Sunday, April 18, 2010

the Flash #1 - DC

Overall . . I enjoyed this book. I'm glad that Barry is back. However . . to be perfectly honest . . I much prefer the Wally Flash over the Barry Flash. Wally's character always just seemed so much more full of life . . and character. Don't get me wrong. Barry's a good guy. One of the best, actually. But to me, as a reader, Wally's character just appeals to me more. But, having said that . . it really doesn't matter because this is a book about Barry. A lot of what happens in this issue comes directly out of the Flash Secret Files book that I read last week. Most of what we learned there you could pick up on in this issue, but I think it was nicer coming into this one with a feeling for what's going on in Barry's life, Central City and with the Rogues. Although nothing in all of that really prepared me for the ending of this issue. I enjoyed the personality that Geoff Johns has given Iris' character. She's been a major influence in Barry's life for quite a while, but she's always been treated like a supporting character. I'm glad that Geoff has given her a little more prominence. And I like the dynamic that being portrayed in the crime lab. Barry's the new kid on the block, even though, really, he isn't. So he has to meet them in the middle, rather than them coming to him. It'll be interesting to see how Barry handles that. But the mystery that is presenting itself this issue is what looks like the death of Mirror Master. Although after looking at the body, Barry is sure that it's not Sam Scudder or Evan McCulloch. At the end of the issue we find out that he's actually a Rogue from the 25th century . . the Mirror Monarch. How does he know this? Because the other Rogues, lead by Commander Cold, have come back from the future to arrest Barry for his murder. 'You haven't killed him yet. But, you will.' Oh, and I guess they're no longer the Rogues. They're the Renegades. I thought it was an ok first issue. Not overly exciting. But really this one was just to get our feet on the ground. Or, Barry's . . as it were. I think we got a good feel for some of the stuff going on here. I'm sure Geoff will expand upon things more in future issues. I'm not overly thrilled with Francis Manapul's art. It's ok. I think it just needs to grow on me. It's just a lot different style that any of the previous Flash books . . the recent ones. But I'm still glad that Barry's back. And we get a preview showing that his life is going to be changing even more. There's a new series coming out next year by Geoff, Andy Kubert and Paul Neary titled Flashpoint. I have a feeling that things aren't going to slow down for this guy for quite a while.

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