Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery
Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #12, July 2007
“Just like that… It’s just gone.”
We complete the hat trick of Flash time travel stories with this knockout double page spread by Tony Daniel from writer Marc Guggenheim’s Flash run in 2007.
What happens when you lose the speed force? Nothing good, apparently. Although we did a great looking piece of art out of the deal.
The Flash #224, December 2008
“The Reverse Flash tries to reverse time.”
I’m beginning to sense a theme here.
Regardless, Howard Porter and John Livesay deliver a stellar page featuring The Flash and Reverse Flash.
What’s not to like?
Flash #40, May 2015
“I only made everything worse.”
Barry Allen arrives from the future to present day and makes a mess of things.
Like Stephen King wrote in 11.22.63, you try to change the past, the past fights back.
I can’t wait to see the Flash film with its similar theme, but truth be told, that’s primarily because Michael Keaton is reprising his role as Batman.
Oh, and it goes without saying, this is a great splash penciled by the terrific Brett Booth and inked with gusto by the equally terrific Norm Rapmund.
Salvation Run #1, January 2008
“Stop gabbing and fight!”
After quite a few fits and starts, The Flash feature film is making its way into theaters this week, so naturally here’s a great Flash page… minus the Flash.
But all the classic Flash rogues are here in a story which focusses specifically on them. If you’re a fan of the classic Silver Age Flash (guilty) this splash by my pal Sean Chen is definitely the pen and ink version of comfort food.
As far as I can tell from the trailer, The Flash movie will be light on the rogues, so this is good way to get our fix.
Rogues, nothing but rogues. Comic book professional and historian Peter Sanderson — as a fan — wrote an amazing summary with pros and cons of each character, which Julius Schwartz published in Flash #174
Flash of Two Worlds, Commission, 2012
Today’s post concludes our special feature “The Flash of Two Worlds,” as well as our multi-part Flash series.
I look at this cool pinup of the two Flashes, and imagine a retro moment in original continuity when the two Flashes have already met, worked together, and appreciate the fact that in each of their respective multiverses, they are indeed the fastest man alive.
That said, I never asked John what he envisioned when he drew the piece. And, I don’t think I will. It’s easier to continue to imagine the backstory to fit in with my own vision of the “pre-Crisis” DC universe.
May the Speedforce be with you.
DC Universe Legacies #4, October 2010
Continuing our celebration of the Fastest Man Alive with a few classic “re-runs” — pun absolutely intended— from the early days of the blog. Today’s post is part two, of the genre within a genre, “The Flash of Two Worlds.”
Two legends team up, and tell the tale of two legends teaming up.
This fabulous story page comes to us courtesy of DC Universe Legacies, a 10-part 2010 series written by the late Len Wein that provides an overview of DC history (in contemporary continuity) through the eyes and life story of a one man. The series features an all-start line-up of DC art talent including Joe Kubert, Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens and many others.
The page here, showing the Flashes meeting for the first time, contains retroactive continuity (retcon), as both characters exist in the same universe — which is the established “post-Crisis” narrative. Also, in the original Flash #123, the Flashes have already met and teamed up when they get to the construction worker.
Garcia Lopez and Gibbons are a terrific pairing, and I was fortunate enough to find this great page before someone else did.
The Flash of Two Worlds — DC Comics Classics Library, 2009
Continuing our celebration of the Fastest Man Alive with a few classic “re-runs” — pun absolutely intended— from the early days of the blog. Today’s post, along with the next two, features “The Flash of Two Worlds.”
Flash #123, “The Flash of Two Worlds” is one of the most important comic book milestones of DC’s silver age, establishing the DC multiverse and paving the way for countless crossover storylines that ultimately lead up to 1985’s Crisis on Multiple Earths. It’s 1961 cover follows as one of the most iconic images of the era.
But, when DC went to reprint the earliest Flash crossover stories in a special collection, the original art and layout and didn’t quite work within the new cover design.
