Wednesday, July 13, 2016

The Flash #2 Review



Speed Your Role

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Placencia and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 13, 2016


I am a huge fan of the Flash...the comic and the character.  However, I haven't been a huge fan of THIS comic.  It's a weird thing as I am also a huge Joshua Williamson fan so him doing the Flash should have been an easy "Up to the Plate Home run", but something has gone a bit wrong.  Wrong for me, but maybe not for new readers.  The reason I say that is Williamson has been giving a whole lotta recap, rehash and rosie and because of that, the book hasn't felt fresh to me.  Again, if you hadn't been reading the New 52 Flash, maybe that's not the case for you, but I'm selfish and only care about myself.  So, going into this issue, I was really hoping that the Fastest Man Alive can pick up the pace in his own book and make me a happy man once again.  Does that happen?  Let's find out...


If you didn't know, last issue ended with Barry's "old friend", August Heart, becoming one with the Speed Force due to an accident and this issue picks up with Barry trying to train him.  When this storyline was announced, this is what I couldn't wait for.  Cue up  "Hearts on Fire" and let's get some montages going!

I wouldn't say that August is a bad student, he just seems a bit unwilling to try new things.  Okay, turn off "Hearts on Fire" and play the Chariots of Fire Theme Song because like Forest Gump...He's Running!




We find out two pretty cool things here...the Speed Force protects you from skinning your knees and August knows that Barry is the Flash.  Of course, Barry tries to convince him otherwise (it's kind of hilarious), but August knows.  I like that Williamson does this.  For starters, August is a detective, but also it gives August a reason to trust the Flash right off the bat...maybe a little too much, wink, wink.

If you have been waiting for the New 52 Wally to step up his game and become Kid Flash, you'll be a tiny bit more happy after this issue.  Wally doesn't do much and even though we get a little family tree recap, it's something and nowadays, I'll take any Wally West Rebirth is willing to give me.

We also get a little Iris West and again, I'm okay with that.  She is snooping for some intel on Black Hole and if we were playing Hot and Cold, she literally be on fire!  While that sounds great, it's also a very dangerous place to be and Iris has made herself very known...by the wrong people.

Speaking of wrong, Williamson cuts to the chase and shows that August doesn't subscribe to the "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility" adage that somebody's uncle once said (and Barry almost said this issue himself).  Since it is forbidden to study the Speed Force, I'm guessing there is no documentation of it's side effects, but if you ask me, August is proving that becoming a douchebag is right near the top.




This all gets put on the backburner, however, when Black Hole kidnaps someone very close to Barry and it's game on!  Game on doesn't mean instant victory, though, and Barry finds out that Black Hole is more of a threat than he imagined and also that he kind of needs August and his connection to the Speed Force.  He also admits he misses having a partner, a callback to the original Wally West which was very nice.  The one thing that scares me, though, is August not coming up with a superhero name...probably because it will eventually be something that starts with God and ends with Speed.  Even if it isn't, Williamson certainly doesn't want to spoil that right now.

The issue ends with the craziness that we were promised when the Rebirth Flash book was announced...Speed Force Storm, bitches!  Like August says, "Looks like you have a lot more Speedsters to train, Flash!"  That sounds awesome to me, especially when we see one in particular.




Finally!  This is what I've been waiting for since Rebirth started.  Williamson gives us a fast paced and fun issue of the Flash and since that's what I wanted all along, I had a huge smile on my face reading this.  Let's hope he can keep it up because this book could turn into something special really quick.

Carmine Di Giandomenico steps up his game this issue as well and delivers his best issue yet.  Everything has been good in the Flash costume all along, but he does a really good job with just Barry and the rest of the characters sans costumes.  However, the best job was August in his costume.  I love the look.

Bits and Pieces:

This is the issue I've been waiting for since Williamson was announced for this book.  It flies by at breakneck speed, looks great and is just fun.  Plus, the cliffhanger promises a lot more fun and possibly montages galore.  Cue up "Fight to Survive" and get ready for two weeks from now.


8.5/10

12 comments:

  1. August Heart shall fall to the Darkside of the Speed Force through Speedster Brutality!!

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    1. Lol...I like when he won't come up with a superhero name just yet...

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    2. I was gonna give you shit Jim (because it's fun😆) and say something like hell must have frozen over for you to like this lol but MAN this issue was so much better than the other 2 have been. Spot on review man, keep them coming

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    3. LOL! It was so much better, right? I'm not going soft, don't worry!

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  2. I really liked this issue. Even though I was a defender of the art the last issue, I really didn't like it this time around.

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    1. I was enjoying the story so much that I actually had to go back to check out the art...I think it's growing on me because I'm starting to like it more with each issue.

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    2. I still like the stuff while in motion, but the stuff with Iris and Star security and basically everything not moving was really putting me off this week. I wonder if I go back and compare to last issue if it may just be something with the colors? It just seems less sketchy to me this week.

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  3. I'm with you repairman ... I love it when there is action involved in the panels ... but when it's not in motion it to me looks like it still is a bit and I feel like two people having a conversation are talking really fast as a result. I also want the colors to be a bit brighter. It feels like this gets run through an instagram filter before being published.

    Despite all that I still enjoy the art I just am not in love with it like my boy Booth's

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  4. Page 4, second panel "struck by lighting". I think that means bad lightning referred to as lighting.

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  5. No relation to Branden up above lol. I'm a big Flash fan and glad we got to see this story actually gaining some ground and coming together. I understand why they did recaps but this was the issue to actually get the ball rolling. I dont mind Carmines art while Barry is the flash(even though it's still not great) but the main issue i have is when he tries to draw a human face. Like Barry himself looks terrible in every panel. The sooner they switch out artists the sooner that this series will finally take that next step.

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    1. you can be Branden's brother from another mother! I liked this issue a lot and am glad it's moving forward finally. I agree that Carmine's art is way better when the characters are in costume, but I thought this issue was the strongest overall as well. Maybe I'm just getting used to it, but I even liked the out of costume stuff more this issue.

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