Josh Williamson’s amazing run continues with issue #3 in the REBIRTH era as the Speed Storm grants more and more citizens of Central City the ability to run at super-speed. Not everyone reacts to their newfound speed in the same way as August Heart…and that’s the jumping off point for another great issue of THE FLASH! Want to know more? Just follow us after the jump…
SPOILERS AHEAD
“Speed City” kicks off the third chapter of this REBIRTH arc as Barry and August track down some speedsters who have less than honorable intentions for their newfound abilities. We start to see in this issue that August may have a somewhat more…shall we say…intense approach to the job, and that may play into future issues. But, there are enough speedsters that even the Rogues believe discretion is the better part of valor and get the heck out of Dodge, er, Central City.
Barry and August visit S.T.A.R. Lab, which has set itself up as a training center for speedsters. This is where the impact of the speed storm is seen more clearly. Some want to use their speed for good, some want to take personal advantage of their speed…and some don’t want that ability at all, frightened by what they have become. We see Barry in the mode of mentor once again, teaching a young lady how to control her speed. And, we meet Dr. Meena Dhawan, a researcher at S.T.A.R. Lab and a new speedster herself. She has an additional ability – to sense the Speed Force in others, which of course should play an important part in the story as we move ahead.
Meanwhile, Iris and young Wally (can we get a better way to refer to the two Wallys?) visit the Central City Crime Lab, and Wally secretly uses his speed to help Iris get some additional info on the Black Hole, a group of ex-S.T.A.R. Lab researchers. Wally is becoming quite interesting here, and while I don’t know about the rest of you, I’m warming up even more to this young Wally West (even though I’m still a big-time fan of the original Wally).
Al this leads up to an attack and an introduction to the big bad of the arc…Godspeed! Time to strap in folks, because the ride is about to go into overdrive!
NOTES: Let’s talk once again about young Wally West. In his original appearance in the New 52, young Wally was given a very bumpy introduction as a troubled youth. Now, we see a much more positive Wally, one who is filled with hope and optimism, whose fun side becomes more prominent by the issue. He is embracing his abilities even as he hides them from his Aunt Iris (to keep her from worrying, an endearing trait). And, the way he uses his speed has a slight hint of mischief (in a nice way, don’t worry) that is quite entertaining. I like where his character is going.
And, I like where Barry is going. We’re seeing a Barry who enjoys teaching, who likes being the mentor, and who still has at his core that basic nerdy good guy that I’ve always cheered for.
As for the big bad, I’m reserving judgment. Godspeed could yet turn out to be a disappointment…but if so it would be the first and only disappointment so far in this arc. For now, I’m all in on this first arc by Joshua Williamson. I’m also all in on the wonderful art by Carmine Di Giandomenico (with colors by Ivan Plascencia). This issue is a 9/10…and I can’t wait for next issue!
Of course, that’s my opinion – what’s yours? Leave your comments below!
His 4 issues (along with Rebirth) has been satisfying so far. With this long arc, if he’ll manage to pull this off, I think we have a chance to see another classic Flash run, perhaps the best Barry Allen run in 21th century yet.
Young Wally always had potential, but the biggest thing dragging him down persists: the writer is taking his time in making Young Wally into an actual superhero. It is sad that we have had full calendar years of this character being hyped as the next Kid Flash in all forms of media…and he is still NOT KID FLASH. The only images that the publishers are forced to use when it comes to this guy’s publicity are that of the one full panel of the alternate future Wally (seconds before he was killed off) and the cover image that didn’t even end up being his final costume. Let me underline that. HALF of the images used to promote this character (before Rebirth) contained a costume that never existed. The other half contained a version of the character who is now dead. How many times can you have the old “Wally experiments with his powers in secret” before you realize you’ve seen it several times before? This is wheel spinning at its worst. Another speedster just got his powers, costume, and motivation in the amount of page time it took Wally to simply stop being a jerk for a panel. That’s seriously disappointing. Stop teasing something we already know and MAKE THE KID A HERO.
Unfortunately, this has been a problem with Flash-related books for years: foot-dragging on storylines, plots that go nowhere, promises that are never realized. I was hoping for more heroism for Wally, so get him into the red and yellow suit already!
I’ve decided to reserve judgement on New-Wally for now until we get a chance to see him with the Teen Titans, in costume and playing off his contemporaries. He certainly doesn’t annoy me in the same way anymore though. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
This issue felt a little bit more transitional to me. We were introduced to lots of new elements but we are yet to see how those elements will play out. Not a bad thing, these things are necessary but I definitely preferred Titans this week. Still very much enjoying this run so far though, just anxious to see how some of this plays out is all.