The Flash 65 variant cover by Michael Golden

Loved this variant cover when I saw it this week...

By Michael Golden, very clever for The Flash. Nuff Said!

Justice League 2012 Commissions by George Perez

Remember the great Gerry Conway / George Perez era of the Justice League?  I love that one and enjoy perusing those back issues when I run across them.  Recently George Perez did some commissions that evoke that era...

Wonder Woman.

Batman.

The Flash.

J'onn J'onnz.

The Atom.  Nuff Said!

Flash variant covers by Jim Lee and Ivan Reis

The new Flash series has had some terrific variant covers.  I loved last month's Flash #3 cover by Jim Lee...

I wasn't entirely sure about the new Flash costume, but all the artists that have drawn it make it work.  The speed force effects on this cover, with the blue background, make the Flash pop out in the foreground.  If you want to see a version of this cover without the logo, take a look at Alex Sinclair's DeviantArt site.  I wish DC would release this as a poster.

Ivan Reis illustrated this cover to issue #2, a new take on Flash's costume spilling out in energy form to envelope his body.

Over on Tim Townsend's Deviant Art page, I found this black and white inked version of the cover.  This is the first time Townsend has ever inked Reis...I think they make a great team.  Nuff Said!

Greg Capullo Variant Covers (and pencils) for Flash and Justice League

Greg Capullo has knocked me out on his new DC Comics artwork since the reboot occurred.  I've enjoyed his rendition of Batman a lot, but I think if we get to see him tackle some of the other DC characters, we're in for a treat.  These variant covers are good examples.



Flash #2 featured Barry Allen warping through space and time.  I love the speed force lighting, the dial on the bottom (blowing out the scale OMG), and the colors are really good as well.

Here are the pencils to this cover, from Capullo's Deviant Art website.



Justice League #3 features Capullo's take on DC's pantheon.  He's got a great take on Superman and Wonder Woman. 

The pencils to JL #3.  I really would love to see Capullo draw the Flash after he's done with Batman.  Hopefully he will stay at DC Comics for a long time.  Nuff Said!

Gene Colan Commissions: Flash, Wonder Woman, Silver Surfer, Shazam vs Dracula, Howard the Duck

I have been hoarding these scans of various Gene Colan commissions—most of them were done in 2000 or 2001.  I’d like to share them now to celebrate his life and memory.

Shazam! Captain Marvel versus Dracula, the most unlikely battle of all, inked by Jerry Ordway.

The Flash!  After seeing this piece, I think Gene Colan had a very unique method of drawing speed—not only does the character look great, but the background blurs and warps around him.

Wonder Woman. 

Silver Surfer.

X-Men.  I love how he put romantic touch here with Jean Grey and Scott Summers in the center of all the chaos.

Howard the Duck on a skateboard! 2001.

There you go, I thought all of these commissions by Gene Colan were remarkable.  Nuff Said!

The Flash covers by Brian Bolland

In releasing those DC Comics wallpapers for the Sony & Amazon readers, I realized that I had these great Flash cover scans by Brian Bolland.  I had saved the versions sans any cover copy and I think they all look spectacular.  The one above is Bolland’s re-take on the classic Showcase #4 cover, the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash.  This cover was on the The Return of Barry Allen trade paperback.

Flash 177 from 2008 asked the question, Can Even the Flash Outrun a Black Hole?  This concept just gave Bolland a license to do his trippy magic here.  The design is just great, with the black and white background making the Flash pop out even more in the foreground.

Flash 178 featured the return of Gorilla Grodd, who mounted an amazing attack on the Flash in his own city.

Flash 186 featured Bolland’s re-take on the classic statue The Thinker by Rodin, while The Rogues look on in terror as he merges his super-fast mind with an artificial intelligence to save Keystone and Central City.

There are many more Bolland Flash covers, which ones are your favorites?  Nuff Said!

DC Comics Wallpapers for the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern

Here are some wallpapers that look great on Pearl E-Ink readers for DC Comics fans.  They work fine for both the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle!

 

Two of my favorite Superman covers, by Neal Adams.

 

Batman covers, also by Neal Adams!

 

Flash covers by Brian Bolland.  The first one is Bolland’s rendition of the Flash’s first appearance from Showcase #4. 

 

Neal Adams again, on the first issue of Green Lantern / Green Arrow.  The second cover is by Gil Kane, Justice League of America #78, not a classic issue by any means, but this cover has always stuck in my memory.

 

Swamp Thing covers by Berni Wrightson.

You can find my entire collection of wallpapers over on Flicker.  You can also see my previous post, Marvel Comics Wallpapers for the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle.  Nuff Said!

