Written by: Geoff Johns
Illustrated by: Francis ManapulBRIGHTEST DAY dashes on with the stunning conclusion of “The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues!” With Barry caught between the Rogues and the Renegades, the resurrected Captain Boomerang’s role in the adventure is revealed! You won’t believe how this leads to the upcoming FLASHPOINT…
The first arc of the relaunch of The Flash wraps up with this issue, as Barry Allen squares against a ton of enemies and is challenged in an unexpected way.
Does it succeed at wrapping up the arc and as an individual issue? Find out after the jump.
Two bits of full disclosure before we get started: I am a HUGE Flash fan but so far I have not been a fan of this series…besides Francis Manapul’s art.
In this issue, Manapul’s art continues to be the highlight. For a speedster book, there has to be a real sense of kinetic energy on the page – it needs to really come to life in front of your eyes – for the book to work. Manapul does that and adds a lot more. He has a very expressive style that works for the passion behind the characters motives in this issue, as The Top strives to protect his job as a hero and Barry Allen works tirelessly to save Iris. Manapul’s art makes the action sequences work, but he also makes the little moments within them (like when Iris says “Barry?” after he appears out of nowhere and saves her) matter thanks to a real sense of scene and drama.
Not only that, but the coloring by Brian Buccellato really makes every scene pop. This is a very colorful book (I love the scene on the second page that has Barry thinking back to what was happened in technicolor), and Buccellato’s choices stepped this book up a notch or two.
Geoff Johns ties the whole initial arc together really well, and I feel like after five issues of just getting a good ol’ boy look at Barry, I’m really starting to connect with him as a character. I grew up with Wally West and Bart Allen, so to me, Barry isn’t The Flash. But he’s getting there, and arcs like this really show him off. I love the little moments Johns gives him (and Manapul does so well at depicting), like after the fight with The Top wraps up and the church he’s in is pretty destroyed. He cleans it up and fixes everything before he leaves. Allen is a good ol’ boy, through and through, and for some reason this issue made the whole thing a little more acceptable.
I have to say, I really enjoy the future good Rogues – the Renegades – and their position as kind of overlords of our timeline. It’s fun to watch at the end as they loom over our timeline and try to figure out what exactly is going awry (JMS!). I also quite enjoyed the little moment at the end, when the good Captain Cold challenges Barry to be more. It was an interesting little moment, and I’m excited to see where it takes Barry.
What I didn’t like in the plot, however, was the last page in which some speedster motorcyclist randomly appears and talks about Flashpoint. This felt incredibly forced, and while I’m sure it will build up to something else later on, I don’t exactly see how this fits in right now. It just felt jammed in there.
Another problem I had with this issue were some rather overt lettering gaffes. I spoke with a letterer once, and he said if he did his job right, no one notices. This issue? Everyone noticed. There was a case of a missing letter at one point in a word (as well as an elongated letter in that same word), and another section in which the lettering existed both inside of the bubble and outside the bubble in standard print. It was a peculiar issue with a big 2 book, to be honest.
I have to say, I think this book wanted to spend the first arc just getting everyone to buy in to Barry Allen as The Flash again. For me, it worked, and I’m excited to see where the book goes from here. I think it has a lot of potential, I want to love it, and I already love Manapul’s art. I just want to see a bit more from Johns on crafting stories that resonate with the readers.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
