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Review: The Flash #2

By | October 28th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Illustrated by Francis Manapul

The Fastest Man Alive learns he can make his brain function even faster than before — but as much as it helps him, it also comes with a steep price. Plus: The mystery behind Barry Allen’s friend Manuel Lago deepens as Barry investigates his kidnapping at the hands of Mob Rule!

The Flash in some way shape or form was my favorite comic character during my formative years (in particular, Bart Allen as Impulse and Wally West as The Flash), but in the past few years the character has taken a tumble in my mind starting with Mark Waid’s Wally West-centric series. The return of Barry Allen from Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul didn’t win me over entirely, but the first issue of the DCnU edition with Manapul co-writing with his color artist Brian Buccellato really worked for me.

Is this a major step in the right direction for me as a Flash fan? Find out after the jump.

As a huge Flash fan, in particular of the Wally West and Bart Allen variety, I found myself at a distance from Barry Allen as a character simply because outside of Crisis on Infinite Earths, I never really developed any connection with him as a character. Even amidst Geoff Johns’ work with the character, things just never synced up for me.

Yet, two issues into Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s run and I have to say, the day has come. I’m officially a fan of Barry Allen.

In the hands of Manapul (the artist from Geoff Johns’ most recent run on the character) and Buccellato, and with a lot of thanks to the relaunch, Allen has been presented as an inviting, likable and more well-rounded character than I’ve experienced previously. This issue was a joy to read for a lot of simple things: Barry’s assertion that his running on a treadmill is a bad idea; the flashback in which Barry and Manuel first met; Barry’s reasoning for why he likes Patty Spivot.

The little moments are great, but Manapul and Buccellato handle the big moments with aplomb as well. I love the new villain of Manuel Lago clones called “Mob Rule” and I especially enjoyed how Manapul and Buccellato are layering in the architecture of The Flash’s world with The Speed Force being mentioned in this issue. It’s all paired very well together, and the ending is a hilariously intense situation for Barry to have to deal with (especially when you factor in the smaller stories breaking at the same time – nice work Team Flash).

My favorite moment of the issue had to be the parts where Barry was aligning his mind with the Speed Force to try and get his speed up, and it was because this was one of the best marriages of script and art that I’ve seen this month. I’ve often wondered what benefits to the storytelling we’d see with the artist and the colorist also co-writing the story, but the pages that have his senses being overrun by possibilities because he is processing info so fast are gorgeous and ingeniously designed, showing us the benefits of the two working so closely together on all aspects of the story. Instead of rambling on more about it, I’m just going to show you what I’m talking about below.

In regards to the very next panel in the comic, I have to give a shout out to Manapul and Buccellato for completely knocking Barry’s expression after he understands what he can do with this newfound gift. It’s a mixture between the joy that the Nintendo 64 kid felt and the surprise anyone who has ever been rickrolled feels, with a blend of the feeling Han Solo has every minute of every day. Or, to be more succinct, “awwww yeah!” in face form. It’s really entertaining.

As for the art, it turns out that Manapul guy is really good at this whole drawing thing. This is one of the most dynamic and exciting books from a visual standpoint, and it’s because of the way that Manapul pushes his art consistently forward to accomplish new looks and textures on the page. I love the way Manapul uses watercolors while inking to add to the tone and atmosphere in a situation, particularly in the flashback sequence with Barry and Manuel. Pair him to together with Buccellato, who makes the art pop when we have some ol’ fashioned Flash time (especially during the blackout at the end and the beginning with Mob Rule), and you’ve got yourself one of the best looking books on the market.

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Oh yeah, and the cover is absolutely incredible too, as it fits the story and it is just a dynamic image that yells “buy me!” off the racks.

I love the Flash again. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed the character in a long time, and it’s thanks to the fresh take and incredible art from Manapul and Buccellato. Bravo guys. I can’t wait to see more from you (especially now that you’re teasing Captain Cold’s arrival on Twitter, you dirty dogs).

Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy


David Harper

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