As anyone who picked up Flash #11 might have seen, Francis Manapul was not the artist of the book. Instead, old Flash/Johns collaborator Scott Kolins took over to help finish out the arc in order to help finish out the book before Flashpoint begins next week.
As he writes:
As some of you I’m sure have noticed I didn’t draw the recently released Flash #11. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to finish this story arc. However, in order to get the last 2 issues out before Flashpoint they had to be done in an impossible time frame that there was no way I could do it without the work suffering. Talking to my editors we felt it wasn’t the right situation for me, and that we should begin developing my next project. That said, I will state on the record that I’ve never had an issue with turning in my work and editorial has never had a problem with me. I may have stumbled a bit out of the gate as I was on the road filming during my first 3-4 issues of the Flash, but with the lead time we had we were able to avoid any major delays. I take my normal 4-5 weeks to pencil, ink, and watercolor a book which is the standard time everybody gets just to pencil it. Much of the delays were due to the multiple stops and starts in the work process that is completely out of my hands. Hopefully I won’t have to address this issue again, but I just felt the need to clarify to try and avoid further vilification.
Moving forward my next project at DC is in the works. I’m EXTREMELY EXCITED about it, and my editors enthusiasm and endless support has been great! I’ve been developing it with my collaborator and editorial soon after my last issue of the Flash. Hopefully if all goes well, we can get started on doing the new book in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I’ve done a few covers for Flashpoint as well as other DC titles, I also ended up contributing 5 pages for Flash 12 to help close out the series.
I’m so jazzed about the future and my next project, I think a lot of people will be too. I appreciate the fans that’s stuck with me through this time and patiently waited. I really feel that the best is yet to come, and that 2011 will be an even bigger year for me. Thanks for reading!
I’m not sure who would vilify Manapul in this situation, because I think it’s been fairly obvious a lot of this – as he says – is out of his hands. Whatever these “multiple stops and starts” were.
Unfortunately, the Flash is getting an incredibly raw deal. However, it should be interesting to see what his “next project” is. There have been rumors about a Flash “Corps” title going around ever since the rumors of a Sterling Gates Kid Flash title died, but with Sterling Gates writing a Kid Flash based Flashpoint tie-in that Manapul is doing covers for, is it too far gone to think that Gates and Manapul might be collaborating together post-Flashpoint on a Flash-related book? Maybe?
…Hopefully?
(via source)
