The Revolution has never been confused with being a Bart Allen fan. I loved Barry Allen. I also really like Wally West. Bart? Nah. Nothing about him has ever interested me. Until Geoff Johns got a hold of him over in the Teen Titans. Johns actually got me to start liking Kid Flash. Johns did a nice job with the character. Then Infinite Crisis came and Dan “death count” Didio with a real stroke of creativity decides that DC needs a new Flash. Why? Because that is what happened in the first Crisis….um ok. Wow. That is really creative and excellent logic. Who can argue with thinking like that?
Anyway, I finally start enjoying Bart as Kid Flash and DC goes and ages him to a 20 year old and decides to make him the Flash. Personally, I wanted the Flash to be either Barry or Wally. I will freely admit that right up front. However, I have decided to give this new Flash an honest try and read it with an open mind. Maybe Bilson and Demeo can get me to change my mind about Bart as the Flash. I thought Flash #1 was solid. Nothing great, but not bad. Will Flash #2 build on that or will it take a step back? Let’s find out.
Creative Team
Writer: Danny Bilson & Paul Demeo
Penciler: Ken Lashley
Inker: Walden Wong & Jay Leisten
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: This issue starts with a brief history of Bart from his birth, his stint as Impulse, then his graduation to Kid Flash and up to the present. We then cut to Griffin waking up in a hospital room heavily bandaged. He starts to crackle with strange lightning all around his body.
We shift to the next morning where Jay and Joan Garrett are angry with Bart for not telling them that the Speed Force is still inside of him. Bart mentions how the Speed Force is different than before. That it feels like it’ll blow him apart if he moves to fast. Bart wants to contact S.T.A.R. Labs to see if they can remove the Speed Force from him. That Bart doesn’t want to be the Flash. He just wants a normal life. (Good. Then bring back Wally. Or Barry. Your choice.)
We then cut to S.T.A.R. Labs where Valerie Perez angrily tells her father to stop calling her and that she never wants to speak to him.
We then shift to Bart visiting Griffin in the hospital. Griffin has miraculously healed over night. All of his fractures have disappeared. Griffin then checks out of the hospital and he and Bart head over to Keystone Motors with the police to investigate the crime scene. At the scene, Griffin’s strange lightning powers manifest again. Griffin uses his powers to move at super speed to save a camera man who was trapped up in the rafters of the warehouse. Griffin says that he has been blessed with some new skills.
We then cut to Bart at S.T.A.R. Labs. Valerie shows Bart a clone of Barry’s Flash suit that they managed to re-create. She offers to help Bart harness the Speed Force and be the new Flash. That it is a part of his legacy. Bart puts on Barry’s ring and sucks the Flash suit up into the ring.
We then get a flashback narrated by Wally about how he became Kid Flash and then assumed the mantle of the Flash. Wally then tells Bart that he is a lightning rod and that the Speed Force wants to reclaim him.
This turns out to be a dream and Bart wakes up and calls Valerie at S.T.A.R. Labs and tells her that he wants the Speed Force gone immediately. We then see a shadowy figure leaving a car loaded with explosives right in front of the S.T.A.R. Labs building. There is a huge explosion that takes out S.T.A.R. Labs. Bart hears it over the phone and immediately puts on the Flash outfit and we see him streaking toward S.T.A.R. Labs. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: The Revolution has a long standing rule to always say at least one positive thing about any and every comic. Let’s see. What did I like about this story? Well, it was cool to see Wally in the dream scene. I like Jay Garrick. Ok, that’s it.
I did like the art. Ken Lashley is a great artist. I wish that another inker was on this title. I’m not really a big fan of the inking job and I think it doesn’t do justice on Lashley’s great pencils. Ken draws a fantastic Flash. The two page splash shot at the end of the issue looked awesome! Right now, the art is the only thing that I’m finding enjoyable with this title.
The Bad: I’m not going to rip this comic. I’m sure that the Bilson and Demeo worked very hard on this comic. I think it is more of a case that this new Flash simply isn’t for me. I am not one of the intended targets that DC is trying to get to purchase this comic book. DC is more interested in getting new readers and younger readers to start reading the Flash. I don’t think they are particularly concerned with getting Barry or Wally fans to read this comic. DC probably figures that Barry and Wally fans have been reading the Flash for so long that they will collect any title that has the words “Flash” on the cover and has a character that wears the trademark Flash costume no matter who that character is.
Not me. I was a big fan of Barry and Wally. I have never liked Bart. I’m simply not interested in Bart at all. However, I’m willing to judge the story based on how well it is written and not if I like the main character or not. I was fully prepared to collect this title even if Bart was the Flash if the story blew me away. Well, the story definitely has not blown me away.
I found this issue to slow and boring. Flash #2 simply re-hashes everything from the first issue. Bart wants to be normal. Bart wants the Speed Force gone. Wah wah wah. The scene with Bart, Jay and Joan was just more re-hash of Bart whining that he just wants to be normal. The scene with Valerie and Bart was just more re-hashing of Bart whining that he doesn’t want to be the Flash. The scene at the end where Bart calls up Valerie was more re-hashing of him wanting to be rid of the Speed Force.
Plus, we get even more uninteresting flashbacks of Bart’s past and Wally’s past. The pacing is very sloooooow. I mean incredibly slow. And it also seems to have absolutely no direction or purpose. I’m not too sure where this title is headed. There are no real plotlines that jump out at the reader and demand your attention. I mean we know that the Speed Force is trying to take over Bart. That Griffin will probably become a super power villain. There is a mad bomber on the loose. And Valerie doesn’t like her daddy. Yeah, that simply doesn’t do it for me.
And what is also a sign that this comic simply isn’t for me is that I could care less about what happens to most of these characters. Aside from Jay Garrick, who is a total stud, I don’t like and have no attachment or interest in Bart, Griffin or Valerie. That is not a good sign. That usually means that the writer has failed to develop the characters properly. Or I’m simply not the target audience for this comic book.
Overall: I have no real desire to read about Bart being the Flash. However, I decided to read the Flash with an open mind and thought that maybe Bilson and Demeo could write a story that would get me interested in Bart. Well, that definitely has not happened. Bilson and Demeo have done nothing with Bart’s character that I find compelling or worth reading. It just does nothing for me.
Now, if you are a Bart fan then you will love this title. If you are a Flash fan no matter who wears the costume then you will also love this title. I’m not too sure that anyone else will really get into this comic book. I found Flash #2 to be rather boring. The story is slow and uninspiring. I’ll give Flash a couple of more issues, but I don’t think it is going to earn a spot on the Revolution’s permanent pull list.