It’s Chapter 3 of the Perfect Storm arc as Barry Allen, powerless and desperate to regain his powers through the lightning wand now takes a back seat.
Barry leaves Wally West AKA The (other) Flash in charge with the assistance of Wallace (Kid Flash) and Avery (The Flash of the Justice League of China) as they race to stop a dying Gorilla Grodd, Negative Flash, and the Black Hole from killing all of Central City.
Will Barry regain his Speed Force just in time to stop Grodd? Will Wally succeed in saving Central City and its citizens? And what will Barry do that will shatter the trust of all the ones he holds dear?
Joshua Williamson has been writing this title consistently since the beginning of DC rebirth, and thankfully, he manages to pull through in making this an entertaining title. I haven’t reviewed this title for a hot minute and coming back to it, Williamson has not lost steam yet!!! It’s great to see more Wally West AKA Flash III have more shine and see him remind readers why he was so great as The Flash in the same way that Grayson was a great Batman like Bruce is. Now it is strange to see Barry behave a certain way after losing his powers. There are moments in the comic where Barry wants to prevent anyone from seeing the kind of person he once was before he was ever known as The Flash. Because prior to that, Barry was never a terrible person with a terrible personality prior to getting his powers so it was a little weird that Barry was thinking that way. Then again, maybe that’s what Williamson is playing at from Barry’s perspective of how Barry sees himself when he has no powers.
There have been multiple occasions where Barry has lost his abilities. Heck, he lost his powers more times than he ever did on the CW show, ( which for seasons 2 & 3 just happened more than it needed to). Despite that nitpick, Williamson invites the reader to Wally’s narrative as The Flash and how he remembers Central City despite having once been displaced out of time within the Speed Force. It’s nice to see Wally doing what readers once remembered prior to the New 52. At one point in time before the New 52 launch, Dick Grayson earned the mantle of Batman, and Wally West earned the mantle of The Flash and remained that well for 20 years before Barry’s return in Final Crisis. Hopefully, Wally can have more shine and maybe have a title of his own aside from appearing here and on the Titans book. I also want to mention that I’m glad that Williamson made sure to make a distinction between the pre 52 and New 52 Wally’s by calling (the Flash of the Titans) Wally, while recognizing the Kid Flash of the Teen Titans as Wallace, to make an easier distinction between the two Wally’s!
In terms of The plot, it is generally enjoyable. Readers get to see Grodd’s plan come into fruition, but Williamson manages to throw some curveballs for the scarlet speedster and the readers, and boy does he by the end of this entire issue. There are some things that Williamson has managed to lay the groundwork for in regards to the War of the Flashes (which DC has previewed in their solicitations) so it’s enjoyable to see what will occur that will change the Flash family in the coming months.
The art by D’Anda is fantastic and there are some pages where I was almost surprised that it made such a good transition from last issues art of Giandomenico, that it didn’t ruin the visual narrative, making the flow between this issue and the last issue almost seamless. D’Anda’s renderings of Avery and Kid Flash (Wallace) are possibly my favorite visual renditions of the characters thus far. They look their age. They don’t look too young and they don’t look too old, they’re teenagers and look as such. And Guerrero’s color work in accompaniment to D’Anda’s work is a nice cinematic cherry on top of the beautifully layered cake of a comic that they have illustrated. Definitely, pick this issue up!!
Newsdesk