Presumably, The Flash Special that Titan published in the summer has proven to have legs, so let's hope this regular comic will run and run.
It's full title is actually DC Super Heroes: The Flash, presumably so that Titan can change the star feature if The Flash's popularity slows down. Not much chance of that at present however, with the first season of The Flash TV series released on DVD and Blu-Ray last week and the second season just starting on TV. (This last week I've watched all 23 episodes of season one and thought it was excellent. A superhero TV series that embraces its comics heritage whilst still appealing to the mainstream viewer.)
The UK Flash comic has 76 pages, containing stories from the US Flash Nos.6 and 7 and Harley Quinn No.0, all from recent years. Yes, Harley Quinn is the back up strip. I'm afraid all I knew about the character is that she was the annoying one in Bruce Timm's excellent Batman The Animated Series and that she's an insanely popular choice of twenty-something cosplayers. The latter makes her an ideal character to feature as a co-star in this comic. There's also a Harley Quinn pull-out pin-up for every teenager's bedroom wall.
It's interesting to see Titan expanding their DC Comics line to compete with Panini's Marvel comics, although the shelves are getting pretty crowded in WH Smith now. In two weeks there'll be another addition, as Titan make another attempt at an Arrow comic. (The previous one, a couple of years ago, only lasted a few issues, perhaps because its A4 size had Smiths place it with the junior and nursery comics!) Presumably the new Arrow No.1 will be the same size as Titan and Panini's other superhero titles so it can properly reach its target audience. Find out on October 29th.
The Flash No.1 is out now, priced £3.50.
Any idea of the frequency of Arrow, Lew ? It's advertised as 100 pages which seems to indicate a bi-monthly schedule (based on their other titles)
ReplyDeleteTitan haven't released any info yet but I'm guessing Arrow may be bi-monthly for the same reasons you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree on the bi-monthly thing, because it looks like there's no backup, so they'll use up the material twice as fast as The Flash if the frequency of the two is the same.
ReplyDeleteThe big drawback with bimonthly comics is that 8 weeks is a long time to remember the plots, and from whst I've seen their comics don't include summaries of the story so far, unlike Panini's comics.
ReplyDeleteThe Batman Legends comic etc. have 100 pages and come out monthly by pulling from three different titles, maybe they could be following that idea?
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame the A4 size instantly gets seen as something belonging in the wrong section of the shop, I always preferred reading the American strips on larger paper as a kid, it made it feel more epic. But then again, as an Oink! fan I shouldn't be surprised at WHSmith being useless at knowing where to place their comics.
Batman, Marvel Legends, etc have 76 pages except for the ocassional 100 page issue. Anyway, we'll find out in a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteAh right, I must've picked up the 100-page issues before.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Green Arrow #1 will contain the first 3 issues of the 2011 series (which is currently on #43) and DC Universe Presents #17 which starred Arsenal [Roy Harper].
ReplyDeleteThanks Jay. I've never followed the GA comic so I'll try it out.
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