Sorry this review is so late. Things just kept coming up, and I pushed it further and further back. Then my local comic store didn’t receive their order of The Flash #3 on time (Diamond sent them extra copies of Deadpool Team-Up instead), so I haven’t had a chance to read the new issue…and it occurs to me that this is my last chance to review The Flash #2 before reading issue #3!
So, on to the review!
I’m still enjoying this series a lot more than I did Flash: Rebirth. Francis Manapul’s artwork has a lot to do with that, but also the fact that they’re just telling stories about a guy with super-speed instead of trying so hard to justify why they’re telling stories about this guy with super-speed.
Admittedly not a whole lot happens in this issue, but it continues to move as quickly as the previous chapter did. I expect that when “The Dastardly Death of the Rogues” is finished, pairing it with a collection of Silver-Age stories like Flash vs. The Rogues will provide a great example of the change in comic-book storytelling styles from 1960 to 2010.
The expected confrontation with the Renegades is cut short, leaving the rest of the issue divided between the mystery aspects (presented through Barry Allen’s civilian life) and a visit with Captain Boomerang, providing the Brightest Day connection advertised on the cover. Also: the Flash evacuates, then rebuilds an apartment building at super-speed. Once again, the issue ends on a cliffhanger, only this time it has to do with Barry Allen, rather than the Flash.
Francis Manapul’s artwork continues to stand out, especially in sequences like the apartment evacuation, though there are some places where it seems a bit more static than last issue. Last issue I thought his faces seemed a bit off, but this time I started noticing the way he handles expressions. There are a couple of sequences where he really makes use of changing expressions with similar panel layouts. The last two pages stand out, as does a sequence earlier in which a girl complains that she lost her doll in the building collapse. (His attention to detail holds as well. If you flip back a few pages, there she is…and there’s her doll.)
Okay, spoiler time!
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