Showcase Presents The Flash VOL 02

Showcase Presents The Flash VOL 02

By Rich

Flash of Two Worlds is as great a comic story as we'll ever see. For sheer inventiveness, nothing beats it. That it managed to wreak havoc throughout comics for 40 years is just a bonus. The Flash was fun -- that was his greatest problem. His shtick was silly and two dimensional. When readers decided that super-heroes had to be real -- something more than the fictitious avatars they were intended to be -- the Flash turned out to be too improbable to survive. What a shame, and what a loss. This book contains so many delightful fantasies that it is worth an afternoon of anyone's time. Make it a sunny afternoon -- he was the last of the sunshine boys, and comics haven't been the same, or nearly as much fun, since he dashed off the stage more than 20 long years ago.

Superman vs. The Flash [Paperback]

Superman vs. The Flash

By Doug62 (Arnold, MD United States)

Admittedly, the very concept of Superman racing the Flash is childishly corny. However the stories here are still fun to read, especially if you grew up reading any silver age comics at all. The best stories are the original race by Jim Shooter and the modern homage to it by Dan Jurgens.

Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold [Paperback]

Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold

By Jay Dickson (Portland, OR)

One reason old DC fans love Mark Waid so much is because of his real attention and devoted care for the company's old Silver Age icons, like the Hal Jordan Green lantern and the Barry Allen Flash. Both characters were killed off by the company years ago in favor of hipper new versions, but Waid shows what a mistake this was by showing enormous depths behind this old pair of Justice Leaguers. The cocky, skirtchasing Hal Jordan and the staid, reliable Barry Allen always seemed like the most unlikeliest of pairings, but Waid gives a plausible account for how two such dissimilar men could actually become the best of friends. The best story, by far, is the last, which analyzes the differences between Barry's utter devotion to his dead wife Iris and Hal's neurotic ongoing longtime relationship with his troubled boss Carol Ferris; it builds beautifully off of years of characterization and plotting by former FLASH and GREEN LANTERN scripters (in particular Cary bates and Steve Engelhart), and offers the return of one of most greatly missed Silver Age DC villains, Star Sapphire.

Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation

Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation

By H. Abreu "stormvisions.com" (CA USA)

Since there was no review posted of this book I figured I'd add my bit. This is an independent review - but it isn't entirely impartial. I work at Animax and have had the opportunity to read several of the chapters as part of my training, to work with the authors in a production environment and to see this book in action everyday - these are real world procedures used in a dynamic, award winning and fast growing studio.

The chapters on character setup alone are worth the price of the book in my opinion. Learning these techniques you can maximize usability -and re-usability- of your art assets. You'll find the time spent upfront, preparing characters the Animax way, will speed up your animation production which is a real boon to small independent studios with limited resources, and larger studios looking to better structure their pipeline.

Amazon has an excerpt from the beginning of the book, and the publisher -FriendsofED- has a sample chapter posted on their website. You can use these to get a sense of the quality and depth of coverage of this excellent book.

The Flash Vol. 5: Ignition

By Vernon Clark Mayo "Fastest gun, comic god"

First of all this Trade reprints issues #201-206, it's part of a series of trades colelcting Johns Flash run, more on that later.

Johns Flash is so very human, he shows us what problems could plague the fastest man alive, what can his speed not out run? how about your wifelosing the babies to a battle between the Flash (you) and a villain? worse yet she blames flash for it, and she has no idea you are the flash.

Wally West made a deal, to wipe the minds of everyone in creation of the knowledge he was the flash, only the deal backfired, he also forgot, he now works as a mecanhic for the police, him and his wife are settling in and tryign to deal with their loss of the two babies when Wally finds out..he is the man he hates, the flash, now will Wally tell his wife? how can he deal with it? and a copy cat killer is in town and they need the Flash.

that's the set up, and it leads to a great story, how far would you go to protect your loved one's? how much can a marrige take? all is explored in thsi book, and it even makes the villains human, Johns captain cold is a guy you could even like, there ars shades of grey all over, a lot of fun, a lot of cameos from other heroes, a must buy.

other volumes in the series that show the events leading to this

Flash: blood will run #170-176, Flash Secret Files #3

Flash: Rogue #177-182

Flash: Crossfire #183-191, Flash Secret Files

Flash: Blitz #192-200

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive - Full Throttle

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive - Full Throttle

By N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA)

Warning! I will tell you all now that there are spoilers ahead, so if you're a Flash fan and have no idea what Full Throttle is about, all I'm going to say is pick it up.

