Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The Flash #8 Review

      
     

Written by: Si Spurrier
Art by: Ramon Perez, Vasco Georgiev
Colors by: Sofie Dodgson, Matt Herms
Letters by: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover art by: Ramon Perez (cover A)
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: April 23, 2024


The Flash #8 puts Amanda Waller on center stage when she moves against TerrificTech and a podcaster to put all Speedsters on notice to cease and desist. Meanwhile, nobody can find Wally.
Is The Flash #8 Good?

The Flash #8 desperately tries to get the story moving in a direction that doesn't look like an attempt by a hyperactive toddler drawing a maze. Si Spurrier partly succeeds in giving the story some clarity by toning down the faux-intellectual technobabble and concentrating on actions, but Amanda Waller's sudden appearance and her near-limitless authority to do whatever she wants shifts the arc from one kind of bad to another.

When last we left the Flash Family, Max Mercury and Impulse were rescued from certain doom by Inspector Pilgrim, who informed the speedsters that he and his organization work outside the bounds of Time and Space to maintain existence. However, the speedsters learned too late their rescue was an arrest because the recent signs of instability in reality point to the destruction of all things by repeated use of the Speed Force by speedsters.

Now, Barry Allen runs here, there, and everywhere to stop disruptions in reality. He enlists the help of Circuit Breaker to tap into the Still Force to slow down vibrational disruptions spinning out of control (Circuit Breaker is a new character who debuted during a short story in the Lazarus Planet event but hasn't been seen since).

During his struggle to keep an expanding list of global upheavals from spiraling out of control, Barry encounters agents from Inspector Pilgrims who lend a hand to mend tears in reality before he's kidnapped by the Rogues, operating under the leadership of Reverse Flash, who have their own agenda.

Meanwhile, Amanda Waller takes time out of her busy schedule of taking over the world to take over a podcast studio specializing in the Flash and interrupts an interview with Iris West to announce her recent raid on TerrificTech, confirming the speedsters are killing reality and are ordered to immediately cease and desist.

What's great about The Flash #8? If you consider this point a backhanded compliment, so be it. Spurrier's nonsensical tale is a smidge easier to understand in this issue. The profusion of nonsense double-speak is toned down quite a bit compared to the previous issues, and the arrival of Waller forces Spurrier to infuse the arc with some grounding, although I suspect that plot development was forced on Spurrier.

What's not so great about The Flash #8? Amanda Waller is being built up across multiple titles as an uber-villain who does whatever she wants, wherever and whenever she wants, and it just doesn't hold water. How were Waller's goons able to simply walk into TerrificTech and confiscate the most dangerous technology and data on the planet without resistance? Why is Waller personally leading a raid on a podcast studio? How were Waller's goons able to decipher the most complicated tech and data in a matter of minutes to know what it all means?

Beyond the ridiculous specter of Amanda Waller, Spurrier busys the story with loads of action without providing any context or setup. When did Barry become aware of Circuit Breaker, and how is he being used in this spate of worldwide emergencies? Why is Inspector Pilgrim in the West home training Jai without anyone knowing? Why is Iris West throwing shade at Lois Lane? If Inspector Pilgrim intends to capture or kill all the speedsters to save reality, why doesn't he take Irey's tech that can trace speedster signatures?

The more you think about what Spurrier presents, the more the story continues to contradict itself and appear complicated for the sake of appearing smart, while producing the opposite effect.

How's the Art? Perfectly good. Perez and Georgiev deliver a clean set of visuals, energy, and action that, frankly, add clarity to Spurrier's complication much better than Deodato can.

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

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter



Bits and Pieces:

The Flash #8 tones down the technobabble and the over-surreal delivery for an action-packed issue that puts all speedsters on notice. That said, the reduced complication is overshadowed by a seemingly omnipotent Amanda Waller, who throws an already flawed story yet another curveball. September can't come soon enough.

4.5/10

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