Category The Flash

May 24 2012

The Flash 9

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 9, originally released May 23rd, 2012.

Drew: Since the reboot, The Flash (the title) has had an interesting relationship with its own history. In returning to Barry before any crises, before any sidekicks, heck, before any marriages, we get a sense that we know his future — even if it isn’t written in stone that this story will play out like the one we know. Writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have addressed this relationship to history in the very pages of the title in question, rediscovering, challenging, and subverting elements from Barry’s own past. This month, they address the notion of destiny quite directly, offering an ingenious solution that frees them up creatively, while still honoring the memories of long-time readers.

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Apr 26 2012

The Flash 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 8, originally released April 25th, 2012.

Check out Drew’s exclusive interview with Francis Manapul here!

Drew: Last month, Patrick voiced some concerns about objectively judging this title. Maybe we want to like it too much to say whether we actually do. After putting this issue down a little disappointed, but deciding that it was brilliant before starting this write-up, one could conclude I’ve already crossed the line of objectivity. However, I’d like to make the case for why this seemingly eventless and exposition-heavy issue actually carries the torch of thematic unity that has made this title so fantastic.

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Mar 29 2012

The Flash 7

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 7, originally released March 28th, 2012.

Drew: When we wrote about the Flash 6 last month, we couldn’t get over the thematic richness of that issue as it explored concepts of cause and effect through time and space. One of the reasons that issue is so satisfying is because it speaks to our own experience of events — we can arrange them chronologically, but they often have connections to distant moments in time. This is the Flash as the mortals around him (or, perhaps more importantly, comics fans) experience him; sometimes out-of-order chronologically, but never emotionally. With the Flash 7, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato set out to do something much more ambitious, as they put the burden of cause on our hero without any real understanding of the effect. Continue reading →

Feb 23 2012

The Flash 6

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 6, originally released February 22nd, 2012.

Drew: Barry Allen has a strange relationship with time. It’s the essence of his character; he moves (and thinks) fast enough for issues of cause and effect to not matter to him in the same way they do for us. The complexity of that relationship increases exponentially when time travel is added to the mix, breaking down the meaning of cause and effect altogether. Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have done a great job introducing these elements without giving Barry absolute control over time. The EMP blast from the previous few issues addresses these complications dramatically, but issue 6 is told in a non-linear fashion, allowing Manapul and Buccellato to address the issue of time travel thematically. I’m going to re-shuffle the story into chronological order for the sake of clarity (a la our Batwoman 6 write-up), but understand that the story is arranged in LOST-style flashbacks to reveal the causes of events after the effect has been established. Continue reading →

Jan 29 2012

The Flash 5

Originally Published January 27, 2012

DC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Drew’s blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of The Flash while Drew is hosting the discussion of Justice League.

Patrick: More than just about any other series we’re reading, I believe that The Flash is excited about being part of a “relaunch.”  Everything about the character seems so new and unexpected, which is remarkable considering versions of the Flash have been around since the Golden Age.  Barry can do some incredible stuff by tapping into the Speed Force, but he’s constantly learning the limits and consequences of using this amazing powers.  Both Iris and Patty are active players in Barry’s life, but neither has settled into the roll of “The Flash’s Girl.”  There are frequent teases of obscure villains (like The Folded Man, Girder and Tar Pit), terrifying assertions of old villains’ power (Captain Cold laid Iron Heights to waste), and still the most sinister moment belongs to the brand new villain invented for this run.  It’s like there are limitless possibilities in all directions when it comes to this run of The Flash. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

The Flash 1-4

Originally Published December 30, 2011

may nobody question our nerddom againDC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Patrick Ehlers and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Patrick’s Blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of The Flash, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Wonder Woman.

Drew:  Barry Allen is, in many ways, at the heart of the most convoluted parts of DC’s history. He played an integral role in Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC’s first universe-spanning event, sacrificing himself so he can stop the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter cannon from destroying Earth. This act apparently both turned him into the very lightning bolt that gave him his abilities as well as saving his spirit in the very speed force from which he draws his powers. As if this isn’t convoluted enough, Barry had spent much of the silver age chasing villains through time on a self-powered time-travel device called the “cosmic treadmill,” which meant there was the potential for his past self to show up in stories after his death. Being uninitiated in the Flash universe, that’s about as far as I can trace the history, but I know it goes on to include something called the god-bullet, as well as dealing with Superman-Prime before he PUNCHED REALITY. Needless to say, the Flash was very much in need of a reboot if there was ever going to be hope of gaining new fans. Continue reading →