Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Flash #9 Review



Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Jorge Corona, Ivan Plascencia and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: October 26, 2016


Now that Barry has taken care of Godspeed, we can move along to what I've been waiting this whole Rebirth (and before) for...Wally West training as Kid Flash!!!  We got a bit of it before, but it really seems like this one-shot story is all about Wally...or Wallys!!!  Yes, the Wally Wests look they are bout to meet and this really could be huge!  I say "could be" because I haven't been a huge supporter of this book lately, but I am ready to jump back on the bandwagon.  Please don't hate me for being honest!  So, did I get what I wanted out of this issue?  Let's find out...



The issue opens with a little Iris and Barry flirting, but after they are interrupted by an unfortunate bridge collapsing, we get more Wally West then we have gotten in the whole of Rebirth.  Actually, that should be plural because the "other" Wally suddenly appears and we got our self a Wally West party going on.  

While there's no party like a Flash party, it suddenly turns sour when a dual Wally West handshake turns Barry into the evil Flash and he means business.  Actually, he's a bit of a dickhead who seems to take pleasure in yelling out a HUGE spoiler and I'm not talking about something from Walking Dead.




While Barry gets a visit from Zoom (?), old Wally gives young Wally a little Rebirth lesson that leads to both of them keeping Barry from being sucked into the Speed Force for good.  While the day is saved, their still is the huge spoiler in the room and young Wally runs off because of it.

The Wallyfest continues, however, as the Wallys talk out of costume and it's a really nice moment that is all about dealing with life's problems as a hero and as a regular person.  It all leads back to how great a guy Barry is and there is a really cool bit about the inevitable race that young Wally will have with his mentor.

After a pretty awesome splash page, the issue ends with old Wally and Barry talking about Abra Kadabra, the Titans and Rebirth.  If you haven't been reading Titans, you may be a bit lost, but even if you are, you're not going to get a whole lot of new information.  However, it is pretty cool to get a little more Rebirth information and the ending cliffhanger throws another huge thing into the mix!  Seriously, the cliffhanger makes a pretty standard issue kick more ass than it ever should have!




I loved seeing the Wallys together and even though the issue kind of devolves into a huge PR commercial for Barry Allen, I enjoyed it enough.  We get two huge reveals...one for young Wally and another for fans of legacy characters.  Joshua Williamson does a good job with dialogue and pacing and while I said I enjoyed it, Williamson is still not giving us a must read book.  I still have hopes of getting there and hopefully this issue is a start.  Only time will tell.

I am a Jorge Corona fanboy and his art style fits young Wally so well.  If you are a fan of We are Robin, you will love this issue's look.  I'm not sold on the looks of old Wally and Barry, though, as they sometimes have a bit of a stretched look to them.

Bits and Pieces:

This was an okay issue of the Flash that was elevated by a couple of huge reveals and a sense of Rebirth importance.  I wish we could get more of the three Flashes and also of Jorge Corona's art because it feels like the book is beginning to get better.  It's not there quite yet, but let's keep our fingers crossed.


7.5/10

12 comments:

  1. I wasnt crazy about the art cant say anything bad about it just not my tatse the issue it self was good i feel post rebirth this is what the book should have been about

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    1. it's odd...if this was Flash #1, I would have liked it more. Right now it just feels like a placeholder filled with stuff we should have already gotten

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  2. I actually loved the art in this issue a ton ... I feel Flash lends itself to a crazy style and this fit perfectly best since Booth to me. Also best Rebirth issue of Flash period.

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  3. now that Jonboy Meyers quit Teen Titans, I wish Jorge Corona was on that book

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  5. I´m glad they sorted this thing out. I´m all about creating new characters with diferente races, but raceswapping existing characters screams laziness and incompetence.

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  6. But we know that kid Wally´s spoiler since the one-shot of Rebirth XD

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    1. We'very known it for longer than that...it's been over a year since he's had speed force powers

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  7. The Kanye West character screams unoriginality and DC tries to force him down our throats or make him superpowered to eclipse the real Wally West. Forced diversity for the sake of fake diversity shall not come to pass. Kanye West should disappear let alone be called Wally. It is a shame to comic history.

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    1. Uhm what the N52 was a shame they race washed him just so they can have an black character what rebirth did fixed that by giving us the OG wally west back and explaining they are family as far as anyone knows n52 wally always existed just never shown, never a need too and i dont see how n52 wally is "superpower" compared to OG wally i mean clearly he is slower OG wally even taught him how to steal speed, and lets face it you getting your panties in a bunch and calling him Kanye West isnt clever its disrespectful

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    2. The only problem I ever had with N52 Wally was they introduced him and then really had nothing for him to do. I really was worried that Rebirth wasn't going to change that, but now with this issue and him in Teen Titans, they are finally fleshing him out. What does it matter that his name is Wally West, he is a totally different character with his own backstory. I actually love both Wally's together and wish we could get a ton more of that.
      Plus, OG Wally is too old to be Kid Flash and it just wouldn't make sense anyway. N52 Wally let's us have a Kid Flash which I want.

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    3. He will always be Kanye West for me until DC finds him a new name and stop confusing younger audiences who are not acquainted with Real Wally and think this hoodlum prick is the original one. Even if the writers try to make him run for president of the US I will always remember him as the new 52 doppelblacker who painted graffiti on public property, got arrested and hated the Flash. Meanwhile, I'm still wondering where all the good original black heroes are, like Black Lightning, Bloodwynd, Static Shock, Bronze Tiger, Icon, Rocket, Onyx, Joto, Kaldur'ahm, Michael Holt (wish he had a new cool identity like Hub, Hi-tech, Network and not Sloane's), new52 african B'wana Beast and many more. Herald (Vox) and Bumblebee must join the Titans (I'm sure about Karen but not for Mal)because they were part of the silver age Teen Titans along with Omen and they are a family role model for kids now that they have become married parents. Raceswapping, genderswapping etc are proof of laziness and ignorance on part of DC so they shouldn't cry for underrepresentation of black heroes when they use none of the already existent. Shame is exclusively on them not on old fashioned fans.

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