DC Announces "Flash: Year One"

DC Comics is returning to the roots of the Flash in "Flash: Year One," an upcoming story from Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter.

Williamson announced the story at DC's World's Finest panel at New York Comic Con. "Flash: Year One" will follow the model set forth by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's classic Batman: Year One.

"In the Flash title in spring of 2019...Flash Year One! With Howard Porter!!" Williamson announced on Twitter, revealing the teaser artwork below and later adding, "Next year, Flash Year One will be taking place in the regular Flash series, just like Batman Year One was in the Batman series. So excited to be working with Howard Porter on this story!"

"We're going to be doing Barry's first year as the Flash, but with a little bit of a twist," Williamson told fans when the story was announced at NYCC. "Barry's sense of hope, inspiration, and optimism is such an important thing and I really wanted to tell a story of how he got there, after the tragedy of losing his mother at a young age."

While several other DC Comics heroes and teams have had their own origin stories told in "Year One" tales - Teen Titans, Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Batgirl, Robin, JLA, Huntress - though those have typically been published as standalone miniseries.

This will be the first time that DC has taken such a detailed look at Barry Allen's early days as the scarlet speedster, though Wally West did get a "Year One" story as the Flash in 1992 in Mark Waid and Greg LaRocque's "Born to Run" storyline.

Superman is also set to get the "Year One" treatment from Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., though that story will be told via DC's prestige imprint DC Black Label, the home of Batman: White Knight and the now infamous Batman: Damned.

Williamson has been writing The Flash since DC Rebirth launched. He's been joined by Porter and several other artists in telling stories involving the return of Wally West, "The Button" crossover with Batman that has ties to Watchmen and Doomsday Clock, and "Flash War."

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Flash: Year One will begin publication in early 2019.