“Sins of the Father Part Two” Review of THE FLASH #19

Barry and Wally and…Digger? Yes! Flash and Kid Flash have teamed up with none other than Captain Boomerang in an attempt to track down Wally’s father Daniel, aka the Reverse Flash. Of course, they are already in serious trouble…after all, trouble seems to follow wherever a Rogue past or present goes. There are some interesting reveals in this issue…and if you want to know more, just follow us after the jump!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Barry, Wally, and Digger are trapped in bonds that seem unbreakable even for a Flash, and their lives are hanging in the balance with the Weaver Clan that holds them captive. In the midst of it all, Digger convinces the (other) bad guys to free Barry for a “hunt”…so the gang can sell “the gun that killed the Flash!”

Of course that’s a ruse, and it buys them a little time. Wally takes advantage of that time to break free of his bonds (like his namesake, Wally tends to blow things up when trying to phase through them, and it helps here). Wally then uses Digger’s own boomerang to great effect, taking out the recovered Parademon weapons the Weaver Clan has been using. Now, all of this leads to the big reveals…

  1. Digger reveals that Daniel is dead. Whether that will eventually prove to be true isn’t the point here…it’s more that Wally thinks Barry probably guessed that before and didn’t confide it in Wally.
  2. Barry reveals (finally) his identity to Wally in an attempt to help him deal with everything…but that doesn’t turn out as expected either

Wally asks Barry if he’s told Iris…and of course he hasn’t yet. This hits all of Wally’s trust buttons. Daniel lied to him about being his dad, Barry hid his identity from Wally for a long time, Barry may have been able to guess that Daniel was likely dead before this long hunt, and Barry hasn’t trusted Iris with his identity as the Flash. All that piles up…and Wally runs off. Hopefully we will revisit this soon…but first we prepare for the upcoming Batman/Flash crossover as…

Eobard Thawne not only gets free…but he now remembers what happened to him at the end of Flashpoint! (Hint…Thomas Wayne kills him, remember?). Thawne is heading to Gotham now to do something that will hurt Bruce deeply…he wants to kill Damian!

SUMMARY: Okay, let’s leave off the epilogue, as it really has nothing to do with the rest of the story. It IS a good send-off for the crossover, and I am looking forward to it, but it is a tag line to the rest of the tale. The team up with Digger was actually a good one, and having Wally save the day with Digger’s favorite weapon was a neat twist. I’m torn by the rest of the story. On the one hand, Wally’s reaction makes perfect sense. Barry has been a jerk…not intentionally, but still a bit of a jerk for stringing Wally along this long about his identity. He trusts Wally to be Kid Flash, he trusts him enough to train him as his partner…but he doesn’t trust him enough to tell him who he is? Of course there would be repercussions to this, and we see it clearly played out here. On the other hand, Wally’s emotional response is a bit over the top, and going from huge hugs to running off because Barry hasn’t trusted Iris with his identity yet didn’t play well for me. How I may view this in the long run probably relies more on where we go from here than what we’ve seen in this one issue, so I’ll give it a bit of a pass until we see what happens next.

Joshua William continues his overall excellent run on the title, with artwork by Jesus Merino and Carmine Di Giandomenico (pencils), Andy Owens and Di Giandomenico (inks), and Chris Sotomayor (colors).  Overall I’ll give this one an 8/10 – but that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!

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2 thoughts on ““Sins of the Father Part Two” Review of THE FLASH #19

  1. golddragon71

    Not just in Flash but also in Superman books, memories are returning. Pre-Flashpoint and New52 Lois and Clarks are merged into single beings with memories of both timelines. This of course leads to (how will Diana (Wonder Woman) react when Clark reveals he remembers their relationship as well as the one he has with lois (and how will Lois feel about Diana knowing both relationships existed?)
    Also…In Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner has been in space since before Flashpoint. If Kyle were to return to Earth, would he remember classic Wally?!? (Why wouldn’t he? they’re both third generation heroes and is there a Connor Hawke out there waiting to be revealed?)

    Reply
  2. Lee H

    When Thawne said “I should teach his son a lesson” he was talking about Thomas and Bruce, not Bruce and Damian.

    Reply

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