Tag Archives: Barry Allen

Jun 28 2012

The Flash 10

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 10, originally released June 27th, 2012.

Drew: Patrick and I like The Flash. Like like. I guess I shouldn’t speak for Patrick, but The Flash is perpetually on my list of top 3 comics. I love the writing, I love the art, and I especially love the synergy of the two. It’s hard for me to imagine it improving, so I’m generally wary of any changes. This is the first time we’ve seen a guest artist on The Flash, and while guest penciler Marcus To delivers a crisp, clean issue, it’s hard to compete with the Francis Manapul’s painterly style that has so defined this title for me. Continue reading →

May 24 2012

The Flash 9

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 9, originally released May 23rd, 2012.

Drew: Since the reboot, The Flash (the title) has had an interesting relationship with its own history. In returning to Barry before any crises, before any sidekicks, heck, before any marriages, we get a sense that we know his future — even if it isn’t written in stone that this story will play out like the one we know. Writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have addressed this relationship to history in the very pages of the title in question, rediscovering, challenging, and subverting elements from Barry’s own past. This month, they address the notion of destiny quite directly, offering an ingenious solution that frees them up creatively, while still honoring the memories of long-time readers.

Continue reading →

Apr 26 2012

The Flash 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 8, originally released April 25th, 2012.

Check out Drew’s exclusive interview with Francis Manapul here!

Drew: Last month, Patrick voiced some concerns about objectively judging this title. Maybe we want to like it too much to say whether we actually do. After putting this issue down a little disappointed, but deciding that it was brilliant before starting this write-up, one could conclude I’ve already crossed the line of objectivity. However, I’d like to make the case for why this seemingly eventless and exposition-heavy issue actually carries the torch of thematic unity that has made this title so fantastic.

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Apr 25 2012

Interview with Francis Manapul: April 21st, Boston Comic Con

Francis was kind enough to stick around even after they turned out the lights.Francis Manapul was on fire at this weekend’s Boston Comic Con. After a full day of drawn-as-you-wait commissions, Francis was gracious enough to sit down for an interview — as he prepared a sketch for Saturday’s charity auction.

Check out Drew and Patrick’s review of the Flash 8 here!

Drew: With the new 52, the Flash seems to have hit the reset button a little harder than a lot of the other titles —

Francis: Oh, I don’t know about that. Anyway, sorry, go ahead.

Drew: Can you talk about where the decision to go to Barry’s “past” came from?

Continue reading →

Apr 19 2012

Justice League 8

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Justice League 8, originally released April 18th, 2012.


Shelby: I love a good mystery. As a wee lass, I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys; though my tastes have strayed somewhat since then, I still believe there is nothing better than mystery (big or small) to hook someone into a plot. Apparently, Geoff Johns agrees with me, because this month’s Justice League is loaded with mysteries of varying height and weight. Even though I’m not crazy about the actual events that took place in this issue, the mysteries Johns is beginning to uncover are tantalizing to a curious cat like me. Continue reading →

Apr 10 2012

The Vault – Flash and Green Lantern Prints

The Retcon Punchers spend an awful lot of time looking for ways to celebrate our nerdy obsessions. This means a lot of time sunk into scouring Etsy, Deviant Art, Think Geek or whatever. Sometimes we see things so great we just have to share them… and then clutch them fiercely to our collective chest. Throw it in The Vault.

Website: Etsy

Who Would Love This: Green Lantern fans, Flash fans, cuteness fans, all human life

Price: $10.00

One of my favorite artistic choices of the re-launch has been Francis Manapul’s take on The Flash. There’s something about a vaguely cartoonish depiction of Barry Allen that really works for me. These 8.5 x 8.5 prints take that concept to their logical extreme and deliver the cutest possible versions of Hal and Barry. Or Wally… it’s hard to tell who exactly is under that mask… Plus, squares are awesome – you could mount these things on the wall anyway you want: vertically, horizontally… I guess those are really the only two ways.

Mar 29 2012

The Flash 7

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 7, originally released March 28th, 2012.

Drew: When we wrote about the Flash 6 last month, we couldn’t get over the thematic richness of that issue as it explored concepts of cause and effect through time and space. One of the reasons that issue is so satisfying is because it speaks to our own experience of events — we can arrange them chronologically, but they often have connections to distant moments in time. This is the Flash as the mortals around him (or, perhaps more importantly, comics fans) experience him; sometimes out-of-order chronologically, but never emotionally. With the Flash 7, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato set out to do something much more ambitious, as they put the burden of cause on our hero without any real understanding of the effect. Continue reading →

Feb 23 2012

The Flash 6

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 6, originally released February 22nd, 2012.

Drew: Barry Allen has a strange relationship with time. It’s the essence of his character; he moves (and thinks) fast enough for issues of cause and effect to not matter to him in the same way they do for us. The complexity of that relationship increases exponentially when time travel is added to the mix, breaking down the meaning of cause and effect altogether. Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have done a great job introducing these elements without giving Barry absolute control over time. The EMP blast from the previous few issues addresses these complications dramatically, but issue 6 is told in a non-linear fashion, allowing Manapul and Buccellato to address the issue of time travel thematically. I’m going to re-shuffle the story into chronological order for the sake of clarity (a la our Batwoman 6 write-up), but understand that the story is arranged in LOST-style flashbacks to reveal the causes of events after the effect has been established. Continue reading →