Like Pete Sampras in the 1996 U.S. Open against Alex Corretja, I fought off illness and exhaustion to bring you this week’s NewsOK Comics Podcast with Kyle Roberts. We talk about the excellent week DC Comics had, with new issues of Supergirl, Adventure Comics and Flash Rebirth, and about Spider-Man’s trip into the Gauntlet with Amazing Spider-Man 612. Check it out.

- Matt Price

At Newsarama, Dan Didio talked about the upcoming “Kid Flash” series to be written by Sterling Gates.   He revealed Gates will be working closely with Geoff Johns to keep continuity among the “Flash” franchise.
He also revealed (SPOILER WARNING) that Max Mercury would appear in the series.

Didio says at Newsarama:

I think Sterling’s already doing such a great job on Supergirl, and he’ll bring a lot of those same sensibilities to Kid Flash. That’s one of the reasons we chose him for that series. Also, you’ll still see the dynamic between Kid Flash and Max Mercury, if I’m not mistaken. And I think that’s new information, so you did get something out of me. But Max will be featured in this series as well. So if somebody’s a fan of Impulse, they’ll get that relationship back in the Kid Flash series. Because of the Max/Bart relationship, I think they’ll be very pleasantly surprised about what the plans are for the book.

Kid Flash looks to be a great fit for what Gates does well, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store for the series!

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — An Oklahoma writer is hitting the fast lane.

Sterling Gates, an OU graduate who was born in Tulsa, was named the writer of a new Kid Flash ongoing series at Comic-Con International.  The series will star the character Bart Allen and will tie into Geoff Johns’ Flash series.

“It’s too early to talk about specifics, but I’m really psyched to be working closely with Geoff Johns. We want to make the two Flash universe books as exciting as possible,” Gates said, “and I think we can do it.”

Gates is the writer of “Supergirl” and is writing a “World’s Finest” miniseries featuring characters from the Superman and Batman families of characters.

- Matt Price

Wally West, aka the Flash, will be one of the superheroes in “DC Universe Online,” the massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the DC Comics Universe.

Information from Sony Online Entertainment on the Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, Wally West easily runs at light speed, vibrates through objects, create explosions through friction – and, when at agonizing top capacity, can manipulate time and bridge dimensions.

The Flash is a time-honored member of the Justice League. The latest in a long line of Flashes, each with their own unique way of tapping into the primal “Speed Force,” Wally is determined to live up to the noble legacies of speedsters such as Barry Allen, Max Mercury, and Jay Garrick.

Flash’s enemies call themselves the Rogues Gallery. This deadly collection of brutal foes includes Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, and the lethal speedster Zoom – villainous threats not just to Keystone City, but the world.

The New Mutants team up again, and Spider-Man works around the clock in this week’s comics. Kyle Roberts and Matt Price discuss those highlights, plus two comics about running: Final Crisis Aftermath Run and Flash Rebirth 2.

WORD BALLOONS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Flash and Green Lantern will be the “cornerstones” of the DC Universe in the coming year, said writer Geoff Johns, speaking at the ComicsPRO annual members’ meeting last week.

ComicsPRO is a nonprofit organization of direct-market comic store retailers.

Johns is the writer of the upcoming “Flash: Rebirth,” slated for release on April 1, and “Blackest Night,” which kicks off with a free No. 0 issue on May 2, Free Comic Book Day. “Blackest Night” No. 0 is the first original story created by DC for a FCBD giveaway. The first half of the book will be by Johns and Ivan Reis.

“It’s a 12-page story that’s a lead-in to the DC Universe through Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) and Barry Allen (Flash),” Johns said. “I look at Hal and Barry as very different in how they’re coming into the DC Universe.”

The Flash died a hero in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” saving the world from the Anti-Monitor, before returning in “Final Crisis” last year. Hal Jordan was turned evil by the entity Parallax and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps before dying in the “Final Night” series. In the 2004 series “Green Lantern: Rebirth,” Hal Jordan was purged of the entity and returned as a hero.

“There’s a line in (”Blackest Night” No. 0) where Hal says, ‘You died a saint and I died a sinner,’” Johns said, referring to the different situations in which the two close friends now find themselves.

Barry Allen returning from the dead is “the worst thing that ever happened to him,” Johns said.

