Flash

If I Rebooted the DCU (Part One)

/ / Top Tens & Lists

In a couple of weeks DC Comics will be rebooting their entire universe with 52 new first issues. Some of the new comics intrigue me, but quite a few do not. This starting me thinking, what if I rebooted the DCU?

To keep each post a reasonable length, and to mirror DC’s own announcement structure, I’ve split the reboot into four posts each covering 13 issues. Where I could I kept ideas DC wanted to explore in the relaunch (when not incredibly stupid like Voodoo), and even included titles I’m personally not all that high on but characters I know have a devoted fan base. You’ll find I’ve also kept far more of the current titles than DC’s proposed reboot, and brought back a few personal favorites as well.

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Flashpoint #3 (of 5)

/ / Comics

Flashpoint 3The third issue of Flashpoint finally gives us Barry Allen as the Flash. It also gives us the Flashpoint version of Superman… which isn’t quite as impressive.

First off, I’m glad to see Barry back in costume and I like the subtle difference in the relationship between the Flash and Batman once the speedster has his powers back.

Although this issues sees the beginnings of the Justice League, and the face of the Resistance which includes Grifter (because, apparently Gen13 wasn’t available), the other big event is the appearance of Superman who it appears has been kept in captivity since birth, far away from the powerful rays of the Sun.

It’s not a bad third issue, but by the end of the #3 we should be more than halfway through Flashpoint and there seems like quite a bit yet to be decided. The appearance of Grifter also makes my original theory of Flashpoint being the catalyst the DC reboot (which Grifter and other WildStorm characters are to be a part of) look that much more likely. Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $3.99]

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Flashpoint: Reverse-Flash

/ / Comics

flashpoint-reverse-flashComic readers who have absolutely no idea who the Reverse-Flash is, or need a little background into his history battling the Flash should find this one-issue primer worth a quick look. The trouble is, for the rest of us, there’s no real reason to pick it up.

Although it’s released as a Flashpoint one-shot, this single issue has absolutely nothing to do with the events inside this alternate version of the DC Universe, nor does it take any steps to explain how Professor Zoom was able to rewrite history to such a large extent.

That’s not to say it’s a bad read, but there’s little here for those of us who already know the backstory between Barry Allen and Professor Zoom including Zoom’s repeated attempts on Iris Allen‘s life, his attempts to rewrite history by stopping Allen from becoming the Flash, and his death at the hands of his hated foe. Worth a look (but only for those who need a brush-up on the character).

[DC, $2.99]

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Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster
  • tv.com: link

Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster

Growing up Barry Allen was one of my favorite DC characters. The latest episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold finds a way to weave in the character’s death and ghostly appearances (without a Crisis), along with of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Wally West, and a good villain in the Reverse-Flash. The interplay between the Flashes is what really makes this one work (and the look of all three is perfect!).

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The Life Story of The Flash

/ / Comics
  • Title: The Life Story of the Flash
  • Comic Vine: link

“His legend will be emblazoned across the centuries, his heroism and unselfish sacrifce revered and remembered a thousand years hence.”

When I sit and ruminate on my favorite comic characters of all-time a certain Scarlet Speedster always finds himself racing up the list.

Part comic and part biography The Life Story of The Flash is one of the most unconventional graphic novels you will find.  Written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn, the life of the Flash is told from beginning to end (not counting our hero’s return in Final Crisis) through the eyes of his wife Iris Allen.

The majority of the material is written as a book with occasional pictures, comic panels, and pages inserted for clarification of the major events of Barry Allen’s life.  The book celebrates the first hero of the Silver Age from childhood through that fateful night that lightning stuck, his villains and comrades, his sidekick Wally West, marriage, the loss of his wife, his final act of saving the entire DCU, and his legacy.

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The Life Story of The Flash Read More »