About Heroes

The Flash: The Fastest man Alive #1 Review

Writer: Danny Bilson & Paul Demeo
Artist: Ken Lashley

Dan Didio said that the first Flash that you would see in the book would not necessarily be the “New Flash: Fastest man Alive,” which would make sense, being that that first Flash shown is Jay Garrick saying he’s the fastest man alive but then making mention of the fact that he is slowed down a bit since he can’t tap into the speed force. This right away sounds confusing because much of this issue is a head-scratcher. However, before I get into the things that flaw the overall flow of the book I should mention that this is one of the few OYL books that does not leave me wondering what happened n the 52 week gap. Sure there might have been some things going on that might help explain some stuff but you get the overall picture.

(If you don’t want a single thing from this issue spoiled than don’t read this review, however I will try to leave most of the spoilers out, one shining reason for that is because I can’t entirely be certain who the new Flash is).

So Jay has been doing the lightning thing solo since IC and it seems to be working well enough. I like his flashbacks and the color scheme of the narration captions is always helpful with multi-narrator story lines, even if by default they are harder to grasp. It slowly starts to get weirder as the book goes on though. We switch gears tremendously over to Bart Allen and his current living situation OYL and we get his flashbacks, which I guess includes a bizarre flashback/futureback thing (whatever), that seems to be the most unnecessary two pages in this book, but oh well.

Aside from the book being a little hard to follow, I like where it is going and I like the page layouts. I don’t care for the artwork that much, the shadow work is awful, and I think that is what hurt the pencils so much, its alright if you like plain old average realism lacking heavily in the “unique quality” department, but like I said I like the layouts and the colors are really nice. The ending almost looked like a different artist, which leads me to the spoilers.

Spoiler Alert- On the fourth to the last page of the book it looks like Bart’s friend Griffen is being burned alive by lasers and hot liquid, I don’t really know what tapping into the dormant/dead speed force would accomplish but that’s what Bart does, and this makes him the new Flash, I guess (which I might add I called on the Podcast). I like the idea of him taking up the new Flash (come on, who really thought it would be poor old Jay, who I love, but come on), I wish it had been executed differently but this is good enough. He says at the end that he doesn’t want to use the speed force; he seems to have some problems from Wally’s apparent death. Then at the back in the solicitation it says the new Flash has a decision to make, and there is Jay in the background and I guess on the other side is Griffen Bart’s friend. - End Spoiler

I think Kid Flash fans will really like this book. I like the fact that mentally Bart is having problems adjusting to growing up so fast. I think Griffen is a twat but a must-have buddy. I hope Jay sticks around in this book because a mentor is something Bart could really use, but will probably turn away from in the end. The most import thing to note I think is the difference that DC is taking from the Wally West Flash to the Bart Allen Flash. You might think at first that a kid becoming the real Flash would be even more of the things that people love about Wally but Bart seems to be in a depressed, and lost state, and it doesn’t seem that becoming the Flash will really solve any of those problems but really make them much worse. I like that in some of my heroes for its complexity but I don’t know how hardcore Flash fans will feel about it. I’m going to go ahead and give this book a C+ because I liked it almost enough to give it a B- but the drawbacks were too obvious to over look.

Knightwingbk was badass enough to throw in his own review of the book, and since we at About Heroes are open to all opinions here you go:

Well, well, well, who is the new Flash? Who the fuck knows by this issue! It focuses on Bart for most of the issue, but he doesn't do anything Flash-like till the very end. We have a series of Flashbacks, (get it?), that talk about the previous flashes, and they are talking to Bart, although Wally is missing. The story is really disjointed, the flashbacks are not all at once, they are spread through the issue, and it really breaks up the story. The first four pages of the book seem unnecessary, since we aren't told what is going on, or who the bomber is. After that Jay Garrick scene, he's thrown away until 3 panels at the very end of the book. I liked seeing Bart being normal and working at age 20, since that’s close to my age, I related to that, but his roommate’s an ass, and the S.T.A.R. Labs story is intriguing, but it is nowhere near as good or hooking as Wonder Woman #1 was, hopefully it will pick up next issue. There is a cool scene at the end, Bart and his buddy are caught in an explosion, with some chemicals, Bart somehow taps into the Speed Force, bringing on some lightning, kind of that old recurring Flash origin happens in this issue. Oh yeah, the only Flash costume we see is Jay Garrick, so nothing what we want yet.

I like the artist, Ken Lashley, but the four inkers on the book really ruin him. The first four pages, with the inks, the colors, and the rain effects make Lashley's art look muddled. After the first four pages, the art takes a turn for the better, as its clear and crisp, but you can still tell when the inkers change. I'm looking forward to the next issue, because of Lashley's art; check out 52 #7 for more of his great artwork. Overall, this issue is a C-. It’s not a necessary pick-up, but its not going to be worth anything for its fantastic story in 50 yrs because of the lack of a fantastic story. Just like Ion #1, the story hasn't started by the end of the first issue.