Anyway, did anyone else really think that Bart Allen's tenure as the Flash would be so short? Full Throttle collects the last issues of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive before the title shifted back to it's old numbering with Wally West at the helm. Full Throttle picks up with Bart Allen relocating to Los Angeles to find himself as he is fully accepting his place as the new Flash, all of which comes shattering down when his old foe Inertia enlists all of the major old Flash rogues (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heat Wave; c'mon, you know the list) in a plot to rob Bart of his speed, and put an end to his new life as the Flash in the process. Marc Guggenheim (Wolverine, Blade) scripts a majority of the story here, in which Bart's life comes to a tragic, albeit very well done, end; and legendary Flash scribe Mark Waid provides the bookend in which Wally West returns seeking revenge, and sets up new adventures for the scarlet speedster. The various artwork, mainly by Tony Daniel and Ron Adrian, is quite good, and while I was actually enjoying seeing Bart Allen as the Flash (and as morbid as this may sound), it is good to have Wally back for the forseeable future at least. All in all, Full Throttle is worth picking up for Flash fans, as the events that transpire are a new and important part of the Flash mythos, and it's one of the best recent Flash stories you'll read that isn't written by Geoff Johns.

The Flash: Race Against Time (Paperback)

The Flash: Race Against Time

By Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States)

In the wake of his epic battle with Savitar, the mad god of speed (In the Dead Heat storyline), The Flash finds himself propelled into the future by The Speed Force. Landing in the 64th Century, he tries to return home by using the love of his Girlfriend Linda as a beacon. The only problem is that Linda has been told (By future Flash John Fox) that Wally is dead. Fox is in love with Linda, and hopes to usurp Wally's role as the 20th Century Flash.

At their core, most of Mark Waid's Flash stories follow a bacic predictable plotline: Flash battles bad guy, gets lost in the Speed Force, comes back home with a weird new Power/Costume/Identity. But they're well told stories, and this one is no different. The relationship between Wally and Linda is totally believable, and in my mind is one of Comics great love stories. Race Against Time is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, with great art and writing. Check it out.

The Flash: Born to Run (Paperback)

The Flash: Born to Run

By Vernon Clark Mayo "Fastest gun, comic god"

This is a wonderful read, you start out with the Flash going ot his grandfathers place and while looking at his old pictres he thinks back to his first year as "Kid Flash". And that's where the story takes place, it shows you how he got his powers and his adventures with the Flash (then Barry Allen) facing people like mirror master. I just love this story because it's fun and you get a to see a New Barry Allen story and if your a fan you can't miss. A fun read tht has it's share of drama, if your a flash fan please get this book because you will love it like i do.

The Flash Vol. 3: Crossfire

The Flash Vol. 3: Crossfire

By Vernon Clark Mayo "Fastest gun, comic god"

Reprinting Flash: #183-191, Flash Secret Files


So the rogues have this huge network, an underground society that arms crooks, buy, sell and trading goes on, and the flash never knew, now the crap hits the fan, it's outed, the rogues are gunning for him like never before, an army of crooks, but that's not all, there is an old villain named goldface who has reformed and now runs a union in town, but is he really on the up and up? what's his connection to the underground network and their evil leader?

then the city across the bridge is infected by a living computer who plans to turn the world into his slaves, and caught in the middle? the flash can he save two cities, stop all hell from breaking loose on the world and save his wife and family?

Johns does yet again a great job with the writing, even the little characters like the cops gets you on the edge of your seat and you might even say "hey give me more of the cops" when they switch back to the flash, and all the villains are fleshed out, even the union leader is great, so many characters, and you still love them all, and none are wasted, none are just props.

if you love flash or just want a great story then get this, and the other geoff johns flash trades

Flash: blood will run #170-176, Flash Secret Files #3

Flash: Rogue #177-182

Flash: Blitz #192-200

Flash: Ignition #201-206

Flash: The Human Race

Flash: The Human Race

DC Comics collects two fast-paced tales by Grant Morrison (BATMAN, FINAL CRISIS) and Mark Millar (CIVIL WAR, FANTASTIC FOUR, THE ULTIMATES), two of comics' greatest storytellers.

 

First, in the story "Human Race," a powerful alien entity called Krakkl amuses himself by pitting the fastest beings in the universe against one another in races through space and time, with the racers' homeworlds at stake. Then, a powerful being called Black Flash arrives on the scene - and wherever he appears, a super-speedster dies!

