Super Powers 25th AnniversaryIn 1984, Kenner launched a line of DC super-hero action figures under the name Super Powers. The toys were tied to the Super Friends cartoon, and each had an action: If you squeezed Superman’s legs, he would throw a punch. If you squeezed the Flash’s arms, he would run. Each figure also came with a 16-page minicomic starring the character and others from the toy line.

Today, Crisis on Earth-Blog unites fourteen sites in celebrating this landmark toy line.

Enjoy!

Vibe: RebirthApparently preliminary buzz is so good on Flash: Rebirth that DC has already announced the next character getting the Rebirth treatment: Vibe from the 1980s “Detroit-era” Justice League.

From the first link, Dan Didio explains:

It was really a melding of events. First of all, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern all leaving the Justice League, Dwayne McDuffie wanted to try and bring back some of the feel of the Detroit-era League. And what character is most associated with that League? Vibe! Plus we had some very positive fan response to his appearances in Trinity. And orders for Flash: Rebirth have been phenomenal. We want to strike while the iron is hot, so I asked Ethan if he’d be interested, and he just jumped at the opportunity. Literally, he jumped. I could hear the thump on the other end of the phone.

It makes sense in a twisted sort of way.

Update: This is, of course, an April Fool’s joke! Happy April 1, everyone!

Justice League New Frontier DVD.One of the highlights of WonderCon this weekend was the premiere of Justice League: The New Frontier. I really liked Darwyn Cooke’s original mini-series, DC: The New Frontier, and I’d been looking forward to the animated adaptation. Overall, I’d say the film succeeds.

The story links the dawn of the Silver Age of comics, and the formation of the Justice League of America, with the dawn of the Space Age, set against the political background of the Red Scare. It focuses most heavily on Green Lantern-to-be Hal Jordan and on the Martian Manhunter, but touches on Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Flash as well.

What Works

Cooke’s drawing style and the 1950s retro look to the artwork both translate well to the screen. Continue reading

I went out at lunch and picked up Identity Crisis #7. Looking back at the series, it was very satisfying dramatically, though of course there were many things happening in it that I didn’t like. Even the revelation of the killer’s ID didn’t feel like a cheat. There was no sense of an Armageddon 2001-style last-minute change, and no one showed up out of left field in the final chapter.

On to specifics. Spoilers abound! Continue reading

With the Top‘s history featuring prominently in the current Flash tie-in to Identity Crisis, I realized it’s possible to narrow down just when the flashbacks in IC take place. I’m not very familiar with the satellite-era Justice League, but I have tracked down, read and, yes, catalogued the entire Barry Allen run of The Flash.

In Identity Crisis #2, Green Arrow states that it was a few months after Iris died. Iris died in Flash vol.1 #275, and the storyline wasn’t really resolved until #284, when Barry trapped her killer on the wrong side of a time machine. In Flash vol.2 #215, Barry writes about an event that took place a week after the Top’s ghost was excorcised from Barry’s father. That storyline ran from #297 (the car crash in which Henry Allen’s heart stopped) to #303 (getting rid of the Top). Since this was clearly after the *ahem* incident, we can narrow it down to taking place between Flash #284 and Flash #297.

(This has got to have been the most fanboyish post I’ve made here…)