So, the editors turned to the talented Rodney Ramos to recreate (and slightly reconfigure) the iconic imagery, in the Infantino/ Murphy Anderson “style.”
He pretty much nails it.
(As seen below, the final published piece crops the image significantly, and also digitally manipulates the two Flashes closer together.)
Flash #190, August 1969
Continuing our celebration of the Fastest Man Alive with a few classic “re-runs” — pun absolutely intended— from the early days of the blog.
Following Carmine Infantino on the Flash was obviously no easy assignment to begin with, but it appears Ross Andru and Mike Esposito had the deck stacked against them.
At the starting line was a fun issue, Flash #175, the sequel race between Super-Man and the Flash. Shortly thereafter is Carey Bates’ offbeat tale in Flash #179 that introduces Earth “Prime” — our earth — into the DC multiverse.
But, after that… we get: Giant-headed Flash, Flash with a broken toe, Flash color-blind, etc. Plus: Flash fighting hippies, sea creatures, lizards, demons, aliens, oh my. Samurais? Seriously?
WTF? How about the rogues, who only make a handful of minor appearances during this run, with only Captain Cold warranting a cover? What about Flash of Earth-2? And, if you’re going to have a Green Lantern team-up (#191) how about putting him — or at least a blurb — on the cover?!
I count seven writers —seven! — during this this 20-issue run. It’s no wonder the character couldn’t get any traction. As a kid, on a kid’s budget, it was difficult not to give up on everything but the 25-cent reprints at that point. My allowance screamed: Run Away!
Still, cool art can often transcend the material, and does so here. On this unusual page, Andru, who always had a great sense of space and time, delivers a fascinating layout as Flash races from one point to the next in Central City. (Plus, as fans of Andru’s latter Spider-Man run can confirm, Ross loved drawing buildings.)
It’s also a reminder of what could have been accomplished artistically with better material to work from — and less questionable editorial choices.
Flash #112, May 1960
Continuing our celebration of the Fastest Man Alive with a few classic “reruns” — pun absolutely intended— from the early days of the blog.
Some of the most talented superhero storytellers in comics couldn’t figure out what to do with the narrative and exposition elements that move the story along when no one is wearing spandex or a cape.
Many older comics were filled with pages and pages of standard medium-angle shots of talking heads. Six panels per page. Rinse. Repeat.
Not Carmine Infantino’s pages. His innovative sense of panel composition and design, and use of varying camera angles, made the “yada yada” part of the story much more engaging than most of his peers.
In this very early Flash story from issue #112, he even manages to innovate a phone call. Nowadays we take narrow “widescreen” (horizontal) panel layouts for granted, but in 1960? Less so. A page design like this is revolutionary 60 years ago.
Of course, superhero comics are ultimately about conflict and action, and re-reading these early Flash stories, his innovative style really jumps out. Those crazy speed lines that help give the illusion of 3D motion in a 2D medium. That sleek space age costume… designed before the space age really began.
And those amazing covers? Carmine gave up pencilling The Flash when he was promoted to DC’s art director. His innovative cover on the final issue of his 11-year run as Flash artist blew my mind as a kid in 1967 — and still does today.
What else would you expect from the lead designer of the Silver Age of Comics?
Justice League of America #23, November 1963
Mike Sekowsky’s art and 70s pop music have characteristics in common for me:
As a kid, I didn’t like either of it, and now I look back on both with a sentimental warm feeling.
It’s not easy to explain. But I was warned by one of my older colleagues this would happen.
Sekowsky’s art always felt too loose (and blocky) for me. I realized he could draw any character of course, which made him the perfect illustrator for Justice League, but the end result never grabbed me.
Now as time has passed, and I smile when I see it. Possibly a primal nostalgic impulse. It seems like a perfect fit for the DC comics of the era.
This example, a cool Flash-focused page, with Wonder Woman on deep background, showcases some clear and inventive storytelling.
As for the draftsmanship? Like I said — things change. Now, it seems charming to me.
Excuse me a moment while I flip over Abba’s greatest hits on the turntable.
