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Review: The Flash #7

By | December 13th, 2010
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Written by Geoff Johns
Illustrated by Scott Kolins

The Rogue Profile issues return as BRIGHTEST DAY zips on with a spotlight turned toward the resurrected Captain Boomerang! He knows why he’s back and what he needs to do. But does he still have what it takes to be a Rogue?

A Captain Boomerang centric issue of The Flash? Does the former Mort of the Month deserve the spotlight?

Find out after the jump.

With the first arc of the new series for “The Flash” in issue #6, I was hoping to jump into a new arc in which we get a better look at the world of Barry Allen as a whole. Where Bart Allen and Wally West fit in, who else would be part of his supporting cast, and a whole lot more…things of that sort.

Instead with this issue, we get one that focuses entirely on the recently revived Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang.

And it’s a damn good issue, and without a doubt the best issue of this most recent volume yet.

This issue takes Digger Harkness, a character who I most remember for being a Wizard Magazine “Mort of the Month” from when I was younger and for being the guy who killed Tim Drake’s dad, and makes him someone that I am invested in and really excited to read more of. Getting his back story and seeing how he got down this path was great in itself, but to see his approach towards both the Reverse Flash and the Rogues as a whole helped further develop part of Barry Allen’s supporting cast like I hoped they would.

Johns, as my 4 Color compatriot Brandon so ably pointed out, writes his best issue in recent memory with this book. It’s a really nice issue that is filled with exceptional character work that both makes Harkness more intense of a villain but also one that readers can be truly empathic with.

Series artist Francis Manapul is on a break with this issue, and former Johns’ Flash partner Scott Kolins ably fills in here. His work is a great fit for speedsters, as it brings a lively, kinetic style to the page as well as a real sense of story design. Even with speed being limited here as it was a Boomerang-centric issue, it works incredibly well. For a book that has a top talent like Manapul on it, it’s nice to see DC put a fill-in artist on the book that wouldn’t be too big of a drop.

This issue is a really nice turn for the book, and with the next issue bringing the secret origin of the Reverse Flash into our view, I’m really excited to see where we go from here. While I’m a bit wary of the overall “Flashpoint” arc that is right around the corner, I can say this: if Johns’ keeps the momentum going from this, we could be in for a treat.

Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy


David Harper

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