Saturday, October 31, 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

Flash Facts: Nerve Cells

"A nerve current travels 404 feet/second in a human nerve cell; 90 feet/second in a frog's nerve cell; and only a few feet per second in the nerve cell of a clam."

Illustration: "The dendrites act as the 'pick up' of impulses; the axon the 'wire' along which the nerve current travels."

Issue: The Flash #121 (June 1961)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Find the Flash: Baltimore Comic-Con

Kelson Vibber's Speed Force recently featured this photograph of an eight-year-old Impulse fan in costume at the Baltimore Comic-Con. From the familiarly mussed hairdo to those outrageously oversized boots, the costume is perfect. This little fella looks like he's leapt right off of the comic book page! As always, you can visit Speed Force for more photos and related links.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Justice League Monopoly (1999)


As we've had some fun recently with superhero boardgames, you're not going to want to miss Once Upon a Geek's look at the Justice League of America Monopoly set produced by Parker Brothers in 1999. The rules and layout for this particular game are familiar to us all so it's lots of fun to see what superhero-themed variations have been added to the traditional gameplay. The Electric Company has been replaced by Green Lantern's Power Battery, Daily Planet and Batcomputer cards replace Chance and Community Chest, and hotels have been transformed into superpowers! The Flash's Cosmic Treadmill is even featured in place of one of the usual railroads! Visit Once Upon a Geek to see the Irredeemable Shag's full write-up on the game and its entertaining accessories, complete with a plethora of photographs.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

On Sale: The Brave and the Bold #28

The fastest man alive is proving remarkably slow of late in meeting his release dates; it looks like we're going to be waiting and waiting and waiting for the concluding chapters of The Flash: Rebirth. (The Flash, shipping late? There are plenty of jokes to be made here, of course, but I'm really in no mood for them.) Fortunately, DC Comics has lined up a little something to tide us over. The Brave and the Bold #28 hits comic shops tomorrow. The time-travel team-up story, written by J. Michael Straczynski, sees Barry Allen joining forces with the Blackhawks! The scarlet speedster will also be appearing in other releases this week, including the DCU Halloween Special. Visit DC Comics for a complete listing.

Written by J. Michael Straczynski; Art and cover by Jesus Saiz. J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) and Jesus Saiz (OMAC Project) continue their series of unlikely pairings with a match that spans the decades! When an experiment meant to alter the speed of light goes awry, Barry Allen finds himself face-to-face with some surprising allies--World War II's legendary Blackhawks! But Barry isn't the Flash they know, and he's not even the kind of hero they need to help fight history's most grueling war! What must Barry sacrifice to serve his country--and his world? DC Universe. 32pg. Color. $2.99 US. On Sale October 21, 2009.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Flash Facts: Ultrasonic Waves

"Sound waves of tremendously high frequency (ultrasonic waves) have the power to destroy germs."

Illustration: "1) Germ cell before subjection to ultrasonics. 2) Air bubbles form inside cell as ultrasonics are applied. 3) Air bubbles burst, destroying germ."

Issue: The Flash #203 (February 1971)

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Color the Flash (1999)


Above we have an image of the scarlet speedster as he appeared in the animated DC Universe, leaping into action amid a flurry of white lightning bolts. He is, of course, er... not so scarlet a speedster in this particular instance. The reason the Flash looks as if he's just been attacked by the Rainbow Raider is that this image was released as a part of a series created for children to color-in. I would like to expand our Fun and Games feature by periodically posting pages from the various DC Comics coloring books that have appeared over the years but, sadly, I have managed to collect very few examples of this sort of thing. Have you seen any coloring book pages featuring the fastest man alive? Do you have any coloring book content to contribute to Crimson Lightning? If so, I encourage you to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Flash Game (1967)


I love the Flash, and I love games of all kinds, so you can imagine my reaction when I first beheld the 1967 Justice League of America board game starring the scarlet speedster that was recently featured at the Idol-Head of Diabolu, Frank Lee Delano's blog dedicated to that magnificent Martian Manhunter. Wow! This one is a beauty, even if--or perhaps because--the board's layout is utterly dominated by a broad canvas of colorful comic book-style art. Crowding the limited playing squares are images of the fastest man alive teaming up with the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to take on aliens, robots, and a pack of nasty dragons. The gameplay was surely limited but the board itself is a beauty to behold--even if they did manage to miscolor poor J'onn J'onzz's costume! Race on over to the Idol-Head of Diabolu to have a look!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Flash Facts: Mercury's Orbit

"Because Mercury orbits about the sun once every 88 days at an average speed of 29.8 miles a second--as contrasted with the Earth's 365 1/4 days at 18 1/2 miles a second--the two planets return to the same relative positions every 116 days."

Issue: The Flash #113 (June-July 1960)

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Sight and Sound: "To Catch a Blue Bolt"



"To Catch a Blue Bolt," written by Bob Haney, featuring Ray Owens as the Flash and Tommy Cook as Kid Flash, aired 29 September 1967 as part of Filmation's The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. This frantic Filmation short pits the crimson comet against the Blue Bolt, an evil speedster from another world. (On Earth-Three, this blog is known as Cerulean Lightning.) Since the earliest days of his comic, truly epic battles involving the fastest man alive have been enacted on a veritable world stage; our hero has chased villains at super-speed across all seven continents and has fought for his life against a stunning, ever-shifting backdrop of international landmarks. This has to be one of the great stylistic motifs associated with the character. This cartoon plays up that familiar tendency for travelogue as the Flash and Kid Flash chase the Blue Bolt from the Netherlands to Egypt. Sadly, the action and adventure is resolved with a cloying gag involving a wayward kitten and a sudden outburst of bad puns. Is there any more disappointing denouement for a superhero adventure?

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Mother Goose & Grimm (2009)


Every time that our friend Papa Zero spots a reference to the fastest man alive in the Houston Chronicle's funny pages he is kind enough to take the time to clip the strip for us and send it along to Crimson Lightning, and I'm mighty glad that he does. Here's a recent entry. This installment of Mother Goose & Grimm by Mike Peters, featuring a mishmash of popular superheroes and a joke that's just about as old as the scarlet speedster himself, ran in newspapers nationwide on 2 August 2009. It's nice to know that the Flash has the sort of name recognition that allows him to serve as the center of a gag like this, presented in a panel that doesn't even feature the character himself! Thanks again, Jason!

Monday, October 05, 2009

Flash Facts: Galactic Dispersal

"The most distant galaxies our telescopes can see are racing away from us at a speed of 75,000 miles a second."

Illustration: "Sombrero Hat Galaxy--seven and a half million light years from Earth."

Issue: The Flash #196 (April 1970)