“I think a lot of people are wondering why we’re bringing Barry Allen back,” Johns said. “But really ‘Flash: Rebirth’ is knee-deep in doing what we do best.”
“Flash: Rebirth” is from the creative team of “Green Lantern: Rebirth,” Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver.

DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio announced that, based on pre-orders, “Flash: Rebirth” No. 1 will be DC Comics’ top book for April.

“Blackest Night” No. 1 will launch July 15, written by Johns and drawn by Reis.  It will tie in with “Green Lantern” and “Green Lantern Corps.”

“I’ve been working really hard on Green Lantern for the last few years,” Johns said.  “When we did (the) Sinestro Corps (storyline), it was kind of a surprise for a lot of people,” Johns said.  “But now that we’re headed toward ‘Blackest Night,’ the fact that readers, retailers, DC, everybody’s really excited about it, that gets me excited, because I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a long time.”

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

I have to showcase the talents of Multimedia Editor Mike Koehler here, with his Flash haikus.  (We were discussing an easy way to teach kids superhero origins.  Once I said “haiku,” he was off and running.)  Want to share your own Flash haikus?  Hit the comments section, I’d love to see ‘em.

Barry Allen runs

Upon the cosmic treadmill.

Can’t he just stay dead?

—

Chemicals hit you.

Then covered Wally West, too.

What are the chances?

–

Barry Allen thought

yellow was cool until he

met Professor Zoom.

Today’s really quick update brought to you by Wally West, who became the Flash following the death of his mentor Barry Allen in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”  I think the first year of the new “Flash” series, written by Mike Baron (”Nexus”) did a good job of setting up Wally for solo success, even if he was sometimes unlikeable.   Baron did a good job of setting up a Flash that was going to be different from his predecessor while still trying his best to honor the legacy. 

– Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — DC’s executive editor Dan DiDio may have undersold what could be a sweeping change for a major DC character in his introductions for the DC Nation panel on Thursday at Comic-Con International.

As he introduced writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver, DiDio almost casually mentioned the pair would collaborate on a miniseries starring Barry Allen: “Flash: Rebirth.”

Barry Allen was a police scientist who was DC Comics’ fastest man alive from 1956 until his death in the pages of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” in 1985.   The period in the late 1950s and 1960s in comics is often called “The Silver Age.”

Johns and Van Sciver previously revived Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, in a series titled “Green Lantern: Rebirth.”

“If you liked what we did on ‘Green Lantern: Rebirth,’ hopefully you’ll check out ‘Flash: Rebirth,’ out in January,” Johns said.

The next-biggest surprise of the panel was an unnanounced appearance by writer/director Kevin Smith (”Clerks”).   Smith, who previously wrote “Green Arrow” for DC Comics, announced he’d be writing a three-issue “Batman” miniseries.

Smith, who is a popular writer, but known for his chronic lateness, said the series would start in November.

“Batman: Cacophony” brings back the villain Onomonopoea from Smith’s “Green Arrow,” and will also feature villains the Joker and Mr. Zsasz.

“It’s fun to be back at DC playing in the sandbox again,” Smith said.

– Matt Price

At one point or another, all kinds of DC Silver Age super-heroes and supporting characters put on some weight. Generally  it was the result of science or magic, rather than heredity or poor eating habits.

Brian Hughes has the whole scoop at Again With the Comics.  How the Flash in particular manages to lose the weight (which was the result of a Gorilla Grodd ray, rather than too many Ring Dings) is entertainingly gross.  Superman and Wonder Woman are also shown in need of help from Bob and Jillian.

Hughes also talks about how Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Lana Lang tipped the scales in DC’s less sensitive Silver Age. And the reason Lois becomes suddenly fat doesn’t make the Man of Steel look particularly heroic.

– Matt Price 

“Justice League: The New Frontier” is coming to DVD and high-def from Warner Premiere in February.  A recently released trailer has me very excited for the film!   You can check out the sizzle reel with background info at the official site; or you can befriend the New Frontier on myspace and see some additional art from the film.

If that wasn’t enough, Darwyn Cooke, writer-artist of the original “New Frontier” comics is returning to the “New Frontier” universe for a new one-shot — Justice League: The New Frontier special.  This 48-page $4.99 one-shot features Batman, Superman, Black Canary, Sgt. Rock, Wonder Woman and more.  It’s scheduled to be on sale March 5.