Barry Allen has always raced towards the future in the hopes to provide Central City and the world a new day and a new tomorrow.
But, given everything he has done, his past comes back to haunt him, in more ways than one, as a new foe arises to show the multiverse, what the Flash truly is, a monster! Who is this new foe? What is his connection to the Flash and how will this change Barry Allen’s life for years to come?
Williamson introduces a new character that might change the world of the Flash..or maybe change it until the 5G/ Wally West imbued with Dr. Manhattan’s powers change things and possibly undo everything that has been set forth since Rebirth. That is very frustrating for me to say since I’ve been enjoying Williamson’s Flash run, and while it has had its rough periods, it still continues to be a consistently great series. Williamson has never been shy about the Flash and his continuity, contributing new lore to the Flash mythos and usually hitting his mark. This issue builds off of the foundations that Williamson set up from Flash War and Year One, showcasing how this new antagonist, Paradox and how he came to be, providing motives that are interestingly sound. Much of the plot centers on the new antagonist and sets up events that will occur in the later issue of this series. For what its worth, I actually enjoyed the backstory of this new antagonist and appreciated Williamson’s efforts to tie plot threads from prior stories together, making the journey through this series and this issue worthwhile to pick up.
Howard Porter’s layouts coupled with Hi-Fi’s colors and Steve Wand’s lettering is as good as it gets, and after the amazing work that he provided in the Year One arc, I appreciated the visual continuity that Porter provided… It was very appropriate to have Porter contribute to the new antagonist’s appearance since he also helped lay the groundwork with his art during the Year One story. I enjoyed this new debut of this new villain, although I will admit that it is a little exhausting that a ton of the Flash’s villains are people who’ve gotten powers from the speed force. Despite these sentiments, it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment that I got from this issue. I’d definitely recommend this as an issue to pick up for new comic book day.
Newsdesk