the heroes who bears it, and characterizes the previous dynamic as:

Jay (the past),

Wally (the present),

Bart (the future)

and Barry (the aspiration, inspiration and reward).

4thLetter!’s David Brothers, in considering the end of 100 Bullets, sees Flash: Rebirth as “a signal that the DC Universe is moving in a direction that is pointedly Not For Me.”

Looking Back

Comic Coverage lists the Reverse-Flash among the Top 10 Comic Book Villains.

You Should Read Comics, looking at early Silver-Age Kid Flash stories, concludes that in his younger days, “Wally West was a narc.” On more recent topics, the blog tries to figure out what Dan Didio is trying to say when he answers questions about Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.

Slightly off-topic

Velocity: Pilot Season (200px)Comics Should Be Good reviews Velocity: Pilot Season #1, the 2007 book that was supposed to lead into an ongoing series from Top Cow.

Christopher Irving of Four Color Reality finds inspiration in Geoff Johns’ career in comics.

And while not Flash-related, I rather like Robot 6’s Grumpy Old Fan’s description of Bruce Wayne:

I think of Bruce Wayne as a frustrated marketer, spreading appropriate amounts of fear and respect virally through Gotham City, with Bat-symbols big as searchlights and small as stationery. In terms of both the real world and the comics, Batman relies on his outsized reputation.

Geoff Johns Talks Flash: Rebirth at IGN

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There’s an extensive 4-page interview with Geoff Johns up at IGN in which he talks about everything from story structure and theme to specific character motivations.

One segment on the first page really bothered me, though, when he said of the retcon that inserts a serious tragedy into his childhood:

We’ve never really visited Barry Allen’s past before he got hit by the bolt of lightning. And so some of what Rebirth is going to do is delve back into the past and reveal some things about it that previously weren’t there.

Never visited it? Really?

Apparently he’s never read any of the Silver Age or Bronze Age stories that flashed back to Barry’s childhood, or in which he caught up with his childhood sweetheart Daphne Dean, or visited both still very much alive parents…or Mark Waid’s The Life Story of the Flash.

He goes on to explain:

IGN: Why did you think it was important to bring some tragedy into his back-story?

Johns: What we’ll find out is we’ll see what drove him to adopt such a strong sense of justice. I really want to explore what drove Barry Allen to adopt his uncanny sense of wrong and right. You’re not just born with that. Barry Allen strove for that and was somewhat obsessed with it. Also, it’s about why he got into forensics. What led him to that area of work? Why not become a cop or a prosecutor? Why forensics? That’s something I really wanted to explore – what drove Barry Allen to this life that he chose? What made him Barry Allen before he was hit by the bolt of lightning?

Funny… here I thought Hunter Zolomon was supposed to be a villain. Apparently he was actually an author avatar.

Flash Flickr Finds: MegaCon

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Sadly, I didn’t spot any Flash costumes at WonderCon last weekend (though you can see my photos of other stuff at the con)… and I didn’t find any online either. I did, however, manage to find some Flashy photos from MegaCon on Flickr.

Photos by samaritanx, rossnordean, and apocalyptic.

I found several pictures of the Flash and Starfire in the second picture, making me wonder whether they knew each other or just happened to cross paths frequently. There’s one photo of them with Dan Didio and George Perez, suggesting they’re the ones who went up onstage at the DC Universe panel.