Barry Allen takes to the air to fight Spitfire before she can unleash deadly bioweapons on Central City, in a standalone, and by-the-numbers, standalone issue of “The Flash”.
Written by Christos Gage
Illustrated by Neil GoogeIn this special standalone story, The Flash loses someone important to him. To catch the villain responsible, The Flash must figure out how to use his powers in the one place where they do him little good: the sky!
Ever since the New 52 ushered in a new era at DC, “The Flash” has been a stable exception to a trend of high creative turnover. Writer Brian Buccellato and writer/artist Francis Manapul wrote over two dozen issues of “The Flash”, a record only matched by the Snyder/Capullo “Batman” run, and longer than any “Flash” writer since Geoff Johns. After receiving popular and critical praise, the announcement came that Buccellato and Manapul will take over “Detective Comics. With their departure, writer Christos Gage and artist Neil Googe stepped in to deliver a standalone issue, a bit of a palate cleanser, before the new creative team takes over.
This issue of “The Flash” begins by addressing one of the age old questions surrounding the character: Is the Flash faster than Superman? As Barry Allen himself narrates, while he is the fastest man alive, he still has limits which become especially clear when his enemy is on a plane. The villainous Esther Bryant aka the Sky Pirate aka Spitfire. She and her gang killed Barry’s former teacher, who was also a noted researcher in the field of biochemical weapons, and stole the vials of his deadly research. They escape into the air, with the Flash stuck at ground level, and it looks like they’re free to sell the lethal weapons to the highest bidder. The Flash, however, does not give up so easily, and with an assist from the Air Force he is back in the fight. Spitfire is determined to escape, no matter what the cost, and soon the Flash has to defend all of Central City.
Christos Gage is a workhorse in the modern comics scene. He has jumped between all the major publishers, including a well received run on Dark Horse’s “Angel and Faith” series, and recently has even more exposure when he co-authored an arc of “The Superior Spider-Man” with Dan Slott. As a new writer for the Flash, Gage seemed determined to write a story for a new reader to the series. In many ways, the issue reads like a #1. There’s character bio, origin story, power set explanations, and moments of personality, all in the first 8 pages. The main problem is that it reads like mandated exposition, instead of natural storytelling.
If the goal was to make a high flying adventure story, the moments of darker material clash with the tone of the rest of the book. Spitfire gleefully shoots up her crew with a machine gun, and the murder of the professor with his own bio-weapons is downright horrifying. And if it was supposed to make Spitfire a stronger villain, her lack of any motivation beyond thrills and money just make her seem like a boring version of the Joker. The fact that every action she takes provides the Flash with the opportunity to display a different use for his power just feels a little too convenient, like there’s nothing really at stake.
Neil Googe is an up and coming artist, who has been an artist for Wildstorm and on “2000 AD”, with recent back up work on DC’s “Detective Comics” and “Injustice: Gods Among Us”. This issue of “The Flash” is the opportunity for Googe to flex his full superhero-illustrating muscles, but unfortunately the artwork falls a little short of expectations. His style could be described as having Leifeld-leanings, and not in any kind of good manner. The proportions of the characters have a tendency is vary from panel to panel, and there is one shot in particular where Spitfire jumps from her plane, and her legs appear be both dramatically different sizes and in position only possible for a boneless chicken.
That’s not to say that the art is terrible. In fact the wavy lines actually add a neat effect to scenes when the Flash runs at superspeed, like it’s the air that makes him look kinda elastically. The way he renders Spitfire, widened and with a perpetual grin, also gives her a nice amount of psychosis. The brief moments when the characters aren’t fighting each other are drawn fairly well, even if Barry seems only capable of making a single face of grim determination. Colorist Wil Quintana also deserves a mention, as his bright and warmly shaded pages actually make the book feel more enjoyable to read.
Following up a fan favorite run on a series is always a challenge, and unfortunately it seems like the issue fell short of expectations.The story is formulaic, and comes across as a little more than a primer for those unfamiliar with Barry Allen, but will be boring to anyone who does. The art is inconsistent, and while some moments are nicely rendered, the differences are too great to ignore. Both creators have proven themselves capable of telling compelling and entertaining stories, but it feels like it just wasn’t the right fit for “The Flash”.
Final Verdict: 5.0 – Browse if you’re new to the character, but otherwise skip.
