Comic Book Review: Flash #1

I’ll be honest; I have some serious reservations about Flash #1. First, I’m not too sure about this writing team of DeMeo and Bilsen. I remember the Flash TV show from 1990 and thought it was pretty cheesy. However, sometimes comics do not translate well to TV and back then that was definitely the case. Maybe this writing team will surprise me with their ability. I’m skeptical, but will remain open minded.

Second, I usually give new titles 6 issues to hook me before it will either get the axe or earn a spot on the Revolution’s permanent pull list. However, I will say up front that if the Flash turns out to be Bart then I’m dropping the title immediately. I want the Flash to be either Barry Allen or Wally West. I have no interest in Bart and there are too many other comics out there competing for the Revolution’s limited comic book fund.

Having said all of that, the preview art by Ken Lashley looks fantastic! If anything, this should be a great comic book to look at. With all that out of the way, let’s head on to this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Paul DeMeo & Danny Bilsen
Penciler: Ken Lashley
Inkers: KWL Studio, Norm Rapmund, Marlo Alquiza & Jay Leisten

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10.
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10.

Synopsis: The issue starts with a masked man in a truck smashing into two Army trucks carrying explosives. We then see Jay Garrick who is still fast even though the Speed Force is gone since Jay is a metahuman. (Go, Jay!) Jay chases down the runaway truck from the explosion and stops it. Inside the truck, is a metal brace to keep the accelerator pedal to the floor. We then see a masked person that was in the truck that hit the Army vehicles, driving away one of the Army vehicles full of explosives. The masked man says it is time to build a bomb.

We then get a refresher on Jay Garrick’s history and then a quick recap of what happened with the Jay, Wally and Bart during Infinite Crisis.

We then cut to Bart being woken up by his roommate, Griffin. The two go to their job at Keystone Motors. They must cross a picket line where the auto assemblers are on strike since the new robotic assemblers went online and cost them their jobs. Griffin razzes Thatcher who is one of the Union’s ringleaders. Griffin thinks that the old union auto assemblers are dinosaurs and deserve what they got. That they were old and needed to be replaced. Bart, of course, is sympathetic to the Union men that lost their jobs.

We then cut to S.T.A.R. Labs where the chief scientist tells a new assistant scientist, Ms. Perez, to leave Bart Allen alone and simply investigate the disappearance of the Speed Force. That they should just focus on trying to revive the Speed Force. We also learn that Bart was aged from 16 to 20.

We then cut to Griffin and Bart at a nightclub. Griffin tells Bart to drink up, hit on some chicks and try to get laid. Bart thinks how even though he has the entire contents of the San Francisco library in his head, he needs someone like Griffin to show him how to meet girls. Bart decides to leave the nightclub and go see a movie.

We then cut to the Union picket line where Thatcher is informed that management wants to talk. Thatcher leaves the scene saying talk is cheap. Thatcher goes to his car and opens the trunk revealing the stolen explosives.

We then get a little history of Barry Allen narrated by Barry himself. (I guess this is as close as we will ever get to having Barry back in this comic.) Barry is talking to Bart during the flashback of Barry’s past. We see how Barry traveled to the future and had children and then got his grandson, Bart. Barry then wonders if Bart will ever be able to outrun Barry’s shadow.

We then cut to Ms. Perez, from S.T.A.R. labs on her cell phone telling the caller to never call her again and that she doesn’t care who they are. Perez hangs up the phone and knocks on the door to Bart’s apartment. Griffin takes Perez to Bart’s room and mistakenly thinks that Bart hooked up with Perez last night. The scientist introduces herself as Valerie Perez and tells Bart that she is from S.T.A.R. labs. Valerie asks why Bart has been avoiding them. Bart says that he has never seen her before. That Wally is gone and the Speed Force is gone. That Jay is now the Flash and that Bart just wants to get on with his life.

We then shift to Bart and Griffin at work. We see Thatcher planting the explosives in the facility. The explosives go off and there is a massive explosion. Griffin gets pinned under some rubble. Bart then says he has to risk it. That either he owns the Speed Force or it owns him. Bart is consumed in lightning. Bart then rockets past Griffin and smashes through the wall of the plant. Jay Garrick then appears to free Griffin from the rubble. Bart walks back in and still has lightning crackling all around him. Bart tells Jay to get Griffin to the Hospital. Jay races off with Griffin. We then see Bart standing in the rubble with lightening still crackling around him. Bart says that the Speed Force must never again be tapped. That he is not going to let it kill him. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: This was a pretty good issue. The opening scene with Jay racing to the rescue was cool. I love Jay Garrick and always like it when he gets a chance to shine.

The quick re-cap of Jay Garrick’s history was nice for a new reader. As was the quick recap of the events of Infinite Crisis and what happened to Jay, Wally and Bart.

The scene with Griffin and Bart crossing the picket line to go to work at Keystone Motors was all right. Nothing great. It did established that Bart is like Wally in that he is a blue collar minded individual who sympathizes with the pitfalls of the working man.

The scene at S.T.A.R. labs was just a tool to introduce nosy new scientist Valerie Perez who simply won’t take no for an answer. Obviously, Ms. Perez is going to be a love interest for Bart.

The scene with Bart and Griffin at the nightclub was effective in illustrating that even though Bart is now 20, he still has the mentality of a 16 year old. That he simply isn’t ready for the life of getting drunk and banging women. Too bad for Bart.

We then get a nice re-cap of Barry Allen’s history narrated by the man himself. This was well done and did its job of informing the new reader of Barry Allen and his role as the Flash as well as his connection with Bart.

The final scene was very well done and ends with a huge hook: the Speed Force is still inside Bart. That is an excellent job of getting the reader to want to purchase Flash #2. It definitely did that to me.

I think that Bilson and DeMeo wrote a nice solid issue. They did everything that you should do in the first issue of a new series. Establish all of the players. Then give enough history on all the characters to bring new readers up to speed. Then end the issue with a big hook to get the readers to purchase the second issue. Bilson and DeMeo achieved success in all of these areas. That is simply a winning formula to a first issue of a new series.

Ken Lashley’s artwork absolutely kicked ass! His splash shot of Jay Garrick racing after the truck was awesome! Lashley is the perfect artist for the Flash. Lashley’s style is very dynamic and has plenty of kinetic energy. Jay Garrick and Bart, at the end of the issue, practically jump off the page at the reader. Lashley’s art really compliments the solid writing in this issue and makes Flash #1 a fun book to read.

The Bad: My only complaint would be that it is pretty obvious that Bart is going to be the new Flash. That is too bad. I really have no interest in Bart as the Flash. For me, it really has to be either Jay, Barry or Wally. Plus, doesn’t the Flash have to have a first name that ends in a “y?” Seriously, I don’t get why DC would replace Wally with a character that is practically the same thing. Bart is a blue collar worker just like Wally. He has a blue collar mentality just like Wally. Bart is 20 years old, so he isn’t all that much younger than Wally. I’m just not sure why DC felt the need to get rid of Wally and push Bart into the role of the Flash.

Overall: Flash #1 was a good issue. The writing and artwork were both well done. Having said that, I probably will not place this title on my permanent pull list. I think that this version of the Flash will appeal to Bart fans, fans that follow the name “Flash” and the costume regardless of who ears it and brand new fans who have no connection to Barry or Wally. Unfortunately, I don’t fit into any of those three categories. I’ll probably stick with the title long enough to find out what happened during Infinite Crisis and then I’ll drop the title. But, Flash #1 is still a nicely done issue and I would encourage anyone to give it a try.