Welcome back and Happy New Year! It has been unseasonably warm where I live…but not so in Central City. Captain King Cold has made this city into his own icy kingdom. Snart knows the world is doomed, but he wants the satisfaction of ruling his city as the world ends. In doing so, Cold has alienated himself from the rest of the Rogues, who are now actually helping our speedsters. Big battles are ahead…Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Glider, Heat Wave and Weather Wizard are doing their best to help Flash, Kid Flash, and the Flash of China regain control of the Speed Force. It’s only partially working – not enough to remove those inhibitor collars yet for Wally and Avery. As for Barry?
Barry is working things out with the help of Lisa Snart. He seems oblivious to some obvious flirting on Lisa’s part, and that may come back to haunt him some day soon. Still, she is helping him regain control by not trying to control things. When Barry stopped analyzing the Speed Force and just…ran…things were getting significantly better. In this way, Barry may finally be learning what the original Wally had said about running. Still, we have to stop the training for now, because…
Mirror Master’s hideout has been located. If they can convince him to hand over that last piece of mirror, they may yet be able to save Len from himself and turn this around. Sounds like a good plan, at least at first. But, Mirror Master has his own plan.
Our Speedster/Rogues team-up was expected, and Mirror Master quickly gets the upper hand. He pushes them through his mirror dimension and into the clutches of Len Snart himself!
Lisa tries to reason with Len, but all he can think about is 1) being betrayed by his sister and his friends, and 2) not wanting to be seen as a loser. In a fit of anger, Len freezes everyone except himself and Barry. All of them, speedster and Rogue alike, are encased in ice! It’s then that Len reveals to Barry that “you’re not the only one who’s super-charged!” This super-powered version of Cold begins his battle with the Flash – and that’s where we leave things for this issue.
NOTES:
- I know that Barry is a bit of a nerd at times (it’s one of the things that I really love about Barry). But, his sometime social awkwardness may cost him here. He really did not pick up on Lisa’s signals. His line, “too bad when this is all over, I’m still going to have to arrest all of you” really hit Lisa hard. He was trying to joke…but that one fell very flat, and it may come back to haunt him later.
- This is the best treatment for Lisa Snart since FLASHPOINT. She isn’t just a prop, she isn’t the girl in a coma. Lisa has agency. She is a fully actualized character in this arc, and it’s great to see this happen.
- BTW – “Would you look at that…a Rogue taught the Flash a FLASH FACT” may be the best line of this issue.
- My favorite panel of this issue is when Flash (with Glider’s guidance) is running without exploding. It’s where he realizes that he just needs to “let go”. It’s the kind of panel that should be made into a poster for Flash fans (if DC is listening).
SUMMARY:
- This was a solid issue of THE FLASH. A good build-up to a huge battle with Cold, some additional character development for Glider, add in a couple of well-thought-out twists, and this is at least an 8/10 for me. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!