And the other big announcement. The September DC solicitations lead us to believe that in the upcoming Sinestro Corps one-shot, Kyle will be going evil and becoming the new host for Parallax.

All I can say, is that I hope this is another example of DC using false solicits, like with the Flash. I fail to see how repeating the mistakes of 10 years ago and alienating part of the fanbase would be a good idea. I know that if this goes ahead, as its presented, then despite being a big fan of the franchise, and enjoying Hal’s monthly GL title, and Guy in the GLC title, I’d probably drop them.

Of course, DC has a proud history of winding up its fans. Between the Flash solicits for #14 and #15, and events in 52 such as Booster Gold and Animal Man’s deaths, I’m willing to wait and see how this plays out. For my money, as it stands, Superboy Prime is surely the more obvious candidate for the new Parallax host. His fear of being corrupted by the DCU would give Parallax something to latch onto, and being a silver-age Kryptonian, he’s one of the most powerful beings in the DCU.

So I’m hoping this Kyle stuff is just misdirection. I’ll wait until the one-shot comes out this week and see what happens.

Ok, so there’s been some big announcements in the DC Universe this week. First, the Flash:

So, the Flash solicitations for #14 and #15 were fake, and the book is being relaunched, with the current run ending at #13. The cover seems to indicate that its curtains for Bart.

Now whether Bart actually dies remains to be seen (I hope not), but I do hope they’re not replacing him as Flash.

Don’t get me wrong. I thought the decision to replace Wally with Bart was awful. The reasoning was ludicrous: “because its a Crisis, and Flashes die in them”. It happened once. And at least Barry was given a decent write-out. Wally’s exit was poor in the extreme, and all it did was remove a character who was enjoying some serious post-Geoff Johns popularity.

Saying that, the decision was made, and the action taken. Wally vanished into the ether, and Bart was the new Flash. And for myself, I’d rather see them see the decision through, and make it work. Move forwards, not backwards, and that kind of stuff. The book may have stuttered out the starting block, but Mark Guggenheim has done really good stuff with the book lately, and its a shame to ignore the progress he’d made.

Of course, Bart may not be losing the title. I hope not. There’s been a lot of rumblings about Barry Allen lately, and I seriously hope he’s not coming back. We’ve already got Hal Jordan back as GL and the multiverse back, and Kara Zor-El back, and a more silver-agey Fortress of Solitude. And most of these things I’ve really enjoyed (let’s not mention Supergirl). But bringing back Barry Allen would be undoing another iconic death. Something that’s happened way too often in comics.

Saying all that, if anyone can sort all this out, its Mark Waid. The guy who got me reading the Flash title in the first place. So we’ll see. But I’m hoping its not curtains for Bart, and if Barry does indeed come back, then Bart remains as the Flash, with Barry acting as an advisor, which would allow Mark Waid to play up the family/legacy elements of the title he used so well in his run.