Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Flash #6 Review

      
    

Written by: Si Spurrier
Art by: Mike Deodato Jr.
Colors by: Trish Mulvihill
Letters by: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover art by: Mike Deodato Jr., Trish Mulvihill
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: February 27, 2024


The Flash #6 unveils the true mastermind behind Wally's mind-bending altercations with alternate realities and all they contain.
Is The Flash #6 Good?

If you've been struggling to make sense of Si Spurrier's esoteric, high-concept trip into realms of non-experience, you may just be in luck. The Flash #6 begins to make sense of it all (kinda, sorta, but not exactly) by answering the all-important question - who's behind it all?

When last we left The Flash, we witnessed a Jai-centric issue that helped strengthen the bond between father (Wally) and son (Jai) as Jai expressed a troubling revelation - he doesn't want to be a superhero. Now, Wally gives Linda a piggyback ride on a work date as the two chases down assorted swarms and creatures bleeding into our reality. Wally eventually crosses paths with Barry so the two can save the day while exchanging some contentious words about their lack of sharing in recent months.

After a slightly revealing with the returned Stillness, Wally and Barry race into the Speed Force to meet the next threat. Barry becomes possessed by an entity from beyond our reality. In the final panels, we learn the source of Wally's reality-warping troubles...

[SPOILERS AHEAD]











It's Eobard Thawne.


[END SPOILERS]


What's great about The Flash #6? In an arc designed to stack one disjointed mystery on top of the other, more answers are good. To be clear, this issue doesn't go nearly far enough to dispel Spurrier's chaotic confusion, but it's a step in the right direction.

What's not so great about The Flash #6? One of the biggest questions of Spurrier's tenure is the source of the reality distortions, and now that it's answered, the reaction is, "That's it? Again? Him?" That's right. For all the faux-intellectualist misdirection, amorphous concepts, and heady narration, Spurrier's attempt at doing something still boils down to a standard Flash villain making trouble.

How's the art? Deodato Jr's odd backgrounds and slightly off-kilter anatomies are still in full effect, but the narrative of this issue flows a bit better with smoother scene transitions and more accessible panel compositions.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces:

The Flash #6 takes a significant step toward answering the mountains of odd mysteries by revealing the mastermind behind Flash's reality-warping troubles. Unfortunately, the answer is almost surprising in just how unsurprising it is, which makes all the complicated storytelling to get to this point seem pointless.

5/10

1 comment:

  1. I loved these early issues until I found out it was Thawne - I just wished they made new foes for him - This reminds me of Xorn being revealed as Magneto decades ago, robs the story of its great points.....

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