Meena is alive…and that’s the good news. The bad news is that Meena now controls the Negative Speed Force…and that is just the start of the bad news! How did she survive? Why is she back? And, what is she planning next? We get some of the answers here, in the latest issue of THE FLASH! Want to know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
We start with how Meena suvived Godspeed’s attack. She was saved by the Black Hole, and that organization was all too happy to tell her that Barry “let her die”. She has agreed to work with them to learn how to control the Negative Speed Force itself, believing that Barry “only scratched the surface of what Thawne created.”
The battle begins, with young Wally coming to Barry’s aid. Neither he nor Barry can get the best of Meena, who gets away while Black Hole attacks the duo. Barry and Wally combine forces to win the immediate battle…but there is no sign of Meena.
Meena gets back to Black Hole to learn that the Negative Speed Force is tearing her apart, just as it was tearing Barry apart before. No matter, she wants to push forward…and then we meet the being behind Black Hole (we’ll see more of this character soon, I’m certain).
Barry and Wally return to Iris’ house, but Barry doesn’t go in. Iris is still dealing with a lot – not just her relationship with Barry but also dealing with her killing of Thawne. At least we are seeing Barry’s relationship with Wally beginning to heal.
Meanwhile, there is a murder at Iron Heights…and the victim may be…
…okay, not confirmed here but we have a pretty good idea who it may be…and I’m hoping that’s wrong.
SUMMARY: This issue flew by awfully fast (no pun intended). There were a lot of things that happened in a few pages, possibly packing in so much that there wasn’t time to fully develop each thread. As long as the victim at Iron Heights isn’t who I’m afraid it may be, that would be the one and only complaint about the issue. It was good to get a backstory for the returning Meena, and very good to see Barry working further to repair at least some relationships. That gives us a pretty good story from Joshua Williamson and Michael Moreci – not up to the best FLASH tales but still a solid effort. The art from Pop Mhan was excellent as was the color work from Ivan Plascencia. I’ll give this one a 7.5/10. That’s just my opinion – what do YOU think? Leave your comments below!
And I thought Godspeed was a pretty transparent ripoff of a Wally villain (Zolomon). This entire Black Hole plot is just Dead Heat 2.0. Right down to a mysterious dude who names himself after a deity from another country, recruiting the forlorn former love interest speedster of the Flash, and even making other speedsters by messing with the Speed Force.
I can’t believe Joshua Williamson, who we know has read Waid’s Wally run, is so blind as to think we wouldn’t recognize such a distinct lack of originality. He’s churning out the same story but without a dynamic cast (no Flash family) and without the writing chops to live up to Waid’s work.