Original art pages from Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 will be displayed publicly for the first time during a signing by writer Tom King at Fat Jack’s ComiCrypt in Philadelphia next week.
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That pages feature the death of Barry Allen (The Flash)…which is appropriate enough, since “You can’t have a Crisis without a dead Flash,” Heroes in Crisis writer Tom King told a group of reporters at Comic Con.
“As a special treat for fans, for the first time ever, select pages from Crisis On Infinite Earths #8 original art by George Perez and Jerry Ordway (written by Marv Wolfman) will be on display during Mr. King’s signing,” Fat Jack’s announced in a statement. “These pages have never been seen in the public eye, and Fat Jack’s will be displaying the original art for the first time ever to the world. Our thanks to a long time customer for the loan of this beautiful artwork.”
The event will take place from from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. and be held at Fat Jack’s Comicrypt at 2006 Sansom Street in Philadelphia.
While most of DC’s Crisis stories center on cosmic reorganizations that rewrite history and continuity, some — including Identity Crisis and King’s forthcoming Heroes in Crisis — are cataclysmic on a more personal, psychological level.
The story of Heroes in Crisis takes place at Sanctuary, a mental health facility put together by Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. At the story’s start, there is a “slaughter” at the facility, leaving several people dead. The prime suspects in the murder become Booster Gold and Harley Quinn, who were there seeking treatment.
King’s Flash tease — which came near the end of the event — was never followed up on, so it is difficult to distinguish whether a Flash will die during that inciting incident, or at a later time in the story.
Barry Allen sacrificed himself to stop the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and then Wally West had close calls or false “deaths” in both Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time and Infinite Crisis.
Both Barry Allen and Wally West (the one from the pre-Flashpoint timeline) both currently operate under the name “The Flash,” although certainly characters like Impulse and Kid Flash might be on the block for Heroes in Crisis. The Flash family is also pretty big, and there are Flashes and other affiliated speedsters going backwards and forwards in time for generations — although to call them a “dead Flash” might be a stretch.
Heroes in Crisis #1 will be available digitally and in comic shops on September 26. The signing event will take place the next day.
