SDCC 2016: Geekscape Interviews Joshua Williamson of ‘Flash: Rebirth’!

With the recent launch of DC’s Rebirth, I was able to catch up with Joshua Williamson, lead writer on The Flash: Rebirth series at Comic-Con. We sat down and had a chat about The Flash!

Jake: Rebirth just launched. What’s your pitch to those out there who don’t buy comics, who haven’t bought comics on a regular basis, and are new to this whole “Rebirth” launch. What would you say to entice them to buy into The Flash?

Williamson: If you like super hero books and want a character who actually enjoys being a super hero, rather than some of the other books that have become dark and gritty, and you want a fun book, you should read The Flash. It’s about a man who got hit by lightning and now can run really quick and really fast, and he’s someone who enjoys helping people.

Jake: The Flash Family is all here now, in Rebirth, –

Williamson: Are they all here?!

Jake: Well, with the two Wally’s, Barry, and now August, how is it juggling all of these speedsters at once?

Williamson: It’s been hard. Especially after issue three, there’s a lot of them. They don’t all have names. It’s like, “I know this one’s name, this one’s name, this one’s name, and this one’s name. The rest of you all are all faceless.” Like, they’re just in the crowd of Speedsters. It’s funny, in editorial, we know the names of some of them because we kinda had to. One’s named Roger. I don’t know if he’s ever actually mentioned, no one ever goes, “Oh, hey look, it’s Roger.” We try to focus on a smaller group. There’s a couple that get introduced in the next issue that you’ll see. August is a big one that was introduced in Issue 1. But I’m always trying show Barry’s perspective. The book is about Barry Allen and I want to keep that going.

Jake: How difficult was it introducing a new villain who hasn’t been touched on too much in Godspeed? How was that experience introducing a new super-villain in the DC Universe.

Williamson: It was a lot of fun. For me, I’ve had a really good time working with him, doing a sort of darker version of this character. I’m curious of what people are going to think about him. You know? He’s not Professor Zoom, he’s not like a Joker-type bad guy. He’s very calculated, and it’s a very emotional story for him and his relationship in the book, you’ll see. I think there will be people, when he is really introduced, I think they’re going to be readers who are like, “Is he the bad guy? Maybe he’s right!” You’re going to get some instances like that. For me, it’s just been fun. I like bad guys, I like writing bad guys. I hope people dig it. It’s been a lot of fun.

Jake: I understand his colors are white and gold, which is an unconventional color palate to use for a super-villain.

Williamson: Yeah! We’ll see what people think!

Jake: Are you drawing any inspiration from past storylines or threads going back throughout the history of The Flash?

Williamson: Oh yeah. I’m looking at everything.

Jake: How long have you been reading?

Williamson: Since I was a little kid! I love Impulse, I was a big time Wally fan, so I pull from that. I pull from a lot of the Mark Waid stuff. I read some of the old Silver Age stuff and I come up with things. Like what I think our second arc is going to be, after issue nine or issue ten, is pulled from a lot of Silver Age stuff. I’m pulling from a lot of places.

Jake: That sounds great. You’ve been doing a great job!

Williamson: Thanks, that means a lot. I am a Flash fan, so for me, I wanted to make sure it was a book that I would want to read. That would suck if you were writing a comic and were like, “I wouldn’t read this.”

The Flash Rebirth is currently on store shelves right now, with a new issue releasing twice monthly! Check it out!