The Flash

This (almost-over) year marked the 55th anniversary of  the most famous Flash of them all, Barry Allen, who was billed as the fastest man alive in the DC Universe but also represented  a graceful and historic herald announcing the Silver Age at DC. There’s been a sense of tragedy connected with character for decades now — themes of fate, sacrifice and death have become major threads in his story tapestry — so it’s no surprise to see a cemetery scene in the pages of “The Flash” No. 4, which arrives on stands next week. We’ve got an exclusive preview (you can quick-click through the pages above or find the links below that lead to larger images)  of the issue, which presents the origin of the mysterious villain called Mob Rule — as well as an intriguing, wintry mood. Cover | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | […]

Green Lantern may have a future on the big screen, but likely not with the same director. Despite the big-budget superhero movie’s disappointing box office performance so far, Warner Bros. executives still want to find a way to make a sequel work. Bringing superheroes from its DC Comics unit to the big screen is a top priority for the studio, and executives believe that the problem with “Green Lantern” was in execution, not concept. They even have ideas on how to turn things around next time. “We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience,” said Warner Bros. film group President Jeff Robinov, pointing to the film’s box office debut of $53 million. “To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action…. And we have to find a […]

“Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed … ” That’s how DC Comics is describing its new “event,” a major story arc in which a change in the time line creates a world where Hal Jordan never became Green Lantern,  the name Superman means nothing to the public and Europe was flooded during a war between a certain Amazon princess and the king of  the seven seas. Go to The Source on Wednesday at 8 a.m.  EDT for more on the intriguing new story line. – Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED: Steve Niles scares up laughs with “Doc Macabre” Mignola on Kirby, Hollywood and one strange night in Prague Johns and Nelson usher in new DC era VIDEO: Jim Lee gives seven-minute […]

The hardcover collection “The Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” has landed on store shelves, and with the writing of Geoff Johns and the art of Francis Manapul, it conveys the velocity of the Fastest Man Alive with ingenuity and grace, whether he’s dashing across the rotors of a helicopter, snatching bullets out of the air or dismantling a careening car before it hits the ground. It’s not easy to get rising artist Manapul to sit still — the Philippines native and Toronto resident is well known for his globetrotting as co-host of the television series “Beast Legends” — but I caught up with him recently to discuss his need for speed and the rich ink-wash tones he brings to bear on the Flash. GB: There may be no character that is more inherently kinetic than the Flash. That must be an enticing opportunity for a comic-book artist. FM: […]

Writer-director Greg Berlanti, the television veteran known for character-driven dramas such as “Everwood” and “Brothers & Sisters,” has been spending a lot of time nourishing his inner geek lately. There’s his new ABC series, “No Ordinary Family,” which premieres Tuesday, and Berlanti is one of the key screenwriters for the Warner Bros.  franchise-in-the -making “Green Lantern” movie and its planned sequel. He also hopes to write and direct the big-screen adventures of another Justice League member, the Flash, and has lent some ideas to the sequel to “Clash of the Titans,” due out next year. On the non-fanboy front, he’s got the romantic comedy-drama “Life as We Know It” set to open Oct. 8. Hero Complex contributor Gina McIntyre sat down with Berlanti to chat about all his projects. GM: How did you come to write the script for “Green Lantern”? It’s very different from […]

Los Angeles Times business writer Ben Fritz and I wrote a cover story that ran Wednesday in the paper’s Calendar section and this is a much longer verison of that article. The premiere for Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man 2” shut down Hollywood Boulevard in May with the year’s most bombastic red-carpet event, featuring fireworks, a heavy-metal soundtrack, go-go dancers and a parade of celebrities that included Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Hugh Hefner. Walking through it all were two outsiders of a sort: Diane Nelson and Geoff Johns. The industry odd couple — she previously managed the Harry Potter brand for Warner Bros. but had no experience in comics, he’s a fan-favorite comic-book writer who had never worked at a studio — are the president and chief creative officer, respectively, of DC Entertainment, main comic-book rival to Marvel. Their task […]

These are big-time days for comic-book writers, and right now no one is bigger than Geoff Johns, the scribe who had the surreal experience this year of walking on the same stage as Keith Richards, Johnny Depp and the cast of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon“  at the Scream Awards. The 36-year-old Detroit native picked up the Scream trophy for best comic-book writer. This year, Johns wrote the six-issue miniseries “The Flash: Rebirth,” which chronicled the return of Barry Allen, the most famous Flash. Today, DC announced that Johns and artist Francis Manapul would take the mythology further in March with “The Flash: Secret Files and Origins.” It’s a one-shot that leads up to a creative team taking over “The Flash” series, which already looks like one of the most promising runs of 2010. I caught up with Johns to talk a bit about the Scarlett Speedster. […]

If you read DC Comics in the 1960s and ’70s you were probably looking at images drawn by Carmine Infantino or influenced by him. Just as Jack Kirby was the signature force at rival Marvel Comics, Infantino was an inescapable presence at DC, where the Space Age brought a new science-based, cerebral tone that fit his angular style and sleek, kinetic flair. Infantino was so adept at creating striking images that, after Marvel’s failed 1967 attempt to steal him away, the veteran went on to become DC’s artistic director … then editorial director … and then publisher. One of his first moves in the top post: luring Kirby away from the House of Ideas and onto the DC roster. Don’t think for a minute that talent doesn’t recognize talent.        Infantino is celebrating his 84th birthday today and here at the mighty Hero Complex we thought that would be a wonderful excuse to […]

Today’s handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe… Left-over Halloween treat: It was posted last week but I just came across a nifty photo gallery put together by Mandi Bierly, who got William Friedkin, the director “The Exorcist,” to make a list of the movies that scare him. The unlucky 13 that he came up with has the usual suspects (“Alien,” Psycho” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” all righteously scary if unsurprising) as well as some dark fare that casual movie fans won’t recognize. Here, for instance, is Freidkin’s appraisal of Kaneto Shindō’s “Onibaba,” the 1964 Japanese horror film with the title that translates to “Demon Woman”: “‘It’s a masterpiece of horror and suspense. It’s about an old woman, who has only her daughter-in-law to care for her in a remote village. She starts to see her daughter-in-law sneak out every night, and […]

David S. Goyer is headed to International Comic-Con in two weeks to promote “The Unborn,” the horror film due in 2009 that finds the “Batman Begins” screenwriter back in the director’s chair and working with Meagan Good, Carla Gugino, Jane Alexander and Gary Oldman. Goyer is a familiar name to comics and genre film fans, of course, and he hopes to solidify that stature in the next few years with two more heroic projects: “The Flash” and “Green Arrow.” Here’s Goyer’s approach on each: “The Flash”: “To me, Wally West as the Flash has always been the most-Marvel of all the major DC characters. He’s like Peter Parker. He’s screwed up a lot, he’s overwhelmed. He wasn’t born as the last son of Krypton or some Amazonian princess, he’s a person who just ends up with these powers. He’s not […]