The Flash #11 – Review

By: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato (story), Marcus To (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Ian Herring (colors)

The Story: Barry’s leaving behind the girl he loves and making a new life—country song, if I ever heard one.

The Review: I find it pretty amazing how much stuff can happen and how little actually changes.  I mean this in any given context, but most especially with fiction.  Probably the clearest mark of a weak story is one where all sorts of events and twists take place, and yet the character has barely moved one step forward from where he started.  Quite frankly, that is the situation where the Flash finds himself now.

For all of Barry’s time-traveling escapades, run-ins with emboldened rogues, and city crises, he doesn’t seem all that affected, either within or without.  Think about it.  Has he really shifted in any of his values?  Has he become any more or less confident?  Is he any closer to a true relationship with either Patty or Iris?  Has he developed any personal relationship with any other character?  Have either of the Gem Cities changed permanently from the unfortunate blackout?

The Flash #11 – Review

By: Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins (storytellers), Michael Atiyeh (colorist)

The Story: Barry, can’t you see we’re trying to stop you because you can’t stop yourself?!

The Review: Juggling two A-stories in a comic can be tricky, especially when one is the ongoing tale and the other is an invasive crossover plot.  But really, Johns should actually have an easier time of it, considering he’s the mastermind of the crossover in question.  And indeed, Flashpoint seems to be integrating pretty well into Barry’s investigation of an age-changing murderer, what with all the time-space wonkiness going on in both stories.

In contrast to Action Comics #900, where Reign of Doomsday clearly distracts from the main events of that title, it’s clear Johns is turning this series into a vehicle for introducing Flashpoint.  This has the strange effect of making the non-crossover related material out of place in its own title, although the still fairly recent drop in page count affected the long-term execution of plotlines that probably would’ve had more opportunity to float with some extra space.

The Flash’s “intervention” definitely feels like it needed more time to build itself to this drastic scene, because it comes across incredibly staged—and futile, since none of Barry’s loved ones make it clear exactly what the problem is.  Jay Garrick and Wally West spend the majority of the time waxing poetic on how much Barry means to them—more of an exercise in nostalgia than doing anything useful to address whatever Barry’s issues are.

The whole thing looks like it gets set up just because “Bart said you didn’t come to the picnic because of him.”  Besides being an utterly laughable overreaction to what should be normal for Barry, given his history of flakiness, it also makes Bart seem angsty, temperamental and high-strung.  This would work if Johns was writing just another fictional teenager, but none of those qualities fit in Bart’s current personality—which Johns kind of established.

So maybe it’s a good thing Bart’s getting the timeout from Barry’s life for a while, although it happens in an underwhelming way.  Hot Pursuit doesn’t exactly do himself a lot of credit by glomming onto Kid Flash as the crux of the timeline problem, without even considering other possible suspects.  As a cop with access to information across parallel universes, you’d think he’d be more thorough in his investigation.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Thunderbolts #156 – This is such a fun and awesome series right now.  There is always something neat going on as Jeff Parker keeps the action hopping from one plot-point to the next and never get’s bogged down in boring stuff.  The main attraction this issue is the Thunderbolts first mission out with a new member (Satana) who makes all the other team members nervous (including groping Moonstone).  As if that isn’t enough, we also get the selection of a new B-team, the “Underbolts”.  Fun, fun, fun….  Runner-up: Wolverine #8

Most Anticipated: The Walking Dead #84 – Goodness is this a STACKED week of new releases, but I know that TWD is the comic that I’ll be reading in parking lot outside the comic shop on Wednesday around lunchtime.  Last issue showed us some pretty bloody action and I must know who lives and who dies!

Other Picks: American Vampire #14, Detective Comics #876, Scalped #48, Haunt #15, Velocity #4, Amazing Spider-Man #659, FF#2, Uncanny X-Men #536

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Uncanny X-Force #8 – An easy pick for me.  Rick Remender continues to put together possibly the finest team book on the stands.  Great character work, great action, and everything you could as for a comic in a done-in-one package that does more than enough to earn your money.  Great stuff that even the most X-tired comic reader should give a shot.

Most Anticipated: Action Comics #900 – Ouch.  This week hurts, as seems to be the case with nearly every final Wednesday of the month.  The sheer number of quality comics coming out this week is mind-boggling and I was tempted just to say “I don’t know” when it comes to picking a most anticipated.

In the end, I’ll go with Action Comics #900.  Not only is it a super-sized anniversary issue, it’s also the grand finale of Paul Cornell’s Lex Luthor book, which has been among the finest superhero comics month in and month out.  It also features the return of Superman to Action, and with Superman still wandering around in Grounded in his own book, it also means that Action will be the first book to go back to giving us real Superman adventures.  I’m super interested to see how Cornell, one of my favourite writers, takes on the man of the steel.

Other Picks: American Vampire #14, Avengers #12.1, Secret Avengers #12, Detective Comics #876, Brightest Day #24, Captain America #617, FF #2, The Flash #11, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9, Morning Glories #9, Scalped #48, Amazing Spider-Man #659, Mighty Thor #1, Venom #2, The Walking Dead #84, Uncanny X-Men #536