Has there been any discussion of the new Flash #1 yet? I was pretty underwhelmed but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for a couple of issues. (#2 is on today's shipping list.)
I found the first issue to be a pretty weak reintroduction of the character. Bart just seems incredibly bland now that he's "all grown up". Part of what made Impulse fun was the hyperactivity and lack of attention span. Even as Kid Flash he was a lot more interresting (lots of knowledge, not a lot of wisdom). His "ladies man" roommate is so cliched too... :roll:
Bart actually seems like he'd be a good bet to follow in Barry's footsteps as a police scientist. It's a much more interresting setting for the character than an automotive factory.
He just doesn't seem like he's going to be much fun as a character. It'd be cool to see a little more of the animated Wally's personality in Bart, actually enjoying his powers. At this point it's not even clear what's going on with his speed, but all he did in the first issue was mope and complain.
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I'm holding out some hope though. Flash is one of the few DC heros that I actually care about.
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Issue #2 is a bit better.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Why stop there? I think he should draw the whole damn Justice Society, past and present. That should teach him.
I prefer Sandman to be in his original costume, not the yellow and purple one.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Let's get one thing straight: I am in no way, shape or form, a comic book guy. The closest I come are Webcomics and PvP Trade Paperbacks. To me Civil War was when the Union fought the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865, and Identity Crisis was when...um... someone wanted to change costumes. And Perez is a guy named after the place in City Of Heroes.
With this experience, I came out above even. All I knew about the Flash was that he ran really fast, and was a cocky sonofabitch on the cartoon (the new one). However, all this crap about the Speed Force and, like, three different Flashes went a bit over my head. So, I went on Wikipedia, and I think I can give a brief summary:
OK, so it starts with these Government guys driving some explosives, but then another guy crashes into him. At first read, I could tell he was bad, because he wore a ski mask. Now, the guys driving the car are in danger, but the Flash, in a viking-esque costume, saves the day and mentions something about the speed force. Then it cus to this guy named Bart Allen, who lives with this really horny guy and works with him at Keystone Motors, which recently fucked over a lot of people in the layoffs. And this lady is looking for Bart inquiring about the Speed Force. I have no idea what I just typed...until now...
Wha? There were no vikings in the Justice Society.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Apparently Hermes was a viking.
OK, now for the SPOILERS and explaining what the hell this all means:
A. Speed Force: This is like the Star Wars Force, which gives people like the Flash powers like stealing Kinetic motion of objects to make them run faster, and so on.
B. Bart Allen: For some reason, he has the enitre San Francisco Library memorized, and aged 4 years. This is probably because he's a super-speeder superhero. He was also called "Kid Flash", and was with the Teen Titans. I didn't see THAT on the show.
C. Other Flashes: Jay Garrick is the Flash now (apparently) and Wally West died. Sucks to be them. Bart's dad was the Flash too...
Now that everyone is up to speed (no pun intended), I can start the review proper:
Needless to say, I didn't like the story, because I had NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT WAS GOING ON. Like I said, all that stuff I looked up on Wikipedia. The author should have done a bit of catchup work to reintroduce the hero again. Hell, Manga does it, and costs almost 3 times as much as comics. Even PvP is the equivalent of Homestar Runner. Pick any random issue, and you can pretty much get a feel for all the characters. They stick with you, and you'll keep reading. There aren't any 5th Narutos or 3rd Skulls, they stay the same, and evolve as characters, not change when they get boring.
Despite my lack of knowledge of how the comics biz works (serously, I think Annarchy should be the next Gabe, and Post-Crisis Tycho should have 3 arms), the actual dialouge was decent. Griffin pissed me off, and there was part:
Bart Allen: "Are they gay?"
Griffin: "Were you born yesterday? They're trying to turn us on!"
Which was funny, but they didn't show the girls kissing. Ah well,
FREE LINK! (NSFW)
Moving right along, every other word seemed to be emphasized:
"The new HARDWARE went online and a lotta guys lost their PENSIONS"
See how dumb that sounds? It's like he's making a pun, but it's not a good one, like in James BOnd movies or Shakespeare, more like the kind you find in Kid's magazines. But the motives do make sense. A busted employee blows up the place, and in this moment the Flash comes along and Bart might be the new Flash.
As for the art, it's either very good (especially the cover) or OMGSPLOZUN!!one1thefirstdigit. Usually it falls into the very good. But the cover OH MY GOD is it cool!
So, using my ratings system (Green- OMG GET NOW!, Blue- Not reccomend for haters, Yellow- Fans only, Red- Sucks), the
Final Verdict: Code BLUE. If you want to look up all the stuff on Wikipedia or see my summarization, get it if only to see where it goes from here. I hope they continue it, so my #1 will be worth more, and just to see the Scarlet (?) Speedster make a come back.
Save yourself the read. Flash #1 sucked. Period. Read it in the comic book store, but only buy it if you are a completist or have a 1st issue fetish..
Issue #2, getting better.
PSN: OrneryRooster
I was incredibly tempted to give it a YELLOW (2/4), but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
I dunno, I think with the first issue of a series there's at least some expectation of it being decipherable to new readers.
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Yeah, and plus, it's a #1. So naturally, I went "ka-ching"
First: Thank GOD for Wikipedia. How many articles did I have to read?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Allen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_%28comics%29
Second: I saw #1 of Invincible, and all I have to say is WHY WASN'T I INFORMED OF THIS EARLIER?!?!?!? It's so good! I'm defintely picking it next time I go.
Just read this instead. It's got plenty of pictures, too.[/url]
I hope you don't plan on making money off of comics.
PSN: OrneryRooster
The reason why first issues were worth money is because they didn't print that many. Now, they print very, very many issues, so it's pretty much worth less than the price you paid for it. Forever.
I can envision many a Flash or Impulse fanboy destroying their copy in disgust.
that cavalieri arc? fuck-all terrible. fuck. all. terrible. the only good scene in the entire thing was the bit with Wally and Dick. The book should have fucking ended with Johns' last issue, great as it was.
Of course, Johns goes on to give Wally short shrift in IC, and a confusing shrift at that. I still don't know what the fuck happened to Wally, and why Bart was with him one minute, and then with the other Flashes the next when they were supposedly not all in the same place.
That doesn't even mention Bart. As someone who's always loved Bart, even in Teen Titans, wow, has he been messed up. I mean, I get why he's acting the way he is, but wasn't there some other fucking option? maybe one that was a bit more resonant, and not so goddamn dumb and completely and diametrically opposed to everything that I expect when I open a Flash comic?
Is he crawling in his...speed force costume?
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They did a good job with him otherwise I think. He looks a little younger than Wally which is good and the speed effects are cool.
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Great Frying pan of Tameran!
Yeah, he's only filling in on issue number 3 then it's back to Ken Lashley.
Well, he is from the future.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Yeah, I know. But "civilians" don't know that.
I mean, in the beginning of the Impulse series, everyone questioned his hair, but not his yellow eyes.
Scut Farkus had yellow eyes.
He had yellow eyes!
Reference = 3 bazillion points.
PSN: OrneryRooster