Flash Facts: Martin Ansin Trippy Painting of the Scarlet Speedster

A couple of days ago, I discovered artist Martin Ansin after I read this PopWatch article about his rendition of the Scott Pilgrim movie poster.



Doing a quick search for Ansin's other work, I discovered this trippy, ultra-cool image of The Flash.  My interpretation: it's the Wally West Flash in a between the panels moment from Flash volume 2 #100, where he enters the Speed Force for the first time.  Nuff Said!

Link:  Martin Ansin, Illustrator

Flash Facts: Francis Manapul's Flash Artwork

Francis Manapul's work on the Flash has been revolutionary.  He is a great, fresh young talent with lots of enthusiasm for my favorite DC hero.

If you've been reading The Flash or Manapul's work on Superboy, you can tell that he doesn't have an inker.  I kept wondering why the finished product looks so good without one.  If you look at these pre-colored pages from Manapul's site, it gives you some insight.

The above illustration is from Flash #4.  How many times have we seen Barry Allen run up the side of a building?  Manapul's approach to this is refreshing, because of the perspective looking downward.  We see the cars, people, and after-images of the Flash on the street below.  The detail and shading are amazing.

Here's a look at the first issue cover.  Aren't the streets in Central and Keystone City all torn to shreds because of the Speedsters?  wouldn't mind being a special edition issue with all the original pages in this format. 

Does Manapul draw everything on paper or on a tablet, or some hybrid method?  Comic Book Resources featured this tour of Manapul's studio.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall.  Nuff Said!

Link: Faster Francis: Artist FRANCIS MANAPUL Talks THE FLASH

Link: Francis Manapul's Homepage.

Jim Lee's Comic-Con 2010 Scavenger Hunt for Original DC Comics Sketches

Jim Lee is a fun guy to follow on Twitter.  He loves doing sketches for fans.  Some pros have stopped doing them at cons, because some guys just turn around and auction the sketch on eBay for a quick profit.  Last Sunday, he hid a bunch of great sketches of DC Comics characters (Green Lantern, Batman, Catwoman, Superman, etc) at various places around the convention.  He's left them in all kinds of places, including the women's restroom at C2E2 earlier this year.  Usually people find these sketches within minutes of Jim's tweet.  What a fun idea!

Note: Some of these scavenger hunt sketches were from the C2E2 con, where Lee played the same game.

Batman.  I am sure Jim Lee can draw Bats in his sleep.  Classic.

Flash.  This is the one I wish I could have found.  Definitely if I ever meet Jim Lee in person, and he's willing to do a sketch, I will ask for the Flash!

Wonder Woman.  Jim Lee's wife @Joke2Far hid this one in a women's restroom.  They asked the guys not to go in there, probably hoping a female fan would pick it up.

Here are some of the lucky winners!  The Wonder Woman winner is on the third pic, a cute couple who braved the restroom for the sketch. Nuff Said!

The Flash's New Speed Effect in Blackest Night

I'm really hot on Blackest Night.  It's revived my enthusiasm for DC Comics...it's even spurred me to collect all the single issues for that title, as well as Green Lantern, GLC, Flash Rebirth, etc.

I can see why Barry Allen had to be revived.  In scenes like the following, where a Flash needs to interact with Hal Jordan, it just feels better if it's Hal's peer, Barry.  As they say in this splash page from Green Lantern #43, they are both cops, after all!

But here's something even greater: the new speed effect for The Flash.  It's a ghost effect showing the after images the Flash leaves in his wake.

Ethan Van Sciver talked about this in one of his recent interviews, that he was charged with designing a new speed effect.  During the Golden Age, the Flash's speed effect was portrayed with multiple images of him doing something.  In the Silver Age, Carmine Infantino drew the character with trailing speed lines that looked great in the 1960s.  For the modern era, Wally West had those effects, plus a blurring of what was going on around him.

Now with digital computer art, this new ghosting trick, combined with the traditional methods, really makes the Flash's power new and exciting.  This panel by Ivan Reis shows you all of them.  The colors also blur to give you that notion of speed.

Even when the Flash isn't fighting, just turning his head, it still looks fantastic.

The art in both Green Lantern books is really top notch.  Now I am wondering who the artist will be for the regular Flash title, once Flash Rebirth is done.  I'm thinking that DC Comics should tap Ivan Reis when Blackest Night is over.  What do you think?  Nuff said.

Legion of Three Worlds 3: Best Return From the Dead Ever!

I knew this was coming ever since the Lightning Saga ended.  C'mon, Geoff Johns wasn't going to let Bart Allen die!

Besides being back from the dead, notice that he's a youthful Kid Flash, once again.  Goodbye instant adulthood!

Thank you, Geoff Johns, for rectifying that awful mistake, which I blame totally on Dan Didio.  Nuff said.