Well now, we’re into Countdown’s run, and DiDio has decided it’s time to come clean – to let some fans know they’re right, to let others know that, while their guess may have been meticulously researched, they were slightly off base, and to drop a couple of major teases about what’s to come.
NRAMA: Moving around the image – Kyle and Donna…
DD: The couple – a natural couple to be together…of course, Kyle has a conspicuous yellow ring on, which shows that he, as Parallax has joined the Sinestro Corps.
NRAMA: And Donna in her old costume…
DD: We wanted to give her the look that most people recognize, and identify her with. Also, the color is significant based upon where she’s looking, and another character there, who’s looking at her. Even though she’s standing side-by-side with Kyle, her color signifies that her allegiance might be towards a different character than Kyle.
NRAMA: She’s wearing Red…so, Red Robin?
DD: Right.
NRAMA: But both Donna and Kyle looking off into…
DD: One is looking to the sky; the other is looking toward Red Robin. A lot of them are looking to the skies, though – as if something is coming.
Also, for those interested, also from Newsarama: Didio: "Wouldn’t it be great if we did another piece that featured just as many mysteries around our greatest villains?"
looks like we know what the Monday image will be :)
The DC editor hints at much greater implications for upcoming events in the Green Lantern, JLA and Teen Titan universes... Editor Eddie Berganza discusses the implications of the upcoming Green Lantern arc on the DC Universe, the benefits of bringing writer Dwayne McDuffie to the JLA, and what's to come for Blue Beetle, Supergirl and the rest of the Teen Titans. Wizard has the whole video interview here!
According to Eddie Berganza in this interview: at the start of Countdown to Adventure, Starfire has moved in with Animal Man's family and is sort of being the nanny for Buddy & Ellen's kids. Starfire: Supernanny?
TONY DANIEL TALKS FLASH #13: The death of a comics character is almost always emotional for readers, but whether that emotional impact works well relies on the work done by the writer and artist. In the case of Bart Allen's death, the responsibility for the art side of the equation fell on the shoulders of penciler Tony Daniel. Newsarama talked to Daniel about how he got involved in this project, what he was told about the top-secret ending of the series, and how he worked to tell the story of the death of Bart Allen.
NRAMA: Did you know from the start, when you came onto the title, that this was coming?
TD: Yeah. Dan DiDio told me right away that this was a very important arc. That's why he wanted me to do it. He told me all the dirty details: that Bart was going to die, we're going to keep it secret, we're going to have fake solicitation covers, and this is going to be one of the biggest and most well-kept secret in comics. And it was. And I knew it was an honor to be asked to do something this important. It's also, probably, one of the most important issues from DC this year. And no one expected this either.
BART ALLEN’S LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: With issue #13 marking a momentous shake-up for the Scarlet Speedster, we take a look at Bart Allen's journey from impulsive preteen to responsible adult...
The big reveal everyone’s been talking about finally hits stands as Bart Allen, the latest Scarlet Speedster, heads for that big marathon in the skies in The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #13. The life and times of the teen from the future have been somewhat complicated, but Wizard has the scoop on how it all went down.
FLASH BACK: With Wally West back riding the lightning, we’ve got five big questions about the future of the Flash...
In the wake of Wally West’s triumphant return in Justice League of America #10 and the death of his cousin and protégé Bart Allen in The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #13, we’ve got five major queries that need answering before the next leg of this race begins when former Flash scribe Mark Waid (52) joins with Daniel Acuña (Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters) in August to take over the creative reins on the series.
MARK WAID AT THE STARTING LINE: After twin shockers rock the world of the Flash, the writer speaks on his return to the Scarlet Speedster...
DC Executive Editorial VP Dan DiDio dropped word this weekend that celebrated Flash writer Mark Waid would “relaunch” the series with a special called All Flash #1 followed by Flash #231, which picks up the numbering from the previously canceled Wally West series. With Bart’s death and Wally’s return…well, you can guess who’ll be starring in Waid’s revival. Wizard Universe caught the writer for a revealing look at why he’s returned after so long, what he thinks of Bart’s death and what fans can expect from #231 and on.
So after we see what happens in All Flash, are we going to see the kind of status quo with the family, Linda and the kids, and learn about them there, or are you going to save most of the newer stuff for the first issue of the regular book?
WAID: I’m saving most of the new stuff for the first issue of the regular book. You certainly see Linda and the kids in All Flash briefly and you get some sense in All Flash of where they’ve been all this time, that they’ve been off stage, but I thought that it was important not to turn over all the cards with All Flash. Really, All Flash is specifically about Bart and Wally and their relationship and the passing of the torch, and how tragic it is to have to pass the baton and then to have to take the baton back. So, the family stuff and the new status quo is for #231.
Once Wally is fully reintegrated into the DCU, does the book pick up by saying, “Here’s a family of folks who can run fast”?
WAID: Oh, no. Not even remotely, and that was the last thing that we were interested in. The kids who are now—the girl is 10 and the boy is 8, at least physically. They’re fraternal twins, but at this point the Speed Force, the way that it’s interacted with their young bodies, has just kind of catapulted them up in age, as with Bart, in a very short period of time. So they’re now 8 and 10. They have speed powers, but they’re not running powers. They manifest themselves in different ways.
Newsarama reports: When fans first heard that the newly re-launched Justice League of America and Justice Society of America comics were going to cross over in a story entitled “The Lightning Saga,” it was safe to assume the conclusion would be a doozy. And now that the issue's out, readers have discovered its ending is not only a surprise, but the fact that it ties together with other elements in the DCU, all timed for release on the same week, makes it a double-whammy.
As their story is both making waves and inspiring questions, Geoff Johns and Brad Meltzer talked to Newsarama about the crossover's conclusion, how they coordinated it with other comics, and how some of those "Easter eggs" we saw hinted at things coming up in the DCU.
NRAMA: Why do you think the DCU needs "a" Flash back now? And why Wally in particular?
BM: It’s so easy to make annoyingly cryptic remarks, as well as ones that try to overintellectualize why Wally and Barry and Bart should all be chosen ones — but the truth is, I just like the character.
GJ: There were a lot of questions open about Wally and his family and people wanted to know the story — so did I! I’m really excited about Mark’s upcoming run on The Flash. Mark’s someone who has been hugely influential on me, even now more so than before I got in the business, and his Flash run is my favorite comic run of all time.
NRAMA: Yeah, but Geoff... be honest. You missed Wally, didn't you?
GJ: Hell, yes. I miss writing Wally, Linda and the Rogues a lot. I miss Bart as Kid Flash too. (And just to add my two cents when no one’s asking: the Rogues don’t do drugs. That’s Captain Cold’s #2 rule.)
Tons of Titans-related stuff in September! Read the rest here.
TEEN TITANS #51 Written by Sean McKeever Art by Alé Garza & Marlo Alquiza Cover by Alé Garza & Scott Williams The Titans of Tomorrow are here today! The super-popular future Titans are arrive in our present time , and they’ve already taken out the Justice League. What crucial historical event are they here to stop — or contribute to? On sale September 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
COUNTDOWN 34-31 Story by Paul Dini Breakdowns by Keith Giffen 34 script by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray; art by Jesús Saiz 33 script by Adam Beechen; art by Carlos Magno 32 script by Tony Bedard; art by Al Barrionuevo 31 script by Sean McKeever; art by Manuel Garcia Covers 34-31 by Talent Caldwell The Countdown to the end is on! Karate Kid battles Equus! Jimmy Olsen visits Infinity Inc. for answers! Mary Marvel falls under the spell of Eclipso! Kyle Rayner joins the Challengers from Beyond! Piper and Trickster encounter the villainy of Poison Ivy and Deathstroke! Plus, Black Canary’s bachelorette party! Guest-starring Steel, Starlight, the Flash, Zatanna, the Atom, Buddy Blank and more! Plus, more DC VILLAINS backup origin stories by Scott Beatty! COUNTDOWN 34 on sale September 5 • COUNTDOWN 33 on sale September 12 COUNTDOWN 32 on sale September 19 • COUNTDOWN 31 on sale September 26 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US COUNTDOWN PRESENTS THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: WILDSTORM #1 Written by Ron Marz Art by Paco Herrera Cover by Arthur Adams The Search for Ray Palmer truly kicks into high gear, as Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy and Jason Todd scour the Multiverse for the former Atom, who just might hold the key to saving reality from a crisis of unparalleled proportions. The trio's first stop: the Wildstorm Universe, where they come face-to-face with an entirely different -- and entirely more lethal -- brand of heroes. Wildstorm's finest are all here, including The Authority and Gen13, and they don't prepare a warm welcome for their visitors! The tour of the new DC Multiverse begins here! On sale September 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #2 Written by Adam Beechen and Justin Gray Art by Eddy Barrows & Julio Ferrera and Fabrizio Fiorentino Cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert Meet Champ Hazard, the hero of Rann. But what happened to Adam Strange? And in the backup story, Forerunner travels to Earth-10, the universe where the Nazis won World War II, to recruit superpowers for her master’s cause. On sale September 26 • 2 of 8 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US THE FLASH #232 Written by Mark Waid Art & cover by Daniel Acuña What alien menace lies beneath the Flash’s own home? And what’s his dark, dark family secret — the one that’s helping him keep the peace in Keystone? On sale September 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
ROBIN #166 Written by Adam Beechen Art by Freddie E. Williams II Cover by Patrick Gleason & Wayne Faucher Guest-starring Zatara and Ravager! What’s up with Dodge’s team of misfit villains — and what’s Robin doing about them? On sale September 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US WONDER GIRL #1 Written by J. Torres Art and cover by Sanford Greene & Nathan Massengill Exploding out of the pages of the WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1 and AMAZONS ATTACK! J. Torres (WONDER WOMAN, BLUE BEETLE) and Sanford Greene (BATMAN STRIKES, LEGION OF SUPERHEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY) bring a six-issue miniseries starring DC’s mightiest teen! After the disastrous events of AMAZONS ATTACK, Wonder Girl strikes out to tie up some particularly monstrous loose ends. But with the rift between her and Wonder Woman, she’s going to need the help of the last man on Earth she ever wanted to see again! WONDER GIRL will take Cassie Sandsmark to all corners of the DCU, from the dangers within WONDER WOMAN to TEEN TITANS to COUNTDOWN, and will change Wonder Girl forever! On sale September 12 • 1 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1 Written by Allan Heinberg Art by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson and Gary Frank & Jonathan Sibal Cover by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson At long last, the climactic, extra-length chapter of “Who is Wonder Woman?”, the story that launched the WONDER WOMAN monthly! In this arc's conclusion, the combined forces of Wonder Woman's transformed rogues gallery declare an all-out war on the amazing Amazon, compelling Wonder Woman to mend fences and join forces with Donna Troy and Wonder Girl if she's going to survive to answer the question: “Who is Wonder Woman?” And if the return of Allan Heinberg and Terry Dodson isn't enough, there's also an all-new backup by Heinberg and the upcoming art team of ACTION COMICS, Gary Frank & Jonathan Sibal, featuring the secret origins of Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Wonder Girl, Sarge Steel and Nemesis! All questions will be answered, all secrets revealed! On sale September 26 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US TEEN TITANS GO! #47 Written by J. Torres Art by Christine Norrie & Michael Chang Cover by Todd Nauck Finally, the origin of Robin can be told! Plus, witness a day in the lives of Starfire and Raven. Which one of them will stop Gizmo's latest crime spree? On sale September 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.25 US
from the Pulse's report of WizardWorld Philly ( Topic: HEROES '07: DC: NEW SERIES “CHALLENGERS FROM BEYOND” and FLASH SERIES CANCELLED):
QUESTION: Is there any chance that there will be a solo tryout book for the Teen Titans, similar to JSA Classified?
ANSWER: There will soon be a Wonder Girl mini-series, having to do with what comes out of Amazons Attack. There will also be a lot of Teen Titans “Year One” titles in the works.
The Pulse reports (DC NEWS FROM WIZ PHILLY: COUNTDOWN & WORLD'S FINEST NOTES) : "Also on the way is a new team, Challengers of the Beyond, featuring Donna Troy, Kyle Raynor and Jason Todd, who will serve as a kind of DC counterpart to Marvel's Exiles (my comparison, not the panel's) as they tour the 52 worlds of DC's current multiverse. The team will star in six series, starting with Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer, by writer Ron Marz. The book will “put them in situations and settings you never thought you'd see in a 'real' DC book,” Marz said. He added that it will be “a chance to see Kyle and Donna [together] again, and John Byrne is unlikely to separate them this time - though Jason Todd might.”"
"At that panel, Wayne explained that there may be no more Elseworlds books, since, with the 52 universes now counted in DC's continuity, everything would be “Tales of the Multiverse.” Carlin noted the interesting match-ups in store for the Challengers as they go to everything from “the Crime Syndicate world to the Red Son world.” In answer to a fan's question, Carlin said the company was gong to leave some of the 52 slots open for now, to allow some flexibility in universes yet to be created. " Donna and Jason Todd? ... !!! Donna & Kyle, yeah. But Jason & Donna? Please, no.
A new Wonder Girl mini-series was announced at WizardWorld Philly. Newsarama reveals: " Perhaps the timing just hasn’t been right. But maybe it will be soon. Say, September? That’s when six-issue miniseries Wonder Girl: Champion is set to launch. The scripts will come courtesy of J. Torres, who’s written about another Wonder Girl in Teen Titans Go and will write the original Amazon heroine herself in Wonder Woman #11-#12. Artist Sanford Greene will be drawing, and, according to Torres, the art is going to be “hot.”"
“She's been through a lot in the last year or so and we get to bring it all together in this mini,” Torres said. “She's cleaning up after the Amazons, she gets roped into some Countdown related stuff, and all at the same time wrestling with her own demons…when she's not wrestling chimera and hydra and other demigods.”
Newsarma reports: DC Comics started their Wizard World Philadelphia programming Friday afternoon with “Counting Down: So Begins the End,” dedicated to their current weekly series, Countdown. Titans bits:
"The first slide was on Countdown, and that led in to talking about Countdown to Adventure, the mini-series featuring the space heroes from 52. Berganza said it picks up on what Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire have been up to since that series, including someone else on Rann acting like their new hero, and something going on with Animal Man and Starfire's powers, plus the new character Forerunner."
"Wayne talked about Countdown; The Search for Ray Palmer, although there was no accompanying slide. Ron Marz, the writer of the project, said Art Adams is doing the cover and that "the tour of the new DC Multi-verse begins here," and hinted that it'll have some sort of intersection with the Wildstorm Universe. Donna Troy, Jason Todd, and Kyle Rayner - accompanied by a Monitor - are the stars. Six issues. Marz said he was happy about writing Kyle Rayner again."
Flash is canceled. Except, it isn't really. Whanow?
Newsarama reports: "As announced by Dan Didio and Bob Wayne in Philly and Heroes Con, respectively, next week's Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13 will be the last issue of the young series, which was just launched last year. Although DC is keeping mum about what happens in that pivotal issue, its story will act as a precursor to the announced return of Mark Waid to The Flash beginning in the fall with penciler Daniel Acuna (Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters)."
Waid says: "Yeah. Those who pick up the last issue of Flash: The Fastest Man Alive next week will get a big part of it there, and those who pick up the end of the Justice League/Justice Society team-up the same day, when it ships, will get another gigantic part of the puzzle right there too. And then we just continue the momentum from there. We talked about a million ways to go with it, but this is going to be huge. It's really, truly huge." Get the full report here. It'll be interesting to see what Waid has in store!
THE PULSE: What did you enjoy the most about getting to add a page to the Teen Titans history by drawing these issues?
NAUCK: It is an honor to be so connected to the Teen Titans history through my contributions on Teen Titans Go and Young Justice. I really like these characters and read their adventures during the Wolfman/Perez run back in the 80’s.
But one thing I didn’t expect was the whole new fanbase of young readers. Little kids and their families will come up to my table at conventions with their beat up, well read copies of Teen Titans Go. They will talk with me and recount their favorite episodes like I’m their best friend. It’s great to have a book that parents can share with their kids and have fun with. That is very rewarding!
THE PULSE: What storyline out of the ones you had a hand in was your favorite to draw? Why? NAUCK: Probably the issue where they switched powers. I got to redesign their new looks as each character took on the other’s look. Like Beast Boy as Raven, Raven as Robin, Robin as Starfire, etc.
I also like the Kid Flash versus Mas y Menos “race around the world” issues. I like speedsters.
Also check out Todd's animated designs for some never-seen-on-TV Titans! Read the full article here!
Every week, DC’s new year-long series Countdown, introduces characters who may be unfamiliar to readers. Fear not! THE PULSE is here to shed some light on the background on these characters, so you can hit the ground running with the series. This week, we’ll look at the history and background of the omnipresent Donna Troy and local crater creator Lightray.
Get the lowdown on Donna from The Pulse! Note: There's a few errors in the article, but you'll see a post from yours truly clearing things up a bit. Donna, despite your crazy past we loves ya!
The George Pérez Titans Gallery is up! There's tons of Titans-related artwork here - with commissions, who's who entries, pin-ups, magazine covers, style guide art, rarities and more! Any fan of George's gorgeous art should check out the gallery.
We told you a few weeks ago that TEEN TITANS GO! may be in danger of cancellation!We rallied the fans to write in and my "inside sources" tell me that the letters are making a difference! The title is getting at least an extra issue or two since the letter-writing began! So we need to keep the support coming!
I think people should be encouraged to write Mr. Levitz because he's listening...
Write letters to: Paul Levitz c/o DC COMICS 1700 Broadway NYC, NY 10019
Hand-written letters make the biggest impact (and please, be passionate, but nice!) Spread the word and write soon! We just may save the Titans yet! Titans Go!
Want to see some of the comic? Writer J. Torres posted a preview of Teen Titans Go! #43 on his ComicSpace page. This issue, Dr. Light and Psimon form a version of their own "Fearsome Five." Check it out! The issue is on sale now.
