Barry asks a very pertinent question – if TITANS Wally West could have been forgotten for so many years, could any foes have also been erased from memory? We get the answer right here, right now, with a blast from the past going up against the Teen Titan’s finest! Want to know more? Follow us after the break!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Shade first appeared in the Golden Age against Jay Garrick, and later fought Barry Allen in the Silver Age of comics…with additional appearances as both bad guy and mentor to good guy Starman over the years. We haven’t seen him in quite a while…but now we find his return in issue #10! This was handled perfectly – just enough information to give you an idea of the threat level he represents without throwing his entire history into the exposition. We see just enough of the Shade here to whet our appetite while working in the training (or not) of the new Kid Flash!
Wally has been skipping school to be in the hero game, and it catches up with him. Rather, he gets into trouble as he catches up with a villain called Papercut. Wally stops for pictures…and it gives the bad guy a chance to recover. The Flash manages to save the day, but not without giving a lecture to young Wally. The question is how Barry can teach Teen Titans Wally how to be a hero, rather than just teaching how to manipulate the Speed Force.
In the end, Wally is determined not to listen to a Flash who doesn’t trust young Wally with his secret identity. And, he doesn’t want to disappoint Aunt Iris…but can’t resist trying to prove himself by catching up with the real bad guy here…this “Walking Shadow” in Central City. That battle doesn’t end well…but it DOES give us a great jumping off place for a new arc.
SUMMARY:
This issue is somewhat young Wally-centric, and that’s just fine with me. We see young Wally trying to figure out his place in the world, making mistakes but still wanting to do the right thing. He’s in a world of trouble by issue’s end…but that’s what makes this issue work. Things have never been easy for this young hero. But, this arc should give us a much better idea of the kind of hero the new Kid Flash may turn out to be. That means we have another excellent script from Joshua Williamson. The artwork was great, thanks to Felipe Watanabe (pencils), Oclair Albert (inks) and Chris Sotomayor (colors) – btw – the giant pose for the new Kid Flash was worthy of framing and hanging on the wall!
I’m giving this issue a 9/10 – what do YOU think? Leave your comments below!