A Very Cold Day, Indeed – Review of THE FLASH #37

Now we know who is really in charge of the underworld in Central City…and where they are hiding out. More than that, there is someone who knows all of Barry’s secrets and is willing to sell him out. What we don’t know is how…and what else may be hiding within the walls of the supposedly impenetrable walls of Iron Heights. This issue we start to see all of the plans coming together, and it is really bad news for the Scarlet Speedster. Want to know more? Follow us after the break!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Rogues have it all right now. From within the very walls of Iron Heights, they have regrouped and spread their influence throughout Central City. They now have only one rival left to vanquish in order to complete their grip on the city.  It’s amazing what the Rogues can do when they aren’t focused on the Flash, or at least that’s how Glider puts it. And, that’s true for most of the Rogues…except one. Captain Cold still has the desire to one-up the Flash, and he’s about to get a big boost from none other than Godspeed himself!

Yep, August is willing to deliver the Flash in exchange for losing that speed-damping collar he presently wears while imprisoned.  Without giving Barry’s identity away, he sets his plan into motion…

…and it works.  He purposely leaves a clumsy set of clues – that lead Barry straight into the underbelly of Iron Heights and into a trap. We leave the issue with Cold getting ready to give Barry the beat down of his life! But, before we get to that last page…

…we find that there are a lot more secrets in Iron Heights. We don’t get the resolution on those, not yet, but Trickster is paying a higher price than mere solitary confinement for his fake confession to the killing of Turbine. He’s alive…but not doing so great right now. That doesn’t mean he’ll tell everything, but Barry and Kristen are booted out of the area by a now-obviously corrupt warden. We’ll see more of that soon…assuming Flash gets away from that nasty beat down we see on the way at the end of the issue.

NOTES:

  • This is one of those issues that flies by quickly…no pun intended.  There are some hints at additional threads, but the plot is fairly straightforward. Lure Barry in, trap Barry, set him up for real trouble.  It’s partly the page limit in the REBIRTH era – sometimes it works, and sometimes it’s too limiting for what the creative team may want to do.  Still, it’s a great setup by Josh Williamson for what should be a great next issue.
  • This could be a “wow Barry is gullible” plot line…although it is also a “Barry’s got a big heart and can be too trusting in the better nature of human beings” plot line. There is a very (make that VERY) fine line between those two descriptions, and it almost falls into the former instead of the latter.  Still, I will take a more hopeful Barry every time.
  • The artwork was good, though not highly detailed on many pages.  It seemed more to be an artistic style choice by Scott McDaniel (pencils, along with Mick Gray on inks and Hi-Fi on colors) rather than simply going too fast (again, no pun intended). There were some pages where this approach worked better than others, though.

SUMMARY:

I’ll give this one a 7.5 out of 10 – not a bad issue at all, but it seems more a set-up to what should be a fantastic next issue of THE FLASH. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!

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