The Flash #12
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Scott Kolins and Francis Manapul
I’m going to preface this review by noting that I’m writing it before reading Flashpoint #1, as I didn’t want my opinions of the event itself to to effect my review on this title. The Road to Flashpoint is what it is, and that is the prelude to the event, and as a prelude….it fails. Now, if you’ve read my reviews of the previous issues, you’ll know that this isn’t coming out of nowhere. This issue does wrap up a few plot lines, but unfortunately it fails to really build up the event it has been leading to.Really, all it does is remind us that the Reverse Flash is kind of an asshole, and incredibly dangerous.
Hot Pursuit’s poor characterization continues on into this issue, and so far he’s been three different characters as far as I’m concerned. He debuted as cop on a mission with a good head on his shoulders, devolved into a single minded jackass with no real interest in whether or not his perp is actually guilty so long as he believes him to be, and finally he becomes a guilty idiot who magically realizes the flaws of his actions. I mean, dude’s whole purpose was to hunt down a time anomaly, so he went after Bart and Bart and only Bart. Flash Fact, even without Zoom, Bart is hardly the only anomaly in the DC Universe, he’s just the convenient one. I get that Kid Flash is about to get Lost, but the whole plot just feels tacked on into this issue.
Barry, Bart, and Hot Pursuit against Zoom winds up making up most of the issue, but it’s just not that interesting. I mean, the Zoom and Hot Pursuit stuff is, but Barry goes ahead and reminds us a few times that Zoom killed Barry’s mom. Johns winds up bringing us to a theme of regression with Barry, from diving into his work, to bringing back Patty, to obsessing over his mom’s death….the whole point of Barry is that he has been running backwards to fit into his old life instead of moving forward. This would be an interesting plot to tackle if it were not the problem that has been plaguing this book for the last year. Barry accepting that he’s been moving backwards is a character development, sure, but did we really need twelve issues to get us there? Especially with this one labeled as the final issue? The book stumbles as it moves to the finish, and despite that I’m looking at Flashpoint as I write this, if this issue had come out last week I may have wound up more on the fence about buying it.
Reverse Flash is reintroduced after his cliffhanger appearance last issue, and here’s a list of things we need to know about him. He hates Barry Allen, he can travel through time and change history, he really hates Barry Allen, he can change his age with his negative Speed Force, he can’t kill Barry Allen despite wanting to, and he loves killing or trying to kill any woman Barry is on a first name basis with. A few issues ago we had a Rogue Profile on the Reverse Flash that did a nice job laying out motivations for our evil speedster from the 25th century, and I remember coming out of it with more respect for the caliber of villain that he represented. After this issue though….this isn’t a perfect reference, but he comes across more as a Two Face to Barry’s Batman, when he should be the Joker. He has screwed with him, messed with his life, but he only comes across as a threat in Barry’s eyes when he bothers to show up.
Scott Kolins turns in the same degree of art he gave us last issue, which isn’t bad, but it makes me want for his old style. It’s flashy, energetic, and it fits the pacing…there’s just something about it that doesn’t sit perfectly with me. I won’t complain about the pages of this issue that he did do, however, as at least his action looks good, even if I know he’s capable of better. Manapul comes back for the end of this issue to do what he does best; Barry Allen scenes. Manapul has done some phenomenal work with the characters in this title when the costumes aren’t on, and while he only has a few pages in this issue, I’m very glad it was those. Barry and Iris have a conversation about regression, and the best part about it is his art. This issue isn’t bad looking, and at times it looks pretty good, but there’s just something about the Kolins pages that bugs me at times and I can’t put my finger on it.
So the Road to Flashpoint ends, and unless you read the last page you might not even realize that you were on it. This arc has been filled with people being aged to death, obscure returning supporting characters, and time travel being the root of all evil. Sure, that last one sounds like Flashpoint, but it has really just been “Kid Flash is important, we didn’t forget”. I guess it’s fitting that it all goes back to Barry’s mom being killed, as that was one of the big additions Johns made to Barry when he brought him back, but….it’s just not that interesting. We’ve known about it since Rebirth, and Barry has known about it since Rebirth, and yes, it makes sense that Barry would still be effected by it, but we as readers only have reason to care because Barry cares….which doesn’t work so well when we haven’t been given reasons to care about Barry. It’s disappointing, but with any luck Flashpoint will shake off the hurdles created by its ineffective prelude to give us a competent event. I really want it to be a competent event.
Overall?
4/10