The Flash Vol. 2: Rogues

The Flash Vol. 2: Rogues

By Blue Tyson "- Research Finished"

Geoff Johns continues with his good work on the Flash here, and again in this series the Rogues gallery is well handled. A few stories that focus on the bad guys of the piece, in this trade, as the title indicates.

The most interesting is again, Captain Cold, showing a bit more depth to the character than you might otherwise think.

The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen

The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen

By J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ) .

Imagine the man whose memory you wanted to honor by your actions returns from the dead...and he is disappointed in you. This is the dilemma facing Wally West when Barry Allen appears. Mark Waid invents a fascinating scenario here and by returning Golden age speedster, Max Mercury, as the guru of all the speedsters he sets up a number of stories establishing the Speed Force, from which all DC speedsters get their power. With a phenomenal twist and solid art by Greg Laroque, this one stands as one of the truly great Flash stories.

The Flash Chronicles

The Flash Chronicles, Vol. 1

By T. Gilmer (Texas, USA)

DC does it again presenting the earliest adventures of the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) in exact chronological order. Yes, it only covers six issues but there are two Flash stories in each plus the covers. Everything you found cool about the Flash, his lightning-induced origin, his costume hidden inside a ring, his colorful rogue's gallery, etc., are all here in these early comics. The cover of Flash Chronicles Vol.1 also has a great 3-D look to it. If you want to see what saved superhero comics in the late 50's then add this to your library.

The Flash Vol. 6: The Secret of Barry Allen

The Flash Vol. 6: The Secret of Barry Allen

By N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA)

Tying into DC's Identity Crisis mega event, Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen finds current Flash Wally West uncovering secrets behind long time Flash rogue the Top. As Wally learns just what his late uncle tried to help do to the murderous villain, it becomes apparent that this isn't one of Geoff Johns' better ideas. Other sub-plots taking place in this trade, including the gathering of other Flash rogues to attend the funeral of Captain Boomerang, are actually more interesting than this "deep, dark" secret of Barry Allen, as Captain Cold is shown as a force to reckoned with, and a new Captain Boomerang is born. Howard Porter's pencils are solid for the most part, although they seem more cartoony than anything during fight scenes. On it's own, this TPB is worth a read, but don't expect anything special from it.

The Flash: Emergency Stop

The Flash: Emergency Stop

DC Comics collects a fast-paced tale by Grant Morrison (BATMAN, FINAL CRISIS) and Mark Millar (CIVIL WAR, FANTASTIC FOUR, THE ULTIMATES), two of comics' greatest storytellers.

The Fastest Man Alive meets a new and deadly challenge in the form of the villain known only as The Suit . . . a challenge that leaves him with two broken legs! Confined to a wheelchair, The Flash's hometown of Keystone City begins to attract villains from across the nation. Can the combined strength and speed of heroes including Max Mercury, Jesse Quick, Impulse and others stop the criminals from taking over?

Flash - The Fastest Man Alive, Book 1

Flash - The Fastest Man Alive, Book 1: Lightning in a Bottle

By Heatwave the Rogue (Michigan)

Bart Allen started his fictional superhero career as an annoyance to Wally West and then as comic relief in his own "Impulse" series. These writers took this character and answered the question of "What happens when Bart Allen grows up and becomes The Flash?" and they do it strong.

Don't let the fanboys influence you on the internet about this one, it's a fun read that only people that can't bear to see someone else beneath the mask will tell you it's terrible. It's not bad, in fact it's very very good.

The Flash, Vol. 7: Rogue War

The Flash, Vol. 7: Rogue War

By N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA)

Like Mark Waid before him, Geoff Johns managed to breathe new life into the Flash during his long run on the series, particularly his re-vamping of the scarlet speedster's rogues gallery. Rogue War culminates Johns' monumental run on the series, bringing the long brewing war between the reformed villains and the Rogues to a head, with the Flash and Keystone City smack in the middle. Rogue War starts off with glimpses at the various Rogues and reformed villains: Mirror Master, Heat Wave, Captain Cold, the Trickster (new and old), the Top, etc.; as well as a startling revelation about the mother of the new Captain Boomerang. Everything comes to a close when Zoom returns to the scene, and Wally, Jay Garrick, and Kid Flash find themselves over their heads surrounded on all sides, and an ally returns to help them one last time. Though it takes what would be an otherwise hokey turn, Rogue War's conclusion and climax work surprisingly well. The art by Howard Porter and Livesay is great as always as well, helping make this package all the sweeter. All in all, you'll most likely read better super hero sagas, but you can certainly do far, far worse than Rogue War, which further cements fan favorite writer Geoff Johns as the best thing to happen to the Flash since Mark